In each of the following pairs of generic drug names one is the International Nonproprietary Name (INN) and the other is not: • beclomethasone/beclometasone • betamethasone/betametasone • chlorthalidone/chlortalidone • ethacrynic acid/etacrynic acid • indomethacin/indometacin Before you read on, decide which you think is the INN in each case. […]
Paul Auerbach: The Nepal Ambulance Service
With the help of Rebecca Walker, a faculty member within the Division of Emergency Medicine at Stanford and a very active participant in Stanford Emergency Medicine International (SEMI), I am writing about the Nepal Ambulance Service (NAS), which has survived trial by fire in the aftermath of the Nepal earthquake. A loyal and energized group of Nepali […]
Sally Carter and Emma Parish review Who Cares?
A whirlwind of real voices from the NHS by Sally Carter, technical editor, The BMJ. “It’s a parade performance,” said the woman at the box office, “but some of it is outside so I’d keep your coat on if you think you might get chilly.” I had never been to a parade performance before and […]
Art Cohen and Selwyn Ray: The lessons of late April in Baltimore
After years of suffering and resignation about disrespect and mistreatment at the hands of local police, young and older African-American residents of inner city west and east Baltimore, joined by others, came together these past two weeks to say: “we’ve had enough.” The spark for this was the fatal injuring, while in police custody on […]
The BMJ Today: Assessing eyes in infants, latest on open data, and new EMA rules on pharma’s revolving door
Here’s what is new in The BMJ today. • Practice Many GPs may find the challenge of assessing eyes and vision in infants and preschool children intimidating. Andrew Blaikie and Gordon Dutton offer advice—with multiple video demonstrations and tutorials. • Clinical review How confident are you in diagnosing interstitial lung diseases? How many of this heterogeneous set […]
David Oliver: Minding our language around care for older people and why it matters
I love to plough through the newspapers, with radio or TV news on in the background. My enjoyment can be punctured by annoyances. Recurring candidates for this personal “room 101” are ageist language and attitudes. Comparing 2015 with my youth, I’ve seen a welcome sea change in the language deemed acceptable regarding race, sexuality, or […]
Paul Auerbach on the public health needs in Nepal
I am on my way back to the US now, and getting information from people who are in Nepal. Because I am inundated with requests to provide information from people who have read my previous posts, I will keep writing, but only if there is something useful to report. Please let me emphasize that this […]
Hans Lund: A brief introduction to the concept of evidence-based research
This blog is part of a series of blogs linked with BMJ Clinical Evidence, a database of systematic overviews of the best available evidence on the effectiveness of commonly used interventions. The scientific ideal On 15 February 1676, in a letter to his colleague (and rival) Robert Hooke, Sir Isaac Newton wrote the following well […]
Neville Goodman: Drawbacks and deadlines
Drawback started life as excise duty paid back when goods were exported, but few doctors now writing of drawbacks are likely to realize that. There are over 5000 drawbacks on PubMed®, the first in 1916. It is a nice neat word, shorter than the literal disadvantage. But drawback is often replaceable by problem: …the algorithms […]
Financial incentives for childhood immunisation in Australia
Peter McIntyre, National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Kids Research Institute and University of Sydney. Kristine Macartney, National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Kids Research Institute and University of Sydney. Julie Leask, University of Sydney. Australia’s approach to improving low childhood vaccine coverage began […]