Once again, prion diseases are in the news. In the UK, as we go to press, the High Court is about to rule on whether two patients can be given an experimental treatment for Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD). According to BBC News Online (6 December), both of the patients — a 15-year-old girl and an 18-year-old man — are dying of variant CJD. Their parents are fighting for the right to have them treated by intracerebral injections of pentosal polysulphate, which studies suggest might be able to interact with prions and prevent further damage. Although the parents have found doctors who are willing to give the treatment, the administration of such an 'unknown quantity' to patients who cannot give informed consent is a difficult issue. If the treatment goes ahead, the results will be watched with keen interest by both clinicians and patients' families.

Meanwhile, in the United States, the Dining and Wine section of the New York Times asks the question, 'Is American venison safe?' (4 December). As chronic wasting disease (CWD), a prion disorder that affects deer and elk, spreads — now affecting 11 states and 2 Canadian provinces — there is concern over whether it could cross the species barrier to humans, in the same way as bovine spongiform encephalopathy is thought to have caused variant CJD in Europe. Although there is no evidence that eating infected venison can cause disease in humans, the publication Consumer Reports on Health (December) has stated that “eating deer and elk may be risky”. Many restaurants and suppliers have switched to venison from New Zealand, where CWD has not been found, and it is likely that many consumers will play it safe and avoid venison altogether.