24 March 2020

Medical practice is challenging, never more than during a pandemic. In such times we turn to Sir William Osler for wisdom and perspective.

The health burden of gout continues to rise in Canada.[1] Allopurinol, a common urate-lowering medication used to treat gout, is associated with severe adverse cutaneous drug reactions (SCARs) in specific at-risk populations, primarily people of East Asian descent. SCARs include Stevens-Johnson syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis and drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms, and lead to elevated morbidity/mortality and long-term sequelae.

Tobacco products in all forms are highly addictive because they contain nicotine, one of the most addictive substances used by humans. High-nicotine content in e-cigarettes poses as a potentially disastrous innovation in the 21st century and a well-known public health threat to our vulnerable children’s future and their overall health and well-being.

Dr Barry King Cutler, 82 years of age, passed away peacefully at the Berkley Care Centre on 16 December 2019, surrounded by family.

Dr Hans Adalbert Witt was born in Brasdorf, East Prussia, on 29 August 1934. At the outbreak of World War II, Hans’s life changed in ways that would shape his character and influence his legacy of tenacity.