Doctors have warned in the past that patients who do this could be putting themselves at risk.

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Doctors have warned that anyone who consumed 30 millilitres of the toxic liquor could take up to 12 days to fall ill.

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Doctors have warned that plans to free the top-rated hospitals from government control runs the risk of creating a two-tier health service.

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Still, James Underberg, a cardiologist at the New York University Medical School, warned that "doctors have to be very careful not to overreact" to this kind of statistical data until statisticians have combed the data.

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Patrick Pelloux, head of France's Association of Hospital Emergency Ward Doctors, warned that many sick people would have to wait on stretchers for hospital beds, French radio reported.

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He warned it would have a detrimental effect on the numbers of doctors entering the profession.

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But some GP leaders have warned that focusing on possible conflicts could distract from the main tasks facing doctors under the new structures.

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