Last week I attended an event on the state of science journalism called “Science in the media: rude or ailing health?” Rather than a discussion on how science is being reported in the media, the debate thrashed out the role of mainstream science journalism compared with blogs and other forms of science communication. […]
Joe Collier: The unseemly goings-on at the ACMD and how they might have been avoided
With seven members of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) resigning in the last few months, and its chair, Professor David Nutt, being sacked, there must be something very wrong with the circumstances in which this group of experts find themselves. […]
Patrick Basham: Not smoke-free but snus-free
One advantage of spending so much of my time “on the road” is that I’ve had the opportunity to observe first-hand how many nations have opted for tobacco control policies that reduce the harm for smokers who either can’t or won’t stop. […]
Douglas Noble: Easter and transplantation
Sally Slater last week celebrated the tenth anniversary of her life-saving heart transplant. Sally was only six when she had the operation and was pictured with Billie Piper after the operation. Now, at 16, she is turning her attention to improving health policy. In last week’s Telegraph (News Digest, March 29) she called for nationwide […]
Siddharta Yadav: Politicizing medical education
Yesterday, I witnessed a doctor being beaten up at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital of Nepal. The doctor was exiting the hospital grounds when a group of people stopped him. Few words were exchanged and suddenly, one of the persons from the group repeatedly punched and kicked the doctor. The doctor shouted for help. The […]
Guy Lloyd: Dix huit semaines, zut alors!
Will none of our great political parties do something real and meaningful (as opposed to eye catching and cosmetic) about the NHS? The horror of health poverty in the USA means that our NHS appears safe and virtuous, almost cuddly. At least in this country nobody goes untreated for want of adequate means. This appears […]
Jeremy Sare: Mephedrone
It’s like old times really. Exactly five years ago, new drug laws being were being pushed through amid the febrile and shadowy atmosphere of a Parliament readying itself for a General Election. In 2005, I was a Home Office official witnessing the Drugs Act hurtle at an unseemly pace through both Houses. I am bound […]
Julian Sheather: The ghosts of medicine
I was at the Liverpool Medical Institution recently, judging a debating competition between medical students from Manchester and Liverpool. […]
Domhnall MacAuley: A full Irish breakfast and a pint of Guinness
A full Irish breakfast and a pint of Guinness. The perfect Easter brunch. But, not on Good Friday. The pubs are closed in Ireland on two days of the year; Christmas Day and Good Friday. And, given that the Catholic Church deems Good Friday a day of fast and abstinence (one main meal, two snacks, […]
Eleanor Chrispin: Memory
Who hasn’t, in a moment of regret, wished they could turn back the clock? While time travel remains out of our grasp, the ability to erase certain memories – not so much changing the past, as fundamentally altering our recalled experience of it – could be the next best thing. […]