23.06.2022: A growing number of doctors in Norway no longer support the Norwegian Medical Association's view on assisted dying. A number of medical associations internationally have taken a neutral stance. The Norwegian Medical Association should consider doing the same. In line with changes in public opinion and the growing number of countries legalising assisted dying, a number of medical associations have changed their position on assisted dying, including in Germany and Canada (1, 2). The British Medical Association recently abandoned its expressed opposition to assisted dying in favour of a neutral...

23.05.2022: All information on injuries should be collected in a national injury registry devised for research. This will pave the way for a new strategy for injury prevention. We have insufficient knowledge about the prevalence of injuries after violence and accidents. How many injuries can be prevented, how do the injured people cope, and what is the total cost for Norway? In 2009, the government submitted a national strategy for prevention of accidents that cause personal injury (1). The current knowledge base is fragmented and consists of many different data registries that vary greatly in terms of...

02.05.2022: Minimally invasive glaucoma surgery is a long-awaited development, but more research is needed on the effectiveness and safety of these new surgical methods. The prevalence of glaucoma in Norway is 1.4 % in total, and 8 % among those aged 70 and over (1). This is comparable to other diseases, such as heart failure (2). The number of glaucoma patients is expected to increase as the elderly population grows. Glaucoma causes irreversible damage to the optic nerve, and treatment involves lowering of the eye pressure. Initially, this is typically managed with laser treatment or pressure-lowering...

04.04.2022: Patients and service users are not really involved in the process for assessing new health technologies. Other countries have much better systems in place, and these should be adopted in Norway. The system for assessing which health technologies should be introduced and financed by the Norwegian health service is called Nye metoder (new technologies). Despite both the white paper on priority setting (1) and the white paper on medicinal products (2) stipulating that patient and service user involvement needs to take place in prioritisation processes at all levels, this seldom happens. The...

28.02.2022: We propose new recommendations for the emergency treatment of low-voltage electric injuries (<1 000 volts). A large proportion of these patients can be treated as outpatients. Electricity can cause injuries of varying severity, from no health consequences to death (1). In the last 20 years, the number of reported electrical injuries in Norway has increased from 50 in 2000 to 500 in 2020 (2). The rise is attributed to increased reporting of minor accidents (2). The reported extent of injuries and type of exposure also vary more than previously. Today, some patients exposed to low-voltage...