The UK has seen
remarkable developments in eye surgery which have been reported this week.
Two
patients who were totally blind have had implants fitted which have given them
a perception of light and shape for the first time since losing their eyesight
to the condition retinitis pigmentosa . The remarkable implant seems to
work along similar lines to a digital camera. It appears that the tiny chip picks
up light which is converted to electrical impulses which are passed to the
brain.
One of the two patients interviewed on TV described one
outcome of the surgery as being the ability to dream in colour for the first
time in many years. A few years ago this would have sounded like something from
science fiction.
The chips are of German manufacture and the procedure
carried out by surgeons at Kings College London and the Oxford Eye hospital.
Further good medical news was the appearance at Bolton
Wanderers game this week, of Fabrice Muamba, who famously collapsed with a
cardiac arrest during an FA Cup game with Tottenham Hotspur. He had no independent
heartbeat for 78 minutes and was therefore technically dead. His life was saved
by the remarkable efforts of the medical team at the football ground, including
a cardiologist from the crowd and the London Chest
Hospital.
His survival and recovery has been described as a miracle.
Now you may wonder what all this has to do with a blog about
the law and the practice of Law.
Well it has everything to do with it because we all live in
the real world. Sometimes it easy to think that all medical lawyers are
involved in is the criticism of the NHS and suing them. Things do go wrong and
when that happens the wrongdoer is and should be accountable.
But we should never lose sight of the wonderful work carried
out day in day out in the NHS.
Doctors have been under as much political pressure as
lawyers in recent months and they deserve great credit for everything that they
do.
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