Celebration of 200 years.

The Lancet's extensive coverage of its achievements is a timely reminder of the great contribution this journal has made to advance medical care. Although the timeline highlights many substantial scientific contributions, the extraordinary role The Lancet played in the reform of the medical profession, hospitals, and increasing the public accountability for health care deserves more attention. As highlighted, first and foremost, Thomas Wakley's intention in establishing the journal was to challenge the nepotism and corruption that pervaded the medical profession, the inadequacies of medical education, and to expose the incompetence of much clinical practice. This challenging of norms is best illustrated by the extraordinary, game-changing court case Wakley and one of his reporters, James Lambert, instigated in 1828. Never before, anywhere in the world, had a doctor's competence been subjected to public scrutiny. The case attracted so much public interest that newspapers held their presses until midnight to enable the verdict to go out on the night stagecoaches, something they had only done once before when they awaited news of George III's death. Society has Wakley and The Lancet to thank for this courageous act that contributed to what can be discerned as the start of modern health care. The story of the case and the early years of the journal are told in my novel1 published in the past few months, based on extensive documentary evidence from the time.