This week’s BMJ carries a review I’ve written on Iona Heath’s new book ‘Matters of Life and Death: Key Writings’. Dr Heath is a GP in London and is someone whose attitude towards medicine I’ve admired for many years. This book has made me think hard about what it is that doctors are meant to do, and what makes a good life and a good death. It is a shame it’s been packaged as a medical textbook as it deserves a far wider audience. Apparently in Italy it’s been released as a general interest book which makes more sense to me.

As I was logging on to the BMJ website to get the link to the review I noticed the banner advertisement. It was not advertising pharmaceuticals or medical conferences  – the usual products seen here – but the somewhat racy lingerie chain Agent Provocateur. I’m not sure whether this is a welcome distraction from medical research or the reward for it.