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Considers the essential questions that a physician should consider before a physician changes a medical practice in the light of a published research paper. Practical question to ask about a new piece of research; Fundamental questions about the design of the study; Avoidance of systematic bias; Important numbers found in the methods section of a paper.

Lists several books related to medicine. 'Medical Job Interview: Secrets for Success,' by C. Mumford; 'How to Read a Paper,' by T. Greenhalgh; 'ABC of Mental Health,' by T. Davies and T. K. J. Craig; 'The 10-Minute Diagnosis Manual,' edited by R. B. Taylor; Others.

Presents the medical studies featured in the 'British Medical Journal' in Great Britain. Focus of the majority of the papers on epidemiology; Number of citations received by the studies included in the list; Citation of pharmacologically oriented papers with the highest ratings. INSETS: 1940s;Concourse No 2;The BMJ's top 50.

The author discusses the importance of impact factors to editors of medical journals. George Lundberg, former editor of the "Journal of the American Medical Association," who raised that journal's impact factor, is reported to consider that this now central importance of ranking is distorting the basic character of many journals. Medical journals may try to publish only those papers most likely to be cited instead of less citeable, but important work and in so doing, may do science and their readers a disservice. The "Journal Citation Reports" produced by the Institute for Scientific Information is mentioned.

Comments on the articles published on the February 1989 issue of the 'British Medical Journal.' Public expectation on the standards of medical care; Role of private sector in elective surgery; Use of a resident population funding approach in the white paper 'Working for Patients'.

Reports developments related to medicine in Great Britain. List of proposals in the white paper; Plan of the Arthritis and Rheumatism Council for Research to study twins with rheumatoid arthritis; Selection of Edward Parks, vice chairman of the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals as the chairman of the committee.

Reports global developments on medicine as of December 1994. Suspension of Malcolm Pearce, consultant obstetrician, from duty after an inquiry into the scientific validity of research papers in London, England; Introduction of public smoking banning in Shanghai, China; Increase public health funds in Israel.

Reports developments related to medicine. Claims on the ineffective antiviral drugs in patients with AIDS; Issues on the closure of rural hospitals in New Zealand; Abandonment on the use of paper medical records in exchange of integrated computer based records system.

Suggests methods by which impact factors can be improved in medical periodicals. Calculation of impact factors among medical journals; Absolute citation counts; Impact of review journals; Cumulative impact factors; Method papers; Factors in journal evaluation.

This article reports on the criticism by the "New England Journal of Medicine" for a paper about a Vioxx study which omitted data about three additional heart attacks related to the use of the drug. The inclusion of the three heart attacks would have increased the risk associated with the use of the drug rofecoxib as compared with naproxen. Merck, the manufacturer of the drug, has stated that the paper was peer reviewed and that all information had been supplied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and physicians. Merck is reorganizing and downsizing as a result of the lawsuits filed against it for the drug Vioxx, or rofecoxib.

Editorial. Presents an announcement by the British Medical Journal Publishing Group (BMJ) of the creation of some controls on bmj.com which will have some users paying for some content. Decision made as revenues decrease from fewer paper subscriptions due to the currently free access website and as job advertisers use the National Health Service web site and UK Pharmaceuticals advertise less; Plan which will allow BMA members and users of the World Bank's low to lower middle income countries free access in addition to keeping the studentbmg.com site free; Timetable and exemptions from new fee schedule.

Editorial. Comments on the paper 'Delivering the NHS Plan,' which discusses the government's strategy for Great Britain's National Health Service. Commitment to a tax based system that provides free care to all; Plans to create institutions to set, monitor, and ensure national service standards; Earned autonomy of local organisations.

Comments on ways to ensure that high quality health information is available on the Internet. Limitations on quality initiatives in a paper by Wilson in this issue, including the size of the burden placed on the providers and seekers of health information; View that Web sites which do not conform to ethical standards should be filtered out; Use of so-called downstream filtering to apply one's own quality criteria to a site.

Editorial. Comments on changes to the 'British Medical Journal.' Suggestion that the changes are bringing the periodical closer to the style and reading level of 'Cosmopolitan'; Inclusion of a picture on the cover; Increased focus on education and career development; Effort to increase the readability of the magazine; Differences in the paper and electronic versions of the magazine.

Objective: To describe how pharmaceutical companies cater to the material needs of doctors.Design: Case report of memoirs.Setting: Facilities that have nothing to do with medicine, somewhere in the Arabian peninsula.Patient population: Random sample of doctors.Interventions: Promotion by the pharmaceutical industry.Main outcome measures: Short term outcomes were travel, pleasure, amusement, and gifts, and long term outcomes were the market share of specific companies.Results: Short term outcomes were heterogeneous, underlying the diversity of the means employed by the pharmaceutical industry to subvert, divert, and influence medical practice. Overall, 200doctors were dressed in white gowns, a doctor in preventive medicine quoted Hippocrates in favour of smoking, a senior doctor became a poet, a doctor trying to understand the Methods section of a poster paper wondered whether he should have been sunbathing at the beach instead, and two women doctors were kidnapped by Bedouin warriors. Long term outcomes on the sales of the company drugs are pending but are likely to be most favourable.Conclusions: Eat, drink, be merry, and boost prescriptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents new items related to medicine. A Taiwanese study in the "International Journal of Epidemiology" found that reports of the suicide of a celebrity may have led to an increase in suicides. Research reported in the "Proceedings of the National academy of Sciences" found that the content of nitric acid decrease in stored blood, which may reduce the flow of blood in some people. A paper in "Neurology" indicates that smoking does not influence the progression of multiple sclerosis or the accumulation of disability caused by the illness.

The article presents news items related to medicine. Research reported in the periodical "Journal Medicine" found that people with fatty livers tend to develop insulin resistance and raised glucose concentrations. A paper in "Psychsomatic Medicine" found that whether people cope with stress may depend on their serotonin transporter (5HHTT) genotypes. Evidence from several studies reported in the "Journal of Nutrition" indicates that garlic protects against colorectal cancer. Research reported in "Science News Online" indicates that house cats may serve as sensitive sentinels in assessing human exposure and adverse health outcomes related to polybrominated diphenyl ethers.

This article presents medical news briefs. In the U.S. the medical plan known as Medicare will be blocking payment on extra costs that come from treating preventable errors, injuries and infections that occur in hospitals and it is likely that health insurers will follow suit. Authors Karsten Jorgensen and Peter Gotzsche won first prize for their paper "Content of Invitations for publicly funded screening mammography." Black box warnings are going on Glitazone class of drugs in the U.S. after findings that the drugs may cause or worsen heart failure.

Looks at how the views of thousands of people on primary care are to be gathered by the U.K. Department of Health in a consultation exercise. Reports that the views will help to inform a paper to published at the end of the year; Comments on the exercise from health secretary Patricia Hewitt; Involvement of patients, the public, and medical professionals in the exercise; Recruitment of a private company to organize the event.

Presents medical news briefs. Two cases of West Nile virus which have been confirmed in Irish travelers to Portugal; SARS whistleblower who has been released from prison in China; Fresh outbreak of bird flu in Indonesia; Approval for 20 NHS trusts to become foundation trusts; Implementation of a register of abusers of the elderly in the health care system which will not extend to the NHS staff; Need for peer review to be explained to the public for better understanding of scientific papers.

Presents medical-related news for the week of July 19, 2003. Suggestions for submitting papers to the periodical; Studies on directly observed therapy; Use of dental records to identify people who have died; Counseling for people involved in a disaster; Study of post-traumatic stress disorder; Warning that the cult and privileged status enjoyed by evidence based medicine has prevented its critics from being heard; Inverse relation between the level of education received and the prevalence of common mental health disorders; Discovery of a predilection for cerebrovascular disease on the left side; Study on invasive fungal infections; Study of orange juice.

Offers news briefs related to medical and health issues around the world. How scientists examining autopsy specimens from female recipients of bone marrow transplants were surprised to find some of the transplanted cells had become neurons; Perforation rates in patients undergoing colonoscopy in the United States; Report that a paper from Denmark supports the notion that moving between countries is an independent risk factor for schizophrenia; Side effects of the drug ephedra; Others.

Editorial. Discusses how the 'British Medical Journal' will move toward a more patient-friendly publication. Experiment planned for the June 2003 issue which will aim to appeal to a wider audience than just the medical profession; Belief that the interaction between the public and the medical profession will change in the next decade; How patients are informed about healthcare options; Call for submissions of research papers.

Focuses on several studies and research papers on medicine and health care. Association between loss of a spouse and heavy drinking in older men; Survey on United States women doctors' use of family planning methods; Possible response of men with erectile dysfunction after a radical retropubic prostatectomy to Viagra (sildenafil).

Presents several views on the field of medicine in Great Britain. Report of Salmonella enteritidis PT 24 infection received by the Communicable Disease Surveillance; Encouragement of young medical researchers to write papers as soon as possible; Association between the risk of colorectal cancer for patients undergoing gall bladder excision.

Focuses on issues related to medical practice in London. Relevance of the Physician-patient relationship; Era of scientist; Reactions on the white paper issue.

Presents medical news reports. Killing by an antiabortionist of two people at two abortion clinic in Boston, Massachusetts; Dismissal of Dr. Michael Pearce for an unproved pregnancy paper published in the `British Journal of Obstetrics'; Loss by the World Health Organization of monopoly over the AIDS program of the United Nations.

Indicates that a culture of openness and critical self appraisal among doctors which should make handling concerns about a colleague's performance obsolete, is being resolved by leaders of the medical profession in Great Britain. Details on the National Health Service (NHS) white paper; Indication that doctors with managerial positions where given guidance on how to manage doctors with problems; Why persons who show concerns about their colleagues should be supported.

Presents medicopolitical digests from Great Britain, compiled as of September 27, 1997. Includes news on Scottish doctors' call for a white paper on the National Health Service in Scotland to take account of the underfunding of the service; Plans of the General Medical Services Committee to continue representing all general practitioners regarding their employment or contractual status.

Reports on developments in the field of medicine in Great Britain as of November 23, 1996. Rules on extracontractual referrals; Proposed projects in the National Health Service white paper; Role of ombudsman in clinical complaints; Trusts' flexibility over manpower. INSET: Timetable..

Provides a list of best selling medical books recommended by the `British Medical Journal.' Includes `Evidence Based General Practice,' by L. Ridsdale, `How to Write a Paper,' by P. Elliot, and `ABC of Dermatology,' by P.K. Buxton.