Medical students in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh were expected to take to the streets in protest today, amid mounting outrage at the way state officials have replaced a national qualification with its local predecessor.

The protest is the latest in a series of confrontations between the...

90,000 doctors have had their careers stalled by the significant delays of India's Supreme Court . Fury gripped the medical community due to the bureaucratic nightmare that has pushed their patience to the limit. Peaceful protests, fasts and petitions have been taking place all over India. The medical...

Baroness Margaret Thatcher passed away at the Ritz Hotel this week. I have felt a great sense of empathy for the manner in which the elderly Baroness was treated in the final years of her life. In short, I felt she was mistreated by the media and a number of...

"In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act" George Orwell.

Since 9/11, the US has instigated a number of conflicts in the Middle East in the war against terror. The civilian body count is high but the actual number is unknown. Some...

The debate over so-called "gagging clauses" in NHS employment disputes rumbles on, doubtless fuelled by the outcome of the Mid Staffordshire inquiry. In an emotional, knee-jerk reaction, calls for a ban on such "gagging clauses" are reaching fever pitch.

For readers who have never been involved in legal wrangles with...

A long overdue public inquiry into the appalling standards of care at Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust is complete. The findings are not unexpected.

It is, however, a matter of grave concern that such efforts should be necessary before the plight of patients on sub-standard wards is noticed....

It is not clear to me why the human rights abuses within Jammu and Kashmir (Indian administered) have not been headline news all over the world. Certainly, the Indian media appears to have muted the events in Kashmir.

The types of abuses against civilians ongoing since the 1990s include:...

We all suffer from love sickness at some point in our lives. The exhilarating feeling of intoxication and rush of emotions is caused by a cocktail of chemicals affecting our physiological state. The three proposed stages of love are lust, attraction and attachment. Scientists say that each stage is influenced...

Diamorphine is regularly used in palliative care, clinical medicine and addiction psychiatry. It also has its application in the controversial Liverpool Care Pathway. The routine clinical use of diamorphine in medicine is unique to the UK, but this is not well known outside the UK. This useful controlled...

Halloween is upon us, and it is time for a haunting tale of mystery, intrigue and witchcraft from the deepest darkest recesses of English history. Between the 15th and 18th Centuries, there were approximately 500 executions following witch trials. Nestled in the beautiful rolling country-side is a place...

The Independent presented an article about a campaign against Page 3 of the Sun newspapers. . Lucy Ann Holmes writes a laudable account as to why Page 3 should be removed. She effectively blames a large number of society's problems on Page 3. While the editor of the...

The Telegraph recently sported the headline " Part Time Women Doctors are a 'risk'" to the NHS". The page showed a lady doctor reviewing x-rays. The lead into the article wrote

"Rising numbers of women doctors working part-tine present a 'huge risk' to the NHS, the General Medical...

The blue moon appears on Friday 31 August 2012. "The moon will turn full Friday, the second time since its first full appearance Aug 2 this year. The next blue moon will only be seen three years from now, July 2015" said Science Popularization Association Communicators and Educators (SPACE) in...

Medical whistleblowing has featured in countless newspaper headlines. The stories are usually victim-focused, implying that if you blow the whistle, your life is automatically destroyed. While that may be true in some cases, the stereotypical "victim" imagery is not constructive, helping neither the psychology of the individual whistleblower, nor the...

Fasting has been common throughout history . It is the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. It is often used as a method of non-violent resistance to effect political change. Famous fasts include the forty hour fast...

Starsailor is a northern band originating from Wigan in Lancashire, UK. The members met at Wigan and Leigh College, first bursting onto the music scene as performers in 2001. Their irresistibly dashing good looks and spectacular music attracted attention to their debut album, "Love Is Here",which sold over...

The Liverpool Care Pathway, a protocol normally used for the "dying patient", came under extensive scrutiny by the media recently. The Daily Mail broke the story on the 21 June 2012. The claims made included the misuse of the pathway during euthanasia of the elderly. Also,...

Indian farmers are committing suicide at a rapid rate. Despite protests, their voice appears to be unheard by those in the corridors of power. Suicides have been reported since the 1990s . Veteran journalist P. Sainath rightly stated

"We are talking of the largest recorded rate of suicides...

Recently, I read a blog post by a rather dashing young man who works for a leading IT company. It was entitled "Only you are responsible for your failure". The post detailed the patience of a dedicated, intelligent, talented and hard working professional who placed his trust and...

On 17 May 2012, Martin Barrow presented a excellent feature in the Times UK. He wrote

" Head injury victims are surviving to face a severe lack of support". The Times continues to cite the relevant statistics "Over half a million people in the UK of working age live with...