The drugs don't work
	Richard Smith
	BMJ  2003;327, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.0-h [Extract] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions] FREE

This week in the BMJ

This week's This week in the BMJ

	Gulf war veterans have poorer health than other soldiers... [Full text] FREE

	... but their cancer risk is the same [Full text] FREE

	Preventive programme reduces suicide in US Air Force [Full text] FREE

	Prophylactic physiotherapy provides no benefit after cardiac surgery [Full text] FREE

	Greater insulin resistance is associated with reduced depression [Full text] FREE

	Pelvic examination can be taught by non-medics [Full text] FREE

	Borage oil doesn't help atopic dermatitis [Full text] FREE

Editorials

This week's Editorials

	The health consequences of the first Gulf war
	Daniel Clauw
	BMJ  2003;327:1357-1358, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1357 [Extract] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions]

	Evening primrose oil for atopic dermatitis
	Hywel C Williams
	BMJ  2003;327:1358-1359, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1358 [Extract] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions]

	Treatment options for trigeminal neuralgia
	Andria F A Merrison, Geraint Fuller
	BMJ  2003;327:1360-1361, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1360 [Extract] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions]

	Delayed prescriptions
	Bruce Arroll, Tim Kenealy, Felicity Goodyear-Smith, Ngaire Kerse
	BMJ  2003;327:1361-1362, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1361 [Extract] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions]

	Monitoring the medical education revolution
	Val Wass, Tessa Richards, Peter Cantillon
	BMJ  2003;327:1362, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1362 [Extract] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions]

Letters

This week's Letters

	Communicating risk: We as doctors are not alone
	Thomas W V Daniels
	BMJ  2003;327:1403, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1403 [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

	Communicating risk: Compulsory measures can work
	Rosemary J Geller
	BMJ  2003;327:1403, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1403-a [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

	Communicating risk: Patients often have complex understanding of risk
	Steve Iliffe, Jill Manthorpe
	BMJ  2003;327:1403, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1403-b [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

	Communicating risk: Journalists take note
	David S Rivers
	BMJ  2003;327:1403-1404, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1403-c [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

	Communicating risk: Journalists have responsibility to report risks in context
	Mark D Griffiths
	BMJ  2003;327:1404, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1404 [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

	Communicating risk: Doctor's recommendation is decision making in uncertain conditions
	Richard Fielding, Wendy W T Lam
	BMJ  2003;327:1404, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1404-a [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

	Communicating risk: But does it work, Doctor?
	Joanne Protheroe
	BMJ  2003;327:1404, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1404-b [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

	Drug sales in four European countries still differ
	Silvio Garattini, Livio Garattini
	BMJ  2003;327:1404-1405, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1404-c [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

	Real time assay of Aspergillus should be used in SARS patients receiving corticosteroids
	Ya Ping Wu, Ran Wei, Jan Verhoef
	BMJ  2003;327:1405, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1405 [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

	Prognosis for South Asian and white patients with heart failure in the United Kingdom: Counterintuitive findings on heart failure in South Asians may be artefactual
	Raj Bhopal, Colin Fischbacher
	BMJ  2003;327:1405-1406, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1405-a [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

	Prognosis for South Asian and white patients with heart failure in the United Kingdom: Deprivation gradient in mortality should not be dismissed as artefactual
	G Lyratzopoulos, R F Heller
	BMJ  2003;327:1406, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1406 [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

	Prognosis for South Asian and white patients with heart failure in the United Kingdom: Authors' reply
	Iain Squire, James Newton, Hanna Blackledge
	BMJ  2003;327:1406, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1406-a [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

	Adherence to advance directives: GMC's advance directive is commendable
	Andrew G Higgs
	BMJ  2003;327:1406, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1406-b [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

	Adherence to advance directives: Quality of life matters
	Michael H Yardley
	BMJ  2003;327:1406-1407, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1406-c [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

	Adherence to advance directives: Maybe doctors do not always know best
	Philip S Jones
	BMJ  2003;327:1407, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1407 [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

	Adherence to advance directives: Advance directive needs to include additional elements
	George W Knox
	BMJ  2003;327:1407, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1407-a [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

	Adherence to advance directives: Quality of life may be important in advance directives
	Oliver E Shanks
	BMJ  2003;327:1407, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1407-b [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

	Radiographic results are still not routinely reported
	Stephen C Bamber
	BMJ  2003;327:1407, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1407-c [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

News

This week's News

	GPs' time to be freed up under plans for increased choice
	Katherine Burke
	BMJ  2003;327:1363, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1363 [Extract] [Full text] [PDF]

	Blakemore asks for the MRC budget to be doubled
	Geoff Watts
	BMJ  2003;327:1363, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1363-a [Extract] [Full text] [PDF]

	In brief
	BMJ  2003;327:1364, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1364 [Extract] [Full text] [PDF]

	HRT no longer first choice for preventing osteoporosis
	Debashis Singh
	BMJ  2003;327:1364, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1364-a [Extract] [Full text] [PDF]

	Lancet calls for tobacco to be made illegal
	Annabel Ferriman
	BMJ  2003;327:1364, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1364-b [Extract] [Full text] [PDF]

	Children have been neglected in flu prevention strategy
	Owen Dyer
	BMJ  2003;327:1365, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1365 [Extract] [Full text] [PDF]

	Huge numbers must change lifestyle to prevent epidemic of diabetes
	Geoff Watts
	BMJ  2003;327:1365, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1365-a [Extract] [Full text] [PDF]

	Adverse events in surgery in Scotland show a steady fall
	Bryan Christie
	BMJ  2003;327:1367, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1367-c [Extract] [Full text] [PDF]

	NICE annual conference: Better communication is key to recruiting patients to trials
	Colleen Shannon
	BMJ  2003;327:1368, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1368 [Extract] [Full text] [PDF]

	NICE annual conference: Money must be made available for NICE guidance, minister says
	Colleen Shannon
	BMJ  2003;327:1368, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1368-a [Extract] [Full text] [PDF]

News roundup [abridged versions appear in the paper journal]

This week's News roundup

	City reacts negatively as GlaxoSmithKline announces plans for new drugs
	Owen Dyer
	BMJ  2003;327:1366, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1366 [Extract] [Abridged text] [Abridged PDF] [Full text]

	Adolescents are building up health problems for the future
	Zosia Kmietowicz
	BMJ  2003;327:1366, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1366-a [Extract] [Abridged text] [Abridged PDF] [Full text]

	Bill Gates boosts fight against virus that threatens three billion
	Amanda Elliot
	BMJ  2003;327:1366, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1366-b [Extract] [Abridged text] [Abridged PDF] [Full text]

	New plan launched to tackle Britain's high rate of hospital infection
	Stephen Pincock
	BMJ  2003;327:1366, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1366-c [Extract] [Abridged text] [Abridged PDF] [Full text]

	New health research centre launched in Wales
	Roger Dobson
	BMJ  2003;327:1366, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1366-d [Extract] [Abridged text] [Abridged PDF] [Full text]

	NHS launches English recruitment website
	Mark Gould
	BMJ  2003;327:1367, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1367 [Extract] [Abridged text] [Abridged PDF] [Full text]

	Test case may threaten abortion rights
	Clare Dyer
	BMJ  2003;327:1367, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1367-a [Extract] [Abridged text] [Abridged PDF] [Full text]

	Shift to outpatient procedures has cut inpatient waiting times in England and Wales
	Susan Mayor
	BMJ  2003;327:1367, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1367-b [Extract] [Abridged text] [Abridged PDF] [Full text]

News extra [these stories appear only on the web]

This week's News extra

	Patients often choose simpler treatments over latest technology, survey finds
	Colleen Shannon
	BMJ  2003;327:1368, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1368-b [Extract] [Full text]

	Seven international companies join global fund
	Fiona Fleck
	BMJ  2003;327:1368, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1368-c [Extract] [Full text]

	Medicines agency introduces greater transparency
	Liza Gibson
	BMJ  2003;327:1368, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1368-d [Extract] [Full text]

	Experts predict big rise in dengue fever in South East Asia
	Jane Parry
	BMJ  2003;327:1368, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1368-e [Extract] [Full text]

	A third of UK households have at least one adult in pain
	Ioana Vlad
	BMJ  2003;327:1368, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1368-f [Extract] [Full text]

	Australian government tries to stop independent advice on diabetes drugs
	Bob Burton
	BMJ  2003;327:1368, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1368-g [Extract] [Full text]

BMJ family highlights

This week's BMJ family highlights

	What's new this month in BMJ Journals
	Harvey Marcovitch
	BMJ  2003;327:1369, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1369 [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions] FREE

Primary care

This week's Primary care

	Efficacy and tolerability of borage oil in adults and children with atopic eczema: randomised, double blind, placebo controlled, parallel group trial
	A Takwale, E Tan, S Agarwal, G Barclay, I Ahmed, K Hotchkiss, J R Thompson, T Chapman, J Berth-Jones
	BMJ  2003;327:1385, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1385 [Abstract] [Abridged text] [Abridged PDF] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions] FREE

	Health of young and elderly informal carers: analysis of UK census data
	Tim Doran, Frances Drever, Margaret Whitehead
	BMJ  2003;327:1388, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1388 [Extract] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions] [extra: Census questions] FREE

Learning in practice

This week's Learning in practice

	Can gynaecology teaching associates provide high quality effective training for medical students in the United Kingdom? Comparative study
	Sally Pickard, Paula Baraitser, Janice Rymer, Johanna Piper
	BMJ  2003;327:1389-1392, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1389 [Abstract] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions] [extra: Figure] FREE

	What the educators are saying
	Maureen Kelly, Peter Cantillon
	BMJ  2003;327:1393, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1393 [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions] FREE

Clinical review

This week's Clinical review

	Extracts from BestTreatments: Treating nicotine addiction
	Anjali Jain
	BMJ  2003;327:1394-1395, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1394 [Extract] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions]

	Commentary: Putting the research into practice
	Nancy A Rigotti
	BMJ  2003;327:1395-1396, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1395 [Extract] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions]

	Information for patients: Getting professional help
	Zosia Kmietowicz
	BMJ  2003;327:1396, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1396 [Extract] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions]

Education and debate

This week's Education and debate

	Rethinking prescribing in the United States
	Andrew Ellner
	BMJ  2003;327:1397-1400, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1397 [Extract] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions] [extra: List of experts consulted][extra: Report on which this paper was based]

	Research with unaccompanied children seeking asylum
	Samantha Thomas, Sarah Byford
	BMJ  2003;327:1400-1402, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1400 [Extract] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions] [extra: Principle guiding ethical research]

Reviews

This week's Reviews

	Book: Hospital Infection: From Miasmas to MRSA
	Leyla Sanai
	BMJ  2003;327:1410, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1410 [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

	Radio: Stories from the Wards
	Iain McClure
	BMJ  2003;327:1410, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1410-a [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

	TV: Hear the Silence
	Michael Fitzpatrick
	BMJ  2003;327:1411, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1411 [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

	TV: Hear the Silence
	David Elliman, Helen Bedford
	BMJ  2003;327:1411, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1411-a [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

	Film: Angels in America
	Janice Hopkins Tanne
	BMJ  2003;327:1412, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1412 [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

	PERSONAL VIEW: Who should take care of children with epilepsy?
	R N Chinthapalli
	BMJ  2003;327:1413, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1413 [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

	SOUNDINGS: A gift for Thanksgiving
	George Dunea
	BMJ  2003;327:1413, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1413-a [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

Minerva

This week's Minerva

	Minerva
	BMJ  2003;327:1414, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1414 [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions]

Fillers

This week's Fillers

	POEM*: Consider turning breech presentations at 34-36 weeks
	BMJ  2003;327, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.0-g [Extract] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions]

	Medscape conference coverage: American College of Gastroenterology 68th Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course, Baltimore, Maryland
	BMJ  2003;327:1372, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1372 [Extract] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions]

	Endpiece: Reporters and wolves
	Fred Charatan
	BMJ  2003;327:1375, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1375 [Extract] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions]

	Paws for thought
	Alan Johnstone
	BMJ  2003;327:1392, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1392 [Extract] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions]

	Advice
	BMJ  2003;327:1409, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1409-b [Extract] [Full text] [Request Permissions]

Corrections

This week's Corrections

	Mortality in young offenders: retrospective cohort study
	BMJ  2003;327:1381, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1381 [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions] FREE

	Minerva
	BMJ  2003;327:1381, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1381-a [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions] FREE

	Pre-existing risk factor profiles in users and non-users of hormone replacement therapy: prospective cohort study in Gothenburg, Sweden
	BMJ  2003;327:1381, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1381-b [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions] FREE

Obituaries

This week's Obituaries

	Peter Paul Rickham
	Lewis Spitz
	BMJ  2003;327:1408, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1408 [Extract] [Full text] [extra: Longer version]

	Charles Arthur St Hill
	Ronald Finn
	BMJ  2003;327:1408, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1408-a [Extract] [Full text] [extra: Longer version]

	George Peter Baker
	R Courtenay-Evans
	BMJ  2003;327:1409, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1409 [Extract] [Full text] [extra: Longer version]

	Peter Daish
	F M Ackland, S Shribman
	BMJ  2003;327:1409, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1409-a [Extract] [Full text] [extra: Longer version]

	Sooba Rama Deenadayalu
	Y K Seedat
	BMJ  2003;327:1409, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1409-c [Extract] [Full text] [extra: Longer version]

	Frank Edward Stafford Hatfield
	Edward Hatfield
	BMJ  2003;327:1409, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1409-d [Extract] [Full text] [extra: Longer version]

	George Fraser Purves
	P George Purves
	BMJ  2003;327:1409, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1409-e [Extract] [Full text] [extra: Longer version]

	Philip Charles ("Charlie") Smith
	Brenda Howarth
	BMJ  2003;327:1409, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1409-f [Extract] [Full text]

	Margaret Carroll Watkinson (née Smith)
	Deryck H Watkinson
	BMJ  2003;327:1409, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1409-g [Extract] [Full text] [extra: Longer version]

Papers

This week's Papers

	Gulf war illness—better, worse, or just the same? A cohort study
	Matthew Hotopf, Anthony S David, Lisa Hull, Vasilis Nikalaou, Catherine Unwin, Simon Wessely
	BMJ  2003;327:1370, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1370 [Abstract] [Abridged text] [Abridged PDF] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions] FREE

	Incidence of cancer among UK Gulf war veterans: cohort study
	Gary J Macfarlane, Anne-Marie Biggs, Noreen Maconochie, Matthew Hotopf, Patricia Doyle, Mark Lunt
	BMJ  2003;327:1373, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1373 [Abstract] [Abridged text] [Abridged PDF] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions] FREE

	Risk of suicide and related adverse outcomes after exposure to a suicide prevention programme in the US Air Force: cohort study
	Kerry L Knox, David A Litts, G Wayne Talcott, Jill Catalano Feig, Eric D Caine
	BMJ  2003;327:1376, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1376 [Abstract] [Abridged text] [Abridged PDF] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions] FREE

	Prophylactic respiratory physiotherapy after cardiac surgery: systematic review
	Patrick Pasquina, Martin R Tramèr, Bernhard Walder
	BMJ  2003;327:1379, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1379 [Abstract] [Abridged text] [Abridged PDF] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions] FREE

	Security duties in Northern Ireland and the mental health of soldiers: prospective study
	Geoff Lawrenson, Jane Ogden
	BMJ  2003;327:1382, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1382 [Extract] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions] FREE

	Association of insulin resistance with depression: cross sectional findings from the British women's heart and health study
	Debbie A Lawlor, George Davey Smith, Shah Ebrahim
	BMJ  2003;327:1383-1384, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1383 [Extract] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions] FREE

	Drug points: Pulmonary embolism possibly associated with olanzapine treatment
	Inger Marie Waage, Ane Gedde-Dahl
	BMJ  2003;327:1384, doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7428.1384 [Extract] [Full text] [PDF] [Request Permissions] FREE

Career focus

Read this week's articles on http://careers.bmj.com/careers/

Website extra

A leader for international campaign to promote academic medicine: call for nominations [Full text]

To see an article, click its [Full Text] link. To review many abstracts, check the boxes to the left of the titles you want, and click the 'Get All Checked Abstract(s)' button. To see one abstract at a time, click its [Abstract] link.