Clinical
Aspirin takes a tiny knock: Switch patients with multiple cardio events to clopidogrel, prevent one death in 30.

Asthma attack caution: Don't double the inhaled dose, prescribe a short course of oral steroids instead.

Cutting skin cancer: Consider photodynamic therapy for face work only. Excision is more effective but leaves more scarring.

Diagnostic tumours: A big, new multinational study estimates almost 800 cancer diagnoses in Canada are x-ray related.

A grinding halt: Two Swedish HRT studies put on ice after breast cancer recurrence found in some subjects.

Guinea pig wannabes: Cancer patients eager to get on the clinical trial bandwagon. But the evidence is iffy that they get better care.

One-shot wonder: The latest from FLUVAC shows the vaccine reduces MI death risks by up to 66%.

Dwarfed by the wheat: Studies show that celiac disease affects kids early, and it's stunting their growth.

Don't inhale the 'roids: Inhaled corticosteroids show no benefit in COPD.

Most PAD-ies don't care: Millions don't even know they have peripheral arterial disease. Now there's a cure.

CNS Special Section
What a headache: As if migraines weren't bad enough, new research shows there's a link with brain lesions.

Bad, but not so bad: MS won't debilitate all sufferers as previously believed. Still, 30% will end up disabled.

X marks the spot: A newly-discovered tremor disorder called FXTAS could be the key to many cases of misdiagnosed Parkinson's.

Seizing sadness: Poor quality of life among epileptics not responding to meds is caused by depression not seizures.

Tiny answer to a big problem: Nanotechnology and stem cells team up for a try at spinal regeneration.

Government & Medicine
Dr Bennett's bully pulpit: The new minister talks up the changes in public health while she waits for the money to arrive.

Pssst, want a new antimicrobial? What'll it cost me? High R&D costs demand better public policy.

Practice Management
Performance review payoff: Never conducted a staff review? Here's how to do one that pays dividends year in, year out.

Work too much? Twenty-five questions to rout out your inner work addiction. Cheer up, you may be less compulsive than you fear.

Features
Poetic license to practice: Dr Alison Sinclair hit the books -- and the shelves -- after med school, and there was no looking back. Meet BC's pre-eminent sci fi doctor.

Oops! My mistake: When should you 'fess up to a medical error? Our ethicist walks us through the moral minefield.

IVF sex selection?: Never! Barren Americans flock to choose the sex of their babies. Not us.

Protective confusion: New contraceptives push the choice envelope. WHAT TO TELL YOUR PATIENTS goes beyond the pill pack.

Revenge of the "lady doctors": More women than men are enrolling in medicine. Are kinder, gentler times in store?

TAU the line: McGill's Technical Assessment Unit helps hospitals balance their chequebooks and maintain quality of care.

Middle class and on the street: More and more families find themselves without a place to call home.

Canada's first black doctor: Dr Anderson Abbott, U of T class of 1861, loved this country dearly.

This is your brain speaking: THE RESEARCH FILE, our new column, visits McMaster's remarkable Brain-Body Institute.

Neglected natives get shafted: A U of S study reveals the disaster of aboriginal healthcare. Disabled persons often shut out entirely.

Abe Cooper gets struck: Five years ago the Alberta MD killed a colleague. Last month the college finally revoked his license.

Departments
Editorial: Solo target: The National Health Council is taking aim at private practice.

Across Canada: News from coast to coast to coast.

Pursuits: Palms up: Supercharge your PDA with the latest medical software.

Classics
Films: THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS: Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis lead us through the world of 1950s New York journalism's underbelly.

Classical: SYMPHONY NO.9 IN D MINOR: Beethoven's opus performed by the Zagreb Philharmonic rocks the senses.

Books: SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE: The classic anti-war novel is as relevant today as when Kurt Vonnegut wrote it.