Decades after it was introduced, the impact of fundholding still resonates. Many GPs hanker after the influence it brought, the way it made the big providers in the system sit up and take notice of primary care. My own experience, as a GP at the time, was one of quality improvement. Suddenly, we could directly […]
Mike Weaver on anaesthesiologists and the lethal injection
On 15th February 2010 the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) stated that anaesthetists may not participate in capital punishment if they wish to be “board certified.” To me, an American anaesthetist practising in the UK, this statement would seem surreal if it were not so necessary. For years the American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) has […]
Vidhya Alakeson on US anti-abortion legislation
For most of last year, a van covered in anti-abortion slogans has been parked on the corner of Independence Avenue and 3rd Street in Washington DC. Directly in front of it was the US Capitol, home of Congress, and across the street was the main building of the Department of Health and Human Services. The reason for […]
Andrew Burd: “Are you sure?”
It is that time of year again. May heralds the last few weeks of the medical curriculum, culminating in the final examinations. Over the years at the Chinese University I have seen the examinations become increasingly sophisticated from the perspective of objective educational assessment. […]
Richard Hurley: Replace the war on drugs with a war on harm
Illicit drugs should be decriminalised. Prohibition has not achieved the stated aim of reducing supply, and criminalisation acts as a barrier to reducing harm in users. Punishment of drug users through criminal justice is costly; is ineffective in terms of public health, particularly the spread of HIV; and infringes on the human rights of users, […]
What we’re reading: 7 May 2010
In the BMJ editorial office, we often come across interesting articles, blogs, and web pages. We thought we would share these with you. Some are medical, some techie, and some just general. […]
Toby Hillman on carbon efficient healthcare
I was going to start this blog telling you how junior doctors are the lifeblood of the NHS. Then I thought about how few of us there are compared with the rest of the NHS, and how much real power we wield in the workplace. In fact, we help to keep things ticking over, and, help to […]
Julian Sheather: Should we pay drug addicts to be sterilised?
Barbara Harris is a concerned American. After adopting four children from a crack-addicted mother, she tried to change the law in California. She wanted to make it mandatory for every mother giving birth to a drug-addicted child to use long term birth control. When the Bill failed Barbara Harris set up the charity ‘Project Prevention’. […]
Domhnall MacAuley: Paddy the cricketer
Rain stopped another Ireland giant killing exploit at cricket’s ICC World Twenty20 yesterday. Having beaten Bangladesh and Pakistan in 2007, victory over England would have been the ultimate achievement. But, of course, it was Eoin Morgan who led the England innings. And, when an Irishman is the great new hope of English cricket you might […]
Kiran James Jobanputra: Escape
It is sad, it never ceases to be sad, working in hospitals. Working with the mothers, their fatigued, careworn faces, the infrequent tears, the resigned, long-suffering poise, concealing hearts that are heaving with sadness. The world feels sad some days, a palpable sadness like a cloud spreading out from the feverish body of the sick […]