From the Director’s Desk

Happy New Year.

We have updated our website to help families find their way after a loss. Some families experience a sudden loss; others experience a loss after a long illness. Still other families have questions related to specific experiences — like a surgery; and many come to us with strong feelings that “someone’s to blame.” Others wonder about specific conditions like Alzheimer’s disease. We are skilled at handling each situation. But starting the process can be overwhelming. We have simplified our website to help the family find a place that resonates with their experience. Check out our home page to see the update. A view of the interactive feature is provided below.

In keeping with our interest in public health, I am including a link on the Zika virus. You may have heard about this in the news. The virus is spread mainly through mosquito bites. It causes mild symptoms in infected adults. The main concern is birth defects occurring in children of infected women. The specific birth defect is “microcephaly” — or a small head, leading to developmental disability. The CDC has provided a list of countries with “travel alerts.” The territory is mainly in South and Central America. No cases of mosquito transmission have been reported in the continental United States.

Take a look at this month’s case about a ruptured coronary artery; and our follow-up to last month’s Sleuth-It. I hope you find the cases interesting and engaging.