Carl Djerassi, the chemist widely considered the father of the pill, has died in his San Francisco home - 64 years after he and a research team in Mexico developed a molecule that became the key component for the birth-control method.
Marijuana is being openly sold in specialty stores in Vancouver under the guise of a government-approved system meant to limit sales for medical use only, a documentary by the CBC's fifth estate shows.
Officials in Newfoundland and Labrador are on alert after two families had a frightening brush with a rabid wolf, but how common is the virus across Canada? Here are some things you should know.
U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday called on Congress to approve spending in medical research that tailors treatment to an individual's genes, moving away from one-size-fits-all care.
A British Columbia man has been confirmed as Canada's second case of H7N9 bird flu.
Dr. Rob Marsh practises in a more tranquil setting compared to his days with the U.S. military's elite Delta Force unit - a job that took him to Somalia and other health-care hot spots. Now he has a clinic at a truck stop in Virginia that serves truckers and farmers, who don't always have easy access to care.
With California gripped by a measles outbreak, Dr. Charles Goodman posted a clear notice in his waiting room and on Facebook: His practice will no longer see children whose parents won't get them vaccinated.
The Ontario Nurses' Association says almost 3,000 community health workers are on strike today.
Canadian seniors wait longer to see a doctor or nurse but are generally pleased with the quality of care when they do, compared with their counterparts in 10 industrialized countries, according to a new report.
This year's flu vaccine offers little or no protection in Canada against becoming sick enough to require medical care, a study published Thursday suggests.
A McMaster stem cell expert warns that hockey great Gordie Howe may not be experiencing a miracle cure. Gordie Howe's son says the hockey legend's stroke symptoms have improved since his treatment with stem cells at a Mexican clinic in early December and he wants him to repeat the procedure.
Cornelius Quiring designs the glove on his computer, and then goes to non-profit Toronto Tool Library to print the exoskeleton of his hand.
It's been typically thought of as a disease that affects older populations, but researchers at the Providence Health Care in Vancouver have found that the rate of Type 2 diabetes has surpassed Type 1 diabetes under the age of 30.
The number of new confirmed Ebola cases totalled 99 in the week to Jan. 25, the first time the weekly total has fallen below 100 since June 2014, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.
The brains of criminal psychopaths learn to respond differently to punishment cues than others in jail and may need more reward-focused treatments, new research from Britain and Montreal suggests.
It was a simple text message, but it hit P.E.I. singer-songwriter Catherine MacLellan hard.
A Toronto woman whose husband died of liver failure in 2010 plans to challenge an Ontario policy that requires alcoholics to be sober six months before they are considered as candidates for a liver transplant.
A report into the health effects of the Lac-Mégantic, Que., train derailment and explosion and oil spill indicates people living there are four times more likely to drink to excess following the disaster.
Organ transplants saved recipients more than two million years of life, according to a 25-year study.
Winnipeg's first-ever boil-water advisory doesn't mean it should turn into a "no-water event," a city official said a day after the advisory took effect due to an E. coli finding, adding that hand washing is OK.
Complacency looms as a big risk now in the fight against Ebola, those leading the fight against the virus say.
Following the death of a three-year-old Toronto boy, immunologists and microbiology experts explain how the bacterial infection blamed in the tragedy spreads, who’s most at risk, and how chickenpox may be a danger factor.
A hidden camera inside a long-term care room at the Kipnes Centre for Veterans has captured more disturbing footage.
A new peer support program was launched today by the CNIB in the Maritimes to provide support for visually impaired teenage girls.
Rich countries must act swiftly to repair battered health systems and get cash to millions of families in the three countries hit hardest by the world's worst Ebola outbreak, the international development agency Oxfam
Health officials are advising parents that a child who attended an east-end daycare centre has died of a bacteria-related infection.
The federal government has missed a deadline to provide funding to 95 thalidomide victims. The Thalidomide Victims Association of Canada had given the government until today to announce a funding package.
A human case of H7N9 bird flu has been confirmed in B.C., federal health officials confirm.
With virtually no hard proof that medical marijuana benefits sick children, and evidence that it may harm developing brains, the drug should only be used for severely ill kids who have no other treatment option, the U.S.'s most influential pediatricians group says in a new policy.
Prevention of even a slight weight gain is key to avert heart disease, cancer and other chronic health problems from setting in at middle age, according to new Canadian guidelines.
Clinicians are being asked to rethink post-operative care for children with sleep apnea, and avoid prescribing morphine, following Canadian clinical trials that revealed the drug can cause life-threatening breathing problems.
An Ontario couple are making a public plea for a suitable liver transplant donor to come forward so that both of their ailing twin daughters can have a chance at surviving.
The parents of an infant boy from Ottawa say they need to travel to California for permanent treatment for their son's condition, commonly known as the "bubble boy" disorder.
The bestselling author and former CBC Radio Noon host explains the highs and lows of "the long goodbye" and coming to terms with a dementia diagnosis.
A major measles outbreak traced to Disneyland has brought criticism down on the small but vocal movement among parents to opt out of vaccinations for their children.
Childhood obesity, too much screen time, sedentary lifestyles, and cyberbullying are the new threats to the health of young people. One solution is to tear the kids away from their devices and tell them to go outside and play … with other kids.
Some Canadian pharmacists are saying they are under intense pressure to meet business quotas, which causes an assembly-line mentality that increases the likelihood of making mistakes, a Marketplace investigation has revealed.
The first batch of GlaxoSmithKline's experimental Ebola vaccine has been shipped to West Africa and is expected to arrive in Liberia later on Friday, the British drugmaker said.
People who smoke high-voltage e-cigarettes have greater exposure to formaldehyde, a suspected carcinogen, than those who keep the voltage low, according to a new study.
Despite being legally blind, a Guelph, Ont., woman got to see her son Aksel soon after his birth because of a special device - an experience that allowed her and her husband to bond and fall 'in love' with him.
Many people caring for a family member with a long-term health condition, disability or age-related problem say they're very stressed, according to a new report from the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
Seventy people have been infected in a measles outbreak that led California public health officials to urge those who haven't been vaccinated against the disease, including children too young to be immunized, should avoid Disney parks where the spread originated.
Tomorrow Makayla Sault's family will lay her to rest. Her death is something many feel could have been prevented. But while it is too late for Makayla, it's not too late for 'J.J.', another young First Nations girl with leukemia who has left chemotherapy.
How often do serious pharmacy errors happen? Actually, nobody knows. But here are some of the most common reasons for medicine mistakes, and what you can do to avoid them.
The federal government hasn't complied with a court ruling that reinstated health care for refugees, advocates are set to argue in court next week, returning to a fight they thought they'd won last July.
United Nations agencies need a final $1 billion US to fight West Africa's deadly Ebola epidemic as experts move to a new phase involving a massive detective operation to trace remaining cases, the UN Ebola chief says.
Tangy the bingo-playing robot will make its debut as part of pilot study at a long-term care facility in Toronto in the coming weeks.
The death of Makayla Sault, the 11-year-old First Nation girl who was given the right to refuse treatment for leukemia, has again raised the question about when governments should be able to overrule family wishes in life-threatening medical cases.
Children permitted to play outdoors on their own or with friends are getting more physical activity than kids who are constantly supervised, a new Canadian study suggests.
Quebec public health officials say someone who recently returned from a trip to West Africa with Ebola-like symptoms has tested negative for the deadly virus.
Nearly 38,000 pharmacists dispense more than half a billion prescriptions in Canada every year, but there is no national tracking system for mistakes and little mandatory reporting.
The federal government is stripping Dying With Dignity Canada of its charitable tax status following a political-activity audit by the Canada Revenue Agency. The deregistration is the first after the Conservative government launched the special audits in 2012, with 60 charities targeted. At least one other deregistration is pending.
Children in poor countries remain unprotected against a disease that kills one million kids each year because of skyrocketing vaccine prices, Doctors Without Borders warns.
A new study suggests that seniors who develop a bout of pneumonia severe enough to require hospitalization are at an increased risk of having a heart attack, stroke, or dying of heart failure.
The newly released results of the Quebec Order of Nurses' licensing exam are dismal for candidates in the profession who wrote it in English.
