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FRENCH COURT WEIGHS ACTION Families of aged care residents in France have begun legal action in a bid to seek accountability for the thousands of lives lost in homes during the pandemic .
Official figures show that nearly 25,000 nursing homes residents died due to COVID-19 within French nursing homes from over 87,000 lives lost altogether , reported France 24 .
However , many residents died after being hospitalised with the virus and many believe that the true death toll may be as high as 50 per cent of all French deaths .
Multiple family members and advocacy groups appeared in a Paris court in a collective effort to get answers from authorities . The hearing involved a special measure to demand access to documents or other material involving decisions at nursing homes as the plaintiffs alleged they have been kept in the dark about the fate of their loved ones .
The complaint , made by families against several nursing homes , the national health agency DGS and the Paris public hospital authority , wants answers about what they see as mismanagement at the start of the pandemic .
Mask shortages for residents and staff , testing shortages , the use of powerful sedatives ( such as Rivotril ) on some residents while homes were locked down and opaque decisions on which residents received hospital treatment for the virus are among the issues that families want to bring to light .
“ We want to ensure that mistakes aren ’ t repeated , that someone is held responsible ,” said plaintiff Sabrina Deliry .
HEALTH WORKERS COULD BE PUNISHED FOR ANTI-VAX MESSAGES Health professionals in Australia could be barred from practising for spreading antivaccination messages , said the national medical boards and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulatory Agency ( AHPRA ), as reported in the SMH .
In a joint statement , the medical bodies said that healthcare practitioners such as doctors , nurses and pharmacists risk being stripped of their licences if they spread misinformation to patients or on social media .
“ There is no place for anti-vaccination messages in professional health practice , and any promotion of anti-vaccination claims including on social media , and advertising may be subject to regulatory action ,” spokesperson for the medical boards and Pharmacy Board chairman Brett Simmonds said .
AHPRA chief executive Martin Fletcher urged all of Australia ’ s 800,000 registered practitioners and 193,800 students to follow the guidelines .
“ If you ’ re a registered health practitioner or student , the best thing to do is to read our joint statement ,” he said .
“ It explains the National Boards ’ expectations of registered health practitioners about receiving , administering and sharing information about COVID-19 vaccines .
“ It ’ s important you understand these expectations so that patients and communities are best protected against the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 .” ■
Second glance
Experts call for second investigation into the source of COVID-19 .
By NCA NewsWire
International virus experts are demanding another investigation into the source of COVID-19 , amid concerns China had too much control over the last .
In an open letter , academics from across the globe , including the Australian National University , called for an “ unrestricted international forensic investigation ”.
A bus carrying the team investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan . Picture : Nicolas Asfouri / AFP
The group said despite previous studies , we are no closer to finding the answers needed to determine the origin of the virus .
“ Finding the origins of SARS-CoV-2 is critically important to both better addressing the current pandemic and reducing the risks of a future one ,” the letter read .
“ Unfortunately , well over a year after the initial outbreak , the origins of the pandemic remain unknown .”
In January , a team of scientists chosen by the World Health Organization visited hospitals and research institutes in Wuhan , the virus epicentre , in search of clues .
But the previous venture has been criticised by the group behind the letter . They said there were several “ structural limitations ” built into the endeavour .
“ We wish to raise public awareness of the fact that half of the joint team convened under that process is made of Chinese citizens whose scientific independence may be limited , that international members of the joint team had to rely on information the Chinese authorities chose to share with them , and that any joint team report must be approved by both the Chinese and international members of the joint team ,” the group wrote .
In the letter , the group provided a list of requirements that should be met for a proper inquiry .
It included being carried out by an independent team so there ’ s no conflict of interest or “ partial control by any specific agenda or country ”.
They also want the team to be made of experts from various fields , from virologists to wildlife experts , and have full access to records and sites , including the wet markets at Wuhan .
Earlier , experts questioned the purpose of WHO ’ s mission , which wrapped up in mid-February after scientists spent 28 days on the ground .
“ It hasn ’ t really given us new information ,” Peter Collignon , a pathologist at ANU who has previously worked on WHO research projects , told ABC News at the time . ■ nursingreview . com . au | 3