Last November, The Spectator held a debate on the proposition that drug addiction is not a disease. Former BMJ columnist Theodore Dalrymple was one of the proposers (I was invited […]
Month: February 2014
Richard Lehman’s journal review—24 February 2014
NEJM 20 Feb 2014 Vol 370 699 This week, the NEJM is big on bevacizumab. Amongst the crowd of mabs, this is one of the best known: Avastin is a […]
Chris Ham: Making general practice fit for the future
General practice represents a paradox. On the one hand, it is widely and rightly viewed around the world as a model of primary care to be studied and emulated. On […]
Kevin Murray: The future of high secure services over the next 50 years
In the past 50 years mental healthcare has been transformed in ways few could imagine in 1964. Fifty years ago Broadmoor Hospital had nearly 1000 patients who stayed an average […]
Desmond O’Neill on the power of cinema in discussing medical humanities
One of the pleasures of academic medicine, and a salve for the gentle disorganisation of Irish medical schools, is the initiative, enthusiasm, and broad ranging interests of the medical students […]
Giridhara R Babu: Health for Indians—who cares about it anyway?
Political parties often pitch intensively against a few individuals for maximum media bites. There is, however, no real discussion of the issues which affect the lives of scores of Indians. “Development” has […]
Richard Hurley: We need your help: what will India’s 2014 general elections mean for health?
In a couple of months India will hold parliamentary elections to determine its next central government. This administration, due to hold office from June, will also have responsibility for drafting […]
Kailash Chand: Statins
New draft guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for public consultation recommends that the threshold for starting treatment to prevent cardiovascular disease should be halved […]
Richard Smith: Should all GPs have 3000 patients?
Perhaps 20, possibly 25 or even 30, years ago I had breakfast (or was it lunch?) with Geoffrey Marsh, a GP from Teesside, and he told me that all GPs […]
James Partridge responds to the government’s review of cosmetic surgery
There was more than a little bit of déja vu about the government’s response to the Keogh review of cosmetic surgery when it finally saw the light of day, early […]