Sutton’s services for people with learning disabilities have been slammed by watchdogs who uncovered 15 incidents of serious abuse including two sexual assaults on the same female patient.

Scientists who recreated “Spanish flu” – the 1918 virus which killed up to 50m people – have witnessed its remarkable killing power first hand. The lungs of infected monkeys were destroyed in just days as their immune systems went into overdrive after a Canadian laboratory rebuilt the virus.

Educated women are far more likely to binge-drink in their 20s than those with few qualifications, a study shows. The Institute of Child Health examined the drinking habits of thousands of British women born in 1958.

The sex and dance culture drug crystal meth has become a Class A drug in a bid to prevent it becoming a mainstream epidemic. People who use the stimulant will face up to seven years in jail and an unlimited fine, while dealers could get life behind bars.

Frail old people and disabled adults are to be hit with a 132 per cent increase in home care charges. Labour-run Lambeth council is to ramp up charges for services such as meals on wheels and home help from £7.55 an hour to £17.50.

Referral management schemes pose a serious threat to patients’ interests, argues Peter Lapsley, Chief Executive of the Skin Care Campaign, in this week’s BMJ. Referral management schemes are springing up across the NHS as a means of reducing primary care trusts’ spending on secondary care services.

The pharmaceutical industry, academia and government agencies need to work together to restore faith in drug development, say doctors in this weeks’ BMJ. They argue that the recent litigation over the drug Vioxx, produced by Merck and Co. Inc., has highlighted the failings of the current system, which can be open to abuse.

Doctors should encourage patients with sexually transmitted infections to tell their partners to seek treatment and, in some cases, provide home testing kits or drugs to help reduce infection rates, says a new study on bmj.com.

Changing to a healthier lifestyle appears to be at least as effective as taking prescription drugs in reducing the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, says a new BMJ study. Type 2 diabetes is a growing problem – in England around 1.3 million people have diabetes and around 5% of total NHS resources are used for the care of people with diabetes.

Sweeping powers to target drug traffickers, fraudsters and gang leaders have been announced by the Home Office as it tries to go on the offensive after a difficult week. It also set out moves to allow the public sector and private companies to share information on people suspected of fraud.

{mosimage}But John Reid’s department suffered another setback when it was forced to reactivate emergency plans to house newly convicted prisoners in police cells because of jail overcrowding.

To the dismay of ministers, prison chiefs even had to hold a handful of offenders in court cells in London this week because no police cells were available.

In bitter Commons exchanges with the Prime Minister, David Cameron, the Tory leader, accused Home Office ministers of being more interested in saving their skins than protecting the public in the wake of the criminal records fiasco.

“Super-Asbos” against suspected major criminals could impose restrictions on where they can travel, who they contact, access to the internet, how much money they carry and use of specified bank accounts.

They would be imposed by the High Court, using the lower standard of proof required in civil courts than in criminal convictions.

Each order could cost the taxpayer £40,000 and double that if the suspected criminal appeals against the restrictions imposed upon him. But ministers argued that was a price worth paying to thwart the activities of underworld figures against whom it would be difficult to assemble evidence that would stand up in a criminal court.