A coroner has called for 'life-saving' health warnings to be added to supermarket bought protein shakes after a 16-year-old schoolboy suffered 'irreversible brain damage' triggered by a rare genetic disease after drinking one.
'...and this is something, so let's do it! Hang the cost!'
The disease is a type of urea cycle disorder - a group of genetic disorders caused by a deficiency of one of the six enzymes in the urea cycle, which is responsible for the removal of ammonia from the blood stream.The deficiency is extremely rare and is estimated to affect one in 50,000 to 80,000 people.
Speaking on Tuesday, Coroner Tom Osborne said: 'Concerning these protein drinks, my preliminary view about them is that I ought to write to one of the regulatory authorities that some sort of warning ought to be put on the packaging of these drinks because, although OTC is a rare condition, it can have harmful effects if someone drinks (one) and it causes a protein spike.'
Might as well demand the government buy metal head shields for us all in case of asteroid strike...
Finbar O'Callaghan, professor of paediatric neurology at the Institute of Child Health, University College London, agreed intervention was needed, describing it as 'potentially life-saving'.
Of course he does. It's not his money, either, is it? But you know what else is 'life saving', prof? The NHS doing its job...
Professor O'Callaghan told the inquest on Tuesday that if an ammonia test had been carried out on the day Rohan was admitted to hospital, it was 'probable' he would have survived, agreeing with a suggestion by the family's lawyers that it was a 'missed opportunity'.
He was also critical of the decision by a specialist hospital - known as a tertiary centre - not to accept a referral for the 16-year-old to their paediatric neurological team because the West Middlesex Hospital had classified him as an adult patient.
Sadly, NHS red tape fuck ups aren't as rare as this deficiency. We'd all be better off if they were.
