The GMC was again in the news this week, however, this time they were the ones on the defensive. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, at their AGM noted their ‘grave concern’ over child protection complaints. Dr John Bridson had originally tabled a vote of no-confidence against the GMC, but this was rejected.

Chief amongst their concerns are paedatricians being unfairly disciplined after acting as expert witnesses in child-abuse cases. …read more…

In an interesting twist in the ongoing MMR debate, the BBC report that Dr Wakefield, the physician who first linked autism to the MMR jab, is currently appearing before the GMC.

Allegations against him centre around 1996-1998, the period during which he was researching for his paper on the MMR vaccine. The allegations are: …read more…

A couple of days ago London had its turn at guiding the Olympic torch onward to Beijing. Despite a few scuffles it made its way safely to France only for Parisian officials to snuff it out themselves. This got me thinking: isn’t the Olympic torch dangerous? The carriers run on what are often wet, uneven, roads holding an open flame.

I headed over to the HSE for guidance and, unsurprisingly, there wasn’t an ‘Olympic Torch Information Sheet’. There was guidance on propane pre-heating torches, but this suggested: …read more…