Doctors should not declare anyone fit to be held in immigration detention centres
On 4 February 2024, a 22 year old Guinean man died by suicide in Ponte…
Category: British Medical Journal
One in eight people globally are obese, with rates in children increasing fourfold in three decades
More than a billion people are affected by obesity, which is now the most common…
Raising the bar for disclosure of industry payments to doctors
After a seven year delay, in 2022drug companies operating in New Zealand made their first…
A hard umbilical lump
This is a computed tomography image of the abdomen of a woman in her late…
High cost oncology drugs without proof of added benefit are burdening health systems
In recent decades, drug discovery and development has undergone remarkable progress, leading to groundbreaking biomedical…
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The case for reform of rotational training
Calls for reform of rotational training have been growing. Grassroots movements, junior doctors’ committees, and…
Colchicine . . . . and other stories
Colchicine for people with type 2 diabetes and coronary heart diseaseTrials show that low dose…
A patient with jaundice and a rash
A woman in her 60s presented with a three day history of jaundice and a…
GPs in England express dismay at “final” 2.23% contract offer
NHS England’s plan to impose a deal offering a 2.23% funding increase for GPs this…
Waiting lists unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2029, warns think tank
England’s waiting lists will continue to fall this year but could remain stubbornly high and…
GPs in England express dismay at “final” 2.23% contract offer
NHS England’s plan to impose a deal offering a 2.23% funding increase for GPs this…
Waiting lists unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2029, warns think tank
England’s waiting lists will continue to fall this year but could remain stubbornly high and…
How losing a sense of belonging damages healthcare
“Where are you from” is a question I’m often asked. There was a time when…
How losing a sense of belonging damages healthcare
“Where are you from” is a question I’m often asked. There was a time when…
Covid-19 taskforce called for a new national vaccine agency to prepare for future pandemics
The UK needs a permanent ecosystem for rapidly developing, manufacturing, and supplying vaccines for future…
Covid-19 taskforce called for a new national vaccine agency to prepare for future pandemics
The UK needs a permanent ecosystem for rapidly developing, manufacturing, and supplying vaccines for future…
Bridging the equity gap towards inclusive artificial intelligence in healthcare diagnostics
Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are paving the way for innovations in how healthcare…
Bridging the equity gap towards inclusive artificial intelligence in healthcare diagnostics
Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are paving the way for innovations in how healthcare…
The twin model: decolonising research and knowledge sharing through equitable collaborations
Helicopter or parachute research in global collaborations in medicine is a long standing and concerning…
Anthony Epstein: pathologist and virologist who jointly discovered the Epstein-Barr virus
bmj;384/feb29_14/q515/FAF1faIn March 1961 a lunchtime talk by Irish “bush surgeon” Dennis Burkitt at the Middlesex…
Refocusing the health and care system: workforce implications
The King’s Fund has recently published a major report calling for a wholesale refocusing of…
The NHS founding principles: we have known for a long time that ill health is linked to external causes
In the first report from the BMJ Commission on the Future of the NHS, Crisp…
The impact of housing instability on health and other research
Prescribe comes before a fallDoes prescribing opioids in older people increase their risk of having…
NICE’s clarification of its approach to perspective in response to letter by Brendbekken and Bhopal
Brendbekken and Bhopal1 ask if the growth of high cost gene therapies should motivate the…
Tackling contraceptive misinformation on social media
The involvement of social media in healthcare messaging is becoming increasingly prevalent. The effect on…
Seven days in medicine: 21-27 February
MeaslesInfection continues to spread in EnglandA further 60 laboratory confirmed measles cases were recorded in…
Exposure-response associations between chronic exposure to fine particulate matter and risks of hospital admission for major cardiovascular diseases: population based cohort study
In this paper by Wei and colleagues (BMJ 2024;384:e076939, doi:10.1136/bmj-2023-076939) the colour coding in the…
Eating disorders: Targets fail to improve children’s access to treatment, warn psychiatrists
The Royal College of Psychiatrists has called for more investment in children’s eating disorders services…
Added benefit and revenues of oncology drugs approved by the European Medicines Agency between 1995 and 2020: retrospective cohort study
AbstractObjectivesTo evaluate the added benefit and revenues of oncology drugs, explore their association, and investigate…
Ultra-processed food exposure and adverse health outcomes: umbrella review of epidemiological meta-analyses
AbstractObjectiveTo evaluate the existing meta-analytic evidence of associations between exposure to ultra-processed foods, as defined…
Reasons to avoid ultra-processed foods
Hundreds of epidemiological studies and meta-analyses have reported associations between ultra-processed food consumption and adverse…
Linda Beecham: a love of the arts, the BMA, and The BMJ
bmj;384/feb28_10/q481/FAF1faWere you lucky enough over the past 40 years to have a hot ticket for…
John Launer: Preventing a mismatch of agendas
Some time ago I received a hospital appointment that I wasn’t expecting. I’d seen the…
We need to engage people before they become patients
Morgan’s opinion piece “Do we still really need doctors?” is a thought provoking commentary on…
Helen Salisbury: Blurring the boundaries of the medical profession
The updated 2024 version of the General Medical Council’s guidance document Good Medical Practice came…
Bronx medical students to receive free tuition after $1bn donation
A billion dollar gift will make medical education tuition free for more than 700 students…
The importance of British Sign Language
My son failed his newborn hearing screening, but further tests told us he was able…
Changing policy landscape around elder abuse in England and Wales
Abuse of older people is a global public health problem.1 In 2021, the World Health…
The NHS is failing deaf people
Deaf people have long experienced inequitable healthcare, and the linked account by parent Kirsten Abioye…
The BBC should not normalise practices that harm babies
The nation’s favourite television programme, Call the Midwife, is rightly proud of its close attention…
Pledge to boost medical training places rings hollow, say leaders
Medical leaders have voiced concerns about the pace of the government’s pledge to boost medical…
Osler’s valediction: how might physicians contribute to the effort to postpone human extinction?
In August 2023 the editors of 11 leading medical and health journals called for the…
Scotland’s health visitor investment is improving child health and easing pressure on services
Urgent action is needed to tackle worsening health in children under 5 in the UK,…
Regression discontinuity design studies: a guide for health researchers
Everyday medical practice is largely shaped by evidence from clinical research activities, such as understanding…
Professionalism in 2024: today’s doctors shouldn’t be held to outdated ideas
Professionalism is a term that most healthcare professionals are familiar with, but defining it can…
How to respond when asked where you’re ‘really from’
Fight for acceptance, not toleranceNarut Pakunwanich, academic foundation doctor, interventional neuropsychiatry group, School of Clinical…
Gaza: Excess deaths could exceed 85 000, researchers predict
If the war against Hamas continues its current path or escalates the number of excess…
Nearly half US states limit or ban access to gender affirming care for adolescents, finds report
Some 23 of the 50 US states limit or ban adolescents’ access to gender affirming…
Junior doctors in England strike for 10th time as pay dispute rumbles on
The dispute over pay between the government and junior doctors in England saw its 10th…
Sponge-on-a-string test replaces need for endoscopy in eight in 10 reflux patients
Eight out of 10 patients who underwent a capsule sponge test for Barrett’s oesophagus did…