Arterial and venous thromboses are common serious postoperative complications (about 8% of surgical procedures are followed by a thrombosis). The fact that they are still so common despite years of […]
Month: September 2014
Roy K Philip: New “Kerala model” on alcohol policy: Great public health initiative or an “alco-pops” repeat?
The Indian state of Kerala has the highest alcohol consumption per head in India (8.3 litres against the national average of 4 litres,[1] while also being credited with the highest […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review—8 September 2014
NEJM 4 Sep 2014 Vol 371 892 A terrific piece by Rita Redberg discusses sham controls in medical device trials. Whenever sham procedures are used in the control arms of […]
The BMJ Today: Communication of risk – a week of reflection
This week has highlighted for those in healthcare the intricacy of communicating risk to patients and their families. In an emotive blog relating to the case of Ashya King, Tessa […]
The BMJ Today: A story in need of an end
A good story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. A few days ago, we published a sad story in The BMJ Analysis section about the use of beta-blockers […]
Richard Smith: “Psoriasis is my health”
To most doctors psoriasis is a disease to be fought, contained, and even cured, but is this far too narrow a view? John Updike, one of the greatest writers in […]
Veena Rao: India’s getting closer to a national programme to address malnutrition
There’s good news finally. India’s new government announced in its budget speech, presented by finance minister Arun Jaitley on July 10 2014, that: “A national programme in mission mode is […]
Saurabh Jha: The sunnier side of India’s free market for medical imaging
What would medical care be like in a genuine free market? Nobel laureates in economics have opposing views. But does India have the answer? There, healthcare has a strong private […]
Deng Luo et al: A call for change for China’s doctors
“Where has the time gone?” was the title of a popular song from China’s 2013 Spring Festival Gala, which went viral after China Central Television broadcast it to billions of viewers. Interestingly, the song’s […]
The BMJ Today: Bladder cancer—things can only get better
As diseases go, bladder cancer has a pretty raw deal. It lacks the attention and research funding given to other urological cancers (I’m looking at you prostate cancer), and—perhaps most […]