A kiss without a moustache, the proverb says, is like an egg without salt and, added Jean Paul Sartre, like good without evil. The proverb doesn’t make clear which kisser should have the moustache and who loses out, but we can perhaps assume that the man has the moustache and the woman suffers a saltless […]
Edward Davies hits the nail on the head: “The fear of both patient and doctor can sometimes override the best knowledge, research, and information known to man.” I do not think, however, that it is just fear of getting sued that drives us physicians towards over-testing and overdiagnosis. Rather, it is existential fear of uncertainty, […]
“Doc, how’s my blood pressure? What about my cholesterol? How about my weight?” “There’s room for improvement,” I say. “How much do you exercise? How many fruits and vegetables do you eat?” “Oh, I’m too busy right now for exercise—and I have to eat what I can get when I’m on the road. But I […]
The piece that follows is my foreword to a new and fascinating book by Peter Gøtzsche, the head of the Nordic Cochrane Centre, entitled Deadly Medicines and Organised Crime: How Big Pharma Has Corrupted Healthcare. I hope that this piece might prompt you to read the book. I was not paid for my foreword and […]
Most scientific studies are wrong, and they are wrong because scientists are interested in funding and careers rather than truth. That was the chilling message delivered by the smiling, brilliant, erudite, and cuddly John Ioannidis at the Seventh Peer Review Congress in Chicago this week. Listening to somebody as brilliant as Ioannidis is like listening […]
It is now some 15 years since the emergence of the idea and supporting evidence that combining antihypertensives and a statin into a single polypill and giving it to people daily could dramatically reduce morbidity and premature mortality from heart disease and stroke. Yet polypills are still not licensed in any high income country, although […]
“Just enjoy the film, dad, you don’t always have to write about it!” is a familiar refrain from my family on our sporadic outings to the movies. Yet cinema was the great art form of the 20th century and this century is continuing the same way, according to Philip French, the masterly film critic of […]
On 15 September 2013, thousands of doctors and doctors-to-be will flock to the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) website to apply for a residency position in the United States. As this date is approaching, I can see both excitement and apprehension on the faces of prospective candidates. Most of the candidates that I know are […]
I’ve been puzzling for years over how to define health without making much progress, but I thought I might take a step forward by listening to a discussion on the radio about whether philosophy can help you live the good life. The answer seemed to be no: philosophy doesn’t have a wholly convincing answer to […]
About a month ago, I left my family, friends, and comfort zone in Portugal to take up the job of BMJ editorial registrar at The BMJ‘s editorial office in London. You might think that I’m just another of the many doctors trying to escape the Southern European misery and grim career perspectives. […]