BRING OUT THE FIRING SQUAD
In your News in Brief (Vol. 1, No. 13, page 5) section you stated that censoring physicians who participate in executions in the US is a "tricky ethical issue" because of the importance of having physicians participate in order to help ensure a quick and painless death. This argument only applies to lethal injection. Firing squads are quick and painless, and require no physician supervision.

Physicians who participate in executions not only act against the ethics of their profession but also contribute to the thin veneer of humanity that's used to cover a fundamentally barbaric act.

Dr Stephen Workman
Halifax, NS

Utah is one of two US states to offer the condemned the option of firing squad, lethal injection or hanging. Of 48 persons executed in the state since 1852, 39 were by firing squad, seven by hanging and two by lethal injection. A doctor is present in all cases to confirm the death. -- Ed

CLOSING UP SHOP
I read with interest your article, "Shutting down your practice" (Vol 1, No 13, page 37). Wow, what planet was the author living on? Accurate years ago, perhaps, but not at all realistic today. Come on now, 50% to 100% of annual gross? PLEASE, if there are such people, contact me immediately. Perhaps I can start a bidding war! In this day and age, I think most of us would be very hard pressed to be giving bonuses to our employees to the tune of a week's salary per year of service too. Have you not heard that the poor FP is falling more and more behind? I would hazard a guess that many of my colleagues have simply walked away from their practices and didn't go through the hassle of informing their patients with personal letters. Let me see, 2,000 patients times $0.49 to Canada Post, plus envelopes, paper and countless hours of my medical office assistant's time. Sorry, that's not going to fly either. Now this comes from a long time FP in Victoria, BC, one of, if not the most desirable places to practise and live in Canada. To suggest that this is realistic for others living in less desirable regions is ludicrous.

Dr Walter (Volodya) Salmaniw
Victoria, BC

Judy Dewalt replies: Selling your practice for a substantial portion of the annual gross is a difficult trick to manage, as the article suggests, but it's not impossible. See "Your practice may be worth more than you think," page 29. Longterm employees with few job prospects deserve some form of severance pay, however painful. A thank you letter to active patients is an act of common courtesy and may avoid future legal difficulties over medical records.