2024

I urge Dr Schwandt, a member of the BCMJ Editorial Board, to resist the temptation to quote British Columbia’s outgoing chief coroner, Lisa Lapointe, as though her statements are fact. Dr Schwandt quoted the following misrepresentation from the November 2023 BC Coroners Service Death Review Panel report[1] in his editorial [BCMJ 2023;65:365-366]: “as many as 225 000 [people] are at risk of poisoning from unregulated drugs, [but] only 4476 people were prescribed safe supply medications in July 2023.”

The editorial by Dr Michael Schwandt in the December issue of the BCMJ [2023;65:365-366] proposes dealing with the drug poisoning emergency by decriminalizing drugs, reducing stigma, and increasing the safe drug supply. The problem with this approach is that it looks at only one outcome, and that is to prevent drug poisoning and drug poisoning deaths. Unfortunately, there are many more issues to this complex problem.

High-impact chronic pain affects quality of life and causes anxiety.[1] Affected individuals are more frequently prescribed opioids than those suffering from mild to moderately bothersome pain.[2] Management of this complex condition adds to the burden experienced by burned-out family doctors.

At the bottom of the first table of contents page of the November 2023 issue of the BCMJ is a list. The list documents six things the journal is doing to minimize its environmental impact.

On the back cover of that issue is an advertisement for a medical conference: Antarctica 2025: Unconventional Conventions. I see this as a climate misadventure. Organizers, speakers, and participants should consider how their participation contributes to the disruption of the climate.