The effects of the English libel laws on medicine and research – a personal view

Dr Peter Wilmshurst is a consultant cardiologist. He is a leader in his field, and also a whistleblower, drawing attention to that which he believes to be wrong. He was presented with the HealthWatch Award 2003. Peter Wilmshurst has clashed with universities, editors, the medical establishment, and – perhaps inevitably – with the pharmaceutical industry. It is this last encounter that has taken him to court and that has made explicit and very public the relevance of the UK's libel laws to scientific research.     

Blind in the right eye? The practice of awarding honorary memberships by German and Austrian dental societies (1949–1993) to Nazi dentists: A study on the role of National Socialism in post-war dentistry

According to ongoing public discourse, the dental profession in Germany and Austria has found it rather difficult to come to terms with the National Socialist past. Against this background, this study focuses on the practice of awarding honorary memberships by German and Austrian dental societies in the years 1949–1993. In particular, it examines how previous memberships in the Nazi party or other Nazi organisations were handled. We identified a total of 86 honourees, 47 of whom (55 %) were members of the NSDAP during the Third Reich, whereas only two were of Jewish origin. This leads to two conclusions: (1) Previous involvement with Nazi organisations was obviously not a limiting factor in the selection of honourees, and (2) after 1945, the Jewish colleagues were marginalised for a second time—now by being largely overlooked. The reasons of both findings are analysed and contextualised.