A frequent refrain is “we mustn’t recreate PCTs.” Increasingly, when I hear or see it said I want to ask five why’s. Let me give you an example. “We don’t […]
Latest articles
Aneez Esmail: Understanding patient safety in general practice
It was a comment that I made in an interview for a BBC 4 File on Four programme that caught the eye of producers at Channel 4’s Dispatches programme. I […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review – 3 October 2011
JAMA 28 Sep 2011 Vol 306 1329 Intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation reduces left ventricular load and improves outcomes in animal models of myocardial infarction. But in previous small human studies of […]
Research highlights – 30 September 2011
“Research highlights” is a weekly round-up of research papers appearing in the print BMJ. We start off with this week’s research questions, before providing more detail on some individual research […]
Aser García Rada: Ex-smokers are unstoppable
For the first time a large European awareness campaign to help smokers quit focuses on the positive aspects of doing so, rather than highlighting cancer, heart disease, or death. We […]
Domhnall MacAuley: Doctors in this week’s sports headlines
Caught in a spat between a multi million pound footballer and a multi billion pound football club. Bet they didn’t warn him about that in medical school. Owen Hargreaves said […]
Rachel ter Horst: Inspiring progress in the fight against sleeping sickness
Bamako, Mali. Leopard print chairs, a rather dark conference room filled mainly with African men dressed in either dark suits or colourful long boubous, with some women and westerners here […]
David Payne: Happy 13th birthday, (scary) Google
In Washington DC last week Google CEO Eric Schmidt defended the company’s business practices when he appeared before a Senate antitrust panel. Down the road at Georgetown University the following […]
Andrew Burd on Chinese medicine, burns, and HIV
A story has just emerged in the local press about a 30 year old woman from Guangdong province (just across the border from Hong Kong) who sustained 85% deep burns […]
Bob Roehr: The changing complexity of HIV vaccine trials
Successes in treating and preventing HIV infections are making it more difficult, more expensive, and perhaps more uncertain to plan and conduct HIV vaccine trials in the countries most affected […]