18 November 2011
A summary of recent M.E. related stories in the news. Headlines appearing in the media as dated.
Osborne scraps inflation-linked benefits
Under current Government rules, the annual April increase in pensions and benefits is linked to the inflation figure from the previous September. As this September’s inflation figure was a record 5.2%, which would lead to an increase of £1.8billion, Chancellor George Osborne has decided to use a lower inflation figure of 4.5% to calculate the April 2012 uprating. This means that 5.7million people claiming disability and employment benefits will lose out on between £50 and £100 a year.
Daily Mail, online
18/11/11
Councils cutting back on adult social care
A new report from the Audit Commission details the extent of local council cutbacks. Four out of 10 will tighten eligibility criteria for adult social care, thought the bigger councils are able to largely protect adult social care.
Financial Times, online
17/11/11
Reporting on the cause of CFS
Henry Gee examines the way the link between XMRV and CFS has been studied and reported on in the press, concluding that “one must be very, very careful before jumping in to proclaim that the ‘cause’ of a disease has been found.”
BBC Focus, Science and Technology, p 25
01/12/11
Spare a thought for people with M.E.
In a letter to the editor, Dr John Greensmith, asks readers to spare a thought for people with M.E. at Christmas. “It is a demanding time for those with an abundance of health and wealth. It is a testing time for all individuals and relationships, which is exacerbated to intolerable when one is constantly ill,” he says.
Northern Echo, p 19
17/11/11
As above
Garstang Courier, p 7
16/11/11
As above
Malton & Pickering Mercury, p 8
16/11/11
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