Healthcare and Medicine

Kerry Toneguzzi poses for a portrait at her home in Kanata, Ont., on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. When she was diagnosed with diabetes in the fall of 2020, her doctor suggested she try Ozempic – a drug approved in Canada to treat diabetes, with a frequent side effect of weight loss. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

Despite social media buzz, Ozempic is not a quick-fix weight loss solution: doctors

Diabetes treatment gaining popularity but doctors say it’s not a simple path to a bikini body

 

Green Party of Canada Leader Elizabeth May looks on as Valorie Masuda, a palliative care doctor speaks about access to medical psilocybin for Canadians with treatment-resistant illnesses on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Advocates, MPs call on feds to expand access to psychedelic treatment

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May says she wants Canada to consider expanding…

 

Co-first author Jimena Pérez-Vargas works in the UBC Facility for Infectious Disease and Epidemic Research, studying natural compounds that can be used to fight COVID-19. (Credit: Paul Joseph)

Bacteria harvested from B.C.’s coastline fight COVID-19 in a new and exciting way

UBC researchers have identified 3 compounds with long-term promise

 

Jeff Ross, CEO of Miromatrix, leads a team working towards developing organs that may someday be used in humans at the headquarters on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. “We essentially regrow the organ,” says Ross, CEO of Miromatrix. “Our bodies won’t see it as a pig organ anymore.” (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

VIDEO: Making pig livers humanlike in quest to ease organ shortage

Scientists looking to biomedically engineer human organs

Jeff Ross, CEO of Miromatrix, leads a team working towards developing organs that may someday be used in humans at the headquarters on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. “We essentially regrow the organ,” says Ross, CEO of Miromatrix. “Our bodies won’t see it as a pig organ anymore.” (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)
Children’s Tylenol sits on a shelf at a pharmacy on November 9, 2022 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Should Canada produce more medicine amid ongoing shortages? Trudeau isn’t sure

Drug shortage has led to some calls for Canada to invest more in its pharmaceutical production

Children’s Tylenol sits on a shelf at a pharmacy on November 9, 2022 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Internationally-trained doctors are speaking out about B.C.’s particularly restrictive licensing qualifications. Some say they are leaving the province to practise medicine elsewhere as a result. From top left clockwise: Dr. Rajkumar Luke, Dr. Azadeh Shafiei, Dr. Honieh Barzegari and Dr. Reza Asgari. (Submitted photos)

Amid a chronic shortage, B.C. at risk of losing hundreds of internationally-trained doctors

Restrictions in B.C. pushing doctors to other provinces

Internationally-trained doctors are speaking out about B.C.’s particularly restrictive licensing qualifications. Some say they are leaving the province to practise medicine elsewhere as a result. From top left clockwise: Dr. Rajkumar Luke, Dr. Azadeh Shafiei, Dr. Honieh Barzegari and Dr. Reza Asgari. (Submitted photos)
St. Paul’s hospital in Vancouver is shown on April 29, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

B.C. doctors ratify new agreement that includes pay increase, more rural funding

3-year agreement includes better after-hours pay, more rural funding, shift toward primary care

St. Paul’s hospital in Vancouver is shown on April 29, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

B.C. medical services agency files court injunction against Telus LifePlus program

Agency alleges program creates two-tier health-care system

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
Taika Loo, 16 months, receives a COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. Preventable diseases like measles could spread quickly in Canada like elsewhere in the world due to a drop in routine vaccinations during the pandemic, say pediatricians who are urging parents to ensure their kids are fully immunized.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Doctors urge parents to get routine vaccines for kids following pandemic disruptions

Rates for non-COVID vaccinations have dropped dramatically among kids

Taika Loo, 16 months, receives a COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. Preventable diseases like measles could spread quickly in Canada like elsewhere in the world due to a drop in routine vaccinations during the pandemic, say pediatricians who are urging parents to ensure their kids are fully immunized.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Infants’ Tylenol brand fever and pain reliever is seen in a home in Toronto, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says the previously announced 1 million units of imported kids’ pain relievers are hitting some pharmacy shelves now, while an additional 500,000 units have been ordered and are expected over the next few weeks. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Giordano Ciampini

1M units of imported kids’ pain meds now hitting pharmacy shelves as flu rates spike

RSV and influenza have skyrocketed amid shortage of pediatric acetaminophen and ibuprofen

Infants’ Tylenol brand fever and pain reliever is seen in a home in Toronto, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says the previously announced 1 million units of imported kids’ pain relievers are hitting some pharmacy shelves now, while an additional 500,000 units have been ordered and are expected over the next few weeks. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Giordano Ciampini
A B.C.-led clinical trial is showing promise for a drug to cure Type 1 diabetes. (Credit: Pixabay/stevepb)

B.C. clinical trial showing promising signs for Type 1 diabetes cure

Two of four completed participants no longer require insulin, study lead says

A B.C.-led clinical trial is showing promise for a drug to cure Type 1 diabetes. (Credit: Pixabay/stevepb)
Many pharmacy shelves are empty of children’s pain medication. (Canadian Press photo)

‘My child is suffering’: BC parents furious at shortage of pain relievers

Many pharmacy shelves are sitting empty

Many pharmacy shelves are empty of children’s pain medication. (Canadian Press photo)
Infants’ Tylenol brand fever and pain reliever is seen in a home in Toronto, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. Health Canada says it’s importing a foreign supply of children’s pain and fever medications that will be available on retail shelves in the coming weeks. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Giordano Ciampini

Health Canada importing more kids’ pain and fever meds to restock store shelves

Months-long shortage fueled by increase in respiratory illnesses

Infants’ Tylenol brand fever and pain reliever is seen in a home in Toronto, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. Health Canada says it’s importing a foreign supply of children’s pain and fever medications that will be available on retail shelves in the coming weeks. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Giordano Ciampini
Dr. OmiSoore Dryden, co-lead of the national Black Health Education Collaborative and associate professor, James R. Johnston Endowed Chair, Black Canadian Studies, Faculty of Medicine, at Dalhousie University, is seen in an undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Dalhousie University, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Canada’s top medical journal acknowledges its role in perpetuating anti-Black racism

Publication working on ways to better represent work of Black experts. needs of Black patients

Dr. OmiSoore Dryden, co-lead of the national Black Health Education Collaborative and associate professor, James R. Johnston Endowed Chair, Black Canadian Studies, Faculty of Medicine, at Dalhousie University, is seen in an undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Dalhousie University, *MANDATORY CREDIT*
In this Feb. 9, 2018, file photo, a radiology technician looks at a chest X-ray of a child suffering from flu symptoms. Radiologists in B.C.. say hundreds of thousands of patients are waiting for medical imaging. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

‘Hundreds of thousands’ waiting for medical imaging in B.C., radiologists say

Delays could cause ‘tsunami of cancer cases,’ radiological society warns in letter to Dix

In this Feb. 9, 2018, file photo, a radiology technician looks at a chest X-ray of a child suffering from flu symptoms. Radiologists in B.C.. say hundreds of thousands of patients are waiting for medical imaging. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
FILE - A worker walks alongside the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant’s array of digester eggs, Aug. 12, 2022, in the Greenpoint neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough of New York. In the U.S., an unvaccinated young adult suffered paralysis in his legs after being infected with polio, New York officials revealed last month. The virus has also shown up in New York sewers, suggesting it is spreading. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

Polio in US, UK and Israel reveals rare risk of oral vaccine

It can cause polio in about 2 to 4 children per 2 million doses

FILE - A worker walks alongside the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant’s array of digester eggs, Aug. 12, 2022, in the Greenpoint neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough of New York. In the U.S., an unvaccinated young adult suffered paralysis in his legs after being infected with polio, New York officials revealed last month. The virus has also shown up in New York sewers, suggesting it is spreading. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
Cariboo Memorial Hospital in Williams Lake is the focus of a call for action by both TNG and Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Lorne Doerkson. (Monica Lamb-Yorski photo - Williams Lake Tribune)

‘Lives are at stake’: TNG calls for independent investigation into Cariboo Memorial Hospital

‘We need more information on what is being done to fix the problems,” said Chief Joe Alphonse

Cariboo Memorial Hospital in Williams Lake is the focus of a call for action by both TNG and Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Lorne Doerkson. (Monica Lamb-Yorski photo - Williams Lake Tribune)
Parents in Kelowna lack confidence in the vaccination (Metro Creative Graphics Photo)

Majority of B.C. parents vaccinated, but most kids are not

Parents in B.C. say they are wary of mRNA vaccination technology when it comes to their kids

Parents in Kelowna lack confidence in the vaccination (Metro Creative Graphics Photo)
A pharmacy worker counts pills for a prescription, March 11, 2021. B.C. announced expanded medication coverage on May 3, 2022, including for treating Crohn’s disease and migraines. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

B.C. expands PharmaCare coverage for Crohn’s, MS, heart failure, birth control

More medications partially or fully covered as of mid-April

A pharmacy worker counts pills for a prescription, March 11, 2021. B.C. announced expanded medication coverage on May 3, 2022, including for treating Crohn’s disease and migraines. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
A coated (left) versus uncoated catheter. The UBC-developed coating shows promise for preventing infection from implanted medical devices. (Credit: Kizhakkedathu Lab)

UBC-developed silver coating could be answer to bacteria-free catheters, feeding tubes

Implanted medical devices carry a high risk of infection

A coated (left) versus uncoated catheter. The UBC-developed coating shows promise for preventing infection from implanted medical devices. (Credit: Kizhakkedathu Lab)