Can direct observation of treatment (DOT) for childhood TB be done by a family member instead of the current system where it is done by healthcare workers in DOTS facilities? A trial in India aimed to answer this question which might have a significant impact on overburdened health systems and on the economic costs associated […]
Steve Ruffenach: Electronic health records—time for machines to start sharing
Las Vegas hosted the Healthcare Information and Management System Society (HiMSS) annual meeting again last week. With more than 45,000 people in attendance, it is at once intense and unwieldy. It is also the meeting where every company and organization that controls, distributes, or touches medical information of any sort or in any way shows […]
Adam White: Why tackling in school rugby should be banned
Seventy academics, doctors, and public health professionals recently called for a ban on tackling in school rugby. They have called upon “Childrens’ Commissioners to protect children from the risks of harmful contact in school rugby” and for “Ministers to remove the tackle and other forms of harmful contact.” As an executive committee member of England Rugby Schools, […]
Christopher Cox: What Brexit means for employment law
In June a referendum will decide whether or not the UK should exit the European Union. If we decide to leave, what might be the implications for employment law? It’s worth reminding ourselves that the EU has been the source of many employment rights, including working time, work-life balance, key areas of equality including equal […]
Prashant Jha: The BMJ’s free access trial for South Asian content
In 2015, at the BMJ South Asia Awards in Mumbai, we announced a plan to open up access to content relevant to South Asia for readers of The BMJ from the region. Since November 2015, online readers from any of the eight countries in the South Asian region (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan […]
Junior doctors’ strike: March 2016: Live blog
This week, junior doctors in England will be taking industrial action for the third time so far this year in response to the government’s decision to impose a new contract on the profession. The strike action will result in junior doctors offering emergency care only for 48 hours from 8am on Wednesday 9 March to 8am Friday 11 […]
Peter Doshi, Matthew Herder, Tom Jefferson: Honouring Vanessa?
Health Canada seems to want to have it both ways: be seen as a regulator that serves the public interest through a progressive commitment to transparency, yet be trusted by industry to not publicly disclose any clinical trial data which it calls “confidential business information.” Given our experience over the past few months, we think […]
Jorge Ramírez on the doctor’s strike in Colombia
Recently junior doctors in the UK have been in the news for taking industrial action in protest at their new contract. A similar situation is happening in Colombia. However it is harder to report on because of the imbalance of Colombian news media reports. (1-3) Doctors in Colombia have gone on strike for a number […]
Julian Sheather: Extremity piled upon extremity—where next for medical neutrality?
In times of war, said Cicero, the law falls silent. Afghanistan. Iraq. Syria. Yemen. Somalia. Ukraine. Libya. Chad. An irregular patchwork of violent conflict lies across great swathes of the globe. Many of these are new kinds of conflict. The clash of opposing armies has given way. Splinter groups, proxies, irregular forces, insurgents, paramilitaries. It […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review—7 March 2016
NEJM 3 Mar 2016 Vol 374 Inducing for better outcomes? 813 This useful British trial was done with the ultimate aim of reducing stillbirth, which tends to happen more in women who give birth for the first time at the age of 35 or older. The presumption is that induction at term will reduce the […]