Many studies have shown that marijuana can negatively affect the cognitive development of adolescents. For some individuals, marijuana use may also initiate opioid use, dose escalation, and opioid use disorder. States that legalize marijuana should help adolescents through regulation of advertising and availability of marijuana-infused edibles. Such policies may assist in protecting neurodevelopment of the adolescent and young adult brain. The federal government should also remove its prohibition of marijuana sales and use, leaving their regulation to state law-makers.

Significant advances have been made in extracorporeal life support, which has resulted in the increased use of post-cardiotomy extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Retrospective studies have contributed to the ongoing evolution of selection criteria for post-cardiotomy extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Current indications include failure to wean from cardiopulmonary bypass, haemodynamic collapse, pulmonary hypertension, post-repair of hypoplastic left heart syndrome, or need for bridge to transplantation. Short- and mid-term results are improving. Ethical concerns still attend the process, however. Moral risks related to post-cardiotomy extracorporeal membrane oxygenation may be encountered before, during, and after the open heart procedure. At each stage of the decision-making process, moral risks are encountered by many factors that may result in decisions that may be contrary to the best interests of the patient, parents, or use of shared societal resources. These moral risks centre around the selection process, informed consent, decision making in the operating room, and post-operative maintenance of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Consideration of such risks is affected by questions of haemodynamic stability, haematologic compromise, neurologic status, and family concerns. We conclude that thorough understanding of the relevant scientific literature, heightened awareness of moral risks, and incorporation of ethical tenets in clinical deliberation will guide the clinician to do the right thing.

Summary Absence of the arterial duct has been reported in association with tetralogy of Fallot, with pulmonary stenosis or atresia, other complex cyanotic congenital heart diseases, and anomalies of the aortic arch but not, as far as we are aware, with tricuspid atresia. We report the clinical, surgical, and autopsy findings of a patient with tricuspid atresia whose initial clinical course was influenced by the absence of thearterial duct.

Xenotransplantation is defined as “any procedure that involves the transplantation, implantation, or infusion into a human recipient of either (a) live cells, tissues, or organs from a nonhuman animal source, or (b) human body fluids, cells, tissues or organs that have had ex vivo contact with live nonhuman animal cells, tissues, or organs.” Xenotransplantation has been viewed by desperate patients and their surgeons as a solution to the problem of the paucity of human organs available for transplantation. Foes of xenotransplantation argue that the use of animal organs degrades the human race and should be avoided.

In this paper, we briefly review the cultural context of xenotransplantation and explore the infectious disease risk of xenotransplantation. The United States Code of Federal Regulations requires life-long surveillance of a xenotransplantation recipient due to the largely unknown risk of novel infectious disease transmitted across species, known as xenogeneic infectious disease. We argue that despite being in the interest of protecting the public health, the imposition of lifelong surveillance requirements on xenotransplant recipients effectively abrogates the right to withdraw from a clinical trial after the transplantation has taken place. Moreover, we argue that a waiver of the right to withdraw should be made explicit in the interest of full disclosure, out of respect for the research subject’s right of self-determination.