Jonathan Waxman MacLeod’s Introduction to Medicine A Doctor’s Memoir 123 MacLeod’s Introduction to Medicine http://avaxhome.ws/blogs/ChrisRedfield Jonathan Waxman MacLeod’s Introduction to Medicine A Doctor’s Memoir Jonathan Waxman Faculty of Medicine Imperial College London London United Kingdom ISBN 978-1-4471-4521-9 ISBN 978-1-4471-4522-6 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4471-4522-6 Springer London Heidelberg New York Dordrecht Library of Congress Control Number: 2013947098 © Springer-Verlag London 2014 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduc- tion on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analy- sis or material supplied specifi cally for the purpose of being entered and exe- cuted on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provi- sions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher's location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Permissions for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the Copyright Clearance Center. Violations are liable to prosecution under the respective Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accu- rate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the pub- lisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) To Naomi, Freddie and Thea About th e Author Jonathan Waxman is a Professor of Oncology at Imperial College London. He is a clinician who has helped develop new treatments for cancer, which are now part of standard practice. He is the founder and life president of Prostate Cancer UK, the first UK national organisation promoting research and patient support for this condition. He helped establish an All Party Parliamentary Group to improve can- cer treatment and rationalise cancer research throughout the UK, and has developed and led several media campaigns to rationalise cancer treatments and change government health policy. ‘ MacLeod’s Introduction to Medicine’, is his third fic- tion book and follows ‘T he Elephant in the Room’ , and ‘ The Fifth Gospel’ . w ww.jonathanwaxman.co.uk vii Pref ace This book is a collection of medical stories based on the epic career of MacLeod, its foolish hero. MacLeod’s Introduction to Medicine is a chronicle of occasional humour, and the names of the characters have not been changed to protect the innocent. All the stories are based on reality and come from a time when the practice of medicine was not inundated with tales of bullying and scapegoating, where the lives of doctors, nurses and patients were not buried under targets and when the idiotic landslide of the internal market was on the other side of the mountain. It was only a little while ago that there was no overwhelming bureaucracy in the National Health Service and all who worked for the health of their charges did so with Joy, who was a lovely woman. Jonathan Waxman London, UK ix