Printed from: https://www.cmf.org.uk/resources/publications/content/?context=issue&id=125
Suppose for a moment that I had just signed a prescription for you. Would you still trust my decision if I had used a pen with the drug's logo printed on it? What if the company's representative had treated my whole firm to dinner the previous evening? The majority of...
The annual conference was over. I was back in my London flat after a four hour journey by car, train, underground and foot. Impatiently I tossed item after item out of my bag and found everything but my Bible and conference notes. I sat on the floor and felt like...
J was a patient of mine in general practice. He had been action man personified in work and sport, but several years of progressive multiple sclerosis with no remissions had left him almost tetraplegic. He was well looked after, with maximum nursing and homecare input, and despite no specific treatment...
December 26 2004 will stick in people’s minds in much the same way that September 11 2001 has – the images of devastation and suffering, the confused news reports, the gradual unfolding of the scale of the disaster as the days turned to weeks, and the initially slow but suddenly...
Burrswood is a place like no other in the UK. It combines the principles of Christian care and healing with high standards in modern medical care. It is my privilege to be part of the Burrswood team, and in this article I hope to share something of how this unique...
In a secular society where we hear a lot of negative facts and opinions about the church (church attendance is at an all-time low; and most people consider the church to be irrelevant today), we could easily fall into the trap of thinking that the church has a bleak future....
It’s not surprising that people are muddled when the world we live in tolerates all kinds of behaviour and thinking. I’ve lost count of the number of times people have said to me, ‘it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you’re sincere’, or, ‘aren’t all religions much the...
Many people told me their exciting plans for holidays over the Easter break, and I’m sure the majority of you will have come back refreshed from a relaxing time away, be it four weeks or four days! I must admit that I’ve particularly missed the opportunity to ski this year,...
This is a particularly difficult situation because you have not met this patient or his family before. You are also on-call and therefore under a fair amount of time pressure; your brain will not be very welcoming of the idea of having to undertake some potentially tricky and emotional negotiation...
Editor, I am afraid I was more confused than edified by the article on ‘Intelligent Design’ by Paul Nelson in the January 2005 Nucleus (pp13-21). Why do Christians get so wound up about evolution? We need to beware of being distracted from the five relevant messages in the Bible...
Managing Editor, Jacky Engel’s article on eugenics in the January 2005 issue (pp2-4) was a real eye-opener into current thinking in ethics and medicine and how our profession may evolve in the future. It particularly concerned me to learn how a number of eminent bioethicists (who are not practising clinicians)...
Feeding tube withdrawn Terri Schiavo, a woman who has been in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years, has had her feeding tube removed following a bitter seven year court battle in the United States between her husband and her parents. Michael Schiavo, Terri’s husband, wanted the feeding tube removed....
