Roy Lilley—blogger, NHS and social care agent provocateur, fettered by none, master of the timely hyperlink, and coiner of deliciously irreverent names for the great and the good. I do chuckle when he refers to Simon Stevens as Tarzan. I read all his blogs—his often acid shots are compelling . . . unless they are […]
Category: Columnists
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . A twist on the Nobel Prize
As I was saying, bile and gall, from the same linguistic roots, mean the same things. At least, “bile” means a secretion of the liver, anger, ill temper, and bitterness, and so does “gall”, although there are meanings of “gall” (impudence, for example) that do not belong to “bile”. The King James’ Bible, does not […]
Paul Glasziou and Iain Chalmers: How systematic reviews can reduce waste in research
If you asked a member of the public “Should researchers review relevant, existing research systematically before embarking on further research?” they would probably be puzzled. Why would you ask a question with such an obvious answer? But in the current research system, researchers are only rarely required by research funders and regulators to do this. […]
Richard Smith: The Catch 22 of health strikes
Junior doctors are clearly extremely angry. Some 15 000 junior doctors recently protested against changes in their contract. As there are about 55 000 junior doctors in England, that’s the equivalent of about 16m of the general population protesting a change. That would be a revolution. But why are junior doctors so angry and what should they do about their […]
Richard Smith: Health research when carbon matters more than money
As I write this, the strongest hurricane ever detected in the Western Hemisphere is approaching the coast of Mexico, where my son lives. It may have nothing to do with climate change (or disruption, as I prefer to call it), but it probably does. Recently we heard that the permafrost is thawing faster than ever and […]
William Cayley: Neither complementary nor conventional
I appreciate Timothy Caulfield’s exploration of the “straw men” set up in many a discussion over integrative, complementary, or alternative medicines (CAM for short). However, I think we need to take the argument one step further. As he makes clear, many of the arguments proposed by “CAM-ers” against “conventional” medicine also apply to and undercut […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . All gall
The Old English dictionary called the Epinal glossary, glossed the Latin word “bile”, a form of bilis, as “átr”, later spelt atter, meaning gall or bitterness. However, “atter” and “bile” or “gall” are not etymologically connected. The Indo-European root ATR meant fire, and by association blackening caused by fire; bile and gall came from GHEL, […]
Richard Smith: A better way to publish science
Journals have been the main way to publish scientific research for 400 years, and remarkably they still are despite 20 years of the World Wide Web. But it’s becoming increasingly clear both that the journal model is beginning to creak and that better models are appearing. I’m working with F1000, and we propose moving from […]
David Kerr: Don’t move fast and break things
New technology companies need the oxygen of someone else’s money to survive and grow, that’s how capitalism works. Here in California, multi-million dollar investments and eye-watering billion dollar company valuations are everyday news. The ultimate goal of new technology companies is to gain “unicorn” status as rapidly as possible i.e. be valued at more than […]
Desmond O’Neill: The Healing Touch
Although not as grand as the Museum Quarter of Hapsburg Vienna, Dublin has a proportionately rich concentration of museums, galleries, and Victorian heritage alongside Trinity College Dublin, our own mini Museum Quarter. The analogy is not entirely without basis as both concentrations arose in the context of large empires, and elements of both have taken […]