bmj.com:

Research

Overuse of tympanostomy tubes in New York metropolitan area

In the United States, tympanostomy or ventilation tubes (grommets) are often used in children with otitis media with effusion in a manner that is inconsistent with expert recommendations, according to this retrospective cohort study. The accompanying editorial says that clinical audit needs to be re-established to monitor the criteria for intervention. (Photo credit: BSIP VEM/Science Photo Library)
More recent research:

News

Primary care trusts must "challenge the fiction of the wonder drug"

Sophia Christie, chief executive of Birmingham East and North Primary Care Trust, has told a conference on the organisation of the NHS that giving patients these products - which often prolonged life only for weeks - only delayed discussions about end of life care. This is an issue that needs an open debate and radical change, she said.
Other news published on 6 October:

Head to Head

Should we use regulation to demand improved public health outcomes from industry?

Should businesses that sell products that are responsible for a huge number of deaths illness and injury, such as tobacco and junk food, be held accountable and made to improve public health? Yes, says Stephen D Sugarman. Setting targets for companies will produce innovative solutions, he says. No, argues Stig Pramming, who believes collaboration is the best way to improve health.

Education

Endgames

This week's instalment of our new weekly educational clinical quiz is now live. Compiled from peer reviewed contributions from readers, it covers clinical medicine and statistics. There's also a prize quiz, pulled from the BMJ's sister product OnExamination.
This week's Endgames articles:

Comment

Why is the press so nasty to NICE?

The UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has always been controversial, but Nigel Hawkes finds the torrents of abuse thrown at it in the past two months have set new standards, in volume and in vitriol.
Other recent comment:

Views and reviews

Becoming Ben

Bad Science, Ben Goldacre's book, aims "to teach good science by examining the bad" and contains an impressive collection of villains. But why is most of his ire reserved for the media, and the "humanities graduates" who run it, wonders Richard Smith in this review.
Other recent views and reviews:

Education

Analysis: Early detection of chronic kidney disease

J Feehally and colleagues describe the UK policies on identifying and managing chronic kidney disease and address some of the concerns about estimating glomerular filtration rate (GFR). (Picture credit: BSIP, Beranger/SPL).
See also:

Student BMJ

Criminal care

The latest Student BMJ explains how to do a literature search, discusses the perils of online social networking, analyses the power of advertising in medical journals, and asks if health care in prisons is delivering for inmates and their families. To find out more about these and other articles, visit the Student BMJ website

Careers

Spoilt for choice

Applications for UK foundation programmes are set to start, with those for specialist training following soon. Career Focus looks at how four doctors chose their career paths.