The decision by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in May, after a provisional refusal in February, to recommend abaritarone acetate for metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer in adult men whose disease has progressed on or after a docetaxel-based chemotherapy regimen has been hailed by most of the news media as a […]
Jane Carthey: Responding to patient safety incidents – lessons from a South African hotel chain
Could the CEO of a South African hotel chain help the NHS improve how we respond when things go wrong? At last week’s Risky Business 2012 conference, Arthur Gillis, CEO of the largest chain of hotels in South Africa, gave a presentation about embedding an excellent customer service approach among employees working in his hotels. […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review – 28 May 2012
JAMA 23 May 2012 Vol 307 2161 Daytime sleepiness is one of the main reasons for treating obstructive sleep apnoea, another one being the risk of cardiovascular events and hypertension in untreated OSA. Continuous positive airway pressure is the standard treatment, and observational evidence suggests that as well as keeping people more alert by day, […]
Andrew Burd on a white coat party
Last week the annual celebration of the passing of the final MBChB exams took place at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. It is a tradition. Saturday morning, after a week of exams, the successful students gather in the lecture theatre. They all proudly wear new white coats given by the Faculty of Medicine and […]
Henry Murphy on being a BMJ Clegg Scholar
There are moments in life where you feel like you’ve made it. Sipping mint tea from a CNN mug whilst helping to decide on this issue’s cover image, I feel like I’ve made it. It may not seem much, but I’ve been interested in journalism since day one at medical school, and have been granted […]
Domhnall MacAuley: Unexpected afterthoughts on the BMJ Group Improving Health Awards
Humbled, unsettled, introspective. Mixed and strange emotions. Not the response you might have expected on such a wonderful evening. But, lets enjoy the evening first before the amateur psychology….. The BMJ Improving Health Awards—a celebration of achievement. Lashings of goodwill and enthusiasm. Tension, excitement, and showbiz. Great people, a great event, and a little sprinkling […]
Richard Smith: Your chance to do good and have fun in one night
This is a shameless plug for a charity comedy night on 31 May where we have the two great doctor comics, Harry Hill and Phil Hammond, Ian Roberts (the laughing professor), my brother, Arthur Smith, and other excellent comics. The charity is the Klevis Kola Foundation (KKF), which was founded by medical students and provides […]
Stephen Ginn: “Moral obligation” or “a disaster for humanity and the planet?”
Is medical control of human aging a worthy goal? Despite the moisturisers you can buy it is impossible to reverse the damage of aging and very few of us will live to anywhere near the theoretical maximum of human age, estimated to be 125. Yet some people think the first person who will live substantially […]
Gabriel Scally on Andrew Lansley’s Geneva fantasy at the World Health Assembly
Sometimes, while attending a World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, I get the feeling that I am in a parallel universe where diplomat speak serves to smooth over unresolvable conflict and where we are discussing not the world as it is but a fantasyland. That feeling was never stronger than when listening to contributions from […]
Deborah Cohen reports from the Parliamentary Select Committee on the regulation of implants
Parliamentary Select Committees are only as good as the evidence they receive. Evidence is taken in the form of written submissions, then MPs of various political persuasions gather— along with their civil servant advisers —to hear a handpicked group of people give oral presentations. But, as frequently reported in the BMJ, evidence on devices is […]