Author profile

The revival of thalidomide: From tragedy to therapy

In the early 1960s the world was shocked by the tragic spectacle of thousands of children born with malformed arms and legs. The image of those children struggling with deformed limbs has been seared into the public... Read More

Special feature: Captain Vancouver and medicine in the Age of Sail

The Age of Sail was roughly the period from the 16th to the mid-19th century when naval warfare and international trade were dominated by sailing ships. In those times illness and accidents were by far the main... Read More

The history of bloodletting

With a history spanning at least 3000 years, bloodletting has only recently—in the late 19th century—been discredited as a treatment for most ailments. The practice of bloodletting began around 3000 years ago... Read More

The roots of evidence-based medicine

Drs Lind, Louis, and Semmelweis laid the groundwork for evidence-based medicine in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1996 Dr D.L. Sackett and colleagues published a landmark article that established the core principles... Read More

A commentary on cholera: The scourge that never dies

In the field of infectious disease, cholera is one of the most instructive diseases to study because it touches on several disciplines, in­cluding microbiology, epidemiology, marine biology, climatology, waste... Read More

Am I just a number?

Mired in all the statistics that are supposed to make patient care more scientific, a family doc wonders about the significance of his daily practice. I have been a physician for over 35 years. I have seen the good... Read More