When you hear hoof beats, think of horses not zebras, is the aphorism coined in the 1940s by Theodore Woodward to explain that common conditions occur commonly and rare ones […]
Month: July 2015
Jack O’Sullivan: Managing overdiagnosis
“Hardly more effective than a coin toss.” The damming words from the discoverer of prostate specific antigen (PSA) poignantly reflect the controversies of prostate cancer screening. In fact, Richard J […]
The BMJ Today: A new era of drug and device regulation, homeopathy, and avoiding death in hospital
• Watch this space Will future historians mark 2015 or 2016 as the beginning of a new era of drug and device regulation? Proposed legislation in the United States, popular […]
David Moher and Rustam Al-Shahi Salman: How can research be improved and waste reduced?
We shudder to think about the amount of paper and computer screen pixels used to report on the very sad state of biomedical research. This […]
Andrew Moscrop: Would it be a good idea to charge for missed appointments at the doctors surgery?
The studio audience of BBC Question Time applauded and health secretary Jeremy Hunt appeared to wriggle with delight when a member of the public asked whether patients should be charged […]
The BMJ Today: The paperless NHS
• Finally, the NHS goes digital. Or does it? There have been many predictions of the death of paper in the NHS, but are they exaggerated? The NHS is in fact […]
Desmond O’Neill: Wheelbarrows, transport, and health
There is an old joke about a man who goes through a customs post with a wheelbarrow of sand every day. The increasingly frustrated customs officers make intensive searches of […]
Áine Markham: Dismantling gains in global health?
This month signals a critical moment for the future of global health financing as high-level political representatives meet in Addis Ababa for the Third International Conference on Financing for Development […]
The BMJ Today: Hiking the price of fizz
• Getting busy with the fizzy The BMA is the latest voice to call for a 20% tax on sugary drinks in the UK. The tax, if introduced, could reduce […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review—13 July 2015
NEJM 9 July 2015 Vol 373 111 First they defined a new disease category. Then they promoted a mechanistic explanation. Then they made everyone focus on the pathway that matched […]