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Vol. 7 Issue 180
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May 3rd - May 16th 2024
ENGLAND rugby player Billy Vunipola has been arrested in Mallorca after a ‘violent’ bar brawl during which the 31-year old was tasered twice by local police. Vunipola, who has won 75 caps for the England men’s national rugby union team, is alleged to have tried to attack customers and security staff in the early hours of Sunday morning at the Epic bar in Palma. Policia Nacional were called to the incident at 4.30am local time after the Saracens No.8 took off his top and threatened others with bottles and chairs. Vunipola, who is 6ft 3in tall and weighs over 20 stone, is reported to have been involved in a physical altercation with police before he was tasered twice and then arrested. According to local media reports, Vunipola was initially unaffected by the first taser volt. The Harrow-educated player, who was born in Australia but represents England after qualifying on residency grounds, was taken to nearby Son Espases Hospital where he was sedated and strapped to his bed with several security guards and police officers watching over him.
FOUL PLAY Vunipola is reported to have since been released on bail pending an ongoing investigation after appearing at a court in the Mallorcan capital on Sunday afternoon. A spokesperson for the Policia Nacional said: “In the early hours of yesterday morning, at 4.30am, we arrested a 31-year old foreign man on suspicion of a crime of disobedience and assaulting a police officer. “The man would not listen to reason and confronted the rest of the customers, and the security staff were unable to restrain him or remove him from the premises. “The man pushed and slapped an officer and a policeman pulled out his electric stun gun and fired. “A second projectile was then fired, which did the job, and it was then that the officers jumped on him and proceeded to immobilise him by shackling him, later taking him to Son Espases hospital for assessment and arrest”.
NOLOTIL PAYOUT
THE family of a British expat who died ‘during the prime of her life’ after taking Nolotil have revealed how they sued Spanish caregivers and won. Yvonne Flowers, 67, had been living in Spain for 23 years when she fell over, suffering two slipped discs and pinched nerves. She only spent a week in hospital but during that time, Hospital Clinica Benidorm ramped up 20 counts of negligence, including the prescription of Nolotil. In 2021, the private hospital paid out over €400,000 after two court cases in both the UK and Spain. “They’ve taken a mother’s life, a grandmother’s life. Money can’t bring her back but it is justice for her,” Jenna Flowers, Yvonne’s step-daughter, told the Olive Press. Though officially they admitted no liability, the family allege HCB ‘hid quite a bit about Nolotil’.
How the family of a British woman ‘killed by the lethal Spanish painkiller’ sued and won
EXCLUSIVE Yvonne went into hospital on FebBy Yzabelle Bostyn ruary 2, 2020 after her fall. She was told she would have to wait a week for an operation despite be- Although Yvonne was becoming ing in ‘intense’ pain. more and more ill, the family claim Yvonne was put on a painkiller drip, her condition was ‘ignored’ by hoswhich was moved after a few days. pital staff. According to the family, the wound By Saturday, she was on oxygen and was not cleaned nor bandaged and had ‘blisters’ all over her face, signs she caught an infection, eventually of an allergic reaction to Nolotil. developing sepsis. Yvonne’s pain intensified, Nerves leading doctors to prescribe said anything or did three doses of Nolotil, a drug KILL “Nobody anything about it. They were known to have potentially THE all in denial,” Petrer said. deadly side effects for NorthDRUG “They just upped the painkillern Europeans. ers. If they had done their job “From that point on, she maybe she would have stood a started to deteriorate quite chance of surviving.” rapidly,” said Yvonne’s Although Yvonne became husband, Peter Flowers. ‘unable to speak or get out “The next day she suffered of bed’, she was still taken to all day. She was in a lot of surgery on Monday. pain from the sepsis and on When she arrived the surgeon top of that, she had been givreportedly asked: ‘What is this en Nolotil so her immune system woman doing on my operating tawas taken away.” A popular painkiller in Spain, No- ble? She is seriously ill.’ lotil is known to reduce the white Yvonne was immediately taken to blood cell count of some North- A&E but her organs had ‘already ern Europeans to dangerous lev- started to shut down’. els, significantly weakening the The beloved mum and grandmother died the following morning on Tuesimmune system. day, February 12, little over a week after going into hospital for back GRANDMOTHER: Yvonne issues. with stepdaughter Jenna Immediately following their mothand grandchild er’s death, Yvonne’s children based in the UK flew to Spain to understand how their healthy mother could have died in the ‘prime of her life’. According to Peter, hospital officials told the family to ‘get on with their lives’ claiming Yvonne died of sepsis. Despite repeated attempts to uncover the truth, the family was met with silence. But Peter wanted justice for his wife. He told the Olive Press: “People said I was wasting my time. But, I had to get some justice.” Peter filed a claim in London,
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HAPPY FAMILY: Before the horrific tragedy
backed by his two children and three grandchildren. The court found 20 counts of negligence including ‘failure to treat infection’, ‘prescription of Nolotil without monitoring’, ‘failure to notice, heed or treat development of potential agranulocytosis and sepsis, known risks of Nolotil’. In particular, the case found HCB ‘prescribed Nolotil to the deceased when it was contraindicated’ due to Yvonne’s British heritage.
Court
HCB’s insurance company, Berkley Seguros España settled out of court, admitting no liability and paying out some £200,000. Months later, the case was brought to Benidorm’s Palau de Justicia. They extended the British judge-
ment and the insurance company was ordered to pay out over €200,000. Despite some justice for Yvonne’s family, Jenna says it is not enough. “How many more people need to die for them to do something about it? Mum died because of Nolotil.” The Olive Press has contacted Hospital Clinica Benidorm for comment but received no response. However, the private hospital group responded to the Olive Press campaign urging hospitals to follow AEMPS advice. They said: “At HCB Hospitals, we are very aware of the recommendation not to prescribe Nolotil to foreign patients, even though it is not an absolute contraindication.”
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