At least ?100m of NHS money and almost ?2bn worldwide is being wasted each year on indigestion drugs, doctors say. In 2006 alone, expenditure on proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) was ?425m in England and ?7bn globally.
The Conservatives have promised to cut the number of incapacity benefit claimants in Britain by 200,000.
An elderly woman with poor eyesight who drove a disability scooter along a dual carriageway had probably got lost, police have said.
Doctors are being warned not to routinely give people with learning disabilities anti-psychotic drugs to curb aggressive behaviour. An Imperial College London study of 86 patients found the drugs were no more effective than being given none at all. Researchers said it was more important to address the underlying causes.
Teenagers who smoke, or whose mother smoked in pregnancy, are at higher risk of hearing problems and understanding what is being said, a US study says. In tests on 67 teenagers, Yale University found those exposed to smoke had trouble focusing and interpreting sounds when there was a distraction.
The "postcode lottery" in social care for the elderly must be addressed to stop some people using up their life savings to pay for it, a charity says. Everyone over 65 who needs assistance is being funded £25,000 by means of informal and private care to plug a shortfall, Counsel and Care calculates.
