john williams

@wi_john @thetimes writes that these drugs cause a delay of 4-6 months in disease progression. But there is no evidence for that in the published data. There is also no evidence about effects on caregiver costs. All we have is models and predictions or projections.

@AlanCarson15 @A_MacLullich It’s unclear to me whether any objective assessment of the impact of these roles has been carried out. Evidence informed decisions re whether to “create” these roles must surely be the starting point? A naive hope I suspect 😀

@A_MacLullich Should we have all these ‘champions’ and wellbeing practitioners etc or just use the money for extra staff numbers on wards? I generally think time rather than knowledge is the enemy of good care

Every hospital should have a delirium champion. We have stroke and sepsis champions - why not #delirium? #PatientSafety

“I’m not giggling, I’m mad at your politicians.” Speaking to Zanny Minton Beddoes, The Economist’s editor-in-chief, Tucker Carlson says European leaders are “liars” trying to “divert attention” from the “disasters” in their own countries. Click the link to watch the full interview: econ.st/3PwcHoC

A reference I presume to The Tredegar Workmen’s Medical Aid Society?

@wi_john So much of the cost of these drugs is tied up in the administration of infusions and safety monitoring. Even if they were provided for free, it would be difficult to argue for cost-effectiveness within the NHS.

“Can academia find other incentives to keep top researchers from leaving? Could we increasingly see partnerships between universities and AI labs as a way to keep all parties happy and maintain talent and knowledge at least partially in the public sphere?”

“The exodus of top research talent from universities into the private sector — particularly larger companies with strict IP regimes — represents a significant shift from open, shared knowledge production to closed, proprietary work,”

“top young researchers are generally moving to large incumbent companies rather than smaller start-ups, and that when researchers move from academia to industry they become less likely to publish new research papers and more likely to file patents.” ft.com/content/11f193…

“To be honest there isn’t a high level of thinking going into this.”! ft.com/content/49fe3d…

@ProfRobHoward Has anyone modelled - based on available data - the impact of the shift in NICE thresholds on whether or not these drugs now cross the “cost effectiveness” threshold?

The fundamental problem for lecanemab and donanemab is that it is almost an exaggeration to describe their benefits over 18 months as “modest” and from what little the companies have chosen to tell us about long-term extension data it looks like they do not modify disease course.

“We are in a bind. The cost of Brexit has been high but now that we’ve started to diverge from Europe, we’d pay a further price if we were to embrace its regulatory framework once more.”

“I was a passionate opponent of Brexit, and an enthusiastic returner until I started looking into this regulatory issue. Now, I’m not sure.” thetimes.com/article/a87d93…

Reassuring! “It is understood that supporters used ChatGPT to calculate the possibility of one of the 250 MPs who backed the bill being chosen in the top five of the private members’ ballot next time around. It put the likelihood at 96 per cent.” thetimes.com/article/4397ac…

Politics vs Evidence? “The independent appeal panel has ruled that some elements the committee used to inform its decision-making in relation to the cost-effectiveness of donanemab & lecanemab need further consideration.” thetimes.com/article/27f32f…

“Early-career researchers are the first to absorb funding uncertainty and are internationally mobile. Given the cuts to PPAN science, the very people who the minister claims to want to retain are leaving the country.” theguardian.com/technology/202…

One for my Linkedin profile 🤔😂 Show us your dome! Hot, balding, confident men are bringing sexy back theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

“My hypotheticals with all the chatbots came up with similarly layered answers. I liked that they give ranges of sensible wine suggestions without implying that only one right bottle exists for any situation..A.I. in my experience will not surprise you. It thinks inside the box.”

A.I. Is Coming for the Sommeliers Chatbots may give a helpful boost in confidence to anxious restaurant diners, but are they offering better wine advice? nytimes.com/2026/03/19/din… via @NYTimes