Gut Feeling — Paul Griffiths

Have you ever wondered why it takes so long to develop new treatments? Medical progress is laden with red tape and other obstacles, including the need to provide profits for the pharmaceutical industry. This factional story weaves authentic scientific information into the lives of fictitious characters to give a topical example. Many people with elderly relatives will know that chronic infection with Clostridium difficile is a common problem. Medical researcher, Stephen Hurd, thinks that antibiotics are contributing to the disease not the cure. His innovative solution demands world-class medical research as well as social and ethical acceptability. Arguing that desperate times call for desperate measures, he fights against the bureaucracy controlling clinical trials. This quest for a successful therapy occupies much of the time he should be spending with his new wife and puts him into competition with his old friend who works for a drug company developing a new antibiotic. Gut Feeling tells a story. Remember, the science and medicine are real. Randomised trials have shown that Stephen's solution works. Would you be one of his volunteers?