November

I feel compelled to take issue with the points that Dr Ray Baker raises in his opinion piece “More reefer madness” [BCMJ 2001;43(6):362].

In Dr Sehmer’s warning [BCMJ 2001;43(6):320] about dubious mercury poisoning results, is he seriously suggesting that mercury is not toxic, that dental amalgams are not a significant source of mercury, and that Doctor’s Data of Chicago are reporting spurious results? Can he produce one primary research article that scientifically proves that mercury is either non-toxic or does not leach out in significant amounts from dental amalgam fillings?

Interesting. I retrieved the September 1993 BCMJ issue on menopause, edited by Dr Tim Rowe. The cover illustration is a drawing of a grey-haired woman in a dowdy dress cooling off at an open window. Autumn leaves blow around her. I do not think women are content with that image today! In that issue were letters and editorials on topics such as walk-in clinics, long waiting lists, bed and hospital closures, and the practice of alternative medicine. Little has changed. On the topic of menopause were articles on osteoporosis, women’s attitudes, and HRT and the heart.

The BCMJ occasionally receives letters from members who are upset with something they have read in the Journal, noting an incorrect fact, an inaccurate statistic, or some other (usually) legitimate complaint. The authors of these letters invariably ask how and why we published the piece without doing our due editorial diligence. The vast majority of these complaints, it turns out, are directed at material that the BCMJ Editorial Board has no editorial control over.

As it was my turn to produce an editorial for the end of September, I sat down on a number of occasions earlier in the month hoping for some inspiration. What could I write about that wasn’t doom and gloom? We are struggling with a health care system in crisis. Our day-to-day lives as physicians trying to provide excellence in patient care are constantly being challenged by budget cutbacks, lack of funding and resources, increasing waitlists, nursing shortages, and job action. Despite all of this, we go to our offices and do the best we can to do the work we were trained to do.