Last week the annual celebration of the passing of the final MBChB exams took place at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. It is a tradition. Saturday morning, after a week of exams, the successful students gather in the lecture theatre. They all proudly wear new white coats given by the Faculty of Medicine and […]
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Stephen Ginn: “Moral obligation” or “a disaster for humanity and the planet?”
Is medical control of human aging a worthy goal? Despite the moisturisers you can buy it is impossible to reverse the damage of aging and very few of us will live to anywhere near the theoretical maximum of human age, estimated to be 125. Yet some people think the first person who will live substantially […]
Deborah Cohen reports from the Parliamentary Select Committee on the regulation of implants
Parliamentary Select Committees are only as good as the evidence they receive. Evidence is taken in the form of written submissions, then MPs of various political persuasions gather— along with their civil servant advisers —to hear a handpicked group of people give oral presentations. But, as frequently reported in the BMJ, evidence on devices is […]
Carl Heneghan and Deborah Cohen on PiP breast implants: implants need rigorous and transparent assessment of the evidence in future
A Department of Health review into the Poly Implant Prothèse (PiP) breast implant scandal has found that although the UK regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), acted appropriately and followed scientific and clinical advice, there are “areas where improvement can and should be made for the future.” Back in March 2010 the […]
Deborah Cohen on Nestlé and the International Diabetes Federation: comfortable bedfellows?
Nestlé has just announced a three year partnership with the International Diabetes Federation (IDF)—an umbrella organisation representing national diabetes societies from around the world— as part of its contribution to the fight against non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Such diseases include cardiovascular disease, cancer respiratory illness and diabetes. […]
Deborah Cohen 8 May 15h30: BMJ/CEBM submission to select committee about medical implants regulation
Over the coming weeks, the House of Commons science and technology committee will take verbal evidence about the regulation of medical implants. The BMJ—together with the Centre of Evidence Based Medicine at Oxford University—has already submitted a report based on research and investigations done over the past few years. Specifically, the committee will look at: Are current legislation […]
Peter Lapsley: Unfairer charges
They’ve done it again! While prescription charges were abolished in Wales in 2007, Northern Ireland in 2010, and Scotland in 2011, the Department of Health in England increased them from £7.40 to £7.65 from 1 April this year. To put that into more graphic context, anyone required to pay the charges would have to find […]
Deborah Cohen: 27 April, 14h00, the lack of implant regulation in Europe is finally starting to bite
The reality of the lack of implant regulation in Europe is finally starting to bite. A leaked internal FDA report “Unsafe and ineffective devices approved in the EU that were not approved in the US,” has lambasted the European system and highlighted failures in the processes. According to the Star Tribune, the report says that […]
Karim Khan: Why a BMJ Olympics portal?
Love them or hate them, you can’t escape them. Almost as big as the Royal Jubilee, the Olympic Games have already taken a grip on London and Londoners. And other parts of the country too by all reports. Various colleagues are going to the Olympics specifically because it is in London. So let’s not be […]
Susannah Baron: On education and economics
There are many differences between healthcare and medical education in Tanzania and in the UK, but the concept I find hardest to understand is “attendance or sitting allowance.” This allowance is paid to all staff who attend courses for their healthcare education and it seems that staff will not attend educational events unless they are […]