BMJ  2007;334:389 (24 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.39132.469896.4E

News

In Brief

News

Inquiry investigates contaminated blood: An independent public inquiry is to examine the provision of contaminated blood by the NHS before 1991, which infected thousands of people with haemophilia with HIV and hepatitis C. The Labour peer Lord Archer of Sandwell, a former solicitor general, will chair the inquiry. Lord Turnberg, past president of the Royal College of Physicians, will be medical assessor. It is expected to convene in a month.

Court says Eli Lilly's documents must be returned: The US federal court judge Jack Weinstein has said that eight defendants must return Eli Lilly internal documents on the marketing and side effects of olanzapine (Zyprexa) (BMJ 2007;334:59, 171). However, the documents remain available on the internet. His ruling is at www.eff.org/legal/cases/zyprexa/zyprexa_judgement.pdf.

German health reform is finally agreed: The much disputed German healthcare reform passed the final legislative hurdle last Friday. Representatives of Germany's 16 states approved the bill despite severe reservations in the upper house of parliament. The reform should come into effect on 1 April 2007, but key aspects, such as a new system for collecting and distributing the statutory contributions, were postponed to 2009.

Cruise liners not responsible for ships' doctors: The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that cruise liners are not responsible for the negligent actions of ships' doctors, which they successfully argued to be independent contractors. It overturned the decision of a lower court in favour of Elizabeth Carlyle, aged 14 years, whose ruptured appendix was misdiagnosed as flu on a 1997 cruise to Mexico.

German doctors criticise funding of patient group: The German hospital doctors' union, Marburger Bund, has criticised the health ministry for spending 5.1m (£3.4m; $6.7m) a year until 2010 on the independent patient advisory service corporation, a patient lobby group with a network of 22 offices and a nationwide hotline. The union says doctors and health insurances should be included in the initiative.

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