Abstracts sought for the 96th annual American College of Surgeons’ Clinical Congress to be held on October 3–7, 2010 in Washington, DC. The deadline for these will be March 10th 2010.

As a surgeon, it is difficult to ignore the reports of a growing number of young football players, who commit suicide and homicide amidst numerous other post-career oddities that are increasingly being linked to the head trauma sustained during their careers as professional athletes on the football field. The work of pathologists such as Dr Bennet Omalu from Allegheny County in Pennsylvania on the origin of tau proteins and neurofibrillary tangles may have allowed the discovery of a direct link between concussion and Chronic Traumatic Encepholopathy (CTE). If this indeed turns out to be true, we may yet see a change in the way one of America’s favorite sports is played, marketed and advertised. The lives of our young athletes may ultimately depend on it.

With the end of October, the breast cancer campaign has proven to be one of the best-run and most successful health campaigns of all time. Soft drinks, clothing, walks, runs, almost every commodity and activity bought and sold over the course of the month was pink ( even lemonade!) - drawing attention to the important killer that is breast cancer. I wonder aloud if similar campaigns would ….perhaps should be launched for lung cancer. It quietly remains the number one cause of cancer deaths in the United States. It might benefit from a colored ribbon and some attention too.

The shock over the recent discovery of kidneys for sale in the US is just another example of how we may often choose to remain oblivious to those things, those actions that threaten or challenge the ethical constructs of how we view the life and the world at large. The WHO estimates that at least 10 % of all kidney transplants are from paid donors often obtained by illegal transaction performed in less than optimal surroundings and circumstances……but now we know that these are also occurring in prestigious institutions in the United States and the public is outraged. But is it, really? In a free market society, isn’t everything and anyone for sale? Most will say, absolutely not. American law does not permit the exchange of organs for material or pecuniary gain but yet, it is still happening - seemingly without redress. So where do we go from here? Without legal intervention and regulation, these practices are likely to continue. But there is a fear that the forces of economics may result in an exploitation of the disadvantaged and bring us back to the historical controversy of whether one life is more valuable than another…and though that makes for an easy answer, with the consideration of America’s past, it  poses  an extremely awkward  question.

The healthcare debate has become manifestly vociferous over the past weeks as Americans decidedly flex their democratic muscle in a debate that is increasingly dividing the lines. The Obama administration have given us scant details about what to really expect and the angst is growing as contrived and misinformed ideas from both sides replace the missing factual richness of the explanations we deserve and have been expecting. As far as I, as a surgeon, am concerned, HR 3200 will (finally) address the Sustainable Growth Rate issue. The resultant plan will not require physician participation and there will be a greater focus on Physician Quality Reporting Initiative. An alternative plan will come into existence. Private insurance companies are up in arms. Private insurees are up in arms too - concerned that they will be unable to access their doctors and be subjected to the “substandard care” akin to that provided in other wealthy countries in Europe and Asia.

The only silence seems to be from the uninsured. Strangely, not one of the 37 million of them seems to object. Might they know something we don’t?