Sick certificates
on Nov 3, 2009King Andy's guide to faking a sickieIt has always suited governments to encourage the long-term unemployed to "discover" an illness and move on to incapacity benefit. The move is easily made, as GPs are a "soft touch" for a sick certificate. But whil...

Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) : science, quackery & mental illness
on Oct 21, 2009 in myalgic encephalomyelitis mental illness quackery Guardian The militant wing of the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) brigade broke out the champagne when a recent article in Science reported that a retrovirus had been found in 67% of ME patients compared to under 4% of the general population. Sadly, the study...

Public Stools
on Oct 6, 2009 in the Guardian Public stools toilet training GarderobeA smartly dressed, middle-aged lady came in and sat down. Let's call her Angela. Angela was a child of the 60s, the decade of female emancipation. But, while other girls of her age were letting their hair down at Woodstock, Angela was still...

The illusion of choice
on Sep 29, 2009Last week, my ageing motorcar started making an odd noise. The service manager told me I needed a replacement camfleugal pin. He gave me a list of 10 suppliers. Which one did I want them to use? I don't know much about camfleugal pins. I told him to...

GP boundaries
on Sep 22, 2009Last week GPs were mystified when the health secretary Andy Burnham announced plans to abolish practice boundaries, which will leave patients free to register with any GP of their choice, regardless of where they live. But has the government thought...

Roast swan and port
on Sep 15, 2009 in alcopops BMA Chateau Palmer booze teenage drinking Hypocrisy  BMA House Dr Crippen: Is the BMA right to want to ban alcohol advertising?I joined the British Medical Association almost accidentally, as did most doctors. I wanted to receive its journal, the BMJ, and, when I was a student, the association of...

Gordon brown is genuinely lovely...
on Sep 12, 2009There have been some appalling rumours, originating from the blogosphere, but now circulating widely  in the main stream media as well, suggesting that Gordon Brown is so seriously mentally ill that he has had to be treated with mono amine oxida...

Going to the Devil
on Sep 9, 2009 in The Devil ovaltine early hours of the morning I rise briefly from my slumbers to spring to the defence of the Devil, whose most recent post has caused a furore and even resulted in one of his devoted followers saying:A blog too far for me I'm afraid. I though most of your rants were good but the...

Swine flu immunisations
on Sep 8, 2009 in Fort Dix Guardian swine flu The government's chief commissar for immunisations, Professor David Salisbury, has said that nurses have a "duty" to be immunised againstswine flu. A poll by nursingtimes.net showed that 30% of respondents would refuse to have it. If the government i...

Time for a blogging break...
on Aug 31, 2009 in taking a break from blogging  Dr Crippen takes a breakDr Crippen is signing off for a while.I'm not going to stop writing but blogging is time consuming and other opportunities are on the horizon. A general election is looming. NHS BLOG DOCTOR has not endorsed any political...