The Health News – 22 February 2016

Overview:
• Abul Bajandar a Bangladeshi father dubbed “Tree Man” for massive bark-like warts on his hands and feet has successfully undergone surgery to remove some of the growths.

• Oncologist Dr John Grygiel, whose responsible for giving up to 70 cancer patients at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital significantly lower dosages of chemotherapy drugs than recommended, has taken leave.

• Children from Indigenous communities are almost twice as likely to be hospitalised for unintentional injuries than non-Aboriginal children, a study led by the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 22nd February 2016. Read by Rebecca Foster. Health News

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-20/bangladesh’s-tree-man-has-bark-like-warts-removed-from-hands/7187016

A Bangladeshi father dubbed “Tree Man” for massive bark-like warts on his hands and feet has successfully undergone surgery to remove some of the growths.

A nine-doctor team took three-and-a-half hours to remove the giant warts from Abul Bajandar’s right hand at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, facility director Samanta Lal Sen said.

The 26-year-old was admitted last month for an operation to remove the growths weighing at least 5 kilograms that first began appearing 10 years ago.

“It was a successful operation. We removed warts from all five fingers of his right hand. He’s now happy and was laughing,” Dr Sen said.

He was given the all-clear for surgery after tests confirmed the warts were not cancerous.

The Bangladesh Government [has] agreed to bear the costs of his treatment …

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-19/doctor-responsible-for-low-dosages-of-chemo-drugs-takes-leave/7185898

The doctor responsible for giving up to 70 cancer patients at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital significantly lower dosages of chemotherapy drugs than recommended has taken leave.

Oncologist Dr John Grygiel gave patients with head and neck cancer a third to half of the recommended dosage across three years from 2012 of the drug carboplatin.

The hospital has only just decided to inform them and their families although the hospital said it had known about the issue since at least last August.

Hospital spokesman, David Faktor, said Dr Grygiel was due to retire next month and the hospital suggested he take leave.

…  the doctor accepted that and was not treating patients anymore.

The under-dosage was exposed … on Thursday.

The protocol for carboplatin was approved nearly a decade ago by the NSW Cancer Institute.

It recommends a variable dosage according to the patient’s kidney test, age and sex.

For the most common head and neck cancer treatments, the dose is usually between 200 and 300 milligrams.

Yet Dr Grygiel prescribed the same flat, 100mg for all head and neck patients.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-19/unintentional-injuries-more-likely-in-indigenous-communities/7185212

Children from Indigenous communities are almost twice as likely to be hospitalised for unintentional injuries than non-Aboriginal children, a study has found.

The study, led by the University of New South Wales (UNSW), is the first of its kind in Australia, and found Indigenous children are more likely to be hospitalised for unintentional injuries such as burns, poisoning, and road trauma.

The gap between the two groups is also wider than previously thought.

Indigenous health workers acknowledge the study, published … in the American Journal of Public Health, [which] provides a grim figure, but ..the Federal Government now [says it] has the chance to invest in injury prevention.

The co-author of the paper, the University of Wollongong’s Professor Kathleen Clapham, works in Indigenous health at the Australian Health Services Research Institute (AHSRI).

Ms Clapham, a descendent of the Murrawarri people of New South Wales, told The World Today when an Indigenous child is injured, the whole community is affected.

Health gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people are widely recognised.

the paper used the health data from newborns in New South Wales and followed those children until they were 13 years old.