The disgraceful moment of the Olympics...

The disgraceful moment two sets of Badminton pairs are KICKED OUT of the Olympics for deliberately trying to lose their games

• Longest rally in one game between Korea and China was just four strokes
• Locog said it would not refund tickets for the matches
• Lord Coe said: 'Depressing. Who wants to sit through something like that'

By Leon Watson
PUBLISHED: 03:06 GMT, 1 August 2012 | UPDATED: 14:09 GMT, 1 August 2012

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The eight women involved in last night's badminton match-throwing scandal have been kicked out of the Olympics.


The women's tournament descended into farce in the evening session as four pairs all appeared to try to lose their matches in order to secure a favorable draw in the next round.

The top seeds from China, two pairs from South Korea and another from Indonesia have been disqualified from the tournament and will take no part in this evening's quarter-finals.

Farce: China's Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang play against South Korea's Jung Kyung-eun and Kim Ha-na 

There were boos from the Wembley Arena crowd as the world class athletes repeatedly put serves into the net and failed to return simple shots on an embarrassing evening for the sport.

The Badminton World Federation immediately launched disciplinary proceedings, confirming all four pairs would face charges of 'not using one's best efforts to win a match' and 'conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport'.

The disqualification was announced just before lunchtime today.

The four pairs had been due to play their last-eight matches in this evening's session at Wembley Arena but it is thought the schedule will now be reconstituted.
One possibility would be to allow the pairs who finished third and fourth in the groups behind the banished players to take their places in draw.

 

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London 2012 chairman Lord Coe today condemned their questionable tactics but Locog said it would not refund tickets for the matches.
Asked about his own feelings about the play, Lord Coe said: 'Depressing. Who wants to sit through something like that?'

He added: 'The sadness of it is I was actually at the badminton yesterday and I saw a British competitor narrowly fail to progress but the games were incredibly competitive in front of really large enthusiastic audiences.

'I know the (Badminton World Federation) really well and they will take that really seriously. It is unacceptable.'


The women had already qualified for the last eight meaning that the only issues at stake were the final placings in the first-round group stage.

Victors: Kim Ha-na (left) and Jung Kyung-eun (right) eventually won, despite their best efforts

Quiet word: Tournament referee Torsten Berg was forced to intervene after all four players began missing routine shots

World doubles champions Yu Yang (front) and Wang Xiaoli, of China, watch as the shuttlecock yet again lands int he net

The fiasco began when Chinese top seeds Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang started to show little interest in beating Koreans Jung Kyung-eun and Kim Ha-na to finish top of Group A.

Coming second would have meant avoiding compatriots and second seeds Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei at least until the final.

Tian and Zhao had been sent off their natural path to the final as second seeds by defeat to Denmark's Kamilla Rytter Juhl and Christinna Pedersen earlier in the day.
The Koreans responded to China's antics by copying them and referee Thorsten Berg emerged to warn all the players.

The match restarted and the Koreans went on to win 21-14 21-11. The longest rally in the first game had been just four strokes.

The matter did not end there as a second Korean pair, the third seeds Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min-jung, then attempted to engineer defeat in their match against Indonesia's Meiliana Jauhari and Greysia Polii.

Their motive was apparent retaliation to avoid Wang and Yu in the quarter-finals, an outcome they failed to achieve as they eventually won 18-21 21-14 21-12.

The Indonesians were not bystanders in the affair either as they responded to the Koreans by trying to lose themselves.

With the crowd getting increasingly restless, Berg again intervened and brandished the black card to disqualify the players.

He quickly rescinded his decision on protest but returned courtside, despite an attempt to restrain him by the Indonesia coach, as the histrionics - now including time-wasting - continued.

Controversy: Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari of Indonesia and Jung Eun Ha and Min Jung Kim of Korea are threatened with a 'black card'

Heated: A coach for Indonesia argues with the tournament referee

Korea's coach Sung Han-kook blamed China for triggering the shambles. He said: 'The Chinese started this. They did it first.

'It's a complicated thing with the draws. They didn't want to meet each other in the semi-final, they don't want that to happen.

'They (BWF) should do something about that.'

Yu claimed the Chinese tactics had simply been to preserve energy ahead of the knockout phase.

She said: 'Actually these opponents really were strong. This is the first time we've played them and tomorrow it's the knockout rounds, so we've already qualified and we wanted to have more energy for the knockout rounds.'

Speaking after chairing this morning's daily ministerial Olympics meeting in Whitehall, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the audience at last night's badminton had 'a right to feel very, very let down by what happened'.

Asked if he thought the players should be disqualified, Mr Hunt said: 'It's a matter for the sporting federation to decide that, but I feel very, very disappointed for the crowd, who really were going along expecting to have a fantastic time watching the best sport in the world and I think they have a right to feel very, very let down by what happened.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2181902/Olympics-2012-Badminton-descends-farce-China-South-Korea-attempt-LOSE.html#ixzz22JEdkldm

Why your risk of dying in hospital will rise...

Why your risk of dying in hospital will rise by 6 per cent tomorrow

By Lucy Elkins
PUBLISHED: 01:09 GMT, 31 July 2012 | UPDATED: 01:09 GMT, 31 July 2012

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Lisa Whelan knew within hours of her Caesarean that something was wrong.
As her baby girl lay contentedly snuffling in a cot beside her, Lisa started suffering from ‘agonising stomach cramps — just about as bad as labour pains’. 


As the 32-year-old mother from Leeds recalls: ‘By the next day, my stomach was not only painful, it was swollen.
'It looked as if I was about to give birth to twins.

Turmoil: Doctors didn't spot Lisa Whelan's Caesarean complications. 'I had to spend five months in hospital,' she said

‘I’d had a Caesarean with my first daughter 11 years ago — and I just knew this wasn’t normal.’ 


The junior doctor overseeing Lisa’s care thought it was trapped wind, and prescribed peppermint oil and suppositories.

Another junior doctor sent her for an X-ray but could see nothing wrong.
Three days after giving birth, Lisa started vomiting.

‘It was only then that a surgeon reviewed my notes and they realised something was seriously wrong,’ she says.
But by then it was too late: Lisa’s bowel had been perforated and had become septic.

 

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She was rushed to theatre to remove the infected parts and was given only a 20 per cent chance of survival. 


In the end, despite multiple operations, it was not possible to save any of her bowel.
‘I had to spend five months in hospital and was sedated for so long I did not realise I’d had my baby until she was around two months old,’ says Lisa.

‘I finally got home in March, 2011.’


Not only that, but Lisa now has to face the future with a permanent colostomy bag.
What makes it so galling for her is that the hospital has since admitted that had she not been left in the care of junior doctors, this might have been avoided.

Junior doctor error led to an even more tragic outcome for Anita and Patrick Bowyer.
Their 26-year-old son Ben underwent an operation in March 2010 to relieve pressure due to a build-up of fluid on his brain, caused by a benign cyst. 


Doctors at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford inserted a device to allow the fluid to drain off. 


‘We were told at the time that this was a holding operation and that they would remove the cyst a few days later,’ recalls Patrick, a self-employed plumber.
‘However, the consultant neurologist who had been in charge of Ben’s case then went off to London to teach for a week.


‘Ben was put on to a neurosurgical ward and left in the care of doctors in their first or second year out of medical school.’

On the first Wednesday of August every year, the latest tranche of junior doctors is launched on hospital wards

Although Ben was ‘screaming and writhing in pain’, these junior doctors failed to realise how much his condition was deteriorating.

A week after his operation, and in the absence of the consultant, Ben died.
The inquest into his death heard that the drain was taking fluid from one but not both sides of the brain, causing fatal brain damage. 


The juniors did not recognise this, and while one did try to find a senior consultant to ask what he should do, this consultant later told the inquest he hadn’t been given the proper facts.

‘If he had, he said he would have authorised immediate  surgery,’ says Patrick.
The medical director of Oxford University NHS Hospital Trusts has since apologised to the family, saying: ‘The staff looking after Ben failed to recognise his deteriorating condition, which led to his death.’ The hospital has offered the family compensation.


A ‘junior doctor’ is a newly-qualified doctor who has spent five years at medical school and is now learning the ropes, working independently in a two-year foundation course in a hospital. 


It can be a sharp learning curve, with sometimes disastrous results.
On the first Wednesday of August every year, the latest tranche of junior doctors is launched on hospital wards. 


On that day the number of mortalities among patients brought into hospital increases by 6 per cent compared with the previous Wednesday, according to new research carried out by Dr Foster Intelligence.


‘I wouldn’t want a relative of mine to be admitted into hospital in August,’ one nurse who has been working in hospitals for the past 13 years told the Mail.


‘The junior doctors arrive fresh out of university and are expected to get on with it and you can see that many of them are really nervous and unsure what to do. 


'Most of them are keen for help and advice, but some arrive on the ward and you can tell that the fact that they have qualified as a doctor has gone to their head, and they think they know it all.’ 


Sir Bruce Keogh, medical director of the NHS, recently admitted that patients were at risk during this transition period, saying: ‘We recognise the change-over period in August puts patients at risk.


‘Junior doctors are under stress as they change from being a student to a professional, and they need help to adapt to a working environment when they’ve never done a job before.’


To try to put an end to the ‘killing season’, as this period has been dubbed, from next year junior doctors will have to shadow senior colleagues for four days before they start out. 


A pilot scheme in Bristol found this tiny change reduced the amount of mistakes made by junior doctors in their first four months at work by half.


The students benefited from familiarising themselves with the hospital, watching how seniors interacted with patients and nurses, and learning to locate life-saving equipment more quickly.
However, some believe there are other issues to addressed.
Indeed, it could be argued that it is a year-round problem. 


Another study carried out by Dr Foster Intelligence has found that in some hospitals the death rate at weekends rises by as much as 10 per cent — a time when, typically, senior staff are in short supply and it’s junior doctors who are in charge.


Lawyers involved with medical negligence cases have a high volume of complaints involving junior doctors.
‘Often they don’t seem to have the experience to see the severity of a situation,’ says Helen Hammond from Penningtons Solicitors.


‘In fairness, we also see quite a few cases where junior doctors are left to deal with a situation where they seek input from a more senior doctor but don’t get it.
'We also find that junior doctors are often left on their own during anti-social hours and help from a senior colleague is not that easy to find.’
This is a scenario Patrick Bowyer recognises.

‘At the inquest into Ben’s death, the two junior doctors involved were squirming and fearful,’ he says.
‘The point is, they did what they felt was right. The problem was there was no one of seniority around to guide them.’


In the past, too, medical students had more experience on the frontline with patients before they became junior doctors, says Dr Ben Dean, a registrar in orthopaedics based in Oxford, who himself qualified nine years ago. 


‘That changed when the General Medical Council took responsibility for a lot of a doctor’s training in about 2005;  it became more bureaucratic.
'Now there’s more formal  teaching, which is a good thing, but because of that there is less emphasis on clinical experience.’


It’s a problem junior doctors themselves recognise. 


When Dr Dean recently conducted a survey of 615 foundation doctors, a staggering 87 per cent believed that ‘incompetent trainees’ could still be allowed to pass the foundation stage because the testing was too focused on ticking boxes and less on core clinical experience. 


Another issue is the cut in hours. 


In 2009, a new European directive was introduced which capped the number of hours junior doctors can work to 48 a week.
‘Most junior doctors would be in favour of an increase in hours to around 50 or 60 per week, which would be better for doctors in terms of training continuity and better for patients in terms of continuity of care,’ says Dr Dean.


Junior doctors themselves recognise their limitations.
‘Part of being a doctor is recognising your limits and knowing when something is outside your competence and referring upward,’ says Dr Tom Dolphin, chair of the Junior Doctors Committee of the British Medical Association.


‘There have been some studies that suggest patients fare a little worse during the first few weeks of August, but that will also be contributed to by the fact that many other grades of doctor also rotate between hospitals on training programmes on the same day, and are therefore perhaps unfamiliar with the new hospital’s systems.


‘The problem is that training is not given much priority in a lot of hospitals and senior doctors are not being given time in their jobs to train their juniors.


‘Likewise, a lack of supervision overnight reflects understaffing and having too few doctors around to provide advice and support.

'Learning requires supervision.’ 


Currently, many patients may be cared for by junior doctors whose only supervision is by consultants at the end of the phone. 


As Carolyn Lowe of Henmans, the law firm that represented Ben Bowyer’s family, says: ‘We see far too many cases where junior doctors are left without adequate supervision and support.


‘They’re often put in charge of wards and expected to look after large numbers of patients — and, unsurprisingly, they struggle.
 
‘We welcome the shadowing scheme.

'However, one week just does not seem sufficient when patients’ lives are at risk.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2181288/Why-risk-dying-hospital-rise-6-cent-tomorrow.html#ixzz22DicT49R

Killer in your. Kitchen...

Killers in your kitchen: Gender-bending packaging, exploding floor cleaners and toasters more deadly than sharks...

By Michael Hanlon
UPDATED: 13:49 GMT, 22 January 2010

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Scientists at Exeter University claimed this week that non-stick frying pans could be bad for your health. A chemical used for their heat-resistant and stain-repelling properties was linked in research to a higher-than-normal incidence of thyroid disease.

Here, our Science Editor MICHAEL HANLON warns of all those other hidden dangers lurking in your kitchen. 

DISHCLOTHS
Damp dishcloths and sponges, left to fester for weeks on end, may contain several tens of thousands of individual micro-organisms per square inch.

In fact, a dirty damp dishcloth probably contains the highest concentration of pathogens anywhere in the house - including the inside of your toilet.

Beware: The kitchen is full of deadly objects and appliances

Wiping your surfaces with one of these feculent horrors will convert a clean and wholesome surface into something reminiscent of a Third World sewer.

   

DANGER RATING: 4/5

FOOD PACKAGING 
An EU report produced in 2009 claimed young children are being exposed to potentially dangerous levels of hormone disrupting chemicals which can affect levels of certain vital body chemicals, particularly in boys.

'Oestrogen-like' chemicals, such as pthalates found in many common plastics, containers and packaging materials, Bisphenol-A (found in food packaging plastics and coating the inside of 'tin' cans) and the (now banned) PCBs still lurking in paints and electrical equipment have been blamed by environmental groups such as the WWF and Greenpeace for cancers, falling sperm counts and even an imbalance in the sex-ratio between baby boys and girls.

DANGER RATING: 1/5

Hazard: Frozen food, once thawed, should be cooked and eaten - don't put the leftovers back in the freezer

LEFTOVER FOOD
It is a rule everyone should know: Cooked flesh can be reheated - but only once.

If you make a casserole, by all means warm it up the next day but if there are leftovers from THAT warmed-up portion they cannot be reheated again.

Similarly, never, ever, re-freeze melted ice cream. When it melts and warms, ice cream provides an ideal breeding ground for various nasties including salmonella and listeria.

In fact, ALL frozen food, once thawed, should be cooked and eaten and never put back in the freezer.

DANGER RATING: 4/5

TOASTERS
Several hundred people a year worldwide are killed by their toasters, compared to eight or nine by sharks.

Toasters are potentially deadly because they contain exposed live electric elements and the way they work invites one of the commonest causes of serious home accidents - electric shocks caused when using a metal knife to prize out a slice of stuck toast.

DANGER RATING: 4/5

 FRIDGES
Overstocking your fridge increases the chances of contaminating cooked food with microbes from, say, raw meat.

Always store the latter on the lower levels, to avoid the chances of blood dripping onto other foodstuffs.
Be aware of how long some foods have been in the fridge - decay is not always obvious. Avoid storing foods in plastic bags, which increase the speed of decay.

DANGER RATING: 2/5

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CHIP PANS
The open chip pan is one of the most dangerous objects most of us will meet in our lives.

Open chip pans are considered so dangerous that several local fire brigades offer 'chip pan amnesties' whereby they can be traded in for much safer enclosed deep-fat fryers.

If your chip pan does catch fire, remember the drill: turn off the heat, and cover the pan with a fire blanket or wet towel until the flames go out. Do not attempt to carry the flaming pan out of the kitchen or throw water on to it.

There is a second hazard related to deep-fat frying. Oil that is brought to the boil, allowed to cool and then reheated over and over again changes its chemical composition and can end up containing dangerous amounts of acyl radicals, chemicals linked to hardening of the arteries and heart disease.

DANGER RATING: 5/5

Risk: Liquids heated in a microwave can be at a temperature higher than boiling point without bubbling

MICROWAVES

There is no evidence that a properly used and undamaged microwave oven poses any health risk whatsoever.

Indeed, there is evidence that some microwaved food is better for you than food cooked by conventional means, especially boiled vegetables.

That said, microwaves do present a small risk. Liquids heated in a microwave can be at a temperature higher than boiling point without bubbling.

Some people have been injured by jets of boiling coffee erupting from microwaved mugs.

Enclosed containers should never be microwaved, and there is a risk of burns from exploding eggs.
Finally, there is a small risk of fire from the electrical arcing that can occur should metal items be placed in the oven.

DANGER RATING: 3/5

CLINGFILM 

Some American studies have drawn a link between chemicals found in certain plastic food wraps and storage containers and hormonal abnormalities, and even cancer.

One study, in the early 1990s, suggested that food wrapped in Clingfilm could become contaminated with chemicals such as pthalates and a substance called DEHA if heated in a microwave - both substances are linked to increased cancer risk.

But these studies were controversial (other scientists found no contamination risk).
To be on the safe side, use glass containers or old-fashioned greaseproof paper and avoid plastic altogether.

DANGER RATING: 1/5

Unhygienic: Microbial activity can continue at temperatures down to a few degrees below freezing

FROZEN FOOD
We are usually aware of when food in the fridge has gone off - it starts to smell, and turn a funny colour.
But what happens in the freezer is usually far less obvious. Food, particularly meat, is often left to freeze, and forgotten - for months if not years.

For some foods this is fine, but it can create a hazard. Most people think that provided the food is frozen solid it cannot go off; this is not so.

Microbial activity can continue, albeit far more slowly, at temperatures down to a few degrees below freezing. Ideally a home freezer should chill food down to -18C or so, and even then it is important to be aware of the guidelines on maximum storage times.

DANGER RATING: 2/5

PESTICIDE RESIDUE
The benefits of these chemicals probably outweigh any harm. But that doesn't mean we should not be aware that there are some unpleasant chemicals out there, particularly some of the organophosphates used to protect fruit and vegetables from pests.

While pesticide residues on fruit and vegetables are almost certainly in concentrations that will not do us any harm, it is always wise to wash these products before eating them.

And be aware that the 'natural' fertilisers, weed and pest-killing chemicals (such as copper sulphate) used by organic farmers can be just as toxic - if not more so - than the synthetic chemicals used by conventional farmers.

DANGER RATING: 1/5

SINK CUPBOARD
Under the typical kitchen sink can be found enough potentially hazardous chemicals to start a minor WMD programme.

Detergents, sanitisers, polishes, caustic sodas and other alkalis, drain unblocking acids and degreasers - all present potentially fatal hazards, particularly to toddlers.

Put a childproof catch on the door, throw away old bottles of chemicals and never use the same space to store food.

DANGER RATING: 3/5

POTS, PANS AND FURNITURE FABRICS
The chemical PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic acid) that's found in non-stick cookware and raised concerns about thyroid disease is also present in furniture, fabrics and some food packaging, where it's valued for its resistance to water and stains.

DANGER RATING: 1/5

CLEANING AGENTS
Sodium hypochlorite solution is an excellent disinfectant, cleaning agent and whitener.

Everyone knows that bleach is toxic if swallowed and can burn or irritate the skin and eyes.

But the greatest hazard with bleach is that when mixed with certain cleaning agents, particularly those containing ammonia, hydrogen peroxide or acids (examples include Harpic toilet cleaner and Jeyes Fluid products), the resulting chemical reactions can release large quantities of deadly chlorine and even nitrogen trichloride, an explosive.

DANGER RATING: 3/5

ANTIBACTERIAL PRODUCTS
A huge market exists for the numerous 'antibacterial' products aimed at that obsessive segment of the population that sees germs lurking in every corner.

Chopping boards and kitchen wipes may be impregnated with chemicals, typically triclosan (a phenol-compound), which, it is claimed, typically 'kill 99 per cent of germs stone dead'.

There are three problems here. First, triclosan itself has been linked to hormonal problems in animal tests.

Second, the one per cent of germs that survive the antibacterial onslaught are going to be tough little blighters, and within a few hours they will have divided and redivided and replaced other, feebler germs.

Finally, there is the 'hygiene hypothesis', which states that one possible explanation for the rise in auto-immune conditions such as asthma and eczema is that our children's immune systems are exposed to far too few germs at the formative stage.

Keep things clean, by all means, but don't go over the top.

DANGER RATING: 3/5

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-1245151/Killers-kitchen-Gender-bending-packaging-exploding-floor-cleaners-toasters-deadly-sharks-.html#ixzz1wvs39ZAg