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Telford MP David Wright
lives on a diet of fags, booze and fried food despite knowing that his
health will suffer, the House of Commons heard.
Mr Wright was speaking
during a debate on a proposed new health Bill to tackle heart disease.
MPs were told that
hundreds of apparently fit young people are dropping dead because doctors
are failing to identify or deal seriously enough with life threatening
heart conditions.
Mr Wright said: “If you
are, like me, one of the people who survives on a diet of Benson and
Hedges, fish and chips and lager, you know that you are probably heading
for some trouble in terms of your health.
That is a choice you make.
“Of course, the big
problem for people affected by sudden death is that they have no
opportunity to make that kind of choice.
“That’s what this
Bill is all about-giving people who are struck down in those circumstances
and giving families who are affected the opportunity for screening so we
can ensure they have an opportunity to avoid the desperately terrible
circumstances of further loss.”
Mr Wright said the Bill
would put the necessary pressure on doctors and the Health Department to
make the extra effort needed to cut the number of deaths.
The Bill has been
introduced by Labour MP Dari Taylor, who was prompted to take up the cause
following the sudden death of a 22-year-old friend of the family.
The
Cardiac Risk in the Young (Screening) Bill would mean anyone showing
symptoms of certain heart diseases, or who had a family history of them,
being referred to a specialist.
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