I think not. I’ve spent a bit of time reading the new White Paper and associated fluff, I conclude that there are possibly two good things in it. I’ll get to them. But, oh, the jargon! And the rest of it! What on earth does ‘equity and excellence: liberating the NHS’ actually mean? I’m really […]
Continue Reading →If you’re over 65…
and you live in Scotland, you have something in common with people who have been imprisoned for 5 years or more, people who have been detained in borstal, and people on bail in connection with criminal proceedings. You are “not qualified for jury service”. I find this very ageist. Judges can go on until they […]
Continue Reading →Homeopathy: witch hunting or waste of money
etc, etc. I am getting quite bored of the homeopathy debate. It should have moved on a bit, really. So here is the state of play today: James Le Fanu in today’s Telegraph says the BMA, who have recently voted for NHS funding for homeopathy to be withdrawn, aren’t listening to patients but are instead […]
Continue Reading →Overtreatment is fact, say Pelican
Well done to the Pelican charity who have said, of prostate cancer, in a press release: “Pelican is concerned that many men with low risk cancer are being over-treated, with resultant negative side effects of urinary and sexual dysfunction. Pelican is now directly funding clinical research that could make diagnosis and treatment for prostate cancer […]
Continue Reading →Medical professionalism in the USA
I’m most impressed at the unabashed and vigorous plea for ‘medical professionalism’ when it comes to doctors and their relationships with pharmaceutical and other commercial companies in the US. It’s in this report, just out, from the Association of American Medical Colleges. It places the need for clear information about potential financial and other biases in […]
Continue Reading →Statins: benefit (again) overstated?
Regular readers will know my ongoing concerns about statins: these drugs now make up one of the most frequently prescribed medications, and especially to well people. The benefits for people who have had a heart attack or stroke are one thing, but the potential benefit to people who are scored at being as high risk […]
Continue Reading →The Fertility MOT
MOT fertility information leaflet Another press release offering a fertility ‘MOT’ from ‘fertility and pregnancy expert Zita West and her team’. The only problem is that the only real test of being able to get pregnant is trying to: plenty of couples with perfect hormonal tests struggle to get pregnant, and other couples with erratic […]
Continue Reading →NICE and their astonishing view of the clinical relationship
If you are pregnant, NICE want you to given a carbon monoxide test. This test is to see if you smoke. But look at the flowchart on page 11- you are to have this test even if you say you don’t smoke, and even if you say you do. I don’t think this is conducive […]
Continue Reading →Radiation and risk
The NEJM carries a concerning article: a woman having a CT of head was exposed, accidentally, to a radiation overdose. She became unwell afterwards, and she’s suing. However the article also points out that new imaging techniques, getting more information about brain structures and blood flow mean that radiation doses from scans can now be […]
Continue Reading →Best science joke of ’10 (so far)
Schrodingers’ cat walks into a bar. And doesn’t. (Thank you Julie Miller)
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