Search

The article provides information about the development of the journal "Archives of Disease in Childhood." The British Medical Association (BMA) has founded the journal in 1926. In 1977, the BMA and British Pediatric Association (BPA) became partners and shared profits and losses with up to 800 copies given to BPA members. Years passed by, the journal has adapted new technology and become more friendly to the reader. It has embraced standard approaches to assessment and criticisms of papers.

Many jurisdictions require cyclists to wear bicycle helmets. The UK is currently not one of these. However, an increasing number of interest groups, including the British Medical Association, want to change the status quo. They argue that mandatory cycle helmet laws will reduce the incidence of head injuries and that this will be both good for cyclists (because they will suffer fewer head injuries) and good for society (because the burden of having to treat cyclists suffering from head injuries will be reduced). In this paper we argue against this position. We suggest that cycle helmets may not be especially effective in reducing head injuries and we suggest that the imposition of such a restrictive law would violate people's freedom and reduce their autonomy. We also argue that those who accept such a restrictive law would be committed to supporting further legislation which would force many other groups -- including pedestrians -- to take fewer risks with their health. We conclude that cycle helmet legislation should not be enacted in the UK unless, perhaps, it is restricted to children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a paper in the last issue of Clinical Medicine, some of the background to attitudes to newly dead bodies, the current context of an urgent need for organs for transplant and the objections to calling a proposal to address this 'presumed consent' were outlined. Here further concerns are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the results of the election of voting members of the British Medical Association council in Great Britain for the year 1986-87. Data on the election in each region; List of officers elected; Number of voting papers issued nad valid papers returned.

The article focuses on the first five of the 24 recommendations that outline the British Medical Association (BMA) proposals for the high-level governance of the British National Health Service (NHS). These include a recommendation which suggests that a constitution for the NHS should settle an agreement between the government, the NHS and the public. Another implies that an independent board of governors must be established in order to divide national politics from day-to-day running of the NHS.

Focuses on the position of the British Medical Association (BMA) on the issue of abortion time limits in Great Britain. Motion debated by BMA; Developments in medicine on which supporters of the motion focused; Reason behind the option of women for abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Reports medical developments in Great Britain as of August 1987. Campaign of British Medical Association against cigarette smoking; Issuance of consultation papers on performance indicators for the health service by the National Health Service Management Board; Announcement on the applications for scientists on cancer research awards.

The article focuses on the judicial dilemma regarding mercy killing in Great Britain. The public and the British Medical Association criticized the terms which defined mercy killing. In law, any unlawful act with intent to kill and causes death is murder. The Homicide Act 1957 introduced the concept of diminished responsibility. The Criminal Law Revision Committee suggests that mercy killing be defined as murder. These criticisms were carefully considered before a final recommendation.

A national war formulary, published during the Second World War, was succeeded by hardback books called British National Formularies (BNFs), which were produced by the British Medical Association and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society about every 3 years until 1976. In 1981 a greatly revised and improved softback version was published and it has been revised and published twice a year since. It has acquired a reputation for being reliable, relevant and up to date. In 2005 the BNF for Children (BNFC) appeared and it has been revised and published every year since. Both BNFs have been used extensively in training prescribers and dispensers, they have supported increasing numbers of 'non-medical' prescribers and overseas use has grown. The current challenge is to provide the BNF data electronically, as three examples show. First, the contents of the BNF and BNFC are available digitally at BNF.org and BNFC.org, and via mobile devices, which require internet access, or as a download, which does not. Secondly, FormularyComplete is a system that enables hospitals, regions, or even countries to create their own formularies, by adding information on costs, local policies and drug availability to an intranet version of the BNF, a data source that cannot be modified. Thirdly, the BNF is working with others to provide the BNF data as computer-readable content, to support electronic prescribing and medicines management. Whatever systems are used, the information on drugs must be reliable and, ideally, all prescribers and dispensers in the UK should be guided by the same data source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethical guidance from the British Medical Association (BMA) about treating doctor-patients is compared and contrasted with evidence from a qualitative study of general practitioners (GPs) who have been patients. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 17 GPs who had experienced a significant illness. Their experiences were discussed and issues about both being and treating doctor-patients were revealed. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to evaluate the data. In this article data extracts are used to illustrate and discuss three key points that summarise the BMA ethical guidance, in order to develop a picture of how far experiences map onto guidance. The data illustrate and extend the complexities of the issues outlined by the BMA document. In particular, differences between experienced GPs and those who have recently completed their training are identified. This analysis will be useful for medical professionals both when they themselves are unwell and when they treat doctor-patients. It will also inform recommendations for professionals who educate medical students or trainees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theories of the professions do not sufficiently explain how individuals with different and often ill-defined interests can organize themselves into a group coherent enough to undertake a “professional project.” I suggest that concepts from institutional and organizational theory can help fill this gap and apply such concepts to one of the first professional projects, that of English doctors. In the early nineteenth century, two groups sought to become the organizational representative of the incipient profession. The first rapidly organized a sizeable fraction of practitioners and achieved some legislative success, but could not transform its early accomplishments into a position as the doctors' representative. The second had only moderate impact in its early years and was dismissed as politically irrelevant, but eventually united the profession and continues to this day as the British Medical Association. The professions literature, most of which is pitched at a broader level of analysis, does not provide theoretical tools to explain these divergent outcomes. I argue that they can be accounted for by analyzing English medicine as an institutional field. The groups' different structural locations within the field affected their trajectories, and a novel organizational model borrowed from an adjacent field helped the latter group keep doctors mobilized and achieve legitimacy. As a result, an unlikely–looking group of outsiders with limited resources was eventually able to lead a successful professional project, while an initially promising group fell by the wayside. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Features the candidates for the council election of British Medical Association in Great Britain. Issuance date of the ballot papers; Submission date of votes; Announcement of the result in the journal.

Focuses on the report on primary care by the Department of Health and Social Security in Great Britain. Contents of the primary care green paper; Need to improve services on patients; Importance of consultations between public ministers and the British Medical Association on medical policies concerning the National Health Service.

The article discusses the development of conventional drugs for prescription by doctors. In order to ensure safety and efficacy of all drugs, including homeopathic and herbal treatments, these drugs should be tested along similar lines. Thus, the British Medical Association working party is considering this problem in the use of alternatives to conventional drugs.

The british Medical Association wants to criminalise all boxing. This article examines the logic of the arguments it uses and finds them wanting. The move from medical evidence about the risk of brain damage to the conclusion that boxing should be banned is not warranted. The BMA's arguments are a combination of inconsistent paternalism and legal moralism. Consistent application of the principles implicit in the BMA's arguments would lead to absurd consequences and to severe limitations being put on individual freedom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers news briefs related to medical ethics. Healthcare Professionals for Change (HPC) was launched in October 2010; and the organization challenges the policy of the British Medical Association (BMA) which prohibits assisted dying. Two anti-abortion campaigners will not be prosecuted for protesting against abortion outside a British Pregnancy Advisory Service clinic. In October 2010, the BMA gave evidence to the public inquiry into the death of Iraqi civilian, Baha Mousa.