Earlier this week, the media delightedly reported that Jacob Rees-Moggs had referred to floccinaucinihilipilification in a parliamentary speech. It comes from Latin: floccus, a wisp of wool, naucum, a trifle, […]
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Sharon Roman: Breaking bad news—find a way to bridge the gap
There is no magic formula to giving a patient bad news, but a personal touch can help […]
Julian Savulescu and Peter Singer: Unpicking what we mean by best interests in light of Charlie Gard
We need to have an open debate about what we mean by best interests and how they are best served […]
Billy Boland: Isn’t it time for something radical to sustain our mental health workforce?
The reality of fewer psychiatrists is a problem that is not going to go away […]
Richard Smith: The rotavirus story—countering the commonest cause of diarrhoea
“I’m not talking to you about Ebola or Zika virus but about a virus that everyone in this room has had and everyone of your children and probably all children […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review—31 July 2017
Richard Lehman reviews the latest research in the top medical journals […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Once and for all . . .
… NHS England has recognised that it should not fund homoeopathic remedies. First, consider the highly versatile IndoEuropean root, SM, meaning one or as one. In Latin, semel meant once […]
Rachel Clarke: Cheap, undervalued, expendable—junior doctors in 2017?
NHS trusts are still treating junior doctors as if they are expendable at a time when low morale should be a priority […]
James Brophy on Unanticipated Outcomes: Why Jerome Kassirer’s story is still so relevant
Although Jerome Kassirer is a familiar name to many physicians of a certain age, there is perhaps now a generation of young health professionals who are not acquainted with this […]
Neville Goodman’s metaphor watch: From the US national pastime
Baseball provides many metaphors, but not many have made it to PubMed. A ballpark is a baseball ground. Figuratively, it is a noun meaning a particular area or range, or […]