Although it may seem initially bathetic to put these events together, David Blunkett’s appearance before the Home Affairs Select Committee in October 2001 actually set in motion a dozen years of bickering between science and politics. Blunkett’s defining reason for reclassification of cannabis (not to incriminate young people) was eventually defied and overturned. Figures published […]
Julian Sheather: Medicine, Strasbourg, and conscientious objection
The media made quite a fuss recently about the European Court of Human Rights finding that British Airways had unfairly discriminated against an employee, Mrs Eweida, in refusing to let her visibly wear a crucifix. Apparently David Cameron tweeted his delight with the judgment. But by the time the case reached Strasbourg, British Airways had […]
Domhnall MacAuley: Tranquiliser and analgesic dependence
“GPs warned to steer clear of tranquiliser trap,” Reading the headline—I expected the usual GP bashing. But, the headline misled and the story was based on a joint statement by the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal College of Psychiatrists, supported by medical, nursing, social work, and lay bodies on the risks of […]
Richard Smith: A variation on the theme of the importance of publishing
I fully support the Alltrials campaign to see all clinical trials published, and I’m a signature to the letter of people who have participated in trials and are horrified that their trial might not have been published. The results of my trial were published, but signing the letter caused me to remember projects that I’d […]
Tracey Koehlmoos: Flu season in the US
To many people in the US, flu season is rather like world cup football is to the rest of us. Flu has been on the front page of many newspapers and has been covered in the television news. It may have been a slow news week after the Christmas and New Year holidays, but everyone […]
Pritpal S Tamber: Why “paperless” is meaningless
The National Health Service (NHS) of England is enduring the enthusiasm of a new health secretary. As he gets to grips with his £110bn toy he is, as you’d expect, eager to make the right noises about the future of healthcare. One of his promises, though, is to make the service “paperless.” This only illustrates […]
Candace Imison: Will 2013 be the year of meaningful public engagement with service change?
The Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) is the latest to join the growing chorus of medical colleges calling for change in hospital services with RCS President Professor Williams’s statement launching their new report: “2013 needs to be the year patients, politicians, clinicians, and managers come together to support historic change in the NHS and create […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review—21 January 2013
JAMA Intern Med 14 Jan 2013 Vol 173 The Archives of Internal Medicine have now morphed into JAMA Internal Medicine. It would be nice to report that this first issue is a cracker, but unfortunately journals can only be as good as the material that comes in, and the JAMA truck seems to have been […]
Tiago Villanueva: Is there an end in sight for austerity?
I’ve blogged before about the impact of austerity on healthcare, mainly on the hard hit Portuguese healthcare system. And just when I thought things have already gone too far, new developments over the last few days have cast even more dark clouds over the healthcare system, and have spread additional apprehension and outrage in the […]
Andrew Burd: Are data real?
I have just turned 60 and am due to retire at the end of this academic year. In anticipation of this rather sad situation I enrolled, two years ago, in a part time PhD in epidemiology at the School of Public Health at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. It is a research based degree […]