James Le Fanu

Last updated

James Le Fanu
Born1950 (age 73–74)
Alma mater Clare College, Cambridge
Occupation(s)Medical journalist and author
Notable workThe Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine (1999)
Awards Los Angeles Times Book Prize

James Le Fanu (born 1950) is a British retired general practitioner, journalist and author, best known for his weekly columns in the Daily and Sunday Telegraph . He is married to publisher Juliet Annan.

Contents

Life

Le Fanu was educated at Ampleforth College and graduated from Clare College, Cambridge, and the Royal London Hospital in 1974, and worked as a junior doctor at the Renal Transplant Unit and Cardiology Department of the Royal Free Hospital and St Mary’s Hospital in London. For 20 years he combined working as a general practitioner with writing medical columns for the Sunday Telegraph and Daily Telegraph as well as contributing reviews and articles to The Times , The Spectator , The British Medical Journal and Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine . [1] His books include The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine (1999), which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in 2000, Why Us?: How science rediscovered the mystery of ourselves (2009) and Too Many Pills: How too much medicine is endangering our health and what we can do about it (2018). [2] [3] [4]

In an interview in the British Medical Journal in 2015, he was described as having "spent the past 30 years shedding light in places that others believed to be already illuminated. Prescient and provocative, Le Fanu is the goad to keep doctors humble and scientists on the right track." He admitted the worst mistake in his career was to mistake potassium for aminophylline causing his patient to have a cardiac arrest, "though luckily the crash team got stuck in the lift and didnt ask too many searching questions.". [5]

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 2014.

Medicine

In his book The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine, Le Fanu challenges the conventional view of the history of post-war medicine as a continuous upwards curve of knowledge and achievement. Rather, he argues, it falls into two distinct phases, a "Golden Age", from the 1940s to the 1970s whose twelve "definitive moments" include antibiotics, cortisone, open heart surgery, kidney transplants, the cure of childhood leukaemia, etc. Le Fanu claims that this was followed, for complex reasons, by a decline in the rate of therapeutic innovation creating an intellectual vacuum filled by two complementary scientific disciplines, epidemiology and genetics, that sought to explain the causes of disease. They were "The Social Theory" that attributed common illnesses such as circulatory disorders and cancer to a "high fat" diet and unhealthy lifestyle and "the New Genetics" that promised to identify the genetic causes of ill health. Le Fanu asserts that these two disciplines continue to dominate medical research but that their promise remains unfulfilled. [6]

His 2018 book, Too Many Pills, investigates the reasons behind the threefold rise in the number of prescriptions issued by doctors in Britain over the prior 15 years and the consequences for many of what he calls a "hidden epidemic" of drug-induced illness. [7]

Evolution

Le Fanu is an open critic of materialism (scientism) and the explanatory power of Darwin's evolutionary theory whose fundamental premises he argued in his book Why Us? are undermined by the findings of the two revolutionary technical developments of genome sequencing and brain imaging. Le Fanu claims that the discovery of the equivalence of genomes across the vast range of organismic complexity has failed to identify the numerous random genetic mutations that, according to Darwinian theory, would account for the diversity of form of the living world. As for neuroscience, he claims that while sophisticated PET and MRI scanning techniques allow scientists to observe the brain in action from the inside, the fundamental question of how its electrochemistry translates into subjective experience and consciousness remains unresolved. [8]

According to the New Scientist , Le Fanu argues for the existence of a non-material "life force" that may explain many of the mysteries unexplained by material science. [9] Le Fanu is not a creationist but "makes the argument for a non-materialist realm of both cosmic and psychic creation". [10] [11]

Quotes

"Statistically based knowledge is not reliable. A classic example is the 2008 crash. That was based on a mathematical algorithm." [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheridan Le Fanu</span> Irish Gothic and mystery writer (1814–1873)

Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer of Gothic tales, mystery novels, and horror fiction. He was a leading ghost story writer of his time, central to the development of the genre in the Victorian era. M. R. James described Le Fanu as "absolutely in the first rank as a writer of ghost stories". Three of his best-known works are the locked-room mystery Uncle Silas, the vampire novella Carmilla, and the historical novel The House by the Churchyard.

Spontaneous human combustion (SHC) is the pseudoscientific concept of the spontaneous combustion of a living human body without an apparent external source of ignition on the body. In addition to reported cases, descriptions of the alleged phenomenon appear in literature, and both types have been observed to share common characteristics in terms of circumstances and the remains of the victim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Winston, Baron Winston</span> British scientist (born 1940)

Robert Maurice Lipson Winston, Baron Winston is a British professor, medical doctor, scientist, television presenter and Labour peer.

Richard Smith CBE FMedSci is a British medical doctor, editor, and businessman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Horton (editor)</span> British medical editor

Richard Charles Horton is editor-in-chief of The Lancet, a United Kingdom–based medical journal. He is an honorary professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University College London, and the University of Oslo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Healy (psychiatrist)</span> Irish-born pharmacologist

David HealyFRCPsych, a professor of psychiatry at Bangor University in the United Kingdom, is a psychiatrist, psychopharmacologist, scientist and author. His main areas of research are the contribution of antidepressants to suicide, conflict of interest between pharmaceutical companies and academic medicine, and the history of pharmacology. Healy has written more than 150 peer-reviewed articles, 200 other articles, and 20 books, including The Antidepressant Era, The Creation of Psychopharmacology, The Psychopharmacologists Volumes 1–3, Let Them Eat Prozac and Mania: A Short History of Bipolar Disorder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Deer</span> British investigative journalist

Brian Deer is a British investigative journalist, best known for inquiries into the drug industry, medicine, and social issues for The Sunday Times. Deer's investigative nonfiction book The Doctor Who Fooled the World, an exposé on disgraced former doctor Andrew Wakefield and the 1998 Lancet MMR autism fraud, was published in September 2020 by Johns Hopkins University Press.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apothecary</span> Former name for a pharmacist

Apothecary is an archaic English term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses materia medica (medicine) to physicians, surgeons and patients. The modern terms 'pharmacist' and 'chemist' have taken over this role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Goldacre</span> British physician, academic and science writer (born 1974)

Ben Michael Goldacre is a British physician, academic and science writer. He is the first Bennett Professor of Evidence-Based Medicine and director of the Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science at the University of Oxford. He is a founder of the AllTrials campaign and OpenTrials, aiming to require open science practices in clinical trials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kamran Abbasi</span> British physician and sports writer

Kamran Abbasi is the editor-in-chief of the British Medical Journal (BMJ), a physician, visiting professor at the Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College, London, editor of the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine(JRSM), journalist, cricket writer and broadcaster, who contributed to the expansion of international editions of the BMJ and has argued that medicine cannot exist in a political void.

Petr Skrabanek was a doctor, physician, professor of medicine, and author of several books and many articles. Skrabanek was described by Ben Goldacre as "a lifelong champion of clear thinking, scepticism, and critical appraisal", and expressed vocal criticism of what he dubbed "cacademics", "quackupuncturists" and "nonsensus-consensus". Skrabanek was a polymath, loving jazz, history, literature and playing the piano. He spoke several languages thanks to which he was able to deeply study Joyce's last work - the avant-garde novel Finnegans Wake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Asher</span> British endocrinologist

Richard Alan John Asher was an eminent British endocrinologist and haematologist. As the senior physician responsible for the mental observation ward at the Central Middlesex Hospital he described and named Munchausen syndrome in a 1951 article in The Lancet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Ned Lebow</span> American political scientist (born 1942)

Richard Ned Lebow is an American political scientist best known for his work in international relations, political psychology, classics and philosophy of science. He is Professor Emeritus of International Political Theory at the Department of War Studies, King's College London, Honorary Fellow of Pembroke College, University of Cambridge, and James O. Freedman Presidential Professor Emeritus at Dartmouth College. Lebow also writes fiction. He has published a novel and collection of short stories and has recently finished a second novel.

Dame Valerie Beral AC DBE FRS FRCOG FMedSci was an Australian-born British epidemiologist, academic and a preeminent specialist in breast cancer epidemiology. She was Professor of Epidemiology, a Fellow of Green Templeton College, Oxford and was the Head of the Cancer Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford and Cancer Research UK from 1989.

The Prince's Foundation for Integrated Health (FIH) was a charity run by King Charles III founded in 1993. The foundation promoted complementary and alternative medicine, preferring to use the term "integrated health", and lobbied for its inclusion in the National Health Service. The charity closed in 2010 after allegations of fraud and money laundering led to the arrest of a former official.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Wakefield</span> Discredited British former doctor (born 1956)

Andrew Jeremy Wakefield is a British fraudster, discredited academic, anti-vaccine activist, and former physician.

Karol Sikora is a British physician specialising in oncology, who has been described as a leading world authority on cancer. He was a founder and medical director of Rutherford Health, a company that provided proton therapy services, and is Director of Medical Oncology at the Bahamas Cancer Centre.

Stephen Garrard Post has served on the Board of the John Templeton Foundation (2008-2014), which focuses on virtue and public life. He is a researcher, opinion leader, medical school professor, and best-selling author who has taught at the University of Chicago Medical School, Fordham University-Marymount, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (1988-2008) and Stony Brook University School of Medicine (2008-). He is widely known for his research on the ways in which giving can enhance the health and happiness of the giver, how empathy and compassionate care contribute to patient outcomes, ethical issues in caring for people with dementia, medical professionalism and the virtues, and positive psychology in relation to health and well-being. Post is an elected member of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the New York Academy of Medicine, and the Royal Society of Medicine, London. He was selected nationally as the Public Member of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Composite Committee (2000-2005), and was reappointed for outstanding contributions.

Timothy David Spector is a British epidemiologist, medical doctor, and science writer, working on the relationship between nutrition, the gut microbiome, and health. He argues against low-fat diets and fad diets, and instead advocates for a Mediterranean-style diet that is heavily plant-based, high in fibre, limits ultra-processed foods, and includes a diversity of plants.

References

  1. ↑ Biography of James Le Fanu, jameslefanu.com, retrieved September 17, 2011.
  2. ↑ Le Fanu, James (2011). The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine. London: Abacus. ISBN   978-0-349-12375-2.
  3. ↑ Le Fanu, James (2010). Why Us? How Science Rediscovered the Mystery of Ourselves. London: Harper Press. ISBN   978-0-00-712028-4.
  4. ↑ Le Fanu, James (2018). Too Many Pills: How too much medicine is endangering our health and what we can do about it. London: Little, Brown. ISBN   978-1-4087-0977-1.
  5. ↑ Le Fanu, James (2015). "James le Fanu: Questioning those with the answers". BMJ. 350: h513. doi:10.1136/bmj.h513. PMID   25652457.
  6. ↑ Fitzpatrick, Michael (17 April 2012). "The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine". BMJ. 344: e2684. doi:10.1136/bmj.e2684. PMC   1723465 .
  7. ↑ Ahuja, Anjana (25 May 2018). "The perils of taking half a dozen pills before breakfast". Financial Times.
  8. ↑ Le Fanu, James (21 July 2010). "Science's dead end". Prospect. No. 173.
  9. ↑ Gefter, Amanda (5 February 2009). "Review of Why Us? by James Le Fanu". New Scientist. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  10. ↑ Sef, Will (13 February 2009). "Review of Why Us? How Science Rediscovered the Mystery of Ourselves by James Le Fanu". London Evening Standard . Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2011.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  11. ↑ McGilchrist, Iain (1 November 2010). "Book reviews: Why Us? How Science Rediscovered the Mystery of Ourselves". British Journal of General Practice. 60 (580): 864–865. doi:10.3399/bjgp10X539434. PMC   2965986 .
  12. ↑ Show More Spine (9 August 2017). "James Le Fanu's Interview on Overdiagnosis and Showing More Spine" . Retrieved 13 May 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.