Jules Eden

Julian (Jules) Christopher Paul Eden MBBs BSc MRCGP is controversial author, journalist, businessman, ex-doctor and the founder of the UK's first online medical clinic, e-Med in 2000.
Born in 1962, Eden received his mid-term degree in Psychology, at Bedford College and matriculated in 1988 from the combined Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, (now part of Imperial College, London). He then worked in the UK National Health Service (NHS) before becoming a General Practitioner in Victoria, London. After working with London’s homeless at The Passage refuge in Pimlico he created the “Homeless Medipac”, a medical kit to help the homeless with basic medical problems in 1999.

Eden was responsible for creating the first online medical service in the UK, the "e-Med" online medical clinic, in March 2000, offering diagnosis and prescriptions over the internet. His practice was considered unacceptable by the General Medical Council and he was removed from the GMC register in 2009 for misprescription over the internet. The General Medical Council stated that Eden had "...repeatedly put patients at risk. [His] misconduct is serious and has brought the reputation of the profession into disrepute".

An avid SCUBA diver, in 2000 Eden created the “Medipac”, a travel health kit now used by thousands of divers and travelers worldwide. In 2004, he set up the diving recompression chamber, London Diving Chamber in St John and St Elizabeth’s Hospital, London and the Midlands Diving Chamber, Hospital of St Cross, Rugby, Warwickshire in 2009.

In 2001, Eden also set up the “Dive Lectures”, a continuing series of annual charitable lectures at the Royal Geographical Society in aid of the Scuba Trust. Past speakers include: Monty Halls, Mariella Frostrup, Lloyd Grossman, Terence Stamp, Miranda Krestovnikoff, and Leigh Bishop.

A writer and columnist for The Independent on travel medical issues, he also wrote “the Flying Doctor” column for the Guardian newspaper between 2002 and 2004. He wrote a medical column for Sport Diver Magazine from 2000 to 2007 and is currently editor of London Diver Magazine. In 2009, he founded Midlands Diver magazine.

At the beginning of 2000, Eden became the resident medical commentator on BBC’s London 94.9 and London Live. He then went on to present “Second Opinion with Dr Jules Eden” on LBC, London between 2001 and 2004. He also co-hosted the programme “Wanda and the Doc” for Whereitsat.tv. from 2001 to 2003.

In 2006, he co-authored 50 Reasons to Hate the French, a humorous look at the history of Anglo-French relations, which became a New York Times List best-seller. Criticism by Le Figaro following its release prompted Eden to defend the book as a merely satirical work.

In 2012, he wrote a guide to the medical aspects of diving for both professional and amateur divers, FAQ Dive Medicine that Divernet described as "an enjoyable preliminary browse and... an indispensable reference book".