Tania Branigan in Beijing
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 2 December 2008 10.44 GMT
Almost 300,000 babies were taken ill due to contaminated milk powder this year, China's health ministry has said; more than five times as many cases as previously disclosed.
It also raised the melamine scandal's death toll from four to six infants, underlining the impact of the country's worst safety scare in years. More than 860 babies are still hospitalised, with 154 of those classed as severe cases.
The crisis caused public outrage because it is thought the chemical was added deliberately to allow substandard milk to pass nutrition tests and because of the cover-up....
... Under the draft, only those whose life or health are seriously damaged would be entitled to compensation. These includes cases in which victims eventually die, are crippled or experience serious psychological damage.
Given the complexity of mental distress cases, the draft doesn't stipulate a uniform compensation standard. Amounts would be left to the courts to decide based on legal precedents.
The law draft was reviewed by the 9th NPC Standing Committee in December, 2002 as a part of the Civil Code draft. The NPC Standing Committee then decided to debate the nine law drafts, which constitute the Civil Code, one by one.
Grieving parents file lawsuit in China (click here)
By Edward Wong
Published: December 22, 2008
DEYANG, China: Parents whose children died in the collapse of an elementary school during the May earthquake that devastated western China have filed a lawsuit against government officials and a construction contractor. The lawsuit is the first filed by grieving parents angered by what they say is shoddy construction that led to the deaths of their children.
The lawsuit was filed Dec. 1 in a court here in the city of Deyang, in Sichuan Province, the region hit hardest by the May 12 earthquake that left 88,000 people dead or missing. It was the deadliest natural disaster in China in more than three decades. The parents who brought the lawsuit said in interviews last weekend that they were waiting to hear whether the court would allow the case to go forward.
Soon after the earthquake, government officials estimated that 7,000 classrooms had collapsed across the quake zone, killing up to 10,000 schoolchildren. The parents who filed the lawsuit Dec. 1 are the fathers and mothers of children who died in the collapse of Fuxin No. 2 Primary School, where at least 127 students were crushed to death....
mental anguish n. (click here) mental suffering which includes fright, feelings of distress, anxiety, depression, grief and/or psychosomatic physical symptoms. It is distinguished from physical pain due to an injury, but it may be considered in awarding damages for physical injury due to a defendant's negligence or intentionally inflicting harm. Where there is no physical injury damages can still be awarded for mental anguish if it is reasonable to presume such would naturally flow from the incident. Examples: holding a pistol to one's head, any threat of bodily harm when it appears it could be carried out, swinging with a scythe even though the assailant missed, or witnessing injury or death to a loved one. There are also situations in which the obvious result of the alleged wrongdoing would be mental distress due to embarrassment or reputation through libel, and therefore damages can be awarded to the distressed party. However, there are limits: in general, breach of contract judgments cannot include damages for mental anguish due to the loss of a deal or employment. But then there is the case of the shop which failed to deliver the bridal gown in time for the wedding---mental anguish flows naturally (along with the bride's tears) from such a breach.
Remembrance Day: Mental anguish needs more focus (click here)
Dr John Raftery
Thursday, 9 November 2000
REMEMBRANCE Day should have more of a focus on the dreadful mental toll war has exacted on thousands of Australian men - and subsequent generations of those men's families - according to an Adelaide University researcher.
Dr John Raftery from the Department of Public Health has carried out extensive research on Australians who fought in World War II, and says these men have not received post-war understanding or assistance for the mental conditions brought about by their participation in warfare.
"Commemoration days such as Remembrance Day and Anzac Day quite rightly focus on the sheer wastage of human life that occurs during wars and the sacrifices made, but I think they should also recognise the ongoing problems it creates for those who come home and the impact this then has on their loved ones," Dr Raftery says.
His PhD research discovered many Australian troops in World War II failed to be clinically diagnosed with mental illnesses caused by the war - a failure which has had enormous repercussions for those soldiers and their families. At the time, mental suffering was attributed to the individual being "weak", rather than being the effect of the brutal nature of war....
(20/01/2006)
Money Sickness Syndrome could affect almost half the UK population (click here)
It’s official, money really does worry us sick
43% of people have experienced Money Sickness Syndrome symptoms
3.8m people admit money worries have caused them to take time off work
More than 10.76m people suffer relationship problems because of money worries, with almost one in five complaining of a sex life slump
Money worries are a significant cause of worry, anxiety and stress according to GP and leading mental health expert, Dr Roger Henderson, who today publishes a paper identifying the condition Money Sickness Syndrome (MSS). Almost half (43%) of the UK adult population is affected by money worries and have experienced MSS symptoms, and in support of the work Dr Henderson has done AXA has conducted national research* to explore the extent of the problem and better understand its implications....
