Health Canada seems to want to have it both ways: be seen as a regulator that serves the public interest through a progressive commitment to transparency, yet be trusted by […]
Latest articles
Jorge Ramírez on the doctor’s strike in Colombia
Recently junior doctors in the UK have been in the news for taking industrial action in protest at their new contract. A similar situation is happening in Colombia. However it […]
Julian Sheather: Extremity piled upon extremity—where next for medical neutrality?
In times of war, said Cicero, the law falls silent. Afghanistan. Iraq. Syria. Yemen. Somalia. Ukraine. Libya. Chad. An irregular patchwork of violent conflict lies across great swathes of the […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review—7 March 2016
NEJM 3 Mar 2016 Vol 374 Inducing for better outcomes? 813 This useful British trial was done with the ultimate aim of reducing stillbirth, which tends to happen more in […]
Jerome P Kassirer: A Canadian purge
Earlier this week the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) fired the editor in chief of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), citing slipping journal revenue and declining reputation as a cause. […]
Jeanne Lenzer: The Backstory—Telling the truth about screening
According to various professional guidelines, if we’re the right age and gender, we’re supposed to have our breasts, lungs, prostate gland, cervix, colon, aorta, [1] liver, [2] pancreas, [3] heart and brain [4] […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Andrew Herxheimer and his Golden Rules of drug therapy
Andrew Herxheimer, an old friend and colleague, has died, aged 90 (picture). Andrew was primarily a clinical pharmacologist, but much more besides. His main interest was in improving patient care, […]
Sue Hogston: What little progress has been made for neurological services in England is in danger of slipping away
With more than four million people in England* currently living with a neurological condition—such as motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis, Huntington’s disease, or Parkinson’s disease—it is very concerning, yet sadly unsurprising, […]
David Payne: How disease outbreaks drive digital innovation
To what extent do disasters and disease outbreaks drive developments in digital health? And as the WHO and other national and global health agencies get to grips with the Zika […]
Gareth Iacobucci: FOI reprieve is welcome but expect the pushback to continue
This week, privacy campaigners breathed a sigh of relief after a review commissioned by the UK government decided not to change the law to introduce greater restrictions on the release […]