The government has been accused of dragging its heels over efforts to extend blue badges for disabled drivers to carers of people with autism. Lib Dem peer Lord Clement-Jones said a report had recommended the move in 2002, yet nothing had been done.
An author who "wrote herself" out of a psychiatric hospital has been nominated for the Orange Prize for new writers.
US scientists have opened the way for the development of a "bionic eye". They used electrodes to stimulate an area of the brain that processes visual information, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reported.
An experimental drug may be able to compensate for the genetic error responsible for some cases of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, US scientists hope. In rodents, the drug PTC124 was able to restore the muscle function normally lost in this disease, Nature reports. Trials have already begun in humans, although the results will take years. The drug works by allowing cells to read through certain mistakes in the genetic code for a protein - dystrophin - missing in 15% of patients with DMD.
There is a lack of information to help people with conditions such as diabetes to access local services, a study says. The Picker Institute said patients with chronic conditions and their carers often came up against "brick walls" when looking for help.
Cheltenham has doubled the number of off-street disabled parking bays in its car parks to 55. Blue badge holders can park all day free of charge in any council off-street car park as long as their badge is displayed.
