Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Adrian Goldberg presents cutting edge investigative journalism, as well as taking on listeners' campaigns and consumer issues.Some nurses are defying their own professional standards when it comes to administering Botox. Botox is a prescription-only drug and has to be prescribed by a specialist nurse or a doctor in a face-to-face consultation. But some nurses are defying their own professional regulator by using what's called a remote prescribing service. A remote prescriber is a doctor who is contacted on the phone and issues a prescription after talking to the patient - sometimes for just three or four minutes. But new instructions from the nursing regulator, the UK Nursing and Midwifery Council, say remote prescribing should not be used for Botox. The regulations have been tightened to improve patient safety. But some nurses seem intent on defying them. 5 Live Investigates asks why - and examines the role of a Harley Street practice that still offers remote prescribing. Also, the number of people dying or made ill through carbon monoxide poisoning is being grossly under-estimated by the authorities. A charity that promotes the safety of heating systems says in cases of unexplained deaths, scientists are failing to test for signs of carbon monoxide. 5 Live Investigates looks into one case where a man died as a result of carbon monoxide and no one realised, leaving other tenants exposed to the poisonous gas for a further week which left them ill. The Health and Safety Executive has also been accused of not doing enough to investigate possible carbon monoxide cases.Some businesses are facing massive bills because their energy companies failed to read the meter properly. One company says it is facing closure because it says it can't afford the demand that's dropped through the letterbox. 5 Live Investigates finds that some of the problems have come about because meter readers didn't jot down all the figures.And the wrong sort of passengers forecasts: as the row over the new high speed rail route between London and the north of England intensifies, 5 Live Investigates asks why the rail industry doesn't seem to be able to correctly predict passenger figures. To contact the programme, email [email protected] - or send comments via Twitter to @5LInvestigates.