Speeding penalty points were introduced in the Republic of Ireland in 2002. Maxillofacial injuries sustained in road crashes were assessed the year before and the year after implementation in two Dublin hospitals (British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery 2006;44: 15-9). The severity and distribution of the injuries remained the same, and the number of patients requiring intensive care and the duration of stay in the units and hospitals were also similar. But the number of operations changed, with a 61% reduction from 57 in the year before implementation to 22 in the following year.

The recent outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Hong Kong doesn't seem to have scared medical students off the idea of performing basic life support, even though some health professionals were infected during resuscitation of affected patients (Resuscitation 2006;68; 93-100). An attitudinal survey found they were definitely concerned about the risk of disease transmission, but they would be more likely to withhold mouth to mouth resuscitation in the presence of vomit or blood than from fear of contracting SARS.

Maternal stress is thought to cause early miscarriage, and 61 women from rural Guatemala now provide the biochemical evidence. Urine samples …