September

Dr Richardson’s editorial on ICBC injury claims [BCMJ 2012;54:117] obviously hit a nerve with those profiting under the present system. To put the size of the problem into perspective, in 2011 ICBC paid out $661 million in claims to people where a neck injury was the primary complaint—that equals $150 for every man, wo­man, and child in the province. Legal costs for the defence of claims amount­ed to $114 million of these costs.

I read with interest the article “Prescri­bing second-generation antipsychotic medications: Practice guidelines for general practitioners” [BCMJ 2012;54:75-82]. As a laboratory phy­­sician, my interest was piqued when I noticed that the recommended laboratory eval­uations included fasting insulin under certain circumstances. 

I have to respond to this letter [BCMJ 2012;54:230] and note that I wholly agree with Dr Lajoie and wholly disagree with Dr Williams. In addition, I think the board action was a perversion of natural justice. 

In reply to Dr Carole Williams [BCMJ 2012;54:230], the question is, “Does the Board truly have the best interest of its members at heart?” Or put another way, “Does it acknowledge, re­search, and do its due diligence, when members have concerns about the running of the BCMA?”

There have been significant changes to and expansion of distributed medical education (DME) in the last dec­ade.[1,2] In response, the Professional Association of Residents of British Columbia (PAR-BC) struck a commit­tee to explore and report on DME in BC from the resident’s perspective.[3] An initial challenge to the committee was the lack of consistent language, and definitions were proposed.

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