With my colleagues, Robin Ferner and Carl Heneghan, I recently contributed an editorial to The BMJ about drug shortages. Already online, it will appear in the print issue tomorrow (12 […]
Columnists
Desmond O’Neill: Medicalisation as a pejorative term
It is over 40 years since Engel described the biopsychosocial model for medicine, largely adopted in principle by the healthcare establishment if, as with most good intentions, imperfectly executed in […]
Richard Smith: The thinking of the new chief executive of NHSX, which is charged with digitising the NHS
One of the first health experiences of Matthew Gould, the new chief executive of NHSX, which is charged with digitising the NHS, was his wife with cancer being looked after […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I Use a Word . . . Enthymetic errors
As I reported last week, of about 60 words listed in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) beginning with thym-, only two refer to the mind, thymoleptic and thymopathy. However, there […]
Richard Smith: Why are doctors sticking themselves to government buildings?
On the day that a United Nations report said that “Climate change is devastating our seas and frozen regions as never before,” I joined a protest with Doctors for Extinction […]
Boris Johnson faces huge pressure to leave the EU with No Deal, but the country is very far from prepared
The lack of preparedness for a No Deal Brexit must surely be a matter of concern to health professionals who will be on the front line if things go wrong […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I Use a Word . . . Thymoleptic thymopathies
Last week, exploring the origins and ramifications of the words “thyme”, the plant, and “thymus”, the gland, I noted that they probably came from different Greek words. The name of […]
Julie Silver: Medical journals must address gender bias
When women physicians and scientists face barriers to publication and journal leadership, the pace of discovery slows and critical perspectives are lost […]
Martin McKee: Some British politicians never understood the EU, but do they understand Westminster any better?
Boris Johnson has long taken the view that rules have been created for others to obey and facts are flexible. When he was Brussels correspondent for the Daily Telegraph he […]
Richard Smith: A morning of climate striking
If you weren’t at today’s climate strike you should think seriously about being at the next one for three reasons. Firstly, there is no issue as crucial as climate chaos, […]