Doctor activists are in the news.

In my 'Talking Point' column in this week's The BMJ I look at the distinguished history of doctors who have put their careers at risk through social activism.

bmj.com/content/385/bm…

Lung Disease and Social Justice: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease as a Manifestation of Structural Violence

A new approach to understanding and addressing the systemic causes of lung disease
Dr Nick Hopkinson
Imperial Medicine

🔓 Open Access
🔗 bit.ly/3TZS4Qk

Taken together, the arrests of peaceful protestors (inc professors) in the USA and the striking off of a doctor in UK after she was convicted for a climate protest mean that we need urgent clarity about the GMC approach to doctors who may be involved in protests here.

Students across the U.S. are being violently repressed for begging for an end to this horror.

Great work Dr Nick Hopkinson. Pleased to see that Medscape have finally seen sense and removed all the tobacco industry (Philip Morris International) funded medical education content and podcasts. The Pharmaceutical Journal

Structural violence.

This morning, our Head of Policy and External Affairs, Sarah MacFadyen (Sarah MacFadyen), spoke with BBC Breakfast discussing how there needs to be better care and support for people with asthma.

📢 It's the last chance to share your experiences with COPD in our survey. By taking part, you'll be helping us to have a better understanding of how people approach their COPD, and the help that is needed to manage the condition well.

Surveys close this weekend on 28 April.

'Pulmonary rehabilitation delivered posthospital discharge for exacerbation of COPD results in a reduction in hospital re-admissions and improvements in exercise capacity, health-related quality of life and dyspnoea' thorax.bmj.com/content/79/5/4…
@AJ_COPD

'Among the deceased were allegedly older people, women and wounded, including some bound and stripped of their clothes.'

I do not understand why more people are not talking about this. I do not understand any of this at all.

theguardian.com/world/2024/apr…

Jawdropping hypocrisy from BAT Chairman at the AGM speech saying that to “Love our Consumer” is a corporate cultural value when BAT’s cigarettes kill 2 in 3 long-term consumers bat.com/media/press-re…

10years ago the NRAD report looked into asthma deaths. 2/3 were preventable by better NHS care and better self-management.
Recommendations were made but not actioned.
Nothing has changed.
Deaths are still happening.
Many are avoidable.

asthmaandlung.org.uk/media/press-re…