The inquest into the death of Kerrie Wooltorton in 2007 has focused some media attention on advance decisions (directives), or so-called ‘living wills’. While undoubtedly a tragic case, however, it […]
Latest articles
Louise Kenny’s longest night
Before I arrived here, I was concerned about quite how bad my first on-call could be given the new environment, the language, and the vastly different presentations that I could […]
Domhnall MacAuley on a cure for cancer found (again)
If every media report of a cure for cancer were true, we should live forever. But, the media like a headline health story, and we cannot really blame the journalists. […]
Trish Groves: Let SPIRIT take you … towards much clearer trial protocols
Reporting statements like the CONSORT and STROBE statements are making an important and demonstrable difference to the quality of research papers by helping authors report exactly what happened in their […]
Tejshri Shah on scrapping healthcare fees in developing countries
A group of doctors warned last week that if climate change is not effectively tackled we all face a health catastrophe. What they did not say is that the catastrophe […]
Oscar Yang: A Sino-Kiwi in Scotland
So finally, when dusk fades into darkness, I sit down at my computer to type my first BMJ blog entry. I’m sitting at the warmly-lit dinner table in my second floor apartment […]
Dr Harry’s Netlines: Crystal ball gazing
It is always good fun to speculate what will be happening in medicine in years to come. There are so many areas to think about clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic breakthroughs; […]
Joe Collier: A drink for Mr Teetotaller?
Two things are certain. First, I am a teetotaller. Second, UK society (in common with society in Europe generally) is awash with the influence of alcohol. If ever there were […]
Louise Kenny: It’s a mystery
One of the most exciting aspects of working here is the opportunity to have a good rummage among the rarities of diagnoses that I learnt about for the MRCP. There […]
Douglas Noble: Tales of patient safety from the frontline for junior doctors: incident reporting
The NHS has so far accumulated almost 3 million incident reports, well on the way to being as tall as the British Telecom Tower if they were all piled up one […]