Man's ear superglued in party prank

DRUNKEN party guest who filled a sleeping fellow reveller's ear with superglue in an act of "gross drunken stupidity" has been ordered to pay his victim $9000 in compensation.

Brisbane District Court Judge Terry Martin, SC, in a decision published today, ordered Ryan Laim Upton, 28, pay Ben Ferrett, 27, criminal compensation for the permanent partial hearing loss caused by the foolish prank on January 11, last year.

Upton inflicted the injury on Ferrett, who he had just met, when they attended a party at Greenslopes, on Brisbane's sourthside, the Courier Mail reports.

Judge Martin, in a written judgment, said Ferrett and Upton were both intoxicated when the "prank" occurred.

"Having consumed a deal of alcohol (Ferrett) fell asleep on a couch in the living room," he said.

By way of a prank, (Upton) and others applied superglue to (Ferrett's) hand and glued it to his face.

"(Upton) then poured superglue into (Ferrett's) ear whilst (he) continued to sleep."

Upton pleaded guilty in the Brisbane District Court in late February to one count of grievous bodily harm.

The court was told one reveller had also used the superglue to pour it down Ferrett's pants between his buttocks.

When Ferrett woke up he felt a sharp pain in his ear and went to Wesley Hospital for treatment.

Ferrett last required surgery several months later, at a personal cost of almost $6000.

Barrister Brad Farr, SC, for Upton, said his client was extremely remorseful for his actions and had repaid Ferrett all his medical expenses.

Judge Terry Martin sentenced Upton to an 18-month, wholly suspended jail term.

"It was an act of gross stupidity," he said.

Cut off: electricity debt deadly for oxygen machine woman

A decision by a power company to cut electricity to the home of a New Zealand woman on an oxygen machine who owed them money contributed to her death, a coroner has found.

Coroner Gordon Matenga today handed down his findings into the death of Folole Muliaga whose death made international headlines last year and prompted debate about corporate responsibility.

Ms Muliaga, 45, died on May 29 last year owing the government-owned Mercury Energy $138.

Her death occurred just hours after power to her Mangere, Auckland, home was cut off for non-payment.

"The cessation of oxygen therapy and the stress arising from the fact of the disconnection (as opposed to the way in which the power was disconnected) have contributed to her death," the coroner found.

He said Ms Muliaga was morbidly obese at the time of her death, and she died of arrhythmia following the disconnection.

Soon after her death, her family accused a contractor who carried out the disconnection of knowing she was reliant on an oxygen machine to breathe.

But the coroner found that while the contractor, only known to the court as Mr A, would have had to walk over a tube running from the oxygen machine, he did not notice it.

"Neither Folole Muliaga nor (her son) Ietitaia has said anything to Mr A which would a alert him to Mrs Muliaga's state of health, her use of the oxygen machine, or her need for the power to remain connected to that the machine remained operational," the coroner said.

"I am satisfied that had either Ietitaia Muliaga or Mrs Muliaga told Mr A that electricity was needed to run a machine which provided oxygen to Mrs Muliaga that Mr A would have exercised his discretion in favour of no disconnection," Matenga said.

The coroner said that government-owned business Mercury Energy, or its parent company Mighty River Power, were bound by laws that included the need to show social responsibility.

He said guidelines for New Zealand's electricity industry were in place at the time of Muliaga's death, and Mercury Energy had not fully complied with them.

While the guidelines said customers who thought they faced excessive hardship from a disconnection should let the retailer know, the guidelines also said information should be supplied on how to do this.

"Mercury Energy did not provide information about self-identification for such vulnerable customers," the coroner found.

"It is perhaps no surprise then that the Muliaga family did not advise Mercury Energy of Mrs Muliaga's medication condition," he said.

The coroner was also critical of the processes of the Counties Manukau Health Board, which ran the Middlemore hospital where Muliaga was treated just weeks prior to her death.

He said a letter that may have been given to Muliaga when she left hospital was written clearly for a medical audience.

"A patient such as Mrs Muliaga would probably not read past the first paragraph in the letter. It is not an effective piece of communication from the patient's point of view," he said.

He was critical of the hospital's Do Not Attempt Resuscitation policy, detailing how patients and their significant others should be told about the benefits and risks of resuscitation.

"There is no record that any informed discussion took place with Mrs Muliaga and there was no discussion with members of Mrs Muliaga's family.

"This is not good enough," he said.

Vircom EMS, the company contracted by Mercury Energy which cut the power to Muliaga's home, welcomed the coroner's findings.

"Vircom has reviewed the findings carefully and accepts the statements made by the coroner in relation to the company, its contractors and staff and their actions," the company said in a statement today.

"The sympathies of the company remain with the family," it said.

Woman's body 'naturally' became male

A FILIPINA woman who proved her body was naturally turning male has been allowed to change her name from Jennifer to Jeff.

Jennifer Cagandahan, 27, whose family name means "beauty", proved to the Philippines' Supreme Court that she has a rare medical condition which means her body was producing male, rather than female, hormones.
The court granted Ms Cagandahan's request to have her first name legally changed and to amend her birth details in the civil registry to say "male" instead of "female".
The ruling also covers her school records, electoral roll, baptism certificate, and other public records, ending a legal bid that began in December 2003.
Senior Associate Justice Leonardo Quisumbing wrote in the ruling that Ms Cagandahan indisputably had the condition "congenital adrenal hyperplasia", which caused the appearance of male characteristics.
"The determining factor in gender classification would be what the individual thinks of his or her sex," Justice Quisumbing wrote.
"The respondent here thinks of himself as a male and considering that his body produces high levels of male hormones (androgen) there is biological support for considering him as being male," the court ruled.

Sexual assault events 'bizarre and evil', says magistrate

A man accused of posing as a spiritual leader then blindfolding, drugging and sexually assaulting a woman who believed she'd been cursed, was denied bail in a NSW court today.

Tony Golossian, 61, is facing 151 charges of sex offences against the women between 2001 and 2005.

At Paramatta Bail court today Magistrate Graham Johnson formally denied Golossian's application for bail.

"Having read the allegations...I must say that if this is proven it would be one of the most bizarre and evil cases I have come across in more than 40 years," Mr Johnson said.

Golossian faced court for the first time today after he was rushed to hospital with chest pains a short time after his arrest on Friday.

A defence solicitor said Golossian was happy to comply with strict bail conditions, including a night time curfew and commitment not to contact the victim.

However, Mr Johnson denied the application, formally refusing bail.

"Of concern is that the victim moved and changed her name but was tracked down by the perpetrator of these offences who (is allegedly the) mastermind of this series of charges," Mr Johnson said.

Police prosecutor Jason France said in court today it was doubted that Golossian actually suffered chest pains on Friday when he was taken to hospital.

"You will note on the (hospital) papers...an unremarkable condition and his ECG was unchanged," Sergeant France told the court.

"This indicated he was trying to ...(pervert) the justice system by faking a heart attack."

Golossian's co-accused, 38-year-old Arthur Psichogios, faces 79 sex offence charges and was refused bail after his arrest on Friday.

Both men are now due to appear in Burwood Local Court on October 29.

Police allege the victim, a woman now aged 30, was blindfolded and subjected to sexual assaults during prayer sessions at five hotels and motels across Sydney and on the state's Central Coast.

Believing she and her family had been cursed by a member of the Greek community practising black magic, the woman paid between $500 and $1000 per session, spending a total of up to $70,000 out of fear they would suffer terrible consequences including infertility and cancer.

Police allege 229 sex assaults: victims drugged

POLICE have revealed two women assaulted during prayer sessions may have been drugged.

Officers spoke out this morning after two men were arrested for allegedly being involved in 229 sexual assaults in Sydney under the guise of removing evil spirits.

The men, part of Sydney's Greek Orthodox and Coptic Orthodox communities, are about to be charged.

A 61-year-old Dulwich Hill man, Tony Golossin, and a 38-year-old Enfield man, Arthur Psichogios, were both arrested by detectives this morning and taken separately to Burwood police station shortly before 9am.

In a dramatic twist, the 61-year-old man old was taken from Burwood Police Station on ambulance stretcher after suffering chest pains.

Two charged with 220 sex offences at 'prayer sessions'

Two men have been charged with more than 220 sex offences commited at "prayer sessions" at Sydney hotels and motels.

Police say one of the men had claimed he could speak to angels and remove curses.

The men, Arthur Psichogios, 38, and Tony Golossian, 61, were arrested at their homes this morning by Strike Force Wanda, but after being taken to Burwood police station, Golossian was then taken to hospital after complaining of chest pains.

Psichogios and Golossian portrayed themselves as members of the Greek Orthodox and Coptic Orthodox communities, police say.

They are alleged to have committed the offences over a period of four years on a woman who believed she was cursed.

Police allege the older man claimed to be a spiritual mentor who was able to speak to angels, remove curses and banish evil spirits.

They allege the victim believed she and her family had been cursed by a member of the Greek community practising black magic and that they would all suffer terrible consequences, including death and illness, unless the curse were removed.

The woman told police she attended many prayer sessions at various hotels between 2001 and 2005 where she was blindfolded and sexually assaulted.

It is alleged she paid the men between $500 and $1000 for each prayer session and by 2005 had paid at least $70,000.

The two men were both arrested in June - along with Psichogios' 36-year-old wife - over previous allegations of sexual assault on a 40-year-old woman.

Mr Psichogios was charged with attempted sexual assault.

Golossian was charged with three counts of aggravated sexual assault against the woman in Summer Hill and demanding $50,000 with menace.

They were released on bail and subsequently re-arrested today and charged with 220 counts in relation to another woman, now aged 30.

At a press conference at Burwood police station this morning acting Fairfield Commander, Gary Bailey, said the two women had been assaulted by the men in motels and hotels in the Ashfield area.

"I have never seen anything as bizarre as this or as callous as this before, it's perpetrated on young women in the community who really don't deserve it,'' Acting Superintendent Bailey said.

Superintendent Bailey also said police will allege similar acts were committed against both women.

"Police will allege also that both victims may have been drugged during these incidents.''

He would not discuss the specifics of the alleged acts, how or with what they were drugged.
Superintendent Bailey said police could not rule out the possibility there had been other victims.

"Two extremely courageous women have already come forward with information which has led to the arrests of these two men," Supt Bailey said.

"We will allege these women have been the cruel prey of callous individuals who used religious fear to manipulate and abuse them for their sexual gratification and financial gain.

"Sexual offences are heinous but an offender who hides behind the cloak of religious respectability is particularly vile,'' Superintendent Bailey said.

"Our investigations are far from over and we cannot rule out the possibility of other victims and I would urge any woman or person, particularly in the Greek Orthodox or Coptic community, with any information to come forward.

"These two women have already shown tremendous strength and courage to overcome the embarrassment and shame they feel to contact police.

"For that they deserve to be acknowledged.''

The two men were today expected to appear at Burwood Local Court charged with 151 and 79 sexual offences, respectively.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Information can be given anonymously and will be treated confidentially, police say.

Debate on Vic abortion bill continues

Debate and rejection of amendments to Victoria's abortion legislation delayed any lower house decision on Thursday on the contentious bill.

It was hoped the third and final vote in the lower house would be held late on Thursday afternoon.

The bill seeks to decriminalise abortion up to 24 weeks' gestation.

After 24 weeks, a woman would have to have the support and approval of two medical practitioners to receive and abortion.

The second reading passed through the lower house on Wednesday by 47 votes to 35.

Debate was vigorous on many of the 41 amendments which are to be considered.

However, all the amendments debated up until the 6.30pm adjournment on Thursday had been rejected.

Many of the amendments attempt to change the bill by insisting counselling be offered to all women before and after an abortion, or introducing a panel to consider an abortion after 24 weeks.

Sports Minister James Merlino, who opposes the bill, introduced a number of the amendments and expressed concern the legislation may increase the number of abortions in Victoria.

The current rate of abortions is about 20,000 a year.

But those supporting the bill insisted it will just keep the status quo.

Labor backbencher Christine Campbell, strongly opposed to the legislation, said that was clearly untrue.

"If I had a dollar for every time we've heard that during this debate ... that would pay for our election campaign," she told parliament.

Despite heavy lobbying and protesting prior to this week, visitors in the public gallery have remained silent and well-behaved during the long hours of debate.

MPs on both sides of the house appeared exhausted.

Debate has gone past midnight the past two nights and was not expected to finish much earlier on Thursday night.

Despite the long hours of vigorous debate, Premier John Brumby on Thursday remained confident the bill would pass the lower house, unchanged.

But that may change once it reaches the upper house.

"Where, I suspect, the vote will be a closer vote, but my view is that this will pass into law before the end of the year and that will mean essentially a continuation of current practices, no more, no less," Mr Brumby said.

Once a final vote is held in the lower house, it will then go to the upper house for amendments and approval.

Voting in the upper house is expected to be tight, with a number of MPs already signalling their opposition to the bill.

Mr Brumby said he hoped the bill would be passed by Christmas.

$400 govt rebates for breast prostheses

Women who have had a mastectomy can now claim $400 from Medicare for breast prostheses.

Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the government would invest $31 million on the rebates available to anyone who has bought a new or replacement external breast prosthesis since July 1 this year.

Women seeking reimbursement can lodge claims from now and Medicare will start payments from December 1.

"Around 12,000 Australian women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year," Ms Roxon said on Tuesday.

"Breast prostheses help to restore body image and self-esteem after surgery for breast cancer."

The government also has given $12 million to the McGrath Foundation to recruit, train and employ 30 new breast cancer nurses.

"The majority of these nurses will be located in rural and regional areas and in areas where there is currently no access to a breast cancer nurse," Ms Roxon said.

The nurses will provide information, support and care coordination to women with breast cancer and their families.

The McGrath Foundation was co-founded in 2002 by Jane and Glenn McGrath, after Jane's initial recovery from breast cancer.

Jane McGrath died from cancer in June this year.

Australian Medical Association president Rosanna Capolingua welcomed the federal funding, saying until now women with breast cancer in different states received varying levels of support for breast prostheses.

"In some states the support has been low, making it very difficult for a woman who has had a mastectomy from breast cancer to manage that part of her recovery," she said.

"This program will make a significant difference to the quality of life of many breast cancer survivors."

Doctor to face court on mutilation charges

Former New South Wales doctor Graeme Reeves will face a Sydney court today, charged with 17 offences relating to the sexual abuse and mutilation of 10 female patients.

The 58-year-old was banned from practising obstetrics in 1997, but was employed to work at Pambula and Bega hospitals in 2002.

Police say since then, 113 women have come forward saying they were sexually abused or mutilated while in his care.

This morning, detectives arrested the former doctor at his home in Baulkham Hills, in Sydney's north west, after seizing medical records in a raid of a storage facility at Gladesville earlier this month.

Detective Superintendent John Kerlatec has praised those who have helped the police investigation.

"I must say it's been encouraged by the strength of the victims involved who have been asked to provide information to police to what's been a very traumatic experience," he said.

Detective Superintendent Kerlatec says it has been a long and complex investigation where detectives had to determine which allegations involved medical misconduct and which were possibly criminal offences.

Reeves will face Parramatta Local Court later today.

59yo French woman has triplets

A 59-year-old woman has given birth to triplets at a Paris hospital after seeking fertility treatment in Vietnam, a hospital spokeswoman said.

News of the woman's pregnancy has drawn widespread criticism in the French media since it was made public last week.

It is illegal in France to provide fertility treatment to women who are no longer at an age when they can procreate naturally.

"On this particular point, scientific progress is not good for mankind," said Andre Vingt-Trois, a Catholic archbishop, quoted by Monday's Le Parisien newspaper.

The woman gave birth by caesarean section at the Cochin Hospital late on Saturday night (local time), a spokeswoman said.

She had two boys who weighed 2.3 kilograms and 2.1 kilograms, and a girl who weighed 2.4 kilograms. The mother and the babies were all in good health.

The hospital declined to give any further details.

There has been a trickle of births by women in their late 50s and in their 60s in various countries since 1994, when Italian fertility doctor Severino Antinori caused an international controversy by helping a 63-year-old have a baby.

Drug scandal sours Japanese sumo

There is turmoil in Japan in the sport of sumo, with the head of the sport quitting and two Russian wrestlers banned after testing positive for drugs.

The two Russian wrestlers who are brothers have denied using marijuana, but they have been kicked out of the ancient sport after testing positive for the drug.

Their expulsion has also claimed the head of the sumo association, former wrestler Kitanoumi Toshimitsu.

He has resigned after a series of scandals that have rocked the sport, including the death of a teenage wrestler after being beaten by his trainer and stable mates.

Last year one of the sport's highest ranking names cause controversy when he claimed to have been injured, but was filmed playing soccer in his home country Mongolia.

Man dies waiting 8 hours for a bed in Townsville Hospital

AN elderly man has died while waiting for a ward bed at Queensland's overcrowded Townsville Hospital after being left in a corridor for more than eight hours.

The man, believed to have had cancer, was monitored by medical and nursing staff during the delay to transfer him to a ward at the troubled hospital.
Health Minister Stephen Robertson yesterday said he had referred the case to the Health Quality and Complaints Commission for independent review.
"I view this matter very seriously and that's why I'll be referring this incident to the independent health watchdog," Mr Robertson said.
"It's my responsibility to ensure that when events such as this occur that we don't sweep it under the carpet and we get full disclosure in terms of the facts of what actually occurred and learn from them, if there are in fact lessons to be learned."
Several doctors and nurses contacted The Sunday Mail late last week expressing concern at the over-crowding in the hospital.
One staff member said it used to be unacceptable practice to have more than eight patients waiting to be admitted to a ward.
But, he said, the hospital now had to deal with the tragedy and shame of a patient dying on a trolley in a corridor.
"He was very sick, but he waited a very long time for a bed – and didn't get one," said an emergency department nurse, who asked not to be identified, about the man's death last Tuesday.
"He was in the corridor with patients on trolleys in front of him and behind him ... he was rushed into the resuscitation room, but he wasn't revived. It's just terrible."
Acting Townsville Health Service District CEO Mary Bonner said the first priority for the hospital was ensuring that the patient's family was informed and supported.
The death comes a week after Mr Robertson dismissed the concerns of Dr Sylvia Andrew-Starkey from the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.
Dr Andrew-Starkey said she had referred information to Queensland Health about people dying because of bed access problems in hospitals.
But Mr Robertson challenged Dr Andrew-Starkey to provide evidence of a link between wait times and harm to patients.
Professor Drew Richardson, from the Australian National University, told The Sunday Mail he could direct the minister to two major studies carried out in Australia and two more from America which showed the link.
"There are cases where coroners have handed down adverse findings in relation to the outcome of patients who have had to wait for extended periods to be admitted, Prof Richardson said.
"There are cases where death has been a direct result of dysfunctional environments in emergency departments."
Townsville Hospital's emergency department was designed to cater for 38,000 patients each year. Last financial year almost 62,000 sought treatment there.
The demand has led to up to 24 patients each day remaining in the emergency department, some of them for up to 48 hours, until beds can be found in overcrowded wards.

Abortion protestors face off outside parliament

THE abortion debate heated up today when both sides of the controversial issue clashed outside the Victorian Parliament.

Thousands of anti-abortion campaigners stopped traffic as they marched down Melbourne's Bourke Street and onto the steps of Parliament to protest the new abortion laws under debate.

Across the road a few hundred pro-choice campaigners chanted slogans calling for abortion to be decriminalised.

The protesters are sending their messages as the Victorian Parliament begins debate on legislation to remove abortion from the Crimes Act this week.

Abortion is currently permitted in the state under a common law ruling only if it is to protect the woman's health.

The rowdy demonstrations attracted a heavy police presence with officers acting as a human barricade to keep the two groups separated.

Pro-choice campaigners chanted slogans including: "Right to life your name's a lie, you don't care if women die", "Get your rosaries off our ovaries" and "Not the church, not the state, women must decide their fate".

The anti-abortion campaigners, including many parents and their young children, waved banners with slogans saying: "Justice for the unborn", "Abortions hurt women" and "Defend the unborn".

University student Jason Ball, 20, said that while today's demonstration was easily outnumbered by anti-abortion campaigners, the large majority of Victorians wanted women to have the right to choose.

"Eighty per cent of Australians support the right to choose," he said.

"If you weigh up between the feelings of a grown woman and an unborn child, the unborn child is not conscious of its own surroundings."

Fellow pro-choice campaigner, Fleur Taylor, 37, said the right to choose should be a fundamental human right.

"It should not be up to doctors, legislators, the church or psychologists to tell women whether or not they make the fundamental decision that they are going to have to live with for the rest of their life."

Mother of two Helena Lindorff, 30, said she attended the rally to give unborn children a voice.

"If I listened to that crowd I wouldn't have these beautiful children. They (children) don't have a voice when they're in the womb and as human beings we have to make sure that we give them a voice."

Jacinta LePage, a student doctor, said she wanted to be a part of the day to express the concerns of some doctors, many who were against late-term abortions.

"I think to abort a baby that can live outside of the womb is murder," she said.

"I want to be an obstetrician, gynaecology doctor and I will be forced in my training to do abortions that I completely disagree with."

Morgue 'unable to cope'

THE NSW Government is closing the pathology department at Westmead Morgue even though it was warned a year ago this would create a "serious bottleneck" at Sydney's only remaining pathology unit at Glebe.

The warning was in a report commissioned in 2007 by NSW Health into the impact of closing down pathology at Westmead.

The report, by Phillipa Milne and Associates, said the Glebe morgue would not be able to cope with the additional work if Westmead was closed. It said Glebe would have problems receiving and dispatching bodies, and that a new larger morgue would have to be built.

Glebe would have to take 70 per cent of the 4000 bodies a year in NSW needing autopsies, with 30 per cent going to Newcastle.

Westmead morgue is now running with a small staff of 14 and one pathologist and the Health Services Union is fighting to keep their jobs.

Meanwhile pathologists say the Government has ignored years of warnings that a crisis was developing with a shortage of pathologists.

The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia chief executive Debra Graves said NSW needed 70 more pathologists. "There can be delays of several months for an autopsy now and this will only get longer unless something is done," Dr Graves said.

'Abortion on demand' protesters rally in Melbourne

Anti-abortion campaigners have been rallying in central Melbourne to protest against proposed legislation to decriminalise abortion.

The Victorian Government will debate the bill in Parliament next week.

The bill allows unrestricted abortions in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, but termination would have to be approved by two doctors after 24 weeks.

Abortions are illegal at present unless a woman can show she is at risk of harm by continuing with a pregnancy.

The protesters claim the proposed legislation amounts to abortion on demand.

Move to outlaw junk food ads

Junk food and alcohol advertising would be banned from television during peak children's viewing times under draft laws introduced into Federal Parliament today.

The bill, introduced into the Senate by Greens leader Bob Brown, would also place restrictions on junk food advertising in schools.

Senator Brown said the bill was aimed at combating childhood obesity, a problem he said Parliament could no longer ignore.

"According to the Australian Medical Association the rise in childhood obesity may, for the first time in Australian history, result in a decline in the life expectancy of newborns," Senator Brown said.

Debate on the Protecting Children From Junk Food Advertising (Broadcasting Amendment) Bill 2008 was adjourned.

'Boozy doctors joked about patient's death'

ONE of Queensland's most senior surgeons is threatening to sue the State Government after a booze-fuelled staff meeting where doctors joked about a patient who bled to death on the operating table.

Director of Surgery at Cairns Base Hospital for 10 years, Dr Christina Steffen, yesterday broke her silence to reveal the death of the critically ill patient, 78, was "the final straw".

Dr Steffen said she felt victimised and harassed after a bitter fallout with staff over the party culture within the far north Queensland hospital.

She has been on stress leave since the June incident - along with a junior surgeon under investigation for alleged incompetence - which has left the Cairns hospital barely able to cope with emergency inpatients.

"I think it is unethical to be drinking alcohol in a hospital staff meeting and making jokes at the expense of patients and surgeons," Dr Steffen told The Courier Mail.

"It is typical of the culture within the hospital."

Queensland Health last night denied they officially sanctioned the booze session.

CBH staff were invited by email to a discussion in a tutorial room on July 2 with refreshments including beer and wine.

They discussed the death of a 78-year-old man from Atherton who was admitted with a ruptured main artery and bled to death on the operating table.

Dr Steffen said the forum was "unethical" and a form of "macabre entertainment".

Dr Steffen's feud with management started after she stood in defence of a junior surgeon who, she said, had been "unfairly" accused of botched surgery and incompetence.

Last night Health Minister Stephen Robertson announced eight new beds at the Townsville Hospital to relieve pressure on overworked medical staff and facilities.

"We recognise the stress the hospital and its staff are under, and that is why we are fast-tracking opening more beds," Mr Robertson said.

As the state's health system reels from crisis to crisis, it also emerged yesterday that a paramedic had to catch a taxi to a patient suffering a cardiac arrest on the Sunshine Coast on Saturday night.

The officer was travelling in a taxi to pick up an ambulance he had left while attending an emergency call with another crew, when he had to divert to a patient during an extremely busy period.

TV 'giving a warped view of cancer rates'

TELEVISION news is giving Australians a warped view of cancer rates by over-publicising cervical and breast cancer and largely ignoring cancers affecting men, researchers have claimed.
An investigation of news and current affairs shows has found that cancers affecting women, like breast, ovarian and cervical cancer, and stories about female celebrities with cancer dominate cancer stories in the media.
The Sydney researchers behind the work say the skewed publicity is giving the Australian public and politicians a confused view about the prevalence and severity of different cancers.
"Although men have higher incidence and mortality from all non-sex specific forms of cancer than women, the public face of cancer in our study was overwhelmingly female," said Kevin McGeechan, a lecturer in the school of public health at the University of Sydney.
The study, published in the latest Medical Journal of Australia, found two cancers were particularly neglected by the media, lung and bowel cancer.
Bowel cancer kills more Australians than any other cancer and is the focus of a national screening campaign but it gets just a third of the coverage of cervical cancer, which has only half the prevalence, Mr McGeechan said.
He said lung cancer, which has the highest death rate, may get little publicity because of a lack of sympathy due to its link with smoking.
"This imbalance in television reportage of cancer may be distorting political and community perceptions about which cancers are most prevalent and tractable and thereby deserving of government and community support, research investment and individual vigilance," Mr McGeechan said.
"For example, breast cancer attracts unparalleled research funding from individuals and governments while other cancers causing more disability struggle to gain a fraction of such support.
"As a former Australian health minister commented 'It's not sexy to have testicular or prostate cancer, so you don't get a run (in the media)'."

Fat kids mean primary school uniforms up to size 20

PRIMARY school students are stretching school uniform shops with orders for dresses up to size 20 as Australia's obesity crisis worsens.
Uniform providers say children are getting fatter younger and their parents are demanding bigger sizes so their offspring do not look out of place in the schoolyard.
In secondary schools the situation is more extreme with reports that a 15-year-old girl had to ask for a size 32 dress and boys' blazers are expanding up to 130cm across the chest, or 6XL.
Nutrition experts have warned tailors to continue extending their patterns because the obesity problem was expected to get worse in the next decade.
The number of overweight and obese children has increased from 10 per cent in the 1980s to more than 30 per cent today, Deakin University researchers say.
Dressmakers say children's expanding waist lines were causing confusion, as standard measurements have been changed to deal with super-sized students. Some uniform providers were afraid to make public comment about students' expanding girth for fear of upsetting customers.
"Primary school students are getting bigger, earlier," a uniform seller who asked not to be named said.
"We used to sell dresses for primary school students up to 16, but we've had to go up to size 20."
Beleza School Uniforms, which has 15 shops across Melbourne, has noticed demand for bigger sizes increasing in the past two years.
Frankston store manager Margaret Magill said the company had increased its range of school dresses from a maximum of 22 to 26 to make sure children were in correct uniform. But special orders still had to be made for some students who could not find anything that fitted, she said.
Jo Kellock, executive director of the Council of Textiles and Fashion Industries of Australia, has called for a national census of waistlines to come up with new standard sizing.

Have your baby in a luxury hotel

A SYDNEY hospital will set up a maternity unit, complete with on-site midwife, in a four-star hotel.

The Prince of Wales Private Hospital, at Randwick, plans to transfer new mothers to the Crowne Plaza Coogee Beach by limousine.

Mothers will be able to order meals from the hotel's room service menu, husbands will be encouraged to stay, and the costs will be included in obstetric cover provided by private health funds.

Only women who have uncomplicated pregnancies and deliveries will be able to move with their babies into an ocean-view suite, which can cost as much as $400 a night.

Visitors will be welcome, and flowers will be automatically redirected to the hotel room.

Prince of Wales is the first hospital in NSW to offer the service, which is understood to be modelled on the Baby Bliss program Ashford Hospital has at the Adelaide Hilton.

In Melbourne, St Vincent's and the Mater Private Hospital have four dedicated rooms at the Park Hyatt.

A Prince of Wales Private midwife will be at the hotel 24 hours a day to assist mothers and babies,
and an obstetrician and a pediatrician will have to sign off on the hotel transfer.

The king-size beds, beach views, bathrobes and extensive menu will be a far cry from the plastic-covered mattresses and overcooked vegetables in a hospital.

A rising birth rate, the growing number of caesarean sections and the closure of maternity units have put pressure on hospitals.

Although the hotel stays will free up beds, the NSW Midwives Association has questioned whether the move is best for new mothers.

"To me, most women wouldn't want to be going to a hotel if they could be going home and getting appropriate care," association secretary Hannah Dahlen said.

"Hotels seem to be just a reaction to a problem that needs to be more systematically thought out."

Ms Dahlen said it was preferable for women to have continuity of care from the same midwife in the comfort of their own home.

There was no doubt hotel rooms were cheaper to run than hospital rooms, she said.

"When we talk about private hospitals, we're not talking about best practice, we're talking about saving money.

"So you won't find public hospitals doing that, because they don't have the evidence to support that as an effective way."

But Australian College of Midwives president Professor Pat Brodie said anecdotal feedback from interstate was that women enjoyed the luxuries of a hotel while having midwifery care.

"Midwives providing post-natal care in a social setting like a hotel would appreciate the opportunity to provide continuity of care, get to know the woman and offer advice and support," Professor Brodie said.

"Sometimes that's difficult in busy post-natal wards."

Issues such as infection control and access to care in an emergency needed to be addressed, Ms Dahlen said.

Cinta Taylor, 22, who is expecting her first child in six weeks, is booked into Prince of Wales Private but would love the hotel option.

"The view, the privacy, the food, even the size of the TV make it appealing," she said.

"It's easy for people to come and visit, and you don't have to worry about visiting hours and asking people to leave."

Neither the hospital nor the hotel would discuss the deal, which has been in the planning for 14 months and is expected to be signed off within days.