Combating disinformation, and time to stop spinal injections for chronic pain
In this episode of the BMJ's Medicine and Science podcast, editor-in-chief Kamran Abbasi discusses the urgent need to tackle disinformation in health, especially in the context of the US, with Heidi Larson and Martin McKee from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
We also hear from Jane Ballentyne, professor of anaesthesia and pain medicine at the University of Washington, about new guidelines that strongly recommend against the use of spinal injections for chronic pain - and why that recommendation might be hard for some patients and doctors to hear.
Finally, we revisit the progress made in addressing racism in UK medical schools over the past five years with Gareth Iacobucci, The BMJ's assistant news editor.
Running order
01:44 Defining Misinformation and Disinformation
04:08 Vaccines and Misinformation
05:38 Strategies to Combat Disinformation
10:04 Denialism and Its Implications
16:21 BMJ Rapid Recommendations on Spinal Injections
26:27 Racism in Medical Schools: An Update
Reading list
Spinal interventions for chronic back pain
Racism in medical schools: are things improving?
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31:10
Why compassion isn't just nice, it's essential
Providing quality healthcare is demanding, often stressful, and requires sustained effort. When resources are stretched and pressure mounts, compassion can slip - but compassion is an essential tool for leaders, who need to support their teams to continue delivering the best possible care.
In this final episode of The BMJ’s podcast series on quality of care, Rachael Hinton, BMJ Editor, speaks to three healthcare leaders. They discuss how fostering kind and compassionate leadership and care can improve morale, combat burnout, and contribute to better patient outcomes.
01:48 Lydia Okutoyi talks compassionate leadership in Kenya
08:39 Pedro Delgado talks refocusing on the human factor and tools for kind leadership
15:02 Alexander Ansah Manu talks reaping quality of care benefits in Ghana
This podcast was produced as part of the BMJ Collection on Quality of Care, developed in partnership with the World Health Organisation and the World Bank. Visit bmj.com/qualityofcare to view the full Collection. The BMJ commissioned, edited, and published this podcast. This episode edited by Brian Kennedy.
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24:20
The industry playbook to combat public health, and FUTURE-AI
This week Rebecca Coombes is back with another big-food investigation, this time about fast-food giant MacDonalds subverting attempts to stop it opening stores near schools.
Sticking with industry behaving badly, May van Schalkwyk, from the University of Edinburgh, wonders why we haven't learn lessons from the attempts to control big tobacco companies, when it comes to other industries that harm health.
And finally, AI in healthcare - Karim Lekadir, from the University of Barcelona, explains new guidelines which can help evaluate which AI applications are trustworthy.
Reading list
McDonald’s triumphs over councils’ rejections of new branches
FUTURE-AI: international consensus guideline for trustworthy and deployable artificial intelligence in healthcare
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34:03
Prehabilitation before surgery, alcohol's impact on clinical care, and life after a cardiac arrest
Exercise and a better diet, prior to surgery, can improve outcomes. Daniel McIsaac, a professor of anaesthesiology from the University of Ottowa and lead author of that research, joins us to talk about getting those results into practice.
Julia Sinclair, professor of addiction psychiatry at the University of Southampton, explains how the NHS has lost sight of the impact alcohol consumption has on clinical care, and why we need a strategy to tackle it.
Finally, Matt Morgan, consultant in intensive care and BMJ columnist, has written another book - this time about patients who are revived after cardiac arrest, and the profound effect it can have on their outlook in life.
Reading list:
Relative efficacy of prehabilitation interventions and their components
UK needs national strategy to tackle alcohol related harms
A Second Act
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40:40
Can a deal be done to keep the US in the WHO?
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to withdraw the US out of the WHO. This would cut funding for the UN’s medical agency by one-fifth.
Will they really exit, or can a deal be made? Lawrence Gostin hopes so, and as a professor of law at Georgetown, and director of the World Health Organisation Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law, he is working with senior US and WHO officials to try and understand what reforms could be made to WHO what would allow a such a deal to be be struck.
Gostin also believes that the president cannot withdraw from the WHO with an executive order, but instead requires congressional approval - and is exploring the options for legal challenge to the move.
00:00 Intro
01:01 US history with the WHO
03:31 Executive order
06:35 WHO’s relationship with China
11:14 Funding
12:47 Benefits to US from the WHO
18:05 H5N1 threat
19:43 World benefits from US involvement
21:57 A deal to be made?
24:55 Legal action?
26:37 Administration responses
Read Professor Larry Gostin’s co-written opinion piece on the dangers of a US withdrawal from the WHO here: https://www.bmj.com/content/388/bmj.r116
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