ICBC

In my previous columns on whip­lash-associated disorders (WAD), I have discussed history-taking and the physical examination of the neck, including nonorganic findings. To follow up, I’d like to provide you with some practical tools to help in your assessment and management of ICBC patients.

Nonorganic findings are physical findings that do not have a direct anatomical cause and are distinct from physical findings of organic pathology. They were identified in 1980 by Waddell and colleagues.[1] Although these findings were initially described in patients with low back pain, they may be adapted to patients with neck pain—such as those injured in a car crash.

There is significant contro­versy around the diagnosis, management, and prognosis of whiplash-associated disorders (WAD). To help address some of this controversy, The Bone and Joint Decade 2000–2010 Task Force on Neck Pain and Its Associated Disorders was created in 2000. Made up of more than 50 clinicians and scientists from nine countries, the task force screened ap­proximately 32 000 titles and review­ed over 1200 articles on neck pain. Their findings were published in a supplement to last February’s issue of the journal Spine (Spine 2008;33[4 suppl]:S1–213).

When I told a colleague that I had recently accepted the position of medical community liaison for ICBC, he asked me why I had “crossed the floor.” His response certainly gave me food for thought. “Crossing the floor” implies antagonism and betrayal. Is that really the case?

Police are now empowered to conduct mandatory roadside drug tests

With the holiday season upon us, police will be out in force to help keep impaired drivers off our roads.

But this year, for the first time ever, they’ll have the authority to test for more than just alcohol impairment. With last summer’s enforcement of Tackling Violent Crime Act (Bill C-2), police officers who suspect a driver is impaired by any substance—including illegal drugs and prescription and over-the-counter medications—can order a mandatory roadside sobriety test.