Mumps – an American tale…

Vaccine Failure – Over 1000 Got Mumps in NY in Last Six Months screams the headline.  And it’s not even the Daily Mail!  It’s not new – February 8 – but as it’s linked to from a current article I see no reason why it shouldn’t be looked at closely. See *** at the end [...]

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MRSA and antibiotics – an opinion…

This is a revised (for clarity and to update it), version of a post of the same name from a couple of years ago. Parts of this post – for the third time today –  appear in others, in slightly different forms. I make no apology for this as people don’t always read other posts, [...]

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The NHS – too many chiefs, not enough indians…

Tens of thousands of NHS workers would be sacked, hospital units closed and patients denied treatments under secret plans for £20 billion of health cuts. Says the Telegraph. And that set me thinking – by how much are patients actually subsidising the NHS (in addition to taxation)? Because I doubt my situation is unique. I [...]

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GPs and prescribing…

According to the retards at the Daily Mail, family doctors are dishing out pills like sweets. Ha! I wish they were, especially when it comes to antibiotics… For years it’s been impossible to get antibiotics to treat my purulent COPD flare-ups without a sputum test (though taste and – for a subjective test – smell [...]

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Computerised patient records – are they secure?

The answer to that question seems to be a resounding No! Patient records are about to be computerised, as I’m sure you know, and as everyone else should be, I’m concerned about security. Not least because the assurances are, frankly, piss-poor. Paper records, by the way, are

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Observer magazine – going down the pan?

Some months ago I wrote about how the Observer should change if it was  to survive its financial crisis and lo! – it came to pass almost exactly as I’d suggested. That’s OK, guys, no charge… And then they buggered it. (A note for my colonial readers – that expression has nothing at all to [...]

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The best sleeping position for COPD…

From my search-engine slush pile “sleeping positions for COPD.” Many years ago I was taught by a physiotherapist that the best sleeping position for any respiratory illness – I hadn’t graduated to COPD in those days – was the recovery position. Googling it is easier than having me describe it. You’ll probably have to do [...]

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BT is abusing the TPS system…

BT is ignoring not only the Telephone Preference Service listing of its customers, but also its own ex-directory system, to market its own products. This is totally unacceptable. For months I have been plagued by phone calls, half a dozen times a day,  from two 0800 numbers. They are 08009533008 and 08004082362 (this one by [...]

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Motability and DLA…

A question from my search-engine slush pile – “Will I lose DLA if I get a Motability car?”. Since having the higher rate of the DLA mobility component is a pre-requisite for getting a Motability car, then no. If, however, what is actually meant is will having a Motability car prevent my losing DLA in [...]

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A food fascist at war…

US commander in Afghanistan bans burger and pizza bars at Kandahar base Famously sober General Stanley McChrystal calls for an end to the junk food culture at top military base. So says the headline in the Guardian. Remarkably, there are branches of Burger King, Pizza Hut, Dairy Queen and TGI Friday’s, among others, at Kandahar [...]

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