As a frontline nurse for nearly 40 years, I was intrigued to read Isabel Menzies Lyth’s 1960 paper on why a nursing service in a general hospital was on the […]
Year: 2014
David Miller and Claire Harkins: Can the influence of the alcohol industry be curtailed?
Reviewing the myriad of connections in “Under the influence,” Jonathan Gornall’s account of the subversion of public health policy by the alcohol lobby, shows just […]
David Nutt: Win-win for industry and public health—the UK alcohol industry could take French lessons
One of the paradoxes of current UK alcohol policy is the remarkable differences between ours and that in France. In the UK we have seen the use of, and damage […]
Anita Jain: Predatory publishing and open access fees
At the meeting of the Indian Association of Medical Journal Editors [IAMJE] in Delhi recently, a session on predatory or non-legitimate journals stimulated considerable discussion. A sting operation where 157 […]
William Cayley: Evidence based medicine—it’s time to be critical
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” goes the aphorism—and so would say any who trust complacently in the exponential growth of “evidence based” this or that in medicine. Des […]
Richard James: Snakes, boats, and muddy tracks—providing healthcare in Myanmar
I remember thinking that I finally understood what the phrase “hard to reach villages” actually means. After a full dawn-to-dusk boat journey the day before, myself, three Burmese colleagues, two […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review—6 January 2014
NEJM 26 Dec 2013 Vol 369 2481 There was no let up in the American journals over what they call the holiday period, and the NEJM offered a trial of […]
Shalini on the national scale-up of the pentavalent vaccine in India
The pentavalent vaccine has been recommended for national scale-up in India. It was first introduced in two states, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, in 2011 as part of the national vaccination […]
David Lock: Inconsistent CCG legal duties—can the circle be squared?
There are times when, as a lawyer advising NHS bodies, I get close to advising that the law is unworkable. An example emerged the day when I had to deal […]