Many people think Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari the single most important book they have read, and a nonagenarian friend said it made him see […]
Richard Smith
Richard Smith was the editor of The BMJ until 2004.
Richard Smith: Making workplace health work after 40 years of failure
What is it that makes a company successful? Could it be strategy, leadership, funding, great products, luck, or something else? All of those things are secondary to the “essence” that […]
Richard Smith: In search of scandal in Scotland
I’m on my way to Dumfries to investigate the state of the NHS in that region, and the thought of the town is making me remember when I travelled there […]
Richard Smith: Preparing to be demented
My mother who is 86 has had no short term memory for nine years. She’s been in a nursing home for three years. My grandmother was also demented and died […]
Richard Smith: What if everyone over 55 was offered a pill to prevent heart attacks and strokes?
The NHS, like other health systems, is facing huge financial pressure. Bold thinking is needed, and the King’s Fund, a British health think tank, has commissioned a series of articles […]
Richard Smith: Doctors phishing for phools
In their influential book Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception two Nobel prize winners, George A Akerlof and Robert J Shiller, describe how businesses profit from exploiting […]
Richard Smith: Journals, fraud, science, and misaligned incentives
Journals, like the mass media, have a major part to play in exposing scientific fraud and other kinds of misconduct. In contrast, as I’ve argued many times, there are better ways […]
Richard Smith: What are the causes of health?
Ask doctors for the causes of heart failure or any disease, and answers will pour from them. Ask them about the causes of health or wellbeing, and they will go […]
Richard Smith: Why does prevention always come behind treatment of disease?
Why does prevention always come behind treatment of disease? Derek Yach, the chief health officer of Vitality, put this question to many people, and these are the answers he got […]
Richard Smith: Another step towards the post-journal world
Recently I asked a leader of a major research funder what proportion of its grants led to a publication. “I’ve no idea,” he answered, “but it’s probably 20-30%. What bothers […]