Forceps failure

摘要

Sowe of the surgical tools introduced this year to help prevent transmission of vCJD have caused surgeons serious problems, New Scientist has learned. The tool, which is thrown away after a single use, is a pair of electrical forceps for heat-sealing blood vessels after tonsillectomy. The NHS called for disposable versions in January on the advice of Britain's Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee. Hospitals bought them from suppliers in a number of countries. New Scientist has established that some were actually reusable devices made in nations where cheap labour makes them inexpensive enough to be disposable.