It might be cool, but will it make a difference to health? This is still the unanswered question after the launch of the latest must-have device from Apple, 30 years […]
Columnists
Jim Murray: What have medicines to do with health in the EU?
In the UK, the Department of Health is the “parent,” or sponsoring department, for the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). That seems reasonable. It would be surprising if […]
The BMJ Today: The perils of not keeping your mouth shut
A few weeks ago, I had to take parenteral antibiotics for a condition that was not improving with oral antibiotics. Moreover, in my native Portugal it is still common, for […]
Billy Boland: A lesson in perseverance
It did not feel like the end when I submitted my portfolio for the NHS Leadership Academy, and sure enough it was not. I’ve been asked to make amendments, and […]
Richard Smith: “Psoriasis is my health”
To most doctors psoriasis is a disease to be fought, contained, and even cured, but is this far too narrow a view? John Updike, one of the greatest writers in […]
Jim Murray: Undermining the European Medicines Agency’s transparency policy
As previously mentioned, the European Medicines Agency pulled back on its transparency policy when it published a new draft for consultation in May this year. The European Ombudsman and Glenis Willmott […]
Richard Smith: Why scientists should be held to a higher standard of honesty than the average person
Although it may seem harsh, I believe that scientists should be held to a higher standard of honesty than the average person. The consequence is that they will be punished […]
Desmond O’Neill: Stethophones and barriers to effective care of older people
There is a long tradition in medicine of accepting a degree of mismatch between labels and the functions that they address. A classic example is the stethoscope, through which few of […]
James Raftery: NICE: “inconsistent,” “in large part arbitrary and opaque,” according to friends
A strong critique just published points to logical inconsistencies in NICE’s consideration of social values, specifically in how it handles quality adjusted life years (QALYs). Since these are key to […]
Neal Maskrey: Tipping the balance towards individualised care
I don’t really get the horror genre. Even as a young boy, the flaky plots and a world working to different rules than the one I was becoming more familiar […]