Of Struldbruggs, sugar, and gatekeepers: a tale of our times

A crucial word change phoned to us by the author somehow did not find its way into the published version of this article by David Kerr in the Christmas issue (BMJ 2003;327:1451-3). The “standfirst” (the bit of editorial text that sits under the title to tempt you to read the article) should have read: “Socially isolated, depressed old patients most often end up on the diabetes wards after someone notices their blood sugar is high [not “low”] and all other specialists have lost interest.”