You know, I have no problem with scientific principles but I sure have problems when science has no principles. It beggars belief when you read the headlines in a newspaper which says, "More than half million (USA) kids get bad drug reactions". Okay, okay... maybe that's true. Read further, and you'll see it is. But these drug reactions are elective drugs like penicilin, paracetamol, and 'stuff'. Then further down, we read, "similar numbers of hospitalized children - about 540,000 yearly, also have bad reactions to drugs including side effects, medicine mix-ups and accidental overdoses." Okay? Parents are admonished to pay close attention when their children are started on medicines, since "first-time" medication exposures may reveal an allergic reaction." Fine. But. There's a very big BUT here. Read Full Blog
Hilary's Desk
Bodily Matters
Swinish Shock Doctrine: Part Two
Everywhere we look, we see nothing but pictures of coloured surgical masks as if these have some paranormal ability to “protect” the wearer. These, we presume, work. Right? After all, they are part of the “national plan” to stop the spread of flu viruses right? We’ve been told that the two main means of infection are contact: as in shake someone’s hand, put hand in mouth; picking up droplets from furniture (fomites), or being directly coughed or sneezed over. Right? Masks supposedly are to contain what the infectious people cough out, to protect others, so wearers also assume that masks protect them from the “environment” around them. Why else would people on the streets of Mexico, and doctors, be wearing them? Right? Wrong, actually, on both counts. Read Full Blog
The Murky side of Merck
The writing of hitlists is something most people associate with gangs, criminals and the Mafia. So perhaps it will come as a surprise to read of a trial in Australia about a hit list of the names of doctors who spoke out against a drug called Vioxx. This particular list was not made up by Gambino Mafia, but by white collar pushers and shovers at ... Merck. it's common knowledge that Merck is relying on Gardasil profits to pay off the settlement amounts for Vioxx. That isn't my opinion, but comes from the "mouth" of one of the HPV bigwigs. Read Full Blog
What's in a word?
The title of our first book came at 1.30 a.m in the morning. I’d been watching a recorded TV programme on the MenZB showing a nurse about to jab a child. She said, “little prick…” The child exploded vocally out of the blocks, and was inconsolable. I thought back to my last phlebotomist’s visit, when the ubiquitous “just a little prick” came out. And the day when she speared a twisted vein and the whole lot swelled up like a golf ball. Read Full Blog