On first acquaintance the concept of a right to health can seem ridiculous. Why not a right to happiness, beauty, high intelligence, and Arsenal winning the cup every year? The […]
Richard Smith
Richard Smith was the editor of The BMJ until 2004.
Richard Smith on why diabetes envies cancer
Those who campaign on diabetes envy those who campaign on cancer because cancer gets so much more attention than diabetes. Indeed, the diabetes campaigners are very frustrated that diabetes is […]
Richard Smith: A ripping yarn of editorial misconduct
In what has been called the age of accountability, editors have continued to be as unaccountable as kings. But stories of editorial misconduct are growing, and another story, nothing less […]
Richard Smith: Painfully slow progress improving health care
Are we making good progress with improving health care? If not, why not and how could we do better? I tried to answer these questions as I spoke to a […]
Richard Smith: Medpedia – inspired by the counterculture of the 60s
Medpedia, a medical version of Wikipedia, had to happen, and now it has. The full site will launch later in 2008, but a preview is already available. The founders—James Currier […]
Richard Smith: Are we all Thatcherites now?
A friend, possibly drunk, recently sent me a message on Facebook to ask if I was a Thatcherite. Thatcher was in the news because of the debate about her state […]
Richard Smith: The end of disease and the beginning of health
I think I’m healthy, but am I right? I’m tubby. My hair is white and thin and gone altogether from some parts of my head. I’m short sighted and astigmatic. […]
Richard Smith’s Miltonic torment – calling the NHS
I ring the Kent and Sussex Hospital to try and find out when my mother can expect to have her hip replaced. I’m worried that the hospital may have sent […]
Richard Smith: Get with Web 2.0 or become yesterday’s person
Web 2.0—the social web—has the potential to improve global health greatly and to solve complex problems in health science—as it has already done in particle physics. I heard this message […]
Richard Smith: Private health care – essential for improving care in the developing world
People in Bangladesh get 80% of their healthcare from the private sector. Across Sub-Saharan Africa it’s 60%, and the proportion is increasing. The poorer people are the more likely they […]