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Feature Christmas 2016: Famous Figures

Dear John Hunter

BMJ 2016; 355 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i6515 (Published 14 December 2016) Cite this as: BMJ 2016;355:i6515

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Dear John PS

Dear John

PS. An update on your beloved St George's Hospital. We were infected with a virulent and highly destructive pathogen that has disseminated widely in the land (termed "Management") and are now in a critical pre-morbid state labelled special measures. Rest is fine.

Competing interests: No competing interests

26 December 2016
Nadeem Ali
Consultant Ophthalmologist
St George's Hospital

Re: Dear John Hunter

We are highly impressed with the keen observation and analysis of the history and physical findings of Mr John Hunter. We all know well that he was indeed an extraordinary Surgeon, who could observe and cleary describe various pathology almost 200 years ago. This becomes more relevant because of lack of any modern investigation facilities at that time.

The authors must be congratulated for bringing out this unique case report of a malignant bone tumor of femur, in a very lucid way. This case report analysis reveals the art of history taking and physical examination, which is unfortunately dying down! We believe that any modern or the most expensive investigation cannot ever replace the importance of the basic clinical information required to reach to a clinical diagnosis.

Competing interests: No competing interests

15 December 2016
Raju Vaishya
Sr. Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon
Abhishek Vaish
Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals
Sarita Vihar, New Delhi 110076
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