Briefly

Wayne Kondro

doi:10.1503/cmaj.081940

Detailing: The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has upheld the rights of states to prohibit the sale of computerized data showing which doctors prescribe what drugs. The purchase of such prescription data, based on information gathered from pharmacies and companies that manage drug benefits for employers, has become a highly lucrative industry as pharmaceutical firms seek any kind of edge that might indicate which doctors are more receptive to company sales pitches. In rejecting a bid from data-mining companies to block implementation of a New Hampshire law that prohibits the sale of such information, US Court of Appeals Judge Bruce Marshall Selya wrote that it was entirely reasonable to constrain “overzealous prescription of more costly brand-name drugs regardless of both the public health consequences and the probable outcome of a sensible cost/benefit analysis,” (IMS Health Inc. and Verispan, LLC v. Kelly A. Ayotte, New Hampshire Attorney General, available at www.ca1.uscourts.gov/).

Denial: Ousted South Africa President Thabo Mbeki's refusal to acknowledge the viral cause of AIDS and the usefulness of antiretroviral drugs in treating the disease caused the premature deaths of more than 330 000 people between 2000–2005, according to modelling by Harvard researchers (Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2008;49:410-5). The study also estimates 35 000 babies were born with HIV as a consequence of Mbeki's policies, which promoted the use of alternative remedies such as lemon juice, beetroot and garlic.

Death with dignity: The state of Washington will become the second American jurisdiction to adopt an assisted-suicide law after approving a ballot proposition (by a 59% to 41% margin) known as Initiative 1000, which permits terminally ill, competent adults who are predicted to have fewer than 6 months to live to request and self-administer lethal medication prescribed by a physician. Oregon was the first state to adopt such a law, in 1997. Some 341 residents used it to hasten their deaths in 2007. Unlike Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland have decriminalized assisted suicide.

Aboriginal curriculum: The Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada and Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada have unveiled a new Aboriginal health curriculum framework for medical schools (CMAJ 2008;178[13]:1650) that familiarizes physicians with the precepts of “cultural safety, which encompasses concepts of cultural awareness, sensitivity and competence”, as well as “the additional skill of self-reflection,” (www.afmc.ca/social-aboriginal-health-e.php).

Awards: University of Ottawa professor of medicine Dr. Peter Tugwell has been named recipient of the prestigious Canadian Institutes of Health Research Michael Smith Prize as Canada's 2008 Health Researcher of the Year for Health Services and Systems and Population Health Research. Tugwell, who is also chair of the CMAJ Oversight Committee, received a medal and a research grant of $100 000 per year for 5 years.