News

BMJ video: Lord Darzi interview

Watch the BMJ video interview with health minister Lord Darzi, timed to coincide with the release of his report about the future of the NHS in England.

Comment

R-E-S-P-E-C-T - find out what it means

Iona Heath wonders what reasons lie behing the terrifying increase in killings by some children and young adults in Britain.

Research

Imported malaria and high risk groups: observational study

Despite the availability of highly effective preventive measures, the burden from falciparum malaria has steadily increased, mostly among travellers returning from seeing friends and family in West Africa. Failure to comply with prophylaxis or to seek travel advice has led to a rise in imported malaria cases in the UK, says the accompanying editorial about this observational study using UK surveillance data from 1987-2006.

Research

Cardiovascular evaluation, including resting and exercise electrocardiography, before participation in competitive sports

Four fifths of people barred for health reasons from sport in Italy, where pre-screening for heart disease is a legal requirement, were picked up by exercise electrocardiography in this five year national study. An accompanying editorial backs calls for adding electrocardiography to the screening programmes to help detect more athletes with silent cardiovascular disorders at risk of sudden death.

News

More than half of drugs sold online are fake or substandard

More than 60% of drugs sold by online pharmacies are counterfeit or substandard, according to a report published by the European Alliance for Access to Safe Medicines.

News

Survey highlights differences in cardiac care in Europe

The first comparative analysis of cardiac care in 29 European countries shows that the best treatment, ranging from prevention to rehabilitation, is in Luxembourg, France, Norway, and Switzerland.

Feature

How clean is your water?

Many of the drugs we take end up in the water system. Whether or not drugs in drinking water are potentially harmful to human health is an empirical question that can be investigated by science. But experience of a variety of issues from genetic modification to the effects of low level radiation shows that science is not the only or necessarily the dominant factor in policy making; the issue raises problems of public perception. Geoff Watts investigates.

Head to head

Should geriatric medicine remain a specialty?

Yes, says Leon Flicker. The geriatrician's training focuses on a whole system approach that has been shown to work and continues to work well. No, say C P Denaro and A Mudge. They argue against defining a specialty by chronological age and call for a return to generalism.

Research

Mental capacity to make decisions on treatment in people admitted to psychiatric hospitals

Two fifths of patients admitted voluntarily and four fifths of those detained involuntarily lacked the capacity to decide on treatment, yet capacity is not assessed routinely, according to this cross sectional study in London. The accompanying editorial says that even though some patients will meet the legal criteria for treatment under the Mental Capacity and Mental Health acts at the time of admission to hospital, practitioners might prefer to rely on the authority of the Mental Health Act when a patient with a fluctuating mental state needs a sustained programme of care.