Should hubris be a disease, asks my friend Faith. After a second I conclude, “Of course. It’s perhaps the most dangerous disease of all in that it destroys not just […]
Richard Smith
Richard Smith was the editor of The BMJ until 2004.
Richard Smith: Syria, now’s top sorrow
Climate change will soon destroy us. Global poverty is increasing. Non-communicable disease is sweeping the planet. Communicable disease is far from defeated and may re-emerge in new and terrible forms […]
Richard Smith: A paperless NHS by 2018?
Cognisant of the short time that ministers are in post, Jeremy Hunt, decided when he became Secretary of State of Health, that to make a difference he should have only […]
Richard Smith: A jolly afternoon with Dying Matters
Dying Matters is an organisation that aims to raise awareness of dying, death, and bereavement, and this is Dying Awareness Week. The organisation exists because of the mass denial of […]
Richard Smith: Buggered about by the NHS Sustainable Development Unit: a story with a moral
I’m an enthusiastic follower of the NHS Sustainable Development Unit, its director, David Pencheon, and its important mission of reducing NHS carbon emissions by 80% by 2050, but like all […]
Richard Smith: The editor thinks your paper is nonsense but will publish anyway
“If you want to get on in life, dear boy, don’t be too original. Originality is a curse. People won’t understand you. They’ll feel threatened. You may end up burnt […]
Richard Smith: A variation on the theme of the importance of publishing
I fully support the Alltrials campaign to see all clinical trials published, and I’m a signature to the letter of people who have participated in trials and are horrified that […]
Richard Smith: Multiplicity: the power of the many, or what we can learn from Barcelona FC
Last month some 500 of us gathered in Bologna to remember Alessandro Liberati, founder of the Italian Cochrane Centre, a great thinker about health, and a personal friend to most […]
Richard Smith: Six memos on the future of healthcare
How many of us can expect a year after we die to have some 500 people attend a meeting to celebrate our life, discuss our work, and think about the […]
Richard Smith: Selling your personal data
“The government wants to sell our personal data to the highest bidder, and it stinks,” said somebody, making her position very clear, at a meeting at the House of Commons […]