BMJ  2006;333 (9 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.333.7567.0-f

Editor's choice

Whither medicine?

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

In his introduction to The Cambridge History of Medicine, Roy Porter outlined the great paradox of 20th century medicine: better health and longer life have been accompanied by ever greater medical anxieties. Medicine, he argued, has become a victim of its own success. It has conquered many of the gravest diseases, but power and effectiveness have brought unrealistic expectations, critical scrutiny, distrust, and loss of direction. The second half of the 20th century in particular brought us, among other things, penicillin, the contraceptive pill, steroids, transplant surgery, and, in the United Kingdom, the creation of the NHS, perhaps the most important manifestation of medicine as a social utility. Writing in the BMJ in 1949, on the brink of this unprecedented progress, the distinguished physician Lord Horder exuded the uncomplicated confidence of the time. "Whither medicine?" he asked. "Why, whither else but straight ahead." As Porter says, "Today, who even . . . [Full text of this article]

Fiona Godlee, editor

(fgodlee@bmj.com)


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