Certain emerging vector-borne diseases are entering high income countries’ attention in an unprecedented way. Two years ago we wrote about chikungunya, a disease that most Spaniards—including doctors—had not even heard […]
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Richard Smith: Is the NHS finally going to start taking patient safety seriously?
Jeremy Hunt, secretary of state for health, is embroiled in battles with junior doctors, GPs, and consultants over contracts and patient safety. He thinks that he will improve safety by […]
Mags Portman: The PrEP debate gains momentum
This blog was originally written for BMJ Clinical Evidence and posted on blogs.bmj.com/ce/ Last week saw a landmark shift in the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV debate in England. After 18 months of […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review—29 March 2016
NEJM 24 Mar 2016 Vol 374 Flinty problem, leaden response 1101 John Snow, the arch-hero of epidemiology, died in 1858 a disappointed man. It was only after he had died […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Naming biologics—principles and practice
Last week I discussed how drugs get their International Nonproprietary Names (INNs). The World Health Organization’s expert panel that assigns INNs has nine principles to guide its decisions, two primary […]
Arthy Santhakumar: Taking stock—Exposing the multi-billion pound medical gloves industry
Tops, frocks, bananas, and coffee—these are likely to be your top answers when asked to think of “fair trade.” Historically, the fashion industry and agriculture sector have claimed the top […]
Jon Brassey: The rise of rapid reviews
This blog is part of a series of blogs linked with BMJ Clinical Evidence, a database of systematic overviews of the best available evidence on the effectiveness of commonly used […]
Jay Achar: Drug resistant tuberculosis—not just a precursor to the post-antibiotic apocalypse
In 2015 the world woke up to the idea that the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) will ultimately lead to a post-antibiotic era in which even simple medical treatments will […]
Mohammad Razai: What have we learnt from our work in Botswana?
Three years ago I travelled to Gaborone, Botswana for my medical elective. I was there to learn about glaucoma—the complex eye disease and so called “silent thief of sight.” After […]
Jeanne Lenzer: The Backstory—The New York Doctors’ Riot
Harriet Washington, a medical ethicist and author, opened a recent talk saying, “Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, heroes of the newly minted American Republic, did not spend 15 April 1788, […]