Canadian Health Care Archives

Expert warns of incarcerating people with intellectual disabilities in psychiatric wards

March 23, 2018

The author of a study that sounded an alarm over confining Nova Scotians with intellectual disabilities in a psychiatric ward has testified the “incarcerated” residents were denied their human rights and good care practices.

Dorothy Griffiths gave her evidence via video conference last week at a human rights inquiry considering whether the human rights of Joey Delaney, Beth MacLean and the late Sheila Livingstone were violated by confining them in psychiatric wards or hospital-like settings rather than a home in the community with appropriate care.

Quebec doctors make more money than ever, but access to health care hasn’t improved: study

March 10, 2018

If you thought having well-paid doctors would translate into having better access to health care, a new study suggests you were mistaken.

While Quebec’s doctors saw the total amount devoted to their salaries double over a 10-year period, the number of days they worked went down, as did the number of patients they saw.

Hundreds of doctors in Canada are protesting. They say they make too much

March 8, 2018

(CNN) What would you do if you and your coworkers were getting raises totaling $700 million? If you’re like a group of doctors in Canada, you’d fight it.

Some general practitioners and medical specialists in Quebec have signed a petition saying they don’t want the hundreds of millions in raises they got after negotiations with the provincial government last month.

Instead, they say the money should be redistributed — to fund more nurses and other health care professions, and to make care more affordable for their patients.

Ottawa doctor facing new charges after allegedly filming exam

February 23, 2018

An Ottawa-based doctor is facing 10 new charges of sexual assault after police arrested him last month for allegedly filming a female patient during an exam.

Vincent Nadon, 56, lives in Chelsea, Que., but practiced family medicine at the University of Ottawa Health Services Clinic located at 316 Rideau St. in Ottawa.

Big Pharma is profiting from both opioids and overdose treatments

February 15, 2018

Some of the pharmaceutical companies selling prescription opioids that have caused thousands of deaths are looking to profit from the antidote for overdoses, according to a VICE News analysis of drug approval records from Health Canada.

One emergency room doctor in Toronto who regularly reverses opioid overdoses with naloxone said the revelations show “companies [are] cynically profiting from both ends of the crisis” that claimed an estimated 4,000 lives in Canada last year.

Durham families share long-term care horror stories with Ontario NDP leader

February 5, 2018

OSHAWA — NDP Leader Andrea Horwath has added local stories of struggle with long-term care to her growing list of concerns about Ontario’s long-term care system.

Along with Oshawa MPP Jennifer French, Horwath recently met with three Durham families who discussed their difficulties in accessing quality long-term care for loved ones.

Ontario health minister probing medical regulator’s handling of 1990s complaints against doctors

January 25, 2018

In an unprecedented move, Health Minister Eric Hoskins is probing how Ontario’s medical regulator handled complaints against physicians in the mid-1990s, in the wake of a Star investigation about women accusing a prominent Brampton physician of groping them during a period stretching back 40 years.

Report finds increase in opioid prescriptions from doctors

November 22, 2017

The overall number of prescriptions for opioids has increased over the last five years, but doctors have been giving patients fewer doses at one time, a report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information has found.

The report, released Wednesday, shows the number of opioid prescriptions rose by almost seven per cent between 2012 and 2016, while daily doses on average dropped by five per cent — to 226 million from 238 million.

Last year, 21.5 million prescriptions for the potent painkillers were dispensed, up from 20.2 million prescriptions in 2012, CIHI reported. Most were for chronic non-cancer pain relief.

Drugs pushing Canada’s total health spend to $242 billion in 2017: CIHI

November 8, 2017

As Canada’s total health spend is expected to reach $242 billion by the end of 2017, the amount spent on drugs is expected to grow at the fastest pace, according to new figures by the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

The total projected growth in health spending for 2017 is about four per cent, a slight increase on 2016. Since 2010, the average annual increase has been 3.2 per cent. The total estimated growth of drug spending for the year is 5.2 per cent, followed by growth in physician spending (4.4 per cent) and in hospital spending (2.9 per cent).

Liberals To Warn About Health Hazards Of Legalized Pot With $36.4M Campaign

October 31, 2017

OTTAWA — The federal Liberal government on Tuesday rolled out the latest phase of its legalized-pot plans: a five-year, $36.4-million campaign to help teach Canadians — especially the younger ones — about the health and safety risks associated with using marijuana.

The money is coming out of a $526-million envelope for marijuana legalization announced in last week’s fall economic update, Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor and Toronto MP Bill Blair, the government’s point man on legalizing pot, told a news conference outside the House of Commons.