Why the NHS is failing.
on Nov 22, 2009 in New Labour fraud wasting money on the NHS dumbing down Any more good ideas?My drug-sodden old friend Wat Tyler at Burning our Money has just explained in a few hundred words how NHS resources are being squandered. ReadEarning your pharmacist an honest crustTyler may not know, but will not be surprised to...

Anal grammarians and eating placentas : Robert van Persie
on Nov 18, 2009 in the Guardian eating placentas Robert van Persie anal grammarians Grammar A short piece in the Guardian again today, this time about the alleged mystical healing powers of placentas and Robert van Persie's alleged trip to Serbia for some implausble alternative medicine. Let's just hope that the Quacktitioner Royal does not...

ADHD - should nurses take over diagnosis and management?
on Nov 17, 2009 in Concerta methylphenidate nurse prescribing ADHD In the United States, approximately 9% of the school-age population is diagnosed with ADHD. It's the most commonly diagnosed behavioral condition in children today. Twice as many boys are diagnosed with ADHD as girls.ConcertaThe race continues in the...

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...