BMJ  2006;332 (25 March), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7543.0-f

Editor's choice

Count the harms

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Hippocrates may not have foreseen the complexities of modern medicine, but 24 centuries ago he (or whoever wrote the Hippocratic Oath) set down a fundamental rule for all clinicians and researchers—"first do no harm." This rule has special resonance this week as we explore over-diagnosis in breast cancer screening, and the evolving clinical trial nightmare at Northwick Park.

Three weeks ago an editorial in the BMJ concluded that despite limitations, breast cancer screening does save lives (BMJ 2006;332: 499-500[Free Full Text]). But in the same issue of the journal we published an analysis by Karsten Juhl Jørgensen and Peter Gøtzsche of the letters inviting women for screening (BMJ 2006;332: 538-541[Free Full Text]). None of the letters mentioned the major harms of screening, and the authors concluded that organisers of screening programmes have a serious conflict of interest in wanting high uptake, which . . . [Full text of this article]

Fiona Godlee, editor

(fgodlee@bmj.com)


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