We demand work! ‘Dispossession’, patronage and village labour in Bibiyana,Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

This paper critically appraises the usefulness of idioms and theories of ‘dispossession’ to describe changes taking place in rural Bangladesh, where rapid industrialization and ‘development’ have led to profound shifts in the agrarian economy. On the basis of long-term fieldwork in north-eastern Bangladesh, where the multinational company Chevron operate a large gas field, I argue that rather than political and economic struggles in the area involving access to land, it is access to work which is now all important for livelihoods and, as such, has become the basis for local patronage and political power. Theories of ‘accumulation by dispossession’, still widely cited in the anthropology of neo-liberal development in South Asia, are thus of limited help in explaining the changes and continuities which animate local political and economic struggles.     

Sudden death in children due to mesenteric defect and mesenteric cyst.

Two cases of sudden death in young female children due to small intestinal volvulus are reported, which involved a mesenteric defect and a mesenteric cyst. Death due to small intestinal volvulus is uncommon, especially when complicated by either a mesenteric defect or cyst.     

Treating drug-dependent patients in hospitals

Are hospital staff legally permitted to test drug-dependent patients for drugs or infectious disease without the patient's consent in order to treat the patient or to protect themselves or other patients? What should staff do with "suspicious" items in the patient's possession (drugs, credit cards in different names, firearms)? Can drug-dependent patients lawfully use illicit drugs in hospital? Who should supply and administer them?     

The European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicines and European Regulation of Pharmaceuticals

Abstract: The new European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products is the focus of the EC's new regulatory framework for approval of pharmaceuticals for human and veterinary use. This article considers past efforts at European pharmaceutical regulation, discusses the new 'centralised' and 'decentralised' procedures, and offers a functional analysis of the new system. It addresses European regulation of biotechnology, including Parliament's 1995 rejection of the proposed biotechnology directive using its codecision powers. It also reviews European case law and suggests that the Court of Justice's decision in Keck provides a useful way to analyse pharmaceuticals' place in the free movement of goods. While the new framework will likely improve approval of pharmaceuticals and over time lead to greater centralisation of the process, Member States will still retain some autonomy over the actual use of approved drugs, particularly through their continued control of conditions of reimbursement in national health systems.