Dementia is not the end of life | Hugh Whittall

I’ve been seeing dementia everywhere recently. Terry Pratchett has it. Half of my friends’ parents have it. Every time someone forgets a name they put it down to creeping dementia. It sometimes seems that half of the medical research community is working on it. They are not, of course (far from it), but we are [...]

Tighten rules on foreign doctors – Lib Dems

Daniel Ubani accidentally killed a patient on his first shift as a locum. Photograph: African Courier NHS organisations should face criminal charges if they fail to check the competence and credentials of EU doctors seeking to work in Britain, the Liberal Democrats have said. They have proposed a common set of rules across the EU [...]

Greetings in a post-handshake world

The Obamas do the terrorist fist jab. Photograph: Getty Images/Scott Olson The handshake, apparently, is dying. According to a survey by a brand of handwash, it is on the decline among younger people, who view it as either too formal or, thanks to a fashionable paranoia that a certain brand of handwash might just have [...]

MMR doctor ‘failed to act in interests of children’

The General Medical Council must now decide if Dr Andrew Wakefield is guilty of serious professional misconduct over the MMR controversy. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA Dr Andrew Wakefield, the expert at the centre of the MMR controversy, “failed in his duties as a responsible consultant” and showed a “callous disregard” for the suffering of children involved [...]

Letter: Dignity in Dying and assisted suicide law

I find myself agreeing with almost every­thing Deborah Orr says in her article (You can’t make meaningful laws for assisted suicide, G2, 28 January). She does, however, seem to be confused about Dignity in Dying’s position on assisted suicide. Dignity in Dying campaigns for terminally ill, mentally competent adults to have the choice of an [...]