A new study showing a triple combination of blood pressure drugs and common painkillers can increase the risk of serious kidney problems means doctors will have to be extra vigilant when prescribing this particular concoction of drugs. A team of researchers from the Jewish General Hospital and McGill University found a triple therapy combination of a diuretic with a second antihypertensive drug plus a painkiller was associated with a 30 per cent higher risk of kidney failure - and the risk was 80 per cent higher during the first 30 days of treatment.

(Op-ed - Robert Leckey teaches family law at McGill): President of Egale Canada This spring will mark 10 years since the Ontario Court of Appeal allowed the first legal same-sex marriages in Canada. For most Canadians, same-sex marriage is a settled issue. The latest census data confirmed the growing diversity of Canadian families. That's why it's puzzling that the federal government has recently spent public money fighting the recognition of gay relationships in Canada.

An Ontario Superior Court judge has taken the novel step of granting a divorce to a same-sex couple over legal objections from the federal Crown. Madam Justice Ruth Mesbur ruled that same-sex civil partnerships from foreign countries that don't permit same-sex marriages can nonetheless qualify as marriages under Canadian law. […] Robert Leckey, a professor of family law at McGill University and president of Egale Canada, said he found the federal position to be disturbing.

(Chemistry professor Joe Schwarcz): “I will prescribe regimen for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone. To please no one will I prescribe a deadly drug, nor give advice which may cause his death … ” That passage comes from the Hippocratic oath, by which physicians promise to practise medicine ethically and honestly. Not all abide by the oath, but doctors who wilfully harm their patients are rare. The ultimate harm, of course, is murder. It is a crime for which Dr. Harold Shipman paid with his life, and for which Dr.

Chauffeur-driven limousines, millions in stock options, golden parachutes. It's no wonder bosses' pay and perks can rankle. Here's why the best ones are worth it. … Let's start with the basics: how chief executives spend their time. Among the first researchers to give us a glimpse into the day-to-day life of the CEO was management guru Henry Mintzberg, who followed a handful of business leaders for his Ph.D. thesis at the MIT Sloan School of Management over four decades ago. He discovered that, first and foremost, CEOs go to meetings.

(REPAP Chair of Economics Reuven Brenner): Ten years ago, I wrote about the possible consequences of China's one child policy (published in Asia Times Online, Financial Times, and Singapore Times). All of it seems to have held the test of times - and recent evidence strengthens the points raised then:  What can be the point of reference to predict consequences of China's current childbearing pattern, adjusted over the last decades to one-kid or you're-out-of-your-apartment policy?

(Michael Becker, a doctoral student at McGill University, was a scientific diver on an expedition to Lake Untersee, Antarctica, this is part two in a series of blog posts for the NYT): Fieldwork in the polar latitudes is often 50 percent science and 50 percent logistics. When the weather goes bad the science drops quickly to zero. That’s the position we found ourselves in as we waited to depart our transit town of Cape Town, South Africa.