The Times, usually considered and informed in its coverage of vaccine safety, published a column by a Sarah Ebner. Here’s a sample:
I know that Andrew Wakefield’s research suggesting a link between MMR and autism and bowel disease has been discredited, yet it’s not enough to change my mind. It’s a question of heart versus head. [...]
Russian neurosurgeons are surprised to find a 67-year-old man with needles in his brain (via semi-skimmed). There is no real explanation for why they might be there:
The patient was shocked when saw an X-ray photography of the head. “My hair stood on end when I saw there were several needles stuck in my head. This [...]
When I still used to rock-climb, as opposed to more sedate hill-walking, I did some higher graded climbs (about E1 to E3 – Here’s the UK grading system compared to foreign grading). However, my confident lead climbing was VS (Very Severe) to HVS (Hard Very Severe), which is about 5.7 in American money.
The Bear’s Leap [...]
Just for completeness, I should report that the most seriously ill of the TGN1412 trial participants is now well enough to speak about his ordeal. He has suffered horrific damage to his hands and feet. [News of the World - this link is likely to die soon]:
“When I woke up in intensive care after almost [...]
Like the chatshow host Russell Harty, the designer Wayne Hemmingway, and the filmmaker Michael Winterbottom I am a son of the former Cotton Town of Blackburn. Watching Condoleezza Rice walking out of Blackburn Town Hall with Jack Straw on the evening news a few weeks ago seemed plain odd; the familiarity I have with the [...]
Here is an political initiative I am part of, and which I hope you take the time to read: The Euston Manifesto. This is a statement that I and like-minded others have written and agreed to sign. It is the foundation of an internationalist campaign to renew progressive politics. It will be published on today [...]
Moynihan and Henry on disease mongering:
The problem of disease mongering is attracting increasing attention, though an adequate working definition remains elusive. In our view, disease mongering is the selling of sickness that widens the boundaries of illness and grows the markets for those who sell and deliver treatments. It is exemplified most explicitly by many [...]
Well, calm on the blog front anyway. Like a duck, beneath the water the legs will be paddling furiously. I’ve just started data collection in a qualitative study on attitudes to adverse drug reaction reporting, so any spare keyboard time will be taken up with transcribing interviews and analysis. Incidently, the squabbles in qualitative [...]
The MHRA’s interim report on the TGN1412 came out this week. In some places it was reported as a tightening up of clinical investigations, in other areas, rather predictably to my mind, it has been attacked as a whitewash. Here’s Paul Flynn MP:
Paul Flynn MP (Newport West) said the report on the dangerous reaction to [...]