While robotic surgery is advancing rapidly, experts warn that medicine cannot function without human judgement, accountability and ethical responsibility.
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Health
Man who took own life after vaccine complications was denied pay out
An NHS pharmacist who took his own life after the Covid vaccine left him suffering with paralysing complications has his request for compensation rejected.
John Cross was told by the official medical assessor for the government’s Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) that the Covid vaccine had caused his rare neurological effects but he wasn’t disabled enough for a payment.
The VDPS was set up in 1979 to make one-off payments of £120,000 to people who have suffered rare, but significant, side effects to various vaccines.
Mr Cross was a strong supporter of vaccination and was eager to get his jab to protect vulnerable and elderly relatives but two weeks after his first dose he began to suffer from progressive paralysis that travelled through his body.
He was unable to move, blink or breathe and was admitted to intensive care where he was given a breathing tube in his neck and nursing staff had to tape his eyes closed so he could sleep.
Doctors eventually diagnosed Mr Cross with Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy, swelling of the nerves that leads to a loss of strength and sensation, and relapsed several times.
John Cross pictured in hospital where he spent seven months recovering after being diagnosed with Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy
Mr Cross eventually learned to eat, walk and talk again but his mobility and fitness never returned to the level it was before he got sick
After seven months in hospital recovering, he slowly learned to eat, walk and talk again but his mobility and fitness never returned to the level it was before he got sick. He was left with chronic pain and numbness and relapsed several times.
Doctors urged Mr Cross to submit a claim to the VDPS but after a two years of delays, only one review of his medical records and no face-to-face assessment, his claim was rejected.
His widow, Christine, told Sky News: ‘Nobody spoke to him. There was no personal contact, nothing. Just fill in this form and that was it.
‘I’m very angry. John went through enough with the illness and the recovery without going through the trauma of this bureaucracy.’
His mental health began declining shortly after the rejection and he eventually took his own life in October 2023 after another flare-up meant he would have to receive more gruelling treatment.
Mr Cross’s eldest son, Adam, said his father dreaded the intense dialysis-like treatment to remove rogue antibodies from his blood because it left him extremely fatigued for days after.
Mr Cross had begun gathering medical evidence to have the judgement overturned before he took his own life but he became increasingly anxious and overwhelmed.
His family told Sky News that they are going to try have the judgement overturned and are calling for urgent reform to the government’s Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.
His widow, Christine, told Sky News: ‘I’m very angry. John went through enough with the illness and the recovery without going through the trauma of this bureaucracy’
His family told Sky News that they are going to try have the judgement overturned and are calling for urgent reform to the government’s Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme. Pictured left to right: His daughter, Liz Whitehead, and his two sons Adam and Phillip
His youngest son, Phillip Cross, said: ‘We want some good out of this and to get the system changed in memory of dad.
‘You look at everything and it’s just wrong. It’s unjust.’
His daughter, Liz Whitehead, said: ‘We’ve all had our vaccinations. And we continue to since we’ve lost dad.
‘But now you start to question. If a rare, unusual thing were to take place, the system’s not got your back. It’s not there for you… is it worth the risk?’
Under the VDPS, a medical examiner assesses patient records and testimonies from doctors involved in the claimant’s care.
The claimant must be deemed to be 60 per cent disabled to qualify for payment. For example, an amputation below the knee would be deemed sufficient for a payout.
However, the Cross family’s solicitor, Peter Todd, of Scott-Moncrieff and Associates, said medical assessors struggle to make ‘apples and pears’ comparisons with complex damage from vaccines.
He said: ‘The threshold is often misunderstood as being very high, akin to being totally paralysed.
‘But it isn’t. It’s a much lower standard, and they have to take into account both the physical disablement and the psychological impact.’
Mr Todd has tracked the number of applications sent to the VDPS. Before the pandemic there were a few dozen each year but 14,000 people have made claims since the COVID vaccine rollout in late 2020 according to Freedom of Information requests submitted by Mr Todd to the NHS Business Services Authority.
Just over 6,000 have been given news of an outcome so far and 180 people have been told they would be given a payment.
Another 350 people have been told that the vaccine caused their complications on the balance of probabilities but that they didn’t meet the 60% disability threshold for a pay out.
Wife of former Deputy Senate President Ekweremadu returns home following custodial sentence, while her husband remains imprisoned in UK.
The wife of former Nigerian Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, Beatrice, has returned to Nigeria after being released from a prison in the United Kingdom.
Her arrival in the country on Tuesday, January 21, 2026, followed the completion of the custodial portion of her sentence for her role in a high-profile organ-harvesting conspiracy.
Mrs Ekweremadu was received by family members and close associates at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, marking her first time on Nigerian soil since the legal saga began in mid-2022.
While her return has sparked celebrations in her hometown of Mpu, in the Aninri Local Government Area (LGA) of Enugu State, it came amid the continued incarceration of her husband in London.
The return of the former Deputy Senate President’s wife followed her May 2023 conviction by the Old Bailey in London.
She was sentenced to four years and six months in prison for conspiring to facilitate the travel of a 21-year-old Lagos Street trader to the UK for the purpose of harvesting his kidney.
The organ was intended for the couple’s daughter, Sonia, who suffered from a chronic kidney condition.
The case, which was prosecuted under the UK’s Modern Slavery Act 2015, marked the first time the legislation was used in a human organ-harvesting prosecution.
Under UK law, non-violent offenders are typically eligible for release on license after serving half of their custodial term.
Reports indicated that Mrs. Ekweremadu’s release was further facilitated by her good conduct record and by a broader UK government initiative to address severe prison overcrowding.
Despite his wife’s return, Senator Ekweremadu remains in a UK correctional facility serving a significantly longer sentence.
In May 2023, the former lawmaker was handed a nine-year and eight-month term, as the court deemed him the primary driver of the conspiracy.
Efforts by the Nigerian federal government to secure his release or repatriation have so far been unsuccessful.
In late 2025, a high-powered diplomatic delegation visited London to explore a Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA) that would allow the Senator to serve the remainder of his term in a Nigerian facility.
However, the UK Home Office reportedly rejected the proposal in November 2025, citing concerns over the guarantee of the sentence’s continued enforcement if transferred to the Nigerian jurisdiction.
The third convict in the case, Dr. Obinna Obeta, who was described by the prosecution as the medical “middleman,” continues to serve a 10-year prison sentence in the UK.
Meanwhile, the couple’s daughter, Sonia, who was cleared of all criminal charges during the 2023 trial, remains in the United Kingdom, where she is reportedly receiving ongoing medical treatment for her condition.
Health
Elon Musk Claims Going To Medical School Is Now Pointless Because Robots Will Replace Human Surgeons By 2030 (Video)
Elon Musk has asserted that medical degrees may soon become obsolete, as AI-powered robots are expected to surpass human surgeons in performance.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO claimed that humanoid robots like Tesla’s Optimus will outperform the world’s best surgeons within three years.
Speaking on the Moonshots podcast hosted by Peter Diamandis, Musk argued that human doctors are slow to train, prone to error, and fundamentally limited.
“Right now there’s a shortage of doctors and great surgeons,” Musk said.
“[It takes] a super long time to learn how to be a good doctor Doctors have limited time, they make mistakes. How many great surgeons are there? Not that many,” he added.
“So don’t go to medical school?” Diamandis asked Musk.
In a recent development, the ongoing controversy surrounding Ayo Labinjoh, the mother of Anu and Afrobeats superstar, Davido, over partenity dispute has intensified.
It’s worth noting that Ayo Labinjoh and Davido have been in the headlines over paternity dispute, with the singer claiming five DNA tests yielded negative results
In a fresh Instagram post, Ayo shared an existing DNA test result contradicting Davido’s earlier claim.
She emphasized that the DNA test result was valid, while investigative journalist, Kemi Olunloyo has fought vigorously for her daughter.
Her post reads,“The ONLY DNA 
TEST Fake
No swab, just bl00d 
Not 2, Not 5.We still haven’t seen David post today online and in newspapers”.
Meanwhile, Davido has revealed that his father, Dr. Adedeji Adeleke, played a significant role amid his paternity dispute with Ayo Labinjoh.
In a recent tweet on X (formely Twitter), the ‘Feel’ crooner shared that his father insisted that he undergo DNA test.
“You guys don’t know my father..He’s even the one that forced me to go. Adeleke’s we don’t play about Blood on this side”, The tweet reads.
Meanwhile, Cubana Chief Priest’s alleged baby mama, Helen Atti, has weighed in on Davido’s paternity dispute.
She took to the singer’s comment section, writing, “Please just help her, you can still adopt her, it doesn’t mean anything. I know you love children a lot, not like Pascal Okechukwu, big belle for no reason”.
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