A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Restless legs may ease with orgasm
NEW RESEARCH has found that restless leg syndrome can be eased by orgasm.
Researchers at the Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil, report on the success of this novel treatment this month in Sleep Science. They speculate that the release of orgasm-related dopamine might play a role in the alleviation of symptoms. An orgasm releases a large dose of dopamine.
Restless leg syndrome is an uncomfortable feeling in the legs, characterised by an urge to move them.
Health literacy award winners announced
CAMPAIGNS to promote suicide prevention, early detection of stroke and after-school physical activity were among the winners of this year’s national health literacy awards.
The fourth annual Crystal Clear MSD Health Literacy Awards were announced at a ceremony attended by Minister for Health James Reilly in Dublin yesterday. The awards acknowledge the promotion of clearer communications in healthcare.
Selected from more than 100 entries, this year’s winners were the Irish Heart Foundation’s FAST stroke awareness campaign; the Irish Examiner’s Let’s Talk Suicide campaign; the HSE Dublin North East’s Be Active After-School Activity Programme; the HSE South Cardiac Rehabilitation Working Group’s Take Heart programme; and the Health Centre, Athenry, Galway’s Ear Care and Ear Wax Information Programme.
Winners were chosen because of the clear way in which they communicated important health messages. Speaking at the ceremony, Inez Bailey, director of the National Adult Literacy Agency, said: “Health literacy is not simply the ability to read and is not related to years of education or general reading ability. Health literacy includes the ability to understand instructions on medication packs and bottles, appointment slips, medical education materials, doctor’s directions and consent forms.”
Ciara O’Rourke, external affairs director, MSD, and member of the judging panel, said that since the Crystal Clear Health Literacy Awards were first launched in 2008, they had received more than 450 entries.
MICHELLE MCDONAGH
Call for change to awards to children injured at birth
THERE WILL not be enough money in 10 to 15 years’ time to pay for the costs of looking after children who are catastrophically injured at birth, an expert in medical negligence has warned.
Michael Boylan, a partner at Augustus Cullen Law which specialises in taking medical negligence cases, said the current system of one-off payments was a “wholly inaccurate exercise prone to serious error”.
Mr Boylan has urged the Government to push through proposals to replace the current once-off lump sum system for children who are severely injured as a result of medical negligence with an annual payment reflecting the cost of care.
He was part of a working group set up by the President of the High Court to examine the matter. In November last year, the group handed over a report to the then minister for justice Dermot Ahern along with a draft bill. The report recommended that the ban on annualised payments be scrapped.
Since then, at least a dozen major cases are “in limbo” because the High Court is making interim awards pending the introduction of new legislation, said Mr Boylan.
He said the introduction of new legislation was a “no-brainer” and would end the worries for many families who have children whose care will cost millions over their lifetime.
Mr Boylan will be one of the speakers at a conference on catastrophic birth and child injuries hosted by the Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA), the patient safety and justice charity, at the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel in Dublin tomorrow.
RONAN McGREEVY