As I mention in my medical memoir, An English Doctor in Japan, sometimes the encounter with patients for no good reason may be referred to as ‘the front line’ or even as ‘the coal face’ of general practice. Worse, in discussions with colleagues during a coffee break, when asking if any interesting patients had been seen, the cynical [...]
An unusual libel case is currently making its way through the Australian courts. The plaintiff is a person who goes by the name of Roxanne Tickle. Incidentally, Tickle is a real English surname originating from the town of Tickhill in the UK county of Yorkshire. Roxanne Tickle is what some people call a transwoman. Now, in order to [...]
The highly esteemed King’s College London recently announced the ‘Largest study to understand the support needs of young people experiencing gender incongruence.’ Why do I say this is nonsense? To answer the question, allow me a short digression. When I was a medical student an anecdote was doing the rounds to illustrate why doctors should always examine patients [...]
They ought to be ashamed of themselves Dr Tom Dolphin, who bears more than a passing resemblance to John Cleese, star of Fawlty Towers and other popular British comedy shows, has recently been appointed Chair of the British Medical Association (BMA), replacing Professor Philip Banfield. In August 2024 I wrote to Professor Banfield, protesting about doctors going on strike [...]
When I did my training for general practice it included a residency in psychiatry. From time to time we would get a call from a GP requesting admission for a patient who was threatening suicide. After taking more details the consultant usually commented, ‘This patient is not mentally ill – she’s upset,’ but he admitted her anyway. Dr [...]
Recently I had a few business matters to attend to in London. I then did some sightseeing with my wife in Edinburgh before moving to Germany for a few days to visit friends. Rail Ninja rip-off The fun started before we left home. Thinking it would be easier to book train tickets from London to Edinburgh directly with [...]
I could hardly believe my eyes when I read of the latest crackpot idea to try to save the NHS money. It’s mentioned in an opinion piece in The British Medical Journal (BMJ) by a part-time GP. It seems a scheme is being proposed to reduce demand for hospital appointments by dissuading GPs from making referrals. (At least [...]
In the original story by Hans Christian Andersen, the Emperor was merely deluded that he was fully dressed when he wasn’t. But what really happened was that the Emperor was suffering from a neurodevelopmental disorder that caused him to be so distracted and excitable that he rushed out of his palace to parade around stark naked in [...]
There are many reasons why someone might become depressed. Here are a few: bereavement, loss of a job, financial difficulties, and disappointment in love. It may also happen because of childhood abuse or neglect, whether remembered or suppressed. In other words, there’s always a reason for it although this may not at first be recognized. Normal human misery [...]
Luigi Mangione, the man accused of fatally shooting healthcare insurance CEO Brian Thompson in New York on 4 December 2024, apparently suffered from chronic low back pain. And according to news reports, this was due to a condition that he was probably born with, called spondylolisthesis; it was treated in 2023 with a spinal fixation operation. Spondylolisthesis means [...]