Uwe Reinhardt, the world’s funniest health economist, says that eventually all health systems will be the same: whatever they want for the rich; an insurance based system for the majority; […]
Richard Smith
Richard Smith was the editor of The BMJ until 2004.
Richard Smith: Why the faithless need to work with faith based organisations
Perhaps because Britain is a land of atheists, the British don’t understand the importance of faith based organisations as well as they should. Stephanie Ferguson, director of the International Council […]
Richard Smith: A global university for healthcare workers
WHO estimates that the world is short of 12.9 million healthcare workers, and Devi Shetty, the cardiac surgeon and chairman and founder of Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospitals, thinks that radical steps […]
Richard Smith: Surgeons spend their time putting a price tag on human life
Physicians and surgeons across Asia, Africa, and Latin America spend their time putting a price tag on human life, said Devi Shetty, cardiac surgeon and chairman and founder of Narayana […]
Richard Smith: Writing an obituary of the living
Just as I think everybody should have a living will, a plan for their funeral, and clear instructions on whether you want to be buried or cremated, so I advise […]
Richard Smith: Learning about alcohol problems from a taxi driver
When journalists arrive in a country at war their learning usually starts with taxi drivers. They see and hear a lot. They know the dark side of life, particularly those […]
Richard Smith: Is the NHS being the top issue in the election a sign of a degenerate society?
Some polls suggest that the NHS is the number one issue for voters in Britain’s coming general election. That’s one reason that the Labour Party has put it at the […]
Richard Smith: Loneliness—the “disease” that medicine has promoted but cannot help
According to the Canadian psychologist Ami Rokach who has long studied it, “acute loneliness is a terrorising pain, an agonising and frightening experience that leaves a person vulnerable, shaken, and […]
Richard Smith: Would you like to die at 75 or 150?
“Sex and death are the only things that can interest a serious mind,” said W B Yeats, so, although more of a flippant than a serious mind, I return to […]
The death debate: a response from Richard Smith
I’m sorry that I’ve upset many people who have cancer or who have had a bad experience of somebody dying of cancer [see previous blog]. That wasn’t my intention. I […]