Lucy Letby case: Relying on expert doctors in criminal medical cases can lead to injustice
The Lucy Letby case is the latest in a number of UK criminal medical cases that, beyond the rights and wrongs of each verdict, raises…
Opinion
Unique doctor-written opinion and analysis
The media horror stories about spinal cord stimulators risk denying my patients a better life
Pain medicine is what I do every day. The art of pain management is difficult, and the journey is long. When it comes to spinal…
Do you feel challenged when your patient requests a second opinion?
When a patient asks for a second opinion, it’s natural for doctors to worry that their expertise is being challenged, or to feel nervous that…
Do NSW psychiatrists deserve a 25% pay rise? Here’s my take as an emergency doctor
Watching from afar, the new US regime’s changes to the management of healthcare, superimposed on an already dysfunctional system, elicit a sense of foreboding. The…
My first year of medical school was sudden death — an era of big egos and elitism
Recently, I was given a copy of a paper, published in the Australasian Annals of Medicine in November 1962, entitled ‘The Art of Medicine’. It…
Has a patient asked to record a consultation? It’s worth thinking twice before saying no
Ever been faced with a patient asking if they can record the consultation, or suspected that a patient is recording covertly? Recording healthcare consultations is…
Social media is awash with medical lies: As doctors, we have a moral obligation to fight back
A tweet on X, dated 2 January 2024 and attributed to Elon Musk, stated that “heavy use of C-sections allows for a larger brain, as…
Sharing my personal history brought me closer to my patients — some boundaries are meant to be broken
In these troubled times, I feel a responsibility to increase awareness of history’s lessons and the role of the individual in fighting tyranny to create…
The doctor–patient tango: How I avoid a misstep before the consult turns frosty
Dr John Launer recently shared his favourite question to throw in mid-consultation: “How is this conversation going for you so far?” It helps him figure…
For me, telehealth is a revelation – sometimes it’s better than seeing patients in person
My move into emergency telemedicine, after decades of public hospital practice, has been a revelation. I like to call this type of practice ‘community emergency…
