Death by Furby

Hospitals have just lost their last defence as to why things keep going wrong in their wards. Until recently the answer was simple and obvious . . . it was down to the Furby, the stuffed toy with a microchip that could talk back.

The toy was sending out electric and magnetic fields that were affecting medical equipment, doctors surmised. As a result, the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow had banned the toy from its intensive care unit and it was surely only a matter of time before others followed.

But Canadian researchers tested the Furby and found that the fields it was emitting were 70 times less than those of a digital mobile phone.

So, Death by Furby will not be appearing on the coroner’s report after all . . .