Thank the bank but hold the standing ovation

 by Greg MacDougall and Steve Saunders As Ottawa’s winter slowly transitions to spring, and a young Senators team tantalizes fans with glimpses of a promising future, hockey fans debate the relative merits of Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews and Patrick Kane as winner of the Hart Memorial trophy, emblematic of the

Get the Government of Canada Covid-19 app now!

 On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) assessed COVID-19 as a pandemic. The Canadian government of Canada has been keeping Canadians informed with daily briefings from Prime Minister Trudeau and Canada's Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam.  Covid-19 remains a serious threat to all Canadians. In response, the government

Canada’s Food Guide doesn’t work for everyone

 By Heather Keller “What do you think of Canada’s Food Guide?” is a question I have been asked a lot since Health Canada launched new guidance on how the nation should eat last year. The Guide recommends a plant-focused diet but not to the exclusion of animal products — an

Fighting the bureaucracy for one’s life

 Chris MacLeod is on a personal and political mission. The Toronto lawyer bears a dubious and extraordinary badge of honour, being a man with a childhood disease, cystic fibrosis (CF), who has survived to the age of 50. MacLeod is caught between a bureaucratic rock and a hard place that

Health experts press provinces to put public health on their fraud lawsuits agendas

 Provided by Campaign for Justice on Tobacco Fraud National and regional health groups, combined with deans and professors of medicine, health and law, published an open letter to provincial premiers today to press the provinces to put public health into their demands for outcomes from their lawsuits against Big Tobacco.  

No such thing as a harmless habit: efforts to educate and protect youth on cannabis use

 Many adults recall their own experiences with cannabis, at a time when smoking marijuana was a symbol of a rebellious spirit, shared by a group of friends who each took a puff before passing it along. Whether or not they have opened up to their children about their experience with

Two crucial next steps so the new Food Guide can really help Canadians eat better

 By: Andrew Pipe and Yves Savoie We now have a Canada’s Food Guide that has potential to help challenge the impact of diet on Canadians’ health. The new updated version of this vital document, the first such major change since 2007, has been much anticipated because we need to fix

Don’t underestimate the importance of a Healthy Eating Strategy

 The long process of updating Canada’s Food Guide and reforms to nutrition labeling will soon become a reality. Collectively called Canada’s Healthy Eating Strategy, the proposals by Health Canada have been open to public consultation – and, unfortunately, industry lobbying. No one is arguing with the rights of all Canadians

Crafting with your kids? Tips for parents

 If you ask an average three-year-old what makes slime a good slime, you might expect the response to include words like gooey, sticky, slimy and stretchy. Extra points might be awarded if an older sister considers the slime “totally gross.” But the best slime is free from boric acid. Although

Citizens Demand Provincial Government Tackle Mental Health

 By Yasmine Ghania The Provincial Government is not doing enough for mental health. At a town hall in Ottawa, over a dozen citizens spoke about the insufficient funding and poor access to mental health services that they have experienced in the province. Photo by Yasmine Ghania The keynote speaker for this

???????Death’s tug of war with mystery and science

 By Al Etmanski An obsession with ‘present mindedness’ wipes out concerns about past or future. ~ Harold Innis I count myself as lucky to have been born when death was still pretty much a mystery, more the prerogative of poets and other artists, philosophers and religious teachers than of scientists and

Purdue Pharma given free reign in Canada as it is sanctioned in the United States

 By Nav Persaud and Andrew S. Boozary Purdue Pharma recently announced that it will stop advertising opioids to doctors in the United States after pleading guilty to misleading marketing more than a decade ago. This is a major, albeit belated, departure from the company’s playbook of marketing opioids aggressively to physicians. A

The confusion surrounding marijuana dispensaries—legal or illegal?

 Is that newly opened ‘medical’ marijuana shop down the street legitimate? The answer is a legal grey area depending on who you ask, and when you ask it by. These dispensaries look like any other shop, and even have a receptionist at the front desk ready to convince you that

Why is Health Canada aiding a private company instead of safeguarding Canadian blood supplies?

 By Danyaal Raza As the snow begins to fall and the mercury begins to drop, Health Canada has found itself in some hot water. The trouble has been years in the making -- since at least 2013. That was when Canadian Plasma Resources (CPR), a profit-seeking company that pays individuals for

It’s Always Sing Song Party Time With Derek McKinley

 As a child Derek McKinley remembers Raffi, lots of Raffi. Whereas other youngsters may have been content bopping to the music, it was the lyrics that he latched onto. He still recalls the silly stories and songs that once sent his child-self spinning in circles while clutching a record sleeve

It’s Time for the Federal Government to Enforce the Canada Health Act

 Extra-billing, user fees for health services on the rise across the country. Extra-billing in Ontario, private MRIs in Saskatchewan and user fees in Quebec: violations of the Canada Health Act are on the rise across the country. Canadian doctors are concerned about the impact of this trend not only on

It’s Time for the Federal Government to Take a Leadership Role on Rising Obesity Rates

 Ban advertising of unhealthy foods to kids, tax sugary drinks, revamp food guide, prohibit use of trans fats, among Senate report recommendations.  Almost two thirds of adults in Canada are overweight or obese, according to Statistics Canada – a dramatic increase that has taken place over the last thirty plus

Keeping Science Safe

 It’s time to close the gaps governing human participation in scientific research in Canada The disturbing announcement recently that a man died and four others were seriously harmed in Rennes, France as a result of participation in a research study is a timely reminder of the importance of protecting those

It’s Time to Think Beyond National Pharmacare

 Make the evidence on drug safety and effectiveness public Recently federal and provincial health ministers agreed to create a working group to explore how to improve Canadians’ access to pharmaceutical drugs. In the wake of this, there is new optimism that pharmacare, publicly funded and universally available to Canadians, might

It’s Time to End Canada’s Opioid Epidemic – An Open Letter to Canada’s New Minister of Health

 Dear Minister Philpott, Congratulations on your appointment as Minister of Health. As an experienced physician, you bring valuable perspective to the post. While there are many contentious matters before you, including a new health accord, physician-assisted dying and marijuana legalization, few could be more pressing than the prescription opioid epidemic,

Time for Improved Transparency and Openness in Pharmaceutical Drug Regulation

 Prescription pharmaceuticals have saved and improved many lives, but they can also be deadly. How can we make sure Canadians get the prescription drugs they need without causing unnecessary harm? The federal government plays a vital role in pharmaceutical drug regulation. We have many reasons to be proud of the

Health Canada Fails to Enforce its own Rules on Pharmaceutical Advertising

 A handsome man struts over to the office water cooler with a smirk on his face. When his colleagues ask about his weekend, he replies enthusiastically, with audio muted. A large blue pill appears with the tagline, “Viagra, Ask Your Doctor.” Vibrant, energetic older people are shown swimming, bowling and

Making Memories Last: The Memory Clinic of Outaouais

 The Memory Clinic of Outaouais, in Gatineau, Quebec, is open and ready to help the community. Specializing in research on neurological disorders, the Memory Clinic strives to ensure its patients receive the best possible care. Dr. Richard Bergeron (M.D., Ph.D., FRCPC) is the owner and principal investigator. He assists patients

Canada Slow to Respond to Prescription Opioid Crisis

 In my first career as a pharmacist, I worked in more than 30 pharmacies across Nova Scotia, filling more than 100,000 prescriptions between 1990 and 1995. Some of these were for strong painkillers called opioids--drugs like morphine and oxycodone, which are chemically and biologically very similar to heroin. Back then,

Cash for Blood Products a Flawed Policy

 In the early 1980s, over 2000 Canadians who received blood transfusions were infected with HIV and as many as 30,000 contracted Hepatitis C. This tragic scandal, and the Krever inquiry that followed, resulted in the overhaul of our blood donation system to ensure the safety of any blood products. This