Ordinarily Well: The Case for Antidepressants Peter Kramer 2016 This book was very difficult to review. In Ordinarily Well, Dr. Peter Kramer makes two arguments that I agree with. One is that clinical observation—the interaction by which a medical professional learns about a patient—counts for something. The other is that clinical trials, or evidence-based medicine more … [Read more...] about Ordinarily Well: Storm in a D Cup
Search Results for: What to do about suicide
What Happened?
In the early to mid 1990s something happened. The view that many social commentators and academics offer is that neo-liberalism swept into town, dissolved society and turned us all into individuals. This is a non-explanation in that no-one can spell out what neo-liberalism is - so the explanation boils down to something happened. The something is caught in a review of … [Read more...] about What Happened?
All the Better for the Fishes
Jose Mario Bergoglio in Chile 2018: To believe in us you have to have Faith, but for me to believe in you you have to bring me proof Over 150 years ago, describing most of the medicines then available as junk, Oliver Wendell Holmes came up with one of the most famous phrases about medical practice, when he said that: If all the materia medica (drugs) could be sunk to the … [Read more...] about All the Better for the Fishes
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Surveillor
The recent moral panic around the Death of MR and the involvement of Instagram and Facebook in her death and maybe that of others is intriguing. Worthy of John Le Carre - at his Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy best. This may be a cynical attempt by the old media – the BBC or NBC, the New York Times or the Guardian to put pressure on new media like Facebook and Google. There are … [Read more...] about Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Surveillor
Rest in Dissent
Fifty years ago today, January 19, Jan Palach died. He had set fire to himself 3 days earlier in Wenceslas Square in Prague in protest against the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia. The spot was close to Charles University where Jan Hus had begun a resistance to religious oppression 5 centuries before that helped ignite the Reformation. He may have fallen as he began to die … [Read more...] about Rest in Dissent
Making Medicines Safer for All of US
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpTqei5hZ3g Editorial Note: Aberystwyth on the West Coast of Wales is one of the best places in the world to see starlings murmurate. Clive King from the Computer Science Department there also organises TedX talks and on November 24 convened a panel of speakers to talk about murmurating swallows, ambivalent motherhood and … [Read more...] about Making Medicines Safer for All of US
The Goetzsche Affair
In recent years under Amar Jesani the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics has emerged as one of the few venues willing to engage with pressing bioethical issues without fear of whether pharmaceutical companies or governments might be offended. Amar approached me a week ago to comment on the Goetzsche Affair. I borrowed a phrase invented by Tim Moss - Evidence Debased Medicine … [Read more...] about The Goetzsche Affair
The Valley of Death
Editorial: Part 3 of this Cochrane sequence follows on from last week's Data Based Medicine. While the histories of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) celebrate a first use of randomization in 1947, and there was some use of RCTs, primarily in mental health, in the mid-1950s, RCTs were a minority interest until 1962 and might have remained so, never giving rise to Evidence … [Read more...] about The Valley of Death
Little Red SSRIding Hood
Billiam James' Akathisia Anthem available HERE with lyrics Here raises the profile of one of the most neglected problems in medical care. There may be up to 500 commonly available drugs that trigger depression, agitation and suicadality - see RxISK 500+. The song has a gritty, hard-hitting message -- rated with "Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics" on iTunes and Amazon. It's … [Read more...] about Little Red SSRIding Hood
Villains and Heroes: Academic Thuggery
Editorial Note: This post from Leemon McHenry celebrates Marion Lilley and the International Journal of Risk and Safety in Medicine. It has a direct link to the issues in the last two posts on suicide in children and how and why we hide problems - The Spectre of Dissent. Most people trust that medical and scientific journals are reliable sources of knowledge. In the age … [Read more...] about Villains and Heroes: Academic Thuggery