The following account is based on an email I wrote to my friends and family on 23 February, describing my experiences working as a house officer at Christchurch Public Hospital when the devastating earthquake struck on 22 February 2011. […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review – 28 February 2011
JAMA 23 Feb 2011 Vol 305 783 The highly prevalent custom of poisoning the osteoclasts of old ladies with bisphosphonates for years on end seems surprisingly harmless. This case-control study confirms that there is a tiny increase in the risk of subtrochanteric fracture after five years, heavily outweighed by the protective effects of these drugs […]
Juliet Dobson: Should information be free?
Should information be free? Does any good come from restricting access to it? These questions were the topic of conversation at a talk hosted by IQ2 at the Dana Centre, on Tuesday 22 February. The discussion opened with Daniel Glaser from the Wellcome Trust asking whether scientists should make their research data free. The Lancet […]
Muir Gray: What is helping?
Raymond Tallis’ excellent Times article on Humanity on 17 February made me reflect on helping, a topic about which I had been forced to rethink by Edgar Schein’s new book on helping. Schein is one of my heroes. His work on organisational culture has been a major influence on me in the last decade and […]
Research highlights – 25 February 2011
“Research highlights” is a weekly round-up of research papers appearing in the print BMJ. We start off with this week’s research questions, before providing more detail on some individual research papers and accompanying articles. […]
Martin McShane: One organisation?
In a recent letter Sir David Nicholson began to make clearer how he sees the NHS commissioning board and GP commissioners working together. It is a very important letter and warrants reading very carefully. The appointment of Sir David as the Chief Executive designate of the NHS commissioning board, late last year, seemed to signal that […]
Richard Smith: How can we encourage innovation in the NHS?
How can we encourage innovation in the NHS? Niti Pall, a GP and entrepreneur from Birmingham, asked herself this question and hit upon the idea of asking all the people she knows who might have some thoughts on the question to a meeting, putting them in a room together, letting them generate their own agenda, […]
Sandra Lako: Operation oxygen was a success
Over the Christmas holiday $11,760 was raised for oxygen concentrators for the Children’s Hospital in Sierra Leone. This is enough for at least 8 new concentrators. Last year I was amazed to raise $5,000 for our water charity, this year I’m blown away. Friends, family, churches, and strangers have all given generously to this cause. Thank […]
Jodi Dixon: Taking part in clinical trials – what is it like to be a human guinea pig?
Since the start of September I’ve had over 20 needles in my arms. I’ve had cannulas inserted, numerous ECGs, worn halters for hours and taken three different types of medication. There is nothing medically wrong with me. Am I crazy? […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review, 21 February 2011
JAMA 16 Feb 2011 Vol 305 I like to hold a torch for JAMA, and once even suggested to the BMJ that it should try to become more like this decently old-fashioned American weekly, provoking dismay and perhaps even derision from my progressive friends there. Anyway, the BMJ has gone its own way, and JAMA […]