A monument to folly

Monument to the discoveries.

A week ago I was standing with my wife by the River Tagus in Lisbon, next to the Monument to the Discoveries. The monument is at the spot where Vasco da Gama set out to discover the southeast passage from Europe to Asia, past the Cape of Good Hope. Vasco’s discovery marked the beginning of the Portuguese maritime empire. At the furthest tip of Europe, Portugal was perfectly situated to found su...

A march of folly.

Folly, as defined by Barbara Tuchman, is “the pursuit of policy contrary to the self-interest of the constituency or state involved . . . folly is a policy that is counter-productive.” Current trends in cancer incidence and mortality rates, education, research, and societal mores and views combine to present a number of antithetical propositions. A review of these propositions highlights the ne...

The Nemesis of Folly

ing from consequences which were virtually certain to arrive, sooner or later. The exigencies of monthly publication preclude us from quoting figures which vary from day to day, and it must be enough to say that the number of cases at Gloucester Avhich have been diagnosed as small-pox has been so large that the utmost anxiety is reasonably felt as to when, and where, the epidemic will end. Thes...

Wisdom, Madness and Folly

What to do with case reports: is folly that succeeds folly nonetheless?

Clinical toxicology is a rapidly evolving discipline. Each new pharmaceutical agent, illicit drug, industrial chemical, and household product carries the potential for human toxicity. In addition, combinations of these agents offer limitless possibilities for adverse events, all of which need to be interpreted and shared. Case reports provide the perfect forum for the initial discussion of thes...