Little did I know when I started on my health regime of Flintstones vitamins, a chewable C and two daily doses of Sancerre that I was partaking in a nearly half-trillion-dollar global market, the tentacles of which have now lured …
The cruelty of ‘corridor care’
This week, while carrying out a SITREP or situation report in hospital, I came across a 93-year-old woman lying on a trolley in a corridor. Tailgating her was a 94-year-old man, also on a trolley, also suffering from a terminal …
When I met Luigi Mangione
After the suspected killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was revealed to be Luigi Mangione, a bright young man from a well-to-do family, thousands of pundits rushed to tell us why he did it. I, however, held back because, unlike …
Can RFK Jr rebuild the American body?
Donald Trump has long sought to portray himself as some sort of aristocrat, and now, a deeply divided American electorate has given him the chance for the greatest grift of all. King Trump’s Camelot is within his grasp, and the …
The Alzheimer’s industry
In a leafy London suburb, there’s a smart little clinic that promises miracles. Run by Dr Andrew Greenland, an NHS consultant in emergency medicine, the Greenland Centre claims to be able to do something that the drug industry has failed …
The false hope of the new Alzheimer’s drugs
“Dementia steals people’s lives, turns their relationships upside down, destroys their hopes and dreams,” said David Cameron, as president of Alzheimer’s UK. This was back in 2017, and his ambitions were impressive: the Government had just published plans for £60 …
The secret life of gender clinicians
This was no ordinary medical conference. Over the course of three days, I learned a great many things. That eunuchs are one of the world’s oldest gender identities and that doctors should not judge their strange desires for castration but …
Has Gids learned from its failure?
Tomorrow, it will be a year since the closure of the controversial Gender Identity Development Service (Gids) at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust was announced. Rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission and overwhelmed by an exponential rise …
No one cares for carers
Granny Rosie, as she is known to everyone, is still very much herself at the age of 92: partial to a G&T when the sun is over the yardarm, and always up for a gossip. She’s also frustrated to be …
The danger of treating doctors like saints
The idea that doctors are saints is relatively new. For much of the 19th century, they were held in pretty low regard by the general public. Some were seen as social climbers — men using their medical training to get …
Medical freedom is poisoning America
At his “Miracle Ranch” in California, Robert O. Young would charge up to $5,000 per day to treat cancer patients. As part of his recommended six-week stay, the father of the alkaline diet would analyse the blood of patients, make …
Why would anyone envy the NHS?
They say the first step in fixing a crisis is to recognise there is a problem. So let us give thanks for a Labour leader’s dismissal of the belief that Britain’s health service is the envy of the world — …
‘Why did Canada help my brother die?’
“They’re going to say that all suicides are way down.” Gary Nichols is speaking to me from his home in Edmonton, Canada. In 2019, his younger brother Alan was hospitalised for threatening to kill himself. Within a month, he was …
My A&E survives on death
A few nights ago, during the graveyard shift in A&E, a colleague sent me a clip from the classic BBC sitcom, Yes, Prime Minister. “The Smoking Ban” episode shows PM Jim Hacker vowing to take on the tobacco lobby — …
How to treat gender dysphoria
Annie’s parents had spent so much time tending to her autistic brother that they hadn’t realised their daughter developed similar traits: a high IQ, a tendency to obsess, discomfort with her body.
Annie was diagnosed with epilepsy aged five. After …
