Published 22 July 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2973
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b2973

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When it’s worth repeating

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

I have a get rich quick idea. Sack all the writers and editorial staff of a typical men’s or women’s magazine, for they just recycle the same old content every year. Then just add a new glossy cover each month, keep up the advertisements, and recycle old fashion photos from the past 20 years to pass off as "new" retro fashion. (Obviously, keep the explicit problem pages, as these form a highly effective sexual abstinence programme for young teenagers who foolishly decide to read them.) Genius! A profitable magazine with no overheads. Even the BMJ recycles ideas and stories—but some ideas are worth repeating, one such being the harms of screening.

The emotional and very public death of Jade Goody saw a widespread demand for yet more and earlier cervical screening, despite the fact that 1000 women must be screened for 35 years to prevent one death and that the . . . [Full text of this article]

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