We humans often use analogies to help us solve problems. From our memory, we identify a problem similar to—but not exactly the same as—the one we are currently faced with, and apply the previous successful approach to the new problem. It’s called analogical reasoning. Sometimes we get great results, sometimes not so much. I recently […]
James Raftery: NICE and value based pricing—is this the end?
Since Andrew Lansley announced in 2010 that the NHS would in future use “value based pricing” in its purchases of pharmaceuticals, civil servants and (more recently) the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have been struggling to develop an approach for how this could be implemented. For the twists and turns, see previous blogs on the […]
The BMJ Today: Stop reviewing GP crisis and plan a solution
Two articles just posted on thebmj.com focus on general practice—the crisis that is engulfing it, how it suffers at the hand of political promises, and what action can preserve its future. Veronica Wilkie, professor of primary care at the Institute of Health and Society at Worcester University, compares the current crisis to that in 1950 […]
Wilm Quentin: NCDs and the private sector—part of the problem or part of the solution?
One of the last sessions of the European Health Forum Gastein aimed to find answers to the question of how to engage the private sector in the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Gauden Galea, director of the Division of NCDs and Life-Course at the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Europe, and organiser […]
Anita Jain: Overdiagnosis—when is it too much care?
“Come over for a discussion on overdiagnosis and contribute your ideas to tackle it,” was the invitation. A diverse mix of doctors, nurses, researchers, public health practitioners, and students from countries across the world got together for our workshop at the 22nd Cochrane Colloquium in Hyderabad. Overdiagnosis, like many medical conditions, lacks clear parameters. How […]
The BMJ Today: England’s ongoing battle with liver disease
Today, The BMJ reports the stark warnings from public health experts about the rate of mortality from liver disease in England, and the regional variation across the country. As Jacqui Wise reports, new profiles from Public Health England show that male mortality rates from liver disease are four times higher in some local authority areas […]
Kate Adlington: Should the UK move towards greater regulation of doctor-industry relations?
International interest in the interaction between physicians and industry has been mounting since the Physician Payment Sunshine Act (PPSA) was passed in the United States in 2012. The first data made available as a consequence of this act were published last week by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The BMJ published their […]
Surayya Johar: Open Access Week—the next generation
Open Access Week, a global event now entering its eighth year and running from 20-6 October, is an opportunity for the academic and research community to continue to learn about the potential benefits of open access, to share what they’ve learned with colleagues, and to inspire wider participation in helping to make open access a […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review—20 October 2014
NEJM 16 October 2014 Vol 371 1507 I hate military metaphors for cancer as much as anybody, but here is a study which describes hell in the leukaemia trenches. The 30 patients in the trial had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. The youngest was 5 years old; most were under 20. All of them had relapsed after […]
The BMJ Today: How “political” should The BMJ be?
At the Royal College of Physicians’ Harveian Oration last week, a doctor told me The BMJ had become a “political” rag. And it was not the first time that the accusation has been made. So when are medical and healthcare issues purely scientific matters and when are they “political?” Dr Michael O’Donnell, former editor of […]