Words. As we look ahead to an increasingly connected and interconnected world, how do we, as clinicians and patients, account for the words we use? How do we record the […]
Month: October 2016
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Empathy—fact and fiction
The English suffix -pathy comes from the Greek -παθεια. Vary the prefix, vary the feeling: ἀντιπάθεια – suffering instead, contrary affection, aversion (ἀντί = opposite, against); εὐπάθεια – ease, sensitivity […]
Andrew Furber: Should local government run the NHS?
A white paper published by the Conservative government in 1944 proposed that a new National Health Service should be managed by local authorities. [1] The Labour Party was split on the […]
Tom Jefferson: The EMA’s policy 0070 is live
Yesterday the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA’s) long awaited policy 0070 went live. I have previously described the policy, its aims, advantages, possible limitations, and potential impact on everyone here and […]
Richard Smith: What should a patient ask before entering a clinical trial?
“What,” a Finnish journalist asks me, “should a patient ask before entering a clinical trial?” That’s a good question, I think, as on my feet I try to answer the […]
Sharon Roman: I am the girl next door
I flatter myself that the wedding ring on my finger does not stop the opposite sex from finding me attractive and noticing me. On good days, I am able to appear […]
Claire McDaniel and Daniel Marchalik: Physicians and their pasts
The Doctor’s Book Club Richard Flanagan The Narrow Road to the Deep North So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. -F. Scott Fitzgerald, […]
Hitesh Bansal: When the worlds of medical student and medical patient collide
A 20 year old male presented to A&E with abdominal pain. The pain was sharp, constant, severe, located in the epigastric region, radiating through to the back, and had been […]
Rosanna O’ Keeffe on Direct Provision: Is this really the best we can do for those seeking asylum?
In 2000 the Direct Provision scheme was officially introduced by the Irish government. The scheme requires asylum seekers to live in designated accommodation centres while they await decisions on their […]
Jason Cone: There is no such a thing as “free” vaccines: Why MSF rejected Pfizer’s donation offer of pneumonia vaccines
I recently had the difficult task of telling Ian Read, Pfizer’s CEO, that Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is rejecting the company’s offer to donate a significant number of pneumonia vaccine […]