More and more people are working longer hours these days to carve out a decent living. But there was wisdom in the struggle for an 8-hour work day, which now seems largely forgotten. How many people nowadays are leaving the office only at 9.00pm and, in the case of factory workers and security guards, working 12-hour shifts?
The US Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) has warned that the cholesterol-lowering drug Zocor (simvastatin), made by Merck, increases risk of muscle injury when used in large doses. The FDA said that people taking the 80mg dose face an especially high risk of developing muscle problems, including rhabdomyolysis, the most serious form of myopathy, which can lead to kidney damage, kidney failure and even death, reports Business Week.
If a by-election is held in Titi Tinggi, it could turn out to be a referendum on unpopular neo-liberal policies such as the regressive Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the Full-Paying Patients (FPP) scheme. The MCA’s Yip Sun Onn has resigned from his seat in the Perlis State Assembly just days after Indera Kayangan assembly member and Kangar MCA chairman Dr Por Cho Chor replaced him in the Perlis state government exco line-up on 19 March. Utusan reported yesterday that the “replacement was made by the state government as a normal practice upon the request of the MCA leadership itself”. The GST has been shelved for the time being – but it could be resurrected later. At the same time, plans are afoot to extend the Full-Paying Patients (FPP) pilot scheme to other general hospitals.
If you haven’t, it is time you got acquainted with the man: Aneurin Bevan was the Minister of Health in post-war Britain who played a key role in setting up the National Health Service. It was Bevan who uttered these immortal words: “The collective principle asserts that… no society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means.” Which means health care is not a commodity but a basic right that should be made available and accessible to all. It also means we need a top-class public health care system with adequate funding. That was what the speakers at a Sembang-Sembang talk this afternoon, Dr Jeyakumar and Dr Jayabalan, stressed. Many among the audience at the Caring Society Complex in Penang were moved when they heard a woman, Roszita, describing how she lost her husband, Ahmad Nazri, 49, a heart patient, because [Read more]
Interesting developments at Pharmaniaga Bhd, which through a subsidiary was awarded a lucrative concession to manufacture, purchase, store and distribute pharmaceutical and medical products to government hospitals. The concession to privatise the Government Medical Store was originally awarded in 1994 to a subsidiary of United Engineers (M) Bhd known as Remedi Pharmaceuticals (M) Sdn Bhd. Medicine prices soared after the privatisation. Remedi became a subsidiary of Pharmaniaga Berhad in 1999 and was then known as Pharmaniaga Logistics Sdn Bhd. Last December, Pharmaniaga Bhd revealed that the Public Private Partnership Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department had awarded Pharmaniaga Logistics Sdn Bhd a 10-year extension on its concession. The Privatisation Committee of the PPP Unit would negotiate the new terms and conditions of the privatisation concesion and then propose the outcome to the government for further consideration. On 3 March 2010, however, the firm dropped a bombshell when it revealed that [Read more]