By Ellie Broughton
Our round-up of the health headlines on Friday 15 April.
'BBC films man taking his life ', read the Daily Mail's splash today. The Telegraph was also up in arms about the controversial new documentary about Diginitas , which includes a scene in which a man ends his life at the Swiss clinic. Dr Peter Saunders, director of Care not Killing accused the BBC of being a ‘cheerleader' for euthanasia and says that the documentary will not be a balanced view of assisted dying.
The BBC defended its decision to make the documentary – Charlotte Moore, the commissioning editor for documentaries, pointed out that assisted death is an important topic in the UK.
After banging a drum about assisted death, the Mail then turns to its hopes for a universal cancer jab which it reports could be available in two years time.
TeloVac is currently being trialled by pancreatic cancer patients, and is reported to work by using the body's own immune system. The Times anticipates a little more science education in its readers: it explains that the vaccine primes the immune system to recognise and kill tumour cells.
Professor Peter Johnson, chief clinician at Cancer Research UK, mentions that similar immune-stimulating therapies for skin cancer and hormone-resistant prostate cancer gave oncologists hope for the future of long-lasting cancer treatments
The actress Catherine Zeta-Jones has just disclosed that she's being treated for bipolar disorder – making her the perfect celebrity story for the Guardian today. As well as giving its own medical notes on the patient, the paper also highlights the opportunity for campaigners to bring the disease into the light.
The biggest winner from CZJ's revelation? Shockingly, Daily Digest thinks it's the Sun. The actress got a fairly gentle headline: ‘Bipolar Zeta in clinic five days – star's depression after Michael's cancer fight'.
Just eight years previously, when Frank Bruno was sectioned under the Mental Health Act following a breakdown, the headlines yowled, ‘Bonkers Bruno locked up'. Could it be that the red-tops now understand the blues?
Spotted a story we've missed? Let us know and we'll update the digest throughout the day...
Daily digest Catherine Zeta Jones
