By Ian Quinn
Our roundup of health news headlines on Tuesday 2 November.
The prospect of a cure for the common cold will no doubt delight GPs across the globe today, as they look forward to millions of extra patients flooding their waiting rooms and using up consortia prescribing budgets.
Today's papers report scientists have pinpointed a way to interfere with the chain reactions in people's bodies that are to blame for everything from an irritating cough to a full blown bout of winter vomiting.
The breakthrough by boffins at Cambridge University could see new pills available for GPs to prescribe within a decade, it is reported, so give it 15 years before a new deadly resistant superbug emerges to wipe out the human race.
The Daily Mail is up in arms today at claims reported in the Lancet by former Government drug's adviser, Professor David Nutt, that alcohol is a bigger threat to society than heroin and crack cocaine.
Professor Nutt's study saw booze score a table topping 72 on a new zero to 100 based harm scale, with heroin (55) and crack (54) made to look like also-rans in comparison but the Mail reports anger both from drug campaigners and the wine industry who claim the professor has lost the plot and might just have an axe to grind with his former employer.
Speaking of which, a nurse has made the headlines after her outrage at cuts accidently found its way into the hands of devastated relatives.
The nurse allegedly left a sarcastic handover note to colleagues at a ward for terminally ill patients, which had earmarked beds for patients first in the queue in God's waiting room, reading ‘hopefully they will not last more than two days'.
Unfortunately the note was found by of one of the patients' family members.
Spotted a story we've missed? Let us know, and we'll update the digest throughout the day...
Daily Digest - 01 Nov 2010
