Recently, the US government bought virtually all remdesivir supplies for the next three months from US pharmaceuticals company Gilead, following recent results which showed that the drug might shorten recovery […]
Month: July 2020
Mary Brindle: War and peace with covid-19
Metaphors of war were often rolled out as countries geared up for an initial wave of covid-19, but what analogies could be useful to us now as we adjust to […]
Charlotte Squires: next steps for the shielded doctor
Several months ago, I wrote about suddenly finding myself on the back benches of the national effort, as a shielding acute NHS worker. The response was heartening, both from other […]
Karen E Lasser: Covid-19 and “living for the needs of the day”
In early May 2020, six weeks after the novel coronavirus had made its way to Boston, I was preparing for my first shift at Boston Medical Center’s “influenza-like illness” (ILI) […]
Why food based dietary guidelines need to be more sustainable
When was the last time you checked your country’s dietary guidelines? If the answer is never, then you are probably in the company of many. Despite that, dietary guidelines often […]
Are robotics the future of surgery?
New research found no evidence of a difference in 90 day postoperative hospital days between robotic and laparoscopic ventral hernia repair. Here the authors of the paper discuss their findings […]
Covid-19 exposes how far we have to go to understand the needs of older people
We are currently facing a global pandemic that is particularly fatal for older people. But how well has the humanitarian response in Ukraine been tailored to protect this group? […]
Specialist college training: a potential source of research wastage
“Much poor research arises because researchers feel compelled for career reasons to carry out research that they are ill equipped to perform” — Douglas Altman 1994 The research literature has […]
Richard Smith: The well known story of how Easter Islanders destroyed their island is probably wrong
In 2011, I posted an article in The BMJ “Will we follow Easter Islanders into extinction?” It was a deeply pessimistic piece, and now I need to correct it with […]
Climate change and healthcare: we must set the example by facing our gray rhinos
“Gray Rhinos?” readers may wonder. “I thought they only write about human beings in the The BMJ.” We can explain. In 1697, a group of Dutch explorers led by William […]