November

Partial knee replacements are a form of knee arthroplasty that doesn’t replace the entire knee (the femoral condyles, tibial plateau, and patella). These surgical interventions include the patellofemoral arthroplasty and the more common unicondylar knee arthroplasty. 

Both procedures have been available since the 1950s and may be options for patients who have osteoarthritis in one compartment of the knee, do not have specific contraindications for these more conservative procedures, and who have failed to benefit from nonoperative management of their osteoarthritis.

Lead is a non-biodegradable toxic heavy metal with no useful physiologic purpose. BC workers most at risk for exposure to inorganic lead are those involved in:

• Manufacture/recycling of car batteries.
• Construction and demolition.
• Base-metal mining and smelting.

It has been a long process, it’s been a controversial topic—especially among physicians—but it’s also a topic whose time has come. What I’m talking about here is cell phone use and driving legislation. I, along with the premier and the solicitor general, made the public announcement last month in Victoria. 

References

1914–2009

Dr Myre Sim passed away peacefully in Victoria on 22 August 2009.

Dr Sim was born in Scotland and completed his medical and psychiatric training at the University of Edinburgh. He was later appointed professor of psychiatry at the University of Birmingham. He was a founding member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the United Kingdom and a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.