CMAJ • August 15, 2006; 175 (4). doi:10.1503/cmaj.060918.
© 2006 CMA Media Inc. or its licensors
All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Canadian Medical Association.
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News @ a glance

CMA presidency challenge: Delegates to this month's annual general meeting of the CMA face an unexpected choice as Vancouver family physician Dr. Jack Burak will now challenge British Columbia Medical Association nominee Dr. Brian Day for the CMA's top job in 2007–08. Burak, a former BCMA president and staunch advocate of Canada's publicly funded medicare system, contended Day's avowed support for private funding and the private delivery of health care are anathema to the majority of Canadian physicians. Day, who runs the controversial Cambie Surgery Centre, narrowly edged Burak in the BCMA election for the CMA nomination.

NPs by the number: The number of nurse practitioners increased 17% between 2004 and 2005, states a new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information. There were 1026 NPs in 2005, up from 878 the year before.


Figure 10
Figure. Photo by: Digital Stock

Cost of waiting: Excessive waits for treatment constitute an enormous drain on the economy, concludes a study by the Centre for Spatial Economics for the Canadian Medical Association and British Columbia Medical Association. The study projects that some $1.8 billion in economic production, along with $500 million in tax revenues will be lost in 2006 as a result of waits over and above recommended benchmark times for 4 procedures (total joint replacement, MRI scans, cataract and coronary artery bypass graft surgery) in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario. These estimates are based on the projected loss of productivity by patients and their caregivers, and the additional cost to the health care system that accrues from patients having to "attend medical appointments, submit to tests and procedures, and take medications that would not have been required had their wait times not exceeded the maximum recommended."

Webaholics: People with Internet addiction disorder (IAD) will likely start flooding physicians and psychotherapists offices in coming years, predicts a nursing professor at LaSalle University in Philadelphia. Dr. Diane Wieland states that IAD will strike as many as 10% of all World Wide Web users (Perspectives in Psychiatric Care 2005;41[4]:153-61). Possible symptoms include cyber shakes (psychomotor agitation and typing motions of the fingers), dry eyes, carpal tunnel syndrome, migraine headaches, repetitive stress injuries, sleep deprivation, disregard of hygiene and nourishment, social isolation, family discord, divorce, academic failure, job loss and debt. Wieland's survey of scientific literature on the incidence, symptomatology and treatment of IAD also indicated cognitive–behavioral therapies, self-help groups and psychopharmacological solutions like selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors are among the most common interventions. — Compiled by Wayne Kondro, CMAJ





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