Dead bodies do not seem to have a place in the modern world. Death, dying, the dead—if they can be so unceremoniously bundled together—lie in our culture somewhere between the unmentionable, the ineffable, and the simply ill-mannered. (Shades here of La Rochefoucauld: neither death nor the sun can be looked at directly, both presumably having […]
On 3 December 2012, the UK was the first nation, and the General Medical Council (GMC) the first regulatory body, to implement large scale changes to the regulation of its medical workforce. By April 2016 it is expected that the “vast majority” of the UK’s 220,000 doctors would have undertaken revalidation—the process by which licensed […]
“If you want to get on in life, dear boy, don’t be too original. Originality is a curse. People won’t understand you. They’ll feel threatened. You may end up burnt at the stake.” I tried to find a quote from a sage making these points, but I couldn’t—so I made one up myself. I’m meditating […]
When visiting a city for the first time, graveyards rarely feature high on my agenda. So, little did I suspect that a very beautiful graveyard would be one of the aesthetic highlights of a recent short stay in Portland, Maine, a compact and attractive port city with interesting French influences. My host, the founder of […]
JAMA 23-30 Jan 2013 Vol 309 355 From time to time I like to shock my GP colleagues by saying that the most important part of any health system is the hospital and that secondary care takes rightful priority in any health budget. I’m really sorry to see our college president Clare Gerada, whom I […]
The first person I saw die accidentally from an anaesthetic accident was a kind, distinguished man in his sixties, scheduled for surgery to a large leg tumour. During anaesthesia his endotracheal tube became kinked, which was not noticed by the anaesthetist. Undetected hypoxia was quickly followed by cardiac arrest and then resuscitation attempts, resulting in […]
Even in the most auspicious weather conditions, urgent home visits are time consuming and on days when snow falls this creates another obstacle to negotiate in an already stressful on-call day. I’ve become irrationally fearful of the snow. Children love it, but adults tend to be less welcoming of snow due to the disruption to […]
Mid December saw the launch of the decennial Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study at the Royal Society in London. The study is the global rating of mortality, morbidity, and disability. The data tells a familiar story. Where infection and malnutrition related illnesses were once the primary causes of death, these have now been replaced […]
“Water is another matter, has no direction but its own bright grace” [from “Water” by Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet]. I turn on the kitchen tap but no water flows. Surprised, and a little confused, I go to the bathroom—nothing. The shower—dry. Then I recall the notice seen earlier in the hotel lift. Something in Spanish […]
Governments that lie are dangerous to public health [1]. South Africa’s shameless denial that HIV causes AIDS delayed treatment for millions, and many needlessly died. Now India’s government is doing something similarly brazen by denying that India exports fake medicines to Africa. It is an untruth for which India must apologize and which it must […]