- © 2008 Canadian Medical Association
Candidates seven: A record 7 candidates, including 4 ex-presidents and 1 former provincial legislator are in the hunt to become the Saskatchewan Medical Association's next president and automatic nominee as president-elect of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA).
Under the rotation used by the CMA to determine its president, the “Land of Living Skies” will be taking its turn at the national helm commencing in 2009/10. The candidates are anesthetist Dr. Mark Arsiradam; family physician Dr. Anne Doig; family physician and former member of the legislative assembly Dr. Lewis Draper (New Democrat–Assiniboia–Gravelbourg); otolaryngologist Dr. James Fritz; family physician Dr. Allen Miller; family physician Dr. Stan Oleksinski; and general practitioner–anesthetist Dr. Vino Padayachee. The latter 4 are former presidents of the provincial association. Voting closes Feb. 26.
Green light: One-year research licenses have issued to King's College London and Newcastle University by Britain's Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority to create cytoplasmic embryos by merging animal eggs with human cells (CMAJ 2007;177[8]:847). The move followed an unsuccessful bid in the House of Lords to amend the Human Fertilization and Embryology Bill to prohibit the creation of inter-species embryos. The amendment was defeated 268–96.
Bluenose overhaul: In the wake of a commissioned study that indicated Nova Scotia's health care system was unsustainable as configured, Premier Rodney MacDonald says his government will implement all 103 recommendations of the report, crafted by Corpus Sanchez International. At the core of the recommended overhaul lies the proposition that the province is over reliant on acute care in hospitals at the expense of community and personal health programs.
Charges dropped: Six nuisance charges against the former national medical director of the Canadian Red Cross Society's blood transfusion services stemming from the mid-1980s tainted blood scandal have been withdrawn. The withdrawal follows the October 2007 acquittal of Roger Perreault by the Ontario Superior Court on 4 charges of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and 1 charge of common nuisance. Perreault's lawyer, Edward Greenspan told the court that charges should never have been laid. “Not every tragedy requires a scapegoat or necessitates a finding of blameworthiness.”
Suicide assessments: The US Food and Drug Administration has quietly changed its clinical trial policies to require that drug companies monitor patients in clinical trails for indications of suicidal thoughts or behaviours, the New York Times reported Jan. 24. The Times said the FDA has been issuing letters requiring a comprehensive suicide assessment for trials of drugs used to treat obesity, urinary incontinence, epilepsy, smoking cessation, depression and other conditions. The FDA declined comment.
Wired world: North American and European spending on electronic health records will reach nearly US$13 billion by 2012 from a current level of about $4.4 billion, according to the independent market analysis firm Datamonitor.