DATE: THURSDAY, May 28, 2015

TIME: 6 PM Wine Tasting / 7 PM Dinner

PLACE: Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club
4300 Southwest Marine Drive
Vancouver

COST: $75 Members / $85 Non-Members
PAYMENT IN ADVANCE ONLY, WE ARE UNABLE TO ACCEPT PAYMENT AT THE DOOR FOR THIS MEETING.

Wine Tasting 6PM

We are pleased to have the  Mistress of Wine, Kate Keates, return again this year with a new wine tasting format.

We will have a selection of great wines that are readily available in most restaurants and Kate will educate us on some of the finer points of each of the wines through a blind tasting. The tasting will allow her to demonstrate the basic differences  in some of the wines and provide some colorful commentary.

A Crash Course On Roadside Screening Devices

Guest Speaker:
Carolyn Kirkwood

Following dinner, Carolyn Kirkwood, a Forensic Alcohol Consultant with BAC Consulting, will provide a short talk on the medical and scientific issues surroinding the use of roadside screening devices and the limitations in the devices that could invalidate their results.

Please forward your cheque payable to “The Medical Legal Society of B.C.” before April 7th, 2015 to:
Ms. Carol Gielens
Bull, Housser & Tupper LLP
1800 – 510 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, BC
V6B 0M3

Please indicate the names of members and guests attending this meeting.

This meeting is open to members and guests. As this is the AGM of The Society, only paid-up members may vote at this meeting.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 16, 2015

TIME: 6 PM NO-HOST BAR / 7 PM Dinner

PLACE: TERMINAL CITY CLUB
837 West Hastings
Vancouver

COST: $65 Members / $80 Non-Members
PAYMENT IN ADVANCE ONLY, WE ARE UNABLE TO ACCEPT PAYMENT AT THE DOOR FOR THIS MEETING.

THE OBJECTIVE CONCUSSION TESTS: THE HOLY GRAIL OF CONCUSSION RESEARCH

Guest Speakers:
Dr. Paul van Donkelaar, PhD
Alexander (Sandy) Wright, MSc

Concussions occur at an alarmingly high rate, with estimates reaching 25% for contact sport athletes. Currently, the diagnosis and management of these injuries is based largely on patient-reported symptoms. Given the number of young athletes in Canada participating in these sports, combined with concerns over the long-term consequences associated with repetitive head trauma, objective and reliable techniques are urgently needed to better our ability to determine when a concussion has occurred, how a patient is progressing towards recovery, and to unmask potential intervention approaches to prevent / mitigate these injuries in the future. Dr. Paul van Donkelaar and Mr. Alexander Wright will discuss the current state of research in this field, with a focus on promising work being done at the University of British Columbia.

Dr. Paul van Donkelaar is a Full Professor and Director of the School of Health and Exercise Sciences at UBC’s Okanagan campus. Dr. van Donkelaar received his PhD in Clinical Neuroscience from the University of Calgary in 1994, and has been actively involved in concussion research for 15 years. As Director of the Integrative Sports Concussion Research Group, his research is aimed at better understanding the sensorimotor, neurocognitive, and cerebrovascular effects of concussion and how to more objectively assess and manage this injury.

Alexander (Sandy) Wright is studying in the combined MD/PhD program at UBC. He completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology at Simon Fraser University in 2009, and a Master of Science in Biomechanics at the University of Waterloo in 2011. A recipient of the prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, Mr. Wright’s doctoral research takes a multi-modal approach towards improving our understanding of sports-related concussions, combining techniques in biomechanics, cerebrovascular physiology, and advanced neuroimaging

CO-ORDINATOR – Dr. John Butt, CM, MD

Please forward your cheque payable to “The Medical Legal Society of B.C.” before April 7th, 2015 to:
Ms. Carol Gielens
Bull, Housser & Tupper LLP
900 – 900 Howe Street
Vancouver, BC
V6Z 2M4

DATE: THURSDAY, February 19, 2015

TIME: 6 PM NO-HOST BAR / 7 PM Dinner

PLACE: TERMINAL CITY CLUB
837 West Hastings
Vancouver

COST: $65 Members / $80 Non-Members
PAYMENT IN ADVANCE ONLY, WE ARE UNABLE TO ACCEPT PAYMENT AT THE DOOR FOR THIS MEETING.

PHYSICIAN ASSISTED DYING:

A MEDICAL LEGAL PERSPECTIVE

Guest Speaker – Dr. Derryck Smith, M.D., F.R.C.P. (C)

Dr. Smith is the Co-Chair of the Medical Advisory Committee of Dying with Dignity Canada and a Board member of DWD Canada and The World Federation of Right to Die Societies.

Dr. Smith will discuss a number of issues on “Dying with Dignity”, including:

• Carter, et al v. Attorney General for Canada, et al – The Supreme Court of Canada will shortly hand down its decision in Carter; a case arising from the decision of Madame Justice Lynn Smith of the Supreme Court of British;
• Bill 52 – a Bill that will shortly come into force in Quebec. Quebec will be the first jurisdiction in Canada to have a legislative framework for assistance with dying;
• The recently released Canadian Medical Association position paper on Physician Assisted Dying.

CO-ORDINATOR – MICHAEL THOMAS

Please forward your cheque payable to “The Medical Legal Society of B.C.” before February 16, 2015 to:
Ms. Carol Gielens
Bull, Housser & Tupper LLP
900 – 900 Howe Street
Vancouver, BC
V6Z 2M4

DATE: THURSDAY, January 15, 2015

TIME: 6 PM NO-HOST BAR / 7 PM Dinner

PLACE: SHAUGHNESSY GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB
4300 Southwest Marine Drive
Vancouver

COST: $65 Members / $80 Non-Members
PAYMENT IN ADVANCE ONLY, WE ARE UNABLE TO ACCEPT PAYMENT AT THE DOOR FOR THIS MEETING.

Psychological | Psychiatric Assessments:

HARD SCIENCE PRINCIPLES FOR CROSS-EXAMINING SOFT SCIENCE EXPERTS

Guest Speaker – Dr. Gordon Cochrane, R. Psych.

Dr. Cochrane will discuss the nature of hard and soft science as each applies to psychological | psychiatric assessments and the reports arising from these assessments. In addition, he will illustrate, with selected cross-examination suggestions, how to determine the psychometric validity of commonly used psychological tests and how to determine if that which is being assessed has acceptable construct validity.

Dr. Cochrane, R. Psych., is a member of the Executive of The Medical Legal Society of B.C. He is qualified by the State and Provincial Boards of Psychology in the US and Canada and has been published in a number of law journals in both countries.

CO-ORDINATOR – MICHAEL THOMAS

Please forward your cheque payable to “The Medical Legal Society of B.C.” before January 12, 2015 to:
Ms. Carol Gielens
Bull, Housser & Tupper LLP
900 – 900 Howe Street
Vancouver, BC
V6Z 2M4

DATE: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2014

TIME: 6 PM NO-HOST BAR / 7 PM Dinner

PLACE: SHAUGHNESSY GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB
4300 Southwest Marine Drive
Vancouver

COST: $65 Members / $80 Non-Members
PAYMENT IN ADVANCE ONLY, WE ARE UNABLE TO ACCEPT PAYMENT AT THE DOOR FOR THIS MEETING.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE LAW REGARDING THE ADMISSIBILITY OF EXPERT REPORTS

Guest Speaker – The Honourable Mr. Justice Abrioux

The Honourable Mr. Justice Patrice Abrioux was appointed to the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Vancouver on September 30, 2011. Prior to his appointment, he was a partner with the firm of Quinlan Abrioux in Vancouver where his practice focused on general litigation including personal injury, negligence claims, insurance, commercial and real estate matters.

In June of this year in a case called Maras v. Seemore Entertainment Ltd., Mr. Justice Abrioux ruled that a number of reports in which the experts were asked to review voluminous material were inadmissible. He disapproved of the fairly common practice where an expert provides a detailed summary of the interview that occurred with the plaintiff and commentary on documents provided to him or her. Mr. Justice Abrioux has agreed to discuss the role of experts and what an expert should or should not include in his/her report.

CO-ORDINATOR – MICHAEL THOMAS

Please forward your cheque payable to “The Medical Legal Society of B.C.” before November 24, 2014 to:
Ms. Carol Gielens
Bull, Housser & Tupper LLP
900 – 900 Howe Street
Vancouver, BC
V6Z 2M4

DATE: Thursday, September 25th, 2014

TIME: 6 PM NO-HOST BAR / 7 PM DINNER

PLACE: SHAUGHNESSY GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB
4300 Southwest Marine Drive
Vancouver

COST: $65 Members $80 Non-Members

THE ROLES OF MEDICINAL CANNABIS IN PATIENT CARE
Guest Speaker – Dr. Gwyllyn S. Goddard Bsc MD CCFP

Dr. Goddard is a family practitioner with a Bachelor of Science in microbiology/immunology and a Doctorate in Medicine from the University of Saskatchewan in 2003. He obtained his certification in Family Medicine from McGill University in 2005. He is licensed to practice medicine in Saskatchewan, Ontario and British Columbia. He has special interests in Chronic Disease Management, Cannabinoid Medicine and has significant experience in working overseas in disaster and third-world medicine scenarios. Currently he practices Family Medicine in Chilliwack with expertise in working with the Health Canada Medicinal Cannabis Access Programs both under the current MMPR regulations and also the previous (MMAR) regulations.

CO-ORDINATOR – DR. MARK FROBB

Please forward your cheque payable to “The Medical Legal Society of B.C.” before Sept 22, 2014 to:
Ms. Carol Gielens
Bull, Housser & Tupper LLP
900 – 900 Howe Street
Vancouver, BC
V6Z 2M4