Current poll

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 Polls in 2009

• Do restrictions on working hours of doctors compromise surgical education?
  Yes: 279 (69%)
  No: 123 (31%)
  Related analysis

• Was home secretary Alan Johnson justified in sacking his drugs adviser David Nutt?
  Yes: 156 (18%)
  No: 728 (82%)
  Related news story
• Is ageism a common problem in the NHS?
  Yes: 207 (78%)
  No: 57 (22%)
  Related news story
• Will you take the swine flu vaccine?
  Yes: 446 (42%)
  No: 612 (58%)
  Related news story
• Are women doctors still discriminated against?
  Yes: 320 (55%)
  No: 261 (45%)
  Related news story
• Do gyms have responsibilities for people with eating disorders?
  Yes: 186 (39%)             
  No: 296 (61%)           
  Related news story
• Should doctors treating patients with genetic diseases be allowed to disclose information to blood relatives at risk?
  Yes: 315 (69%)             
  No: 142 (31%)           
  Related news story
  
• Should under 5s be allowed to touch animals at petting farms?
  Votes: Yes: 473 (82%); No: 106 (18%)
  Related news story
• Is population stabilisation crucial to tackling climate change?
  Votes: Yes: 277 (79%); No: 72 (21%)
  Related editorial
• Should all alcohol advertising be banned?
  Votes: Yes: 456 (70%); No: 191 (30%)
  Related editorial
• Should youth mental health become a speciality in its own right?
  Votes: Yes: 243 (72%); No: 94 (28%)
  Related head to head
• Is rate more important than rhythm in treating atrial fibrillation?
  Votes: Yes: 345 (75%); No: 114 (25%)
  Related head to head
• Does Helicobacter pylori really cause duodenal ulcers?
  Votes: Yes: 425 (83%); No: 89 (17%)
  Related head to head
• Should antivirals be given to young people with mild symptoms of A/H1N1?
  Votes: Yes: 65 (14%); No: 390 (86%)
  Related research
• Do not-for-profit nursing homes provide better quality?
  Votes: Yes: 109 (66%); No: 57 (34%)
  Related research
• Should we stop screening women under 25 for cervical cancer?
  Votes: Yes: 156 (35%); No: 287 (65%)
  Related research
• Do you feel equipped to manage patients with swine flu?
  Votes: Yes: 112 (46%); No: 131 (54%)
  Related editorial

• Is systolic blood pressure all that matters?
  Votes: Yes: 89 (17%); No: 434 (83%)
  Related head to head debate: Yes; No

• Have you changed your behaviour as a consequence of swine flu? (July 2009)
  Votes: Yes: 149 (25%); No: 457 (75%)
  Related research

• Would you recommend to your patients, family, or friends to attend breast screening? (July 2009)
  Votes: Yes: 293 (85%); No: 53 (15%)
  Related observation

• Is it acceptable for people to take methylphenidate to enhance performance? (June 2009)
  Votes: Yes: 100 (27%); No: 264 (73%)
  Related head to head debate; Yes; No
• Is medicine failing male patients? (June 2009)
  Votes: Yes: 119 (53%); No: 104 (47%)
  Related personal view

• Does English libel law threaten scientific debate in health care? (June 2009)
  Votes: Yes 92 (80%); No: 23 (20%)
  Related editorial
• Would you blow the whistle if you saw a senior colleague repeatedly making mistakes? (June 2009)
  Votes: Yes 471 (87%); No: 71 (13%)
  Related editorial
• Should blood pressure lowering drugs be offered to all people over a certain age? (May 2009)
  Votes: Yes 132 (33%); No: 272 (67%)
  Related research and editorial

• Should hospices be exempt from following national cardiopulmonary resuscitation guidelines? (March 2009)
  Votes: Yes 272 (60%); No 180 (40%)
  Related head to head debate: Yes; No
• Should people at risk of reinfarction have defibrillators available at home?(March 2009) 
  Votes: Yes: 39 (49%); No: 40 (51%)
  Related head to head debate: Yes; No
• Will doctor rating sites improve standards of care? (March 2009)
  Votes: Yes: 26 (30%); No: 60 (70%)
  Related head to head debate: Yes; No
• Should all patients be offered online access to their medical records? (March 2009)
  Votes: Yes: 106 (65%); No: 57 (35%)
  Related podcast and blog
• Should men who have ever had sex with men be banned from giving blood? February 2009.
  Votes: No: 300 (55%); Yes: 244 (45%)
  Read related head to head debate: Yes; No
• Who should receive the BMJ Group award for lifetime achievement?  (February 2009)
  The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony on 2 April.
  
• Doctors and the drug industry: what's in the best interests of patients and the public?  (February 2009)
  
  1. Tighter standards of conduct: 103 votes (42%)
  2. No relationship: 60 votes (25%)
  3. Less but better regulation: 38 votes (16%)
  4. Closer working: 30 votes (12%)
  5. No change:    12 votes (5%)
  Read related articles
  
• Will the WHO's surgical safety checklist change practice?  (January 2009)
  Votes: Yes 138 (66%); No 71 (34%)
  Read related editorial
  
• Have NHS targets such as minimum waiting times done more harm than good? (January 2009)
  Votes: Yes (%); No (%)
  Read related head to head debate: Yes; No
  
• Should doctors work beyond 70? (January 2009)
  Votes: Yes 484 (40%); No 726 (60%)
  Read related news story

 
Polls in 2008

• Should drug companies teach therapeutics to medical undergraduates? (January 2009)
  Votes: Yes 155 (22%); No 560 (78%)
  Read related news feature.
  
• Should the contraceptive pill be available without prescription? (December 2008)
  Votes: Yes 660 (54%); No 568 (46%)
  Read related head to head debate: Yes; No
  

• Should smoking in outside public spaces be banned? (December 2008)
  Votes: Yes 416 (58%); No 307 (42%)
  Reead related head to head debate: Yes; No
• Should doctors encourage patients to make decisions about their future care in case incapacity strikes? (December 2008) Votes: Yes 465 (87%); No 67 (13%)
  
• Would you advise a friend or relative to become a doctor? (December 2008)
  Votes: Yes 461 (52%); No 420 (48%)
  Read related personal view.
  
• Will financial penalties improve control of hospital acquired infections? (November 2008)
  Votes: Yes 119 (42%); No 164 (58%)         
  Read related analysis.
• Should restaurant menus include nutrition labelling information? (November 2008)
  Votes: Yes 480 (69%); No 217 (31%)
  Read related feature and listen to related podcast.
  
• Should world leaders be obliged to make their health records public? (November 2008)
  Votes: Yes 211 (34%); No 416 (66%)  
  Read related personal view.
  
• Should influence immunisation be mandatory for healthcare workers (Novermber 2008)
  Votes: Yes 493 (62%); No 302 (38%)
  Related head to head debate: Yes; No
  
• Which presidential candidate has better plans for US health reform? (October 2008)
  Votes: Barack Obama 877 (85%); John McCain 160 (15%)
  Read related feature.
  
• Should developed countries become net exporters of health professionals? (October 2008)
  Votes: Yes: 217 (59%); No: 150 (41%)
  Read related editorial and features (International action on migration of health workers, Fighting the brain drain)
  
• Should doctors lead on rationing decisions? (October 2008)
  Votes: Yes 155 (62%); No 93 (38%)
  Read related editorial, feature, and analysis (Clinical priority setting, Accountability for reasonableness, Moving forward on rationing)
  
• Does NICE deserve its bad press? (October 2008)
  Votes: Yes 166 votes (41%); No 236 (59%)
  Read related observations article

• Should there be a ceiling on what percentage of GDP countries spend on health? (September 2008)
  Votes: Yes 101 (34%); No 199 (66%)
  Read related head to head debate: Yes; No.

• Should medical records remain confidential after a patient's death? (September 2008)
  Votes: Yes 431 (69%); No 195 (31%)
  Read related news.
  
• Is early intervention in the major psychiatric disorders justified? (September 2008)
  Votes: Yes 303 (85%); No 52 (15%)
  Related head to head debate: Yes; No.
  
• Should primary care be nurse led? (September 2008)
  Votes: Yes 323 (30%); No 737 (70%)
  Related head to head debate: Yes; No.
  
• Are national qualifying examinations a fair way to rank medical students?
  (August 2008)
  Votes: Yes 434 (53%); No 389 (47%)
  Related head to head debate: Yes; No
  
• Should the UK instigate universal childhood immunisation against the varicella zoster virus (responsible for chickenpox and shingles)? (August 2008)
  Votes: Yes 291 (63%) ; No 171 (37%)
  Read related editorial.
  
• Should the NHS fund drugs that have not yet been approved by NICE?
  (August 2008)
  Votes: Yes 264 (43%); No 354 (57%)
  Read related news.
  
• Should failed asylum seekers be denied free primary care?
  (July 2008)
  Votes: Yes 289 (36%); No 518 (64%)
  Read related personal view.
  
• Should doctors advise people to limit the number of children they have for the sake of the environment?
  Votes: Yes 513 (46%); No 609 (54%)
  Read related editor's choice.
  
• Has the UK's four hour emergency care target compromised patient safety? (July 2008)
  Votes: Yes 172 (72%); No 67 (28%)
  
• Should disadvantaged people be paid to take care of their health?
  Votes: Yes 183 (34%); No 363 (66%)
• Should geriatric medicine remain a specialty? (July 2008)
  Votes: Yes 587 (80%); No 146 (20%)
• Are international medical conferences an outdated luxury the planet can’t afford?
  (July 2008)
  Votes: Yes 471 (59%); No 324 (41%)
• Are the NHS's founding principles still relevant in 21st century Britain?
  (June 2008)
  Votes: Yes 496 (70%); No 215 (30%)
• Should patients be fined if they miss appointments? (June 2008)
  Votes: Yes 299 (51%); No 292 (49%)
• Should all healthcare interventions be rigorously tested before their introduction?(June 2008)
  Votes: Yes 392 (78%); No 111 (22%)
• Is it feasible for GPs to put all 40-75 year olds on statins based on cardiovascular risk, ethnicity, and family history? (June 2008)
  Votes: Yes 416 (44%); No 522 (56%)
  
• Were MPs right to allow the creation of "admixed" human and animal embryos for research in the United Kingdom? (May 2008)
  Votes: Yes 271 (36%); No 480 (64%)
  
• Would you share the answers to exam questions if you were exclusively told them in advance? (May 2008)
  Votes: Yes 57 (58%); No 42 (42%)
  
• Should hypertension be treated aggressively even in very old patients? (May 2008)
  Votes: Yes 362 (49%); No 374 (51%)
  
• Should patients be able to pay top-up fees for treatments not funded by the NHS? (May 2008)
  Votes: Yes 375 (71%); No 151 (29%)
  
• Does it matter if medical graduates don't get jobs as doctors? (May 2008)
  Votes: Yes 1025 (81%); No 246 (19%)
• Do we need polyclinics? (April 2008)
  Votes: Yes 361 (66%); No 188 (34%)
• Should we screen for abdominal aortic aneurysm? (April 2008)
  Votes: Yes 333 (66%); No 175 (34%)
  
• Which health project would make the greatest difference to health care? (April 2008)
  
  • Palliative care for all at the end of life: 1552 votes (38%)
  • Combating drug resistant infections in poor countries: 879 votes (22%)
  • Better care for the elderly with multiple health problems: 686 votes (17%) Improving chronic pain management: 487 (12%)
  • Reducing excessive drinking in young women: 331 votes (8%)
  • Helping to reduce adverse drug reactions in elderly patients: 111 votes (3%)
    
    
• Are there too many female medical graduates? (April 2008)
  Votes: Yes 454 (44%); No 568 (56%)
  
• Should pharmaceutical companies enjoy greater legal freedoms to provide prescription drug information directly to the public? (March 2008)
  Votes: Yes 220 (20%); No 870 (80%)
  
• Should responsibility for signing people off sick be transferred from GPs to occupational health teams? (March 2008)
  Votes: Yes 419 (56%); No 326 (44%)
  
• Should all doctors have a legal obligation to offer assistance in an inflight medical
  emergency? (March 2008)
  Votes: Yes 458 (53%); No 408 (47%)
  
• Should doctors change their practice in prescribing antidepressants in the light of last month's research? (March 2008)
  Votes: Yes 876 (71%); No 355 (29%)
  
• Has the hunt for conflicts of interests gone too far? (February 2008)
  Votes: Yes 197 (45%); No 246 (56%)
  
• Do you object to continuing medical education being funded by the pharmaceutical industry? (February 2008)
  Votes: Yes 853 (55%); No 669 (45%)
  
• Should doctors advocate snus and other nicotine replacements? (February 2008)
  Votes: Yes 195 (61%); No 124 (39%)
  
• Is it time to stop using the term "sudden infant death syndrome"? (February 2008)
  Votes: Yes 584 (60%); No 381 (40%)
  
• Is the obesity epidemic exaggerated? (February 2008)
  Votes: Yes 987 (73%); No 371 (27%)
  
• Is climate change a matter for doctors? (January 2008)
  Votes: Yes 805 (69%); No 363 (31%)
  
• Should the Tooke report on postgraduate medical education and training be implemented in full? (January 2008)
  Votes: Yes 429 (74%); No: 153 (26%)
  

Previous polls

• Is it acceptable for people to be paid to adhere to medication? (August 2007)
• Should we consider a boycott of Israeli academic institutions? (July 2007)
• Should medical journals carry drug advertising? (July 2007)
• Should folic acid fortification be mandatory? (June 2007)
• Should genetic information be disclosed to insurers? (June 2007)
• Is presumed consent the answer to organ shortages? (May 2007)
• Should women be offered cholesterol lowering drugs to prevent cardiovascular disease? (May 2007)
• Should patient groups accept money from drug companies? (May 2007)
• What is the most important medical advance since 1840? (January 2007)
• Would the NHS benefit from a single, identifiable leader? (December 2003)

   

• What is your idea of a good death? (July 2003)

   

• What do you think of POEMs? (June 2003)

   

• Are doctors and the drug industry too close for comfort? (June 2003)

   

• How political should a general medical journal be? (December 2002)

   

• Spend (slightly) less on health care and more on the arts (December 2002)

   

• Journal policies on competing interests (poll) (December 2002)

   

• Ban a word for Christmas and please an old journal (poll) (November 2002)

   

• Consent for using leftover body material for scientific purposes (September 2002)

   

• Promoting pedestrian and cyclist survey (May 2002)

   

• Where will the NHS be in 10 years? (April 2002)

   

• Which would do most to improve health in the developed world? (April 2002)

   

• Today's non-diseases(February 2002)

   

• What's your ideal medical school? (December 2001)

   

• Why Richard Smith resigned as professor of medical journalism at Nottingham University (May 2001)

   

• Why are doctors so unhappy? (May 2001)

   

• New genetics - new ethics (May 2001)

   

• How can health research in the developing world best be promoted? (October 2000)

   

• Results of readers' polls on topics for theme issues (2000-1) (September 2000)

   

• Should BMJ have published an advertisement featuring a woman with bare breasts? (September 2000)

   

• England's NHS plan (August 2000)

   

• Are you ready to access parts of bmj.com through a hand-held device, such as a Palm Pilot (TM) or Visor (TM)? (May 2000)

   

• Should we limit the number of rapid responses we publish from one individual? (April 2000)

   

• Should doctors and nurses monitor each others' performance? (April 2000)

   

• Continuing medical education (February 2000)

   

• How should research articles be shortened for paper publication? (November 1999)

   

• Overpopulation and overconsumption: does the world need specific education policies? (October 1999)

   

• Doctors' consulting styles - present, future, and desired (September 1999)

   

• PubMed Central
  Website visitors' attitude (11 September 1999)
  Authors' attitude (October 1999)

   

• ePrints
  Authors' attitude (10 July 1999)

   

• How should the BMJ respond to devolution? (May 1999)

   

• Who gets the liver? (July 1998)

   

• Best and worst things about the NHS (July 1998)