XPost: uk.politics.misc, uk.people.health, uk.current-events.general   
   From: banana@REMOVE_THIS.borve.demon.co.uk   
      
   Patients in most or all UK hospitals are banned from using mobile   
   phones.   
      
   The excuse is that they might interfere with oh-so-important medical   
   equipment.   
      
   This is a lie.   
      
   The real reason is to isolate people.   
      
   The second reason is that hospital bureaucrats and the companies behind   
   them make lots of money from installing, maintaining, and operating   
   payphones in hospitals - as has recently made the news. (Ditto with the   
   TV sets, which in some hospitals are fixed so that they can't be turned   
   off).   
      
   I should add that whilst it's a lie to say that mobile phones interfere   
   with medical equipment, it is nonetheless NOT a good idea to have your   
   mobile phone turned on when you don't need it.   
      
   If you leave it turned on, on your bedside table all night long, be   
   aware that you are leaving a microwave transmitter next to your head for   
   several hours at a stretch - NOT a good idea, whether you're at home, at   
   hospital, out camping, or wherever you are.   
      
   If you're in hospital though and need to make or take calls on your   
   mobile, do it covertly if necessary, e.g. in the toilet. Don't worry -   
   it won't affect the working of any medical equipment. It is the people   
   who say otherwise who are anti-social.   
      
   --   
   banana     "The thing I hate about you, Rowntree, is the way you   
               give Coca-Cola to your scum, and your best teddy-bear to   
               Oxfam, and expect us to lick your frigid fingers for the   
               rest of your frigid life." (Mick Travis, 'If...', 1968)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)