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Laura MacGregor shares her family's struggle after her son's birth injury left him with lifelong disabilities, emphasizing the emotional and financial toll of a 13-year medicolegal battle in Ontario. Strikingly, no apology was ever offered by those involved, highlighting the gap between medical error disclosure and meaningful remorse. Historically, physicians were discouraged from apologizing for fear of legal consequences, though most Canadian provinces now have apology legislation preventing apologies from being used to establish fault or liability. Evidence shows apologies ease suffering, rebuild trust, and are often the most valued aspect of disclosure, yet physicians may still hesitate. Timing matters: delayed or absent apologies can worsen patient anger and mistrust. Apologies also support providers, often considered \"second victims,\" by helping them process guilt and maintain confidence in practice. To address this, health institutions and regulatory bodies should promote training on how and when to apologize, fostering healing, accountability, and improved patient safety.

The recent report of an independent audit of CMAJ's culture and processes related to antiracism, equity, diversity, and inclusion (AEDI) has raised concerns among readers. The report highlights the need for CMAJ to reconcile and build partnerships with key equity-deserving groups, such as Black, Muslim, and Indigenous communities. However, some readers have expressed concerns about the omission of other historically marginalized groups within healthcare and the medical profession. The report's failure to explicitly mention these groups has been seen as an act of exclusion and discrimination. CMAJ acknowledges these concerns and recognizes the importance of considering equity and anti-oppression work in a comprehensive and intersectional way. The journal invites readers to explore their collections on various health topics, as well as their recent guidance for authors on reporting race and ethnicity in research. CMAJ is committed to addressing bias, improving inclusivity, and upholding the values of AEDI. They are taking steps to collect demographic information, undergo training on addressing personal bias, and conduct a systematic review of their published contents. CMAJ is dedicated to making the practice of medicine and healthcare delivery in Canada more equitable.

Related articles in this issue highlight substantial barriers that exist for transgender and gender-diverse people to access gender affirming surgery in Canada. Two qualitative research studies offer deep insight into the way that health care interactions often leave transgender and gender-diverse patients feeling stigmatized, traumatized, or let down by health care systems. They highlight gaps in the delivery of care to this population group in Canada that practitioners can address. If nothing else, it's clear that we as health care practitioners can work to deepen our capacity to deliver compassionate care to patients who already face a host of structural barriers to accessing care.

In updated guidance, the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care has again recommended that physicians in Canada should not routinely screen people without a personal history of mental disorder for depression in pregnancy and the postpartum period using dedicated instruments. The key message is \"Do ask, but don't screen.\" The guideline authors emphasize that asking about mental well-being during this period is important and should remain part of standard antenatal and postnatal care, and that people who show symptoms and signs of depression should receive appropriate diagnostic and follow-up care.

Most new TB disease in Canada occurs among people born in high-risk countries,5 with 85% acquiring TB infection before immigration. In many cases, disease develops decades after people are well-established members of Canadian society. Targeted newcomer screening for TB infection is good and effective, but not all immigrants are screened. Merely expanding this screening is cost-prohibitive for several reasons, including the sheer prevalence of TB infection globally, the infection's long latency, and the relatively low rate of conversion to TB disease. About 22% of foreign-born residents of Canada have TB infection, and the rate at which infection becomes active disease is only 5% to 10% over a person's lifetime. This underscores the wisdom of acting to eliminate TB as a public health threat in Canada by ensuring control in countries from which newcomers emigrate. Although a much lower proportion of newcomers to Canada are living with HIV at entry (0.37% in 2023) than TB,7 the chronic disease requires lifelong treatment to reduce risk of transmission, which TB infection does not. Like TB disease, however, HIV carries a high ongoing burden of stigma, socioeconomic consequences, and limitations on societal participation.