I’m currently at the ESPMH conference in Tübingen – and having found a cybercafe, I’ll try to make the odd post about what’s happening if I get the chance. In the meantime, have some of this: I went to see Hegel’s house in Stuttgart on Monday. It was closed. Then open. Then somewhere in between. […]
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Internalising Incentives
I’ve recently been reading some work on health incentives – the kind of incentive that may be used to encourage people to pursue ostensibly desirable courses of action in return for some kind of reward (frequently monetary). Some schemes are aimed at promoting a vague healthy lifestyle, as when people are rewarded for losing weight […]
Healthcare costs: NHS vs US.
At risk of flogging a dead horse, there’s still quite a lot being said about the NHS as a comparator for American healthcare. With that in mind, there’s an interesting little piece on Liberal Conspiracy at the moment comparing the UK and US systems in terms of cost per head. Do these numbers, and what’s […]
The NHS: It’s Great.
Further to David’s post about the absurd claims spouted about Stephen Hawking and the NHS by some opponents of healthcare reform in the US, it would appear that the man himself has decided to put his side of things. “I wouldn’t be here today if it were not for the NHS,” he told The Guardian. […]
A Request… and a Warning
Image courtesy of Bela Lugosi’s Dad We get spammed. Of course we do. It’d be lovely if we didn’t, though… so please stop it. A particularly egregious example from a source I’d’ve expected to know better arrived yesterday – I’ve decided to let it through for the sake of setting an example. Most spam, of […]
Rhetoric Fail
By David Hunter Thom Brooks on facebook has pointed out this hilarious rhetorical fact checking fail from Neo-conservatives debating the public provision of health care in the US: […]
Floppity MD
This is the first installment of Matazone’s “Floppity MD” series – and it’s well worth spending a couple of minutes looking at more recent installments, too: they provide an all-too-easily forgotten warning about purple, scalpel-carrying, semi-psychopathic cuddly toys. I believe there may be a Hugh Laurie reference or two in there as well. […]
If you’re at a loose end in London…
I found myself yesterday at the Wellcome Collection, one of my favourite museums in London and somewhere I visit reasonably frequently (not being too big, and conveniently located on the Euston Road, it’s perfect to fill those odd hours between the end of the hangover and the train back to Manchester). The permanent exhibition has […]
Assisted Suicide in the UK
By David Hunter Astute readers are no doubt already following the story of Debbie Purdy who is seeking to have the law of assisted suicide in the UK clarified, given that historically those who have traveled overseas and provided assistance have not been prosecuted in the past, despite it appearing that they are breaking the […]
Vaccinations against the Anti-Vaccers
Predictably enough, the anti-vaccination lobby has been turning its attention to H1N1 vaccinations of late in articles such as this one and the rather more hysterical “ZOMG! Genocide!” blather I mentioned before. With that in mind, I’d thoroughly recommend this article on the Lay Scientist blog: a mature, non-hysterical examination of the strongest plausible worry […]