Good to see fertility specialists taking their regulator to task! The key measure for patients/customers is 'take-home' singleton term baby rate NICE Katy Lindemann DrMelDavies RoyalCollegeObsGyn progress.org.uk/an-open-letter…

Happy Days by Han Ong in the June 30 issue New Yorker. newyorker.com/magazine/2025/… One for SamuelBeckettSociety

Congratulations Francis. Very, very, very well deserved. I suspect you'll be able to do more good leveraging positive deviance, than many other research methods. I'll be watching! 🙂

Another dodgy expert.

Agree. Gobsmacked by the Bawa Gaba case at the time. There are similarities.

IA Abdelazeem from Ain Shams university has 130 publications on PubMed. Wonder if there's more to come. retractionwatch.com/2025/08/06/bio…

Re his parents, "Nothing shamed them more than when my behaviour drew attention to them". Dyer writes, "... this is simply the essence of middle England: rueful, reduced, shabby, and funny-sad in a Larkinesque way... " PhilipLarkinSociety from this book review. newyorker.com/magazine/2025/…

Rather a good & nuanced thread. This "pull yourself together" sort of person gets it.

Important point. Unfair demonisation is what got us here.

BBC Country File just now? Nidd at Knaresborough. Someone said "We're the guardians of the river. Looking after it for future generations." Thought of you Paul Powlesland

Q for Paul Powlesland. Do you know why the lowest Wanstead Park lake, adjacent to the river Roding, has been empty for the last few years? Seems a pity for amenity & biodiversity. Don't think health & safety's the reason cos the other lakes are full. Worth a campaign?

John Maddox 2025 shortlist nature.com/immersive/madd… Richard Gill for challenging the misuse of statistics in the criminal justice system, notably in high-profile, allegations against health workers #LucyLetby #LuciadeBerk #DanielaPoggiali. Endorsement at the highest level.

"They fuck you up, your mum and dad/They may not mean to But they do/And since my dad left her on the shelf/Mum′s had to fuck me up herself." Song, "Protect me Less" from Calendar Girls, the musical Robin Hood Theatre, Averham today. Got a laugh. @plsoc

Honoured to collect John Maddox "Standing up for Science" certificate on behalf of Richard Gill. Magdalena Skipper, Nature Editor (R), gave Richard a tremendous citation for his fighting against health worker miscarriages of justice, like the Lucia de Berk & Lucy Letby cases.

Even numbers for categorical variables is a common sign of fabricated data. It's generally assumed that the fabrictor did a small study & then doubled the numbers. Nice to see this theory confirmed! pubpeer.com/publications/C…

Italian OBGYN review mill. retractionwatch.com/2025/11/04/rev… Only discovered because the journals published reviews & named review authors. How often does this happen in journals which keep reviews confidential?

Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) & breast cancer. thelancet.com/journals/lance… MHRA, & other regulators, still recommend only for symptoms, in the lowest dose & for the shortest time possible, & never for health promotion.

Larkin & Stevie Smith each got a shout out - "Whitsun Weddings", "Not Waving but Drowning" - on BBC Radio 4's, Sorry I Haven't a Clue in Hull today. But only Andrew Marvell, comic writer, got a weak joke. Opportunity missed. PhilipLarkinSociety