Dead babies placed in coffins of unrelated adults until ’80s, HSE says
The scale of ‘tandem burial’ practice and how it developed is unknown
The Health Service Executive (HSE)has said the practice of “tandem burials” in which the bodies of dead infants were placed in the coffins of unrelated adults was historical but that it did not know precisely the scale of the practice or how it developed in the first place.
However it accepted the practice was likely to have caused “much distress and upset for families both at that time and now”.
The HSE said from the limited information available, it understood that the practice of tandem burials ceased in the early 1980s.
It said it was important to note that the practice did not occur in HSE hospitals today.
The health authority said it was unclear why the practice of tandem burials had evolved.
“The scale of the practice is difficult to determine due to the changed landscape of all healthcare facilities, including maternity hospitals, from that time to today.”
“Furthermore, the record-keeping for such practices was not sufficiently comprehensive in order to allow a full picture in relation to the practice to be established.”
HSE director general Tony O’Brien briefed the Department of Health on the practice at the end of August. This followed enquiries made to the HSE over the summer by a family about deceased relatives.
Mr O’Brien said in a letter to then secretary general of the Department of Health Ambrose McLoughlin it was not certain that the families of both of the deceased babies and adults would always have been informed of the practice.
It occurred in “exceptional circumstances” in the case of a newborn baby who died in hospital and where the other options for burial, in a hospital or religious plot, “were not selected”.
The remains of the baby would then be placed in a coffin of a deceased adult.
The letter, which was obtained by RTÉ under the Freedom of Information Act said: “Our understanding is that the remains would have been placed with adult remains and that ideally the awareness and understanding of both families involved would have been sought, though this is not guaranteed.”
Mr O’Brien stated that the practice had been confirmed by current hospital staff, particularly mortuary staff, who were employed during the period in question.
Fianna Fail health spokesman Billy Kelleher said the revelations raised a number of questions about certain practices in hospitals.
“The information, while vague, will be very distressing for families who may have placed their faith in their local hospital to bury their loved one.”
“We need to establish what hospitals were carrying out this practice, how long did it go on for, and were family members of both deceased notified of the burial procedure. The HSE must be up-front and honest about these issues and ensure that adequate support measures are put in place for all of the families affected.”
Irish economy ekes out growth in third quarter, on track for strong 2014
Ireland’s economy grew just 0.1% in the third quarter as an austerity-weary public appeared to refrain from spending, but the country is still set to be the fastest-growing economy in Europe this year, data showed on Thursday.
That was weaker than some analysts expected, but a surge in gross domestic product in the first six months of the year means little if any quarter-on-quarter growth is now needed to meet government projections for GDP to expand almost 5% this year.
“Today’s data confirm the economy has expanded at a rapid pace in 2014 – although not quite as strong as the exceptional breakneck 6% plus some had expected,” said Conall Mac Coille, chief economist at Davy Stockbrokers.
“This confirms we are on course to be the fastest economy in Europe,” said Mac Coille.
Despite the low quarter-on-quarter figure, the economy grew 3.5% compared with the same quarter last year, the data showed. After exiting its EU/IMF bailout last year, Ireland has been outperforming the rest of the euro zone, where growth is faltering.
It was the third straight period of quarterly growth following an expansion of 1.1% from April to June that saw GDP rise a hefty 7.3% year-on-year, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said on Thursday, revising the figures down a touch.
The government’s austerity drive has helped get the economy back on track, but it has also tested the public’s patience. Tens of thousands of people marched on parliament on Wednesday to protest against the final round of government measures, frustrated at feeling no effect of the recovery they are hearing so much about.
The uneven nature of the recovery was demonstrated in a breakdown of the figures, which showed personal consumption was flat year-on-year having contracted in the second quarter, while exports and investment soared.
A number of economists said the data was surprising given that retail sales volumes rose by almost 5% in the third quarter and consumer confidence hit a seven-year high.
Thursday’s data means the economy has grown 4.9% year-on-year so far this year, the CSO said, a figure finance minister Michael Noonan said kept the government on track to meet its 2014 targets.
The better-than-expected growth in the first half has allowed the government to cut income tax from next month, the first reversal of the austerity drive that began in 2008 and intensified under the bailout programme that Ireland completed last year.
The government wants to bring in further tax cuts in a year’s time, as protests grow 15 months ahead of a parliamentary election. But it will need continued momentum in the economy to do so.
Emergency legislation to be rushed through to close penalty points loophole
The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe.
The transport Minister Paschal Donohoe is to rush through emergency legislation to close a penalty points loophole.
The Fine Gael politician announced today that the measures are required to address a “technical issue” in the law governing the system.
“Amending legislation is being drafted to ensure that there will be no interruption to the enforcement of road traffic offences under the penalty points system,” the minister said.
“This legislation will be published tomorrow and progressed through the Oireachtas next week. In the continued interest of road safety, I will not be making further comment until the publication of the legislation, after which point I will make a full statement,” he added.
The loophole has given rise to fears that ten of thousands of penalty points issued in recent months will be rescinded.
The announcement today came after formal advice was received by Attorney General Maire Whelan.
Potential new pill to curb obesity a step closer
Dr Gardiner suggested that in humans it might be possible to reduce cravings for glucose by altering one’s diet and a drug acting on this system could potentially prevent obesity.
Scientists have made a significant start towards creating an obesity pill. A team of researchers from Imperial College London have discovered the exact brain mechanism that drives our appetite for foods rich in glucose and could lead to treatments for obesity. Glucose is a component of carbohydrates, and the main energy source used by brain cells.
By studying rats, the team identified a mechanism that appears to sense how much glucose is reaching the brain, and prompts animals to seek more if it detects a shortfall. The researchers believe it may play a role in driving our preference for sweet and starchy foods.
Dr. James Gardiner from Imperial’s department of medicine who led the study, said: “Our brains rely heavily on glucose for energy. It’s clearly a very important nutrient, but in our evolutionary past it would have been hard to come by. So we have a deep-rooted preference for glucose-rich foods and seek them out.”
The researchers hypothesised that an enzyme called glucokinase might play a role in driving our desire for glucose. Glucokinase is involved in sensing glucose in the liver and pancreas. It is present in the hypothalamus, an area of the brain that regulates a variety of essential functions including food intake, but its exact role was unclear.
“This is the first time anyone has discovered a system in the brain that responds to a specific nutrient, rather than energy intake in general. It suggests that when you’re thinking about diet, you have to think about different nutrients, not just count calories,” Dr Gardiner said.
Dr Gardiner suggested that in humans it might be possible to reduce cravings for glucose by altering one’s diet and a drug acting on this system could potentially prevent obesity.
Could this BEE HIVE SEALANT be the cure for baldness?
Insects may answer to hair growth problem
Hair today gone tomorrow: Baldy has no use for a brush.
A compound bees use to repair their hives can boost hair growth in a buzzing discovery for bald people.
The natural sealant – called propolis – was tested on mice that had been shaved or waxed, and experts today revealed those that had the treatment re-grew their fur faster than those that did not.
Bees use the substance to seal small gaps in their hives, but now the scientists say the find could help develop new hair loss therapies.
The experts – headed by Dr Ken Kobayashi, of Hokkaido University in Japan – said after propolis was applied, the number of special cells involved in growing hair increased.
They said growth “occurred without any detectable abnormalities in the shape of the follicles”.
Despite using shaved mice rather than those unable to grow fur, the researchers – whose findings are published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry – expect it could also apply to baldness.
They say hair loss often results from inflammation, and propolis contains anti-inflammatory properties.
Crocodiles are closely related to our birds
If you had to think of an animal most closely related to birds, perhaps crocodiles would not be your first choice.
But the two are related, according to new research, although crocodiles are apparently ‘stuck in the past’.
Both share a common ancestor that lived about 240 million years ago and also gave rise to the dinosaurs.
But crocodilians – that’s the group which includes crocodiles, caimans, alligators and gharials – have evolved at a slower rate.
In fact, new genome, or genetic code, studies have revealed their unusually slow rate of genetic evolution.
The unspeedy progress of the reptiles has helped scientists build up a genetic picture of the “archosaurs” which pre-dated dinosaurs, pterosaurs, birds and crocodilians.
Fast in life, but not so quick with evolution
US lead scientist Dr Richard Green, from the University of California at Santa Cruz, said: “The ticking of the molecular clock in the crocodilians is much slower than in other lineages we’re used to looking at, like mammals, which means we can see back into their past more cleanly.
“We know from fossils that the body plan of crocs has remained largely unchanged for millions of years.”
The team sequenced the genomes, or genetic blueprints, of three crocodilian species, the American alligator, the saltwater crocodile, and the Indian gharial.
The analysis, published in the journal Science, indicates that the ancestor of all archosaurs had an extremely slow rate of molecular evolution, which speeded up in the bird lineage.
After the meteor strike thought to have wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago, surviving birds experienced a rapid burst of evolution.
This led to nearly all the species of birds seen on Earth today, numbering more than 10,000.
There’s more than 10,000 types of birds in the world
In related studies, also reported in Science, researchers compared the genomes of 48 bird species selected from all major avian groups and including the woodpecker, owl, penguin, hummingbird and flamingo.
Among other findings, they discovered that birdsong evolved independently at least twice.
Birds were also found to have lost their teeth about 116 million years ago, when the dinosaurs still ruled.
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