Chris Madden Cartoons

A searchable archive for licensing

Safeguarding against litigation in the health service

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health service litigation cartoon

Safeguarding against litigation in the health service – cartoon

An illustration depicting excessive health tests being done on a patient in order to guard against the possibility of later litigation against negligent health care

A cartoon about litigation culture, lawsuits against health services, doctors, hospitals.
This cartoon was originally drawn to illustrate an article in the BBC magazine Knowledge
Cartoon reference number: a527
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Health statistics cartoon

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dentist drilling down to statistics cartoon

Health statistics cartoon
A cartoon showing a dentist ‘drilling down’ to find health statistics

The cartoon shows a man in a dentist’s surgery

The joke is in the pun on the term ‘drilling down’
Cartoon reference number: a525
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Government health advice – cartoon

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government health advice cartoon

Government health advice cartoon
A cartoon about official health advice

A cartoon showing a man standing on weighing scales, with the scales breaking due to the great weight of the book of health guidelines that the man is holding.

A cartoon about excessive health guidelines, the nanny state, health and safety guidelines
Cartoon reference number: a524
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Norovirus cartoon – winter vomiting virus cartoon

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norovirus cartoon

Norovirus cartoon
Winter vomiting virus cartoon

A cartoon about the annual recurrence of epidemics of the winter vomiting virus or norovirus

The cartoon is about the way that the press or media report the spread of the illness. The press has a tendency to distort statistics and to inflate risks for the sake of a good story, so it’s sometimes hard to know what the real risks from epidemics such as the norovirus (or bird flu, etc) really are.
Cartoon reference number: a503

Save the smallpox virus – cartoon

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Save the smallpox virus - cartoon

Save the smallpox virus – cartoon

A parody on “Save the Whale” T-shirts and other T-shirts with slogans or messages on them
It’s also a cartoon about our attitudes to different species of animal, and which ones we feel moved to want to save (usually cute, cuddly, furry ones).

It’s also about animal rights, and where they should stop.

First version drawn: 1991

Cartoon reference number: a446

Medical budget increases – cost of medicine cartoon

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health spending increasing graph cartoon

Health spending increasing – cartoon.
Increases in health spending caused by increased use of prescription drugs

Cartoon showing doctors and medical staff rolling a pill or tablet up a graph

A cartoon about the cost of medicine, the burden on the health services of the cost of medical treatment
Cartoon drawn: 2012
Cartoon reference number: a331b

Health budget – health spending increases cartoon

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health spending rolling pill up graph cartoon

Health spending increasing – cartoon.
Increases in health spending caused by increased use of prescription drugs

Cartoon showing doctors and medical staff rolling a pill up a graph

A cartoon about the cost of medicine, the burden on the health services of the cost of medical treatment
Cartoon reference number: a331
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How to deal with the impact of an aging population

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aging population encourage smoking - cartoon

Aging population cartoon.

How to deal with the problem of an aging population

The comic suggests that a way to reduce the impact of an aging population is to encourage people to smoke more cigarettes, thus reducing the number of people who live to an old age.

The joke is that while these campaigns are normally about trying to improve people’s health, such as by campaigning to stop them smoking, the one depicted here is to encourage a method of shortening people’s lives by taking up smoking.
A cartoon about increasing numbers of pensioners, demographics, health policy, health education, anti-smoking campaigns.

Cartoon reference number: a317
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Gene doping cartoon or illustration. Will gene doping occur in the 2012 Olympics?

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dna gene doping syringe illustration

Gene doping cartoon or illustration

A cartoon about gene doping in sport, Olympics gene doping. Genetic manipulation in competitive sport.

The illustration shows a hypodermic syringe with a double helix strand of dna inside it

Gene doping is defined by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as the non-therapeutic use of cells, genes, or genetic elements to improve athletic performance.
Gene manipulation for muscle enhancement in athletics and other sport has bioethical implications similar to those involved in chemical doping and other methods of gaining an unfair advantage over sporting competitors.
Genetic manipulation in athletics and other sport may include ways of increasing muscle growth, altering blood characteristics, increasing endurance, enhancing oxygen dispersal and reducing pain perception.
A cartoon or illustration about gene therapy, genetic manipulation, ethics of gene doping.

Cartoon reference number: a232
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Hospital garden cartoon – a sickly plant put on a drip

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hospital garden cartoon

Hospital garden cartoon – plant on a drip

Hospital garden cartoon – showing a sickly plant that has been put on a drip

A cartoon showing a doctor in the garden of a hospital. He has noticed that one plant looks sickly, so he’s put it on a drip.
A cartoon about ways of supplying nutrients to garden plants. Drip mechanisms are a common method of irrigating crops or of watering garden plants, so the drip joke isn’t actually very far fetched.
Drawn: Oct 2007

Cartoon reference number: a171
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Illustration. A walking brain

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walking brain illustration

Cartoon/illustration. A walking brian with legs and a head

Cartoon/illustration. A walking brian with legs and a head

I’m not sure what this drawing means. I suppose it’s something to do with the importance of the human brain’s contribution to what it means to be human. I don’t really know – it just popped into my head.
It’s probably a cartoon about psychiatry, neuroscience, neurology, how the mind works, how the brain works, cognition, the self.
Cartoon reference number: a071
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Smoking related health statistics cartoon

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Smoking health cartoon. Misleading statistics for smoking-related illness

Smoking health cartoon
Cigarette cartoon

Cartoon caption: “If you smoke you’re less likely to die of an age-related illness”.
A cartoon about the misleading use of statistics.

A cartoon showing a research laboratory doing medical research into the medical and health related effects of smoking cigarettes. The rerearch laboratory belongs to an organisation called “The Tobacco Industry Research Centre”, indicating that it’s sponsored by the tobacco industry.
The results of the research are given a positive spin by announcing that they show that statistically cigarette smokers are less likely to die of age-related illnesses.
This is of course because smokers are statistically more likely to die before they get old enough to suffer from the diseases of old age.

A cartoon about vested interests, research bias, statistical misrepresentation, medical research, misleading health statistics.
Original cartoon drawn: 2010

Cartoon reference number: tob25

Dyslexia cartoon

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dyslexia cartoon

A cartoon about dyslexia

Dyslexia Cartoon. This cartoon shows a dyslexic person arriving at an airport and not being able to read the notice that’s held by the man who’s there to meet him.
Dyslexia is the inability to recognise written words (word blindness), and is a condition that’s unrelated to intelligence or other cognitive functions

Cartoon reference number: dys881b

Food intolerance cartoon

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Diet cartoon. A cartoon showing a person who is gluten intolerant, a person who is lactose intolerant and a person who is food fad intolerant.

Food fad cartoon
Diet cartoon
A cartoon about gluten intolerance, lactose intolerance and food fad intolerance

A cartoon about food intolerance, showing a person who is gluten intolerant (and who is rejecting some bread), a person who is lactose intolerant (and who is rejecting some milk) and a person who is food fad intolerant (and who eating a plate full of food that is normally labelled as unhealthy)

A cartoon about food fads, health, dietary fads, ibs, irritable bowel syndrome, nutrition, allergies, allergy, allergic reactions, food scares

Cartoon drawn: 2011
Cartoon reference number: fod910
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