In a departure from my usual interview format, today I am sharing a conversation with Ollie Smith, Director of Strategy and Innovation at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity. The charity […]
Columnists
Neville Goodman’s Metaphor Watch: Holy Grail
The Holy Grail (COD) is the cup or platter used by Christ at the Last Supper, and in which St Joseph of Arimathea received Christ’s blood. As such, it is […]
Billy Boland: Coping with change
The only thing certain in life is change. So the sooner we’re able to tackle dealing with change the better. I’m naturally an optimist as a rule, but the fortunes […]
Mary E Black: On public health—Roy Lilley gets it wrong
Roy Lilley—blogger, NHS and social care agent provocateur, fettered by none, master of the timely hyperlink, and coiner of deliciously irreverent names for the great and the good. I do […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . A twist on the Nobel Prize
As I was saying, bile and gall, from the same linguistic roots, mean the same things. At least, “bile” means a secretion of the liver, anger, ill temper, and bitterness, […]
Paul Glasziou and Iain Chalmers: How systematic reviews can reduce waste in research
If you asked a member of the public “Should researchers review relevant, existing research systematically before embarking on further research?” they would probably be puzzled. Why would you ask a […]
Richard Smith: The Catch 22 of health strikes
Junior doctors are clearly extremely angry. Some 15 000 junior doctors recently protested against changes in their contract. As there are about 55 000 junior doctors in England, that’s the equivalent of […]
Richard Smith: Health research when carbon matters more than money
As I write this, the strongest hurricane ever detected in the Western Hemisphere is approaching the coast of Mexico, where my son lives. It may have nothing to do with […]
Neville Goodman’s Metaphor Watch: The magic bullet
The expression magic bullet is due to the German medical scientist Paul Ehrlich, who was seeking a cure for syphilis. He wanted to find chemical substances with specific affinity for […]
William Cayley: Neither complementary nor conventional
I appreciate Timothy Caulfield’s exploration of the “straw men” set up in many a discussion over integrative, complementary, or alternative medicines (CAM for short). However, I think we need to […]