Damn. I thought I’d published this a couple of weeks ago. Anyway… David Nutt tells his side of the cannabis sacking story in The Guardian, based on a longer piece here. A sample – or, if you will, a ‘teenth: What we can say is that cannabis use is associated with an increased experience of […]
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Progress in Medicine Conference
Bristol, 13-15 April. The aims of this conference are: To examine the nature, scope, causes, and grounds of progress in medicine. To provide a forum for developing the unified study of the history and philosophy of medicine, and in particular raising the profile of the philosophy of medicine in the UK and its engagement with […]
When the Witch Asks a Question, I Can’t Resist
In the replies to this thread, The Witch Doctor asks this: A Scenario: Apparently there are some sites on the web just now claiming that the world is going to end in 2012. Some teenagers are becoming agitated. I don’t want to be around when the world ends, so I’m going to drink some poison […]
Biomedical Ethics Film Festival
Edinburgh, 20-22 November Details here […]
David Nutt and Unpopular Science
I’ve noted David Nutt’s unhappy relationship with the government that employed him before now – it was he who was told by erstwhile Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to apologise for having the temerity to point out that Ecstasy is probably safer than equestrianism; apparently facts play, and ought to play, no significant role in discussion […]
Research Debunks “Promiscuity Objection” to HPV Vaccine
One of the objections to the HPV vaccine was that it might encourage promiscuity, and so should not be administered. There was a number of reasons why the objection failed. […]
In Defence of Ethicists (Or: Dr No’s no-no)
If you look at the comments thread in the post about Kerrie Wooltorton, you’ll see that there’s been an interesting debate between me and someone who calls himself “Dr No”. I don’t think that No and I will ever see eye-to-eye on quite a lot of stuff, but, then again, I don’t see eye-to-eye on […]
Philosophy of Medicine Workshop, Bristol, 28.x.09
This looks like it could be interesting… Department of Philosophy, University of Bristol This is an informal workshop on topics in the philosophy of medicine. Everyone is welcome. •09.45–11.00 Kevin Brosnan (Cambridge) “Does nothing in medicine make sense except in light of evolution?” •11.15–12.30 Jeremy Howick (UCL) “Defining a role for mechanistic reasoning in EBM” […]
More on Science Journalism…
This thought hit me over the weekend in Tesco’s car-park; I was still mulling over the reliability, or lack thereof, of science reporting in the media. I was also thinking about the PCC and how powerless it is, largely because it’s simply a boys’ club for editors. However, in my finding-a-trolley reverie, it occurred to […]
Night Thoughts on Journalism
There’s an illuminating item that’s recently been posted on Enemies of Reason about the way that the press has been handling H1N1, and the way in which the distinction between deaths from and deaths with the illness has been blurred. And it’s very easy to look at the newspaper stands and laugh at the manner in which […]