Law and Order on ITV on Sunday evening

This was the first time I have ever watched Law and Order. It didn't grab me; I don't think I'll watch it again. However, some comments:

A young woman died in hospital. It was not her illness that killed her; it was the easily avoidable error of administering a fairly commonly prescribed painkiller - codeine - to a patient who was already taking an antidepressant drug known to have an adverse interaction with that painkiller.

The hospital record had been altered to change codeine to paracetamol and a page of the notes was missing. These are serious offences which are, sadly, not uncommon after medical negligence occurs. What is uncommon is for anyone to be punished for it.

The investigators were lied to about it all by several of the hospital staff, such that Bradley Walsh's character comments to his colleague that the staff were all agreed that nobody did anything wrong. - In my experience, this cover-up is standard practice in cases of medical negligence, the difference being in this story, that the lies were checked out, instead of simply being uncritically accepted.

It turned out that it was the consultant who was most to blame for the untimely death of the young woman, because he was addicted to codeine, and this addiction had impaired his mental abilities. He also lied both in court and prior to the court case. The death of the patient was not 'a mistake'. It was a consequence of his drug addiction. Nonetheless, and despite being found guilty, he received only a two-year suspended sentence.

A derisory sentence for avoidably causing the death of a young woman patient; no sentences at all, apparently, for the other hospital staff who sought to pervert the course of justice by lying to the police investigators; lots of sympathy and understanding for the negligent consultant; and bugger-all sympathy and help for the bereaved and blameless father of the deceased. - 10 out of 10 for accuracy about how medical negligence is dealt with in this country...)o:

I watched the film, The Constant Gardener, on ITV last night.

I watched the film, The Constant Gardener, on ITV last night. The acting was consummate and the story compelling. Based on the novel by John le Carré, this political thriller starred Ralph Fiennes as a British diplomat, and Rachel Weisz as his young wife, passionately and actively concerned about the poverty in Kenya, where her husband was posted. She was murdered, and her gentle, grieving, sensitive husband sought to tease out why and by whom. This led him into the typically corrupt world of a powerful pharmaceutical company and disturbing truths about drug testing in countries where lives are cheap and where the profit motive dominates. A story for our time, indeed.

ITV sale of Friends Reunited networking website to DC Thomson, the Scottish publisher

ITV sale of Friends Reunited networking website to DC Thomson, the Scottish publisher, is reported HERE in the Telegraph.

Speaking for myself, I found Friends Reunited a much more useful and user-friendly website before it was sold to ITV three years ago than afterwards. I would even rather pay a subscription to be a member of the site than be assailed by so many adverts and the like. - Also, in the 'good old days', you could contact the website admin about errors and problems with the site and some action/correction would result. Now when mistakes creep in, as they do, you're stuck with them...)o:

Maybe DC Thomson will remedy this. I do hope so. And maybe they will be open to suggestions too. - If anyone from DC Thomson reads this - you've got teams and membership of teams - here is a suggestion from me:
Please will you include choirs and membership of choirs?

ITV's Bariatric Gastric Surgery as treatment for Obesity, Jan 8th 2007. Message for Ricky Grover.

I watched ITV's Tonight with Trevor McDonald last evening. It was a programme about 'Drastic Gastric Surgery', performed as a treatment for obesity, and was presented by the comedian, Ricky Grover, who is himself obese. The government has controversially recommended that severely overweight teenagers go under the knife. Ricky was considering having the surgery to help with his own weight problem. He has tried dieting and exercising but they have not reduced the obesity. The three sorts of operations were explained to us.

Ricky interviewed people who had experienced this surgery. Some were very happy with the surgery and its outcome, but very sadly, one person interviewed was a widower, whose young wife had suffered very great pain and had died as a result of the surgery.

I'm pleased to report that Ricky decided against such surgery for himself.

If you are wanting to lose excess weight, please try this simple, safe, healthy, risk-free, cost-free, drug-free way of losing weight - Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - See my website for further details - http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

And if you know Ricky Grover, please tell him about my website... - I tried to email him from his website but my email was returned to me undelivered.

If you would like to get in touch with me you can do so via my website.