A fortnight ago I wrote about how the role of cholesterol in heart disease was being challenged. There was also a challenge to the widespread prescribing of statin medications. And to cap it off we saw a near hysterical reaction of some health authorities to this. The...
A headline about lack of hospital beds or people missing out on care is always popular. Often statistics are used to show that certain sections of the population are getting less access to treatment than other sections. It reinforces the sense of crisis about the...
It seems that there are enough physicians out there who aren’t even a tiny bit embarrassed about referring to themselves out loud as“Thought Leaders” or “Key Opinion Leaders” to keep Canada’s Dr. Sergio Sismondo busy writing about them. I first wrote about his work...
One can tell a lot about how solid a scientific opinion is by the response to questioning. Genuine science is never settled. It is constantly questioning assumptions as new knowledge emerges. Dogma rejects questioning and seeks to harass those who dare pose questions....
There is a wonderful quote by Aldous Huxley: “Medical science is making such remarkable progress that soon none of us will be well.” With the degree of disease mongering, over diagnosis and awareness that we have at present this prediction is coming true....
Once upon a time medical practice was about the consulting room. Here the patient and doctor could consider what was best for the individual based on their unique circumstances. The aim was to treat the patient, not to treat a number, or to treat to a target or to...
