An obituary is not a tribute. Obituaries are stories of lives. We
select for publication at greater length those stories that are
compelling, full of implication, and well written.
I think that it would have been very odd to ignore the story of
Harold Shipman. It's a tragedy of British medicine that his name will
probably be better remembered than the name of any other doctor of the
20th century.
Richard Smith, editor, BMJ
Competing interests:
I'm the editor of the BMJ and accountable for all it contains
Rapid Response:
An obituary is not a tribute
An obituary is not a tribute. Obituaries are stories of lives. We
select for publication at greater length those stories that are
compelling, full of implication, and well written.
I think that it would have been very odd to ignore the story of
Harold Shipman. It's a tragedy of British medicine that his name will
probably be better remembered than the name of any other doctor of the
20th century.
Richard Smith, editor, BMJ
Competing interests:
I'm the editor of the BMJ and accountable for all it contains
Competing interests: No competing interests