Earlier this week the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) fired the editor in chief of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), citing slipping journal revenue and declining reputation as a cause. The journal’s oversight committee (JOC)—set up in 2006 to safeguard the journal’s editorial independence against political and economic transgressions—negotiated with both the CMA and the […]
Jeanne Lenzer: The Backstory—Telling the truth about screening
According to various professional guidelines, if we’re the right age and gender, we’re supposed to have our breasts, lungs, prostate gland, cervix, colon, aorta, [1] liver, [2] pancreas, [3] heart and brain [4] routinely screened for various disorders. And, according to recommendations this year, our minds should be screened too; the United States Preventive Services Task Force recommends […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Andrew Herxheimer and his Golden Rules of drug therapy
Andrew Herxheimer, an old friend and colleague, has died, aged 90 (picture). Andrew was primarily a clinical pharmacologist, but much more besides. His main interest was in improving patient care, particularly through better communication, and he took particular interest in adverse drug reactions and the activities of pharmaceutical companies. He founded the Drug and Therapeutics […]
Sue Hogston: What little progress has been made for neurological services in England is in danger of slipping away
With more than four million people in England* currently living with a neurological condition—such as motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis, Huntington’s disease, or Parkinson’s disease—it is very concerning, yet sadly unsurprising, that a new report has revealed neurological care services are simply not good enough. The report, published last week by MPs from the Public Accounts […]
David Payne: How disease outbreaks drive digital innovation
To what extent do disasters and disease outbreaks drive developments in digital health? And as the WHO and other national and global health agencies get to grips with the Zika virus outbreak, what lessons can be learned from the 2014 Ebola epidemic? John Edmunds, Dean of the Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health at the […]
Gareth Iacobucci: FOI reprieve is welcome but expect the pushback to continue
This week, privacy campaigners breathed a sigh of relief after a review commissioned by the UK government decided not to change the law to introduce greater restrictions on the release of public data under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. The independent commission was set up to establish whether the Act currently allowed ministers sufficient […]
Richard Smith: The death throes of national medical journals
Earlier this week the Canadian Medical Association fired the editor of the CMAJ and dissolved the journal’s oversight committee, which was supposed to protect editorial independence. While doing so, the board of the CMA—with impressive hypocrisy—reaffirmed its commitment to editorial independence. That’s two editors the CMA has fired and two it has “let go” in the past […]
Gaurav Sharma: Where do women seek family planning, antenatal, and maternity care in low and middle income countries?
A series of papers entitled “Who cares for women?” was launched at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on Wednesday 13 January 2016. The objective: to provide the most up-to-date and extensive analysis of Demographic and Health Surveys across 57 low and middle income countries, focused on the provision of family planning, antenatal […]
Charline Bradshaw: The Calais crisis and grassroots movement
There are an estimated 6000 men, women, and children living in a disused refuge site in Northern France. A recent census revealed that there are around 423 unaccompanied minors among those living in a collection of tents and wooden structures. They are a small proportion of the estimated one million refugees who have entered Europe […]
Neel Sharma: Lightening the learning load during junior doctor ward rounds
Educating newly qualified junior doctors to become masters of their trade is not easy. Hospital life is fast paced and typically acute. Rapid patient turnover as well as demands on senior doctors means that teaching time is often at a premium. Therefore, as educators we have the added pressure of ensuring that we sufficiently cover […]