Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

HEALTH

French public warned to avoid ‘toxic lip balms’

Lip balm users have been warned by a leading French consumer group about the dangers of smearing their lips with the product after their tests found that certain balms contained toxic substances.

Published: 26 September 2017 16:13 CEST
French public warned to avoid 'toxic lip balms'
Photo: AFP

Half of the 21 products put to the test by UFC Que-choisir were discovered to have potentially harmful ingredients, including lip balms from large cosmetic brands Garnier, La Roche Posay, Carmex, and Le Petit Marseillais. 

The consumer group warned consumers to stay away from the balms which were found to have carcinogenic substances.

Others contained Mosh – mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons – which if swallowed, can make their way into the lymph nodes and liver and inflame them. 

“The level of Mosh (mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons) in these lip balms is extremely undesirable, on account of their toxicity when they are ingested,” the report said. 

READ ALSO:

 

But there is good news for anyone with chapped lips – the safest, most effective, and hydrating lip balm was found to the cheapest. 

Lidl’s “Cien” branded balm was the cheapest of the bunch priced at just 75 centimes. 

“The enormous price differences aren’t reflected in the results,” said representatives from UFC Que Choisir. 

The lip balms consumers were urged to avoid were:

  • Macadamia lip balm from Yves Rocher 

  • Trésors de miel nourishing lip balm from Garnier Ultra Doux 

  • Original classic care from Labello

  • Classic moisturising lip balm from Carmex 

  • Nultric transforming balm for dry lips from La Roche Posay

  • Homéostick from Boiron

  • Cold cream nourishing balm from Avène

  • Nutrition balm for dry lips from Le petit Marseillais

  • Hydrating lip balm from Aptonia

  • Hydrating lip balm from Uriage

Earlier this year, French authorities promised to investigate 1,000 cosmetic products found to contain illegal and undesirable substances after the consumer group published a similar report. 

By Anna Schaverien

For members

HEALTH

When can doctors in Denmark refuse to continue treating patients?

General Practitioners in Denmark have the right to break off a patient-doctor relationship in specific circumstances.

Published: 1 August 2024 16:35 CEST
When can doctors in Denmark refuse to continue treating patients?

Although doctors in Denmark have the right to decide not to continue treating a patient – requiring them to find a new GP – the circumstances in which this can happen are limited, and must be approved by health authorities.

The frequency in which the circumstances arise is also low. A doctor decided to no longer receive a patient on 375 occasions in 2016, according to the medical professionals’ journal Ugeskrift for Læger. The following year, newspaper Jyllands-Posten reported the figure at 458.

There are two main categories of circumstances in which a doctor can choose to take this step. The first is in instances of violent or threatening behaviour from the patient towards the doctor. 

The second (and most common) is when the doctor considers the relationship to have deteriorated to the extent that confidence has broken down, according to Ugeskrift for Læger.

It should be noted that patients are not bound by any restrictions in this regard, and can decide to change their GP without having to give any justification.

A patient also has the right to appeal against a doctor’s decision to ask them to find a new GP. This is done by appealing to the local health authority, called a Region in the Danish health system.

In such cases, a board at the regional health authority will assess the claim and if it finds in favour of the patient may order the doctor to attempt to repair the relationship.

Doctors cannot end a relationship with a patient purely because a patient has made a complaint about them to health authorities. This is because patients should have the option of making complaints without fear of consequences for their future treatment. 

However, if this is accompanied by the conclusion on the doctor’s part that there is no longer confidence in them on the part of the patient, they can remove the patient from their list.

The right to no longer see patients in the circumstances detailed above is provided by doctors’ collective bargaining agreements, the working conditions agreed on between trade unions and employer confederations under the Danish labour market system.

SHOW COMMENTS