Canadians divided on privatizing health care, survey finds

Ont-Health-Care 20230118

A new Angus Reid poll shows 39 per cent of respondents still staunchly oppose paying for medical care while the rest either support privatization or are cautious but curious about the idea.



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Frontrunners in RSV vaccine race will face scrutiny from U.S. officials this week

RSV Vaccines

The frontrunners in a crowded race to develop the first vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) — pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and GSK — will face scrutiny from a panel of U.S. experts this week.



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How U.S. officials solved the mystery of eyedrops infecting dozens with drug-resistant bacteria

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The patients' eyes were painfully inflamed. They could sense light but could see almost nothing else. A doctor called one case the worst eye infection he'd ever seen. Here's how U.S. officials cracked the case of eyedrops infecting dozens of Americans with drug-resistant bacteria.



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This Sask. man had a stroke in Arizona. His family awaits massive bill after insurance claim denied

Louis Lamothe

After a man from Halbrite, Sask,, had a stroke while vacationing in Arizona, his family learned they were on the hook for a $56,000 flight home — and other medicals bills yet to come in — as their health insurance was cancelled.



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How Thunder Bay, Ont.'s increasingly toxic street drugs are driving overdose and death rates

Keesha Bauer

Workers on the front lines of the opioid crisis in Thunder Bay, Ont., are responding to more overdoses than ever before, linked to increasingly toxic and unpredictable street drugs. Here's what health-care workers at the only safe consumption site in northwestern Ontario want people to know.



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Alberta, Ottawa sign health-care funding deal worth $24B over 10 years

Premiers Health 20230207

The $24-billion total includes $2.9 billion for a new bilateral agreement focused on shared health priorities and $233 million in an immediate, one-time top up to the Canada Health Transfer to address urgent needs.



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Oregon decriminalized drugs 2 years ago. What can B.C. learn from its rocky start?

Stephen Deloriea

Oregon become the first jurisdiction in North America to decriminalize drugs in 2021. It hasn't been smooth sailing, but there are some lessons in the challenges for British Columbia.



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Canadian teens still struggling with mental health even as pandemic wanes

Bully discrimination stress teen stock photo

Three years into the pandemic, many Canadian teens are still struggling with their mental health, and pediatric centres are reporting increases in hospitalizations and emergency room visits for conditions such as eating disorders, anxiety and suicide attempts.



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Spain says patient tests negative for deadly Marburg disease

SPAIN-HEALTH/MARBURG

A man in Spain who was initially suspected of having the deadly Marburg disease tested negative on Saturday and does not have the virus, the Health Ministry said.



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'They don't care about me, mom': Teen's scoliosis surgery delayed five times

Nathan Gilson

It took over a year, and five delayed surgeries, before 16-year-old Nathan Gilson finally got the scoliosis surgery he needed. But not before it took a toll on him and his family.



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World 'not yet prepared enough' as H5N1 avian flu strain keeps spreading, WHO official warns

avian flu

The world's leading experts on influenza met this week to discuss the threat posed to humans by a strain of H5N1 avian flu that has caused record numbers of bird deaths around the world in recent months.



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Why researchers say close friendships are key to good health

Kathryn Boyd and friends

Reaching out to a friend you haven’t seen that much over the past three years may actually be beneficial to your health, according to Canadian researchers.



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Nurse practitioners in B.C. can now assess crisis patients for involuntary admissions

Nurse Practitioner

Jennifer Whiteside, B.C.'s mental health and addictions minister, says giving nurse practitioners authority to approve involuntary admission for a patient will reduce pressures on emergency departments and help people get faster treatment.



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Ontario Liberal MPP introduces bill to address 'price gouging' by temporary nursing agencies

Scarborough General Hospital

A new private member's bill tabled at Queen's Park Thursday would impose strict rules on staffing agencies that recruit and employ nurses for temporary work.



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Federal, Ontario and Atlantic Canadian governments reach agreement on health-care funding

Trudeau Premiers 20230207

Ontario and all Atlantic provinces have reached agreements-in-principle on the health-care funding offer made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government at the first ministers' meeting in Ottawa earlier this month.



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Use of private agency nurses at Vitalité spiked in 2022, documents reveal

nurse, patient

Vitalité Health Network spent nearly $6 million last year to hire nurses from private agencies, according to documents obtained under the Right to Information Act.



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15 per cent death rate, severe lesions reported in patients with mpox alongside advanced HIV: study

Monkeypox 20220719

New research on mpox in individuals with advanced HIV infection details an aggressive and serious form of the illness — at times involving skin cell death within lesions, nodules in the lungs, sepsis, and a 15 per cent mortality rate.



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For $30/month, Ontario doctors offer rapid access to nurse practitioners

Dr Dan Flanders

Some doctors in Ontario are offering their patients the option of extra health care, at a price: seven-day-a-week rapid access to appointments with a nurse practitioner, for a fee of around $30 a month.



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Some parents are leaving Ontario because of frustrations with its autism program

Ontario Autism Program protest

Marie Lee uprooted her family to Alberta after the Ontario government told her three-year-old daughter wouldn't be eligible for core autism services until at least 2027.



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Long distance labour pains: In rural Alberta, giving birth can mean a road trip

nicole birth photo

The Lac La Biche hospital hasn't been able to support high-risk deliveries since last May, forcing some pregnant women to travel hours in an ambulance while in labour.



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She lost both parents to glioblastoma. Now she's helping other stricken families 'slay their dragons'

Slay Society

Laura Dill lost both parents in 2020 to glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer that typically claims its victims within 12 to 18 months of diagnosis. Now she's determined to help other families make the most of the time they have left together.



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Doctors in Atlantic Canada will soon be able to work in any of the 4 provinces

Atlantic Premiers

Doctors living and working within the four Atlantic provinces will soon be able to work within the region without additional licensing — thanks to a new Atlantic Physicians Register.



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I was wide awake during my brain surgery for Parkinson's. Here's how it changed my life

Harry Forestell preparing for DBS surgery

CBC journalist Harry Forestell applied his journalistic expertise to learn more about the highly specialized treatment he received to treat Parkinson's disease.



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Internationally trained nurses who came to Canada feel forgotten as provinces recruit abroad

Nikka Reyes

Nurses already in Canada who completed their training abroad but are finding it difficult to become accredited here worry that their skills and abilities are being wasted and question why provincial health officials are going on recruitment trips overseas.



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Despite soaring death rate from opioids, Alberta steers away from harm-reduction approach

Safer Supply

The United Conservative Party government has steered policy away from harm reduction and towards a model of recovery, abstinence and criminalization.



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After years of waiting, this woman says Canada's delay to expand MAID is 'beyond hurtful'

Agata Gawron

Agata Gawron says she felt empowered when she thought she could access MAID this year. Now, she says the proposed delay is “beyond hurtful” news to her because it means at least one more year of suffering.



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Why don't we call more abortion clinics 'abortion clinics'? Language matters, advocates say

abortion protest

There's a movement within abortion care to be more mindful of the language they use — whether that's to be more inclusive, drop the euphemisms or be more forthright about the services they offer.



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Mpox remains a global emergency — and cluster of cases in Canada offers reminder it's still circulating

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The World Health Organization made the call this week to maintain mpox as a public health emergency — and later noted the number of new cases reported globally increased by 70 per cent from the week before. A cluster of cases in Toronto, too, offers a reminder that transmission is still simmering.



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B.C. man dies of heart attack while local ambulance not staffed due to illness

AMBULANCE

Nakusp Mayor Tom Zeleznik says his close friend passed away in his late 60s on Jan. 29 while on his way to the Arrow Lakes Hospital, which is located in the municipality only a few blocks away from the deceased man’s home.



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Alberta government commits $158M in upcoming budget to address health care worker shortage

Alta-Rural-Doctors 20230126

Health Minister Jason Copping announced Thursday that the province is promising $158 million in the upcoming budget to address Alberta’s health care worker shortage, as part of the government’s new Health Workforce Strategy.



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Doctors brace for a nationwide shortage of abortion pills

Dr. Renee Hall

The manufacturer of Mifegymiso is blaming supply chain issues for a pending shortage of the product — just months after another shortage of the drug forced some patients to get surgical abortions instead.



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Fired Horizon CEO awarded record-breaking $2M in unjust dismissal case against province

Dr. John Dornan, president and CEO, Horizon Health Network

The former head of Horizon Health Network has been awarded more than $2 million in his unjust dismissal case against the province after he was publicly fired by the premier last summer following the death of a patient in a Fredericton emergency department waiting room.



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Parents feel helpless as Saskatchewan's only pediatric gastroenterologist prepares to leave

Blake Turnbull

Sarah Turnbull says the wait for her three-year-old Blake to see a pediatric gastroenterologist was going to be six years. Now it seems like it could be endless, with Saskatchewan's only doctor in that specialty set to leave this coming May.



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In Texas, where abortion is already a crime, more roadblocks to access could be coming

Abortion March for Life

CBC News travelled to the Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas, which already has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the U.S. While advocates struggle to help pregnant people, anti-abortion lawmakers are looking to close down any remaining paths to abortion access.



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Nova Scotia says it won't meet pledge to reduce surgical backlog by February

Michelle Thompson

The government of Nova Scotia says it will not meet its promise of cutting the province's surgical backlog to 12,000 patients by February 2023.



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Quebec tables bill to limit the use of private health agencies

Christian Dube

Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, announced Wednesday it has given itself three years to eliminate the systematic use of private agencies and independent workers in the health care network throughout Quebec.



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These Canadians passed on alcohol long before going 'dry' became trendy

Willow Yamauchi

Many Canadian drinkers say they are reassessing their wine and whisky consumption in the wake of revamped safe-drinking guidelines released in January. But there is a cohort of people who passed on alcohol long before it was a wider concern.



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Stop polarizing the debate. It took both harm reduction and drug treatment to save me

Chris McBain

A fierce debate rages between drug treatment and harm reduction advocates in Alberta. But that misses the point, argues Chris McBain, a former injection drug user. He needed both to get his life back.



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Norovirus, the culprit behind a nasty stomach bug, is rising again in Canada

norovirus

Highly contagious norovirus, known for causing a nasty, days-long stomach illness, is on the rise in Canada after a pandemic lull, federal health officials say.



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Northern, Indigenous communities need better access to organ transplants, say Sask. advocates

transplant surgery

Advocates say residents in northern Saskatchewan don't have the same access to organ donations and transplants — or procedures like dialysis while awaiting a transplant — and say there need to be changes to allow for equitable access.



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Will Canada follow the U.S.'s aggressive new approach to treat childhood obesity?

Will Canada follow the US approach to treat childhood obesity? Image 1

A shift in treating childhood obesity in the U.S. focuses on early interventions and can involve weight-loss drugs or surgery. Some Canadian experts say it's an effective approach, but others worry it could turn attention away from prevention.



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Premiers accept federal health-care funding proposal

Premiers Health 20230207

Canada’s premiers have accepted Ottawa’s proposal to inject billions of dollars into provincial health-care systems.



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Demand for cosmetic surgeries is changing conversations around it

Doctor Donna Jubin, Bella Sante clinic Saskatoon

Some of the shame around cosmetic procedures may be lifting, thanks to more people accessing them and more willingness to talk openly about them.



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'Somebody has to help': Family of N.S. senior says she's being evicted due to age, injuries

Marion Cooke

A Halifax senior has been told she wouldn't be kept on as a tenant when her fixed-term lease expires after she had two medical emergencies in her unit. Her family believes it's because the emergencies disrupted the building's superintendent.



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A test of dark chocolate found traces of lead and cadmium. Do you need to give it up?

Dark Chocolate

A Consumer Reports test of 28 dark chocolate bars found most had high levels of lead, cadmium or sometimes both. But experts say no need to panic.



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Sharp drop in new helicopter pilot licences raises concerns about country's air ambulance service

HALO Air Ambulance

Many parts of rural Canada rely on air ambulances flown by licensed helicopter pilots. But the number of licences issued by Transport Canada has declined dramatically over the past decade — prompting concerns for the health of the service and for people who need to get to a hospital.



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Her daughter couldn't access the park in a wheelchair, so a Quebec mom proposed a solution

Nathalie Thibeault and Andrée-Ann Madore

After a car crash left her daughter with limited mobility, Nathalie Thibeault called up her local park in Coaticook, Que., with what she calls a “crazy idea.”



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Gym and Peloton selfies dominate social media, but fitness may be less accessible than ever

Fitness Studio

Despite a societal obsession with being in shape, fitness is less accessible than ever, given expensive gym memberships, pricey equipment and costly clothing, says the author of a book on fitness culture.



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What experts say you should know about ovarian cancer

Shutterstock - Medium file

Ovarian cancer is considered to be the most serious of women's cancers. That's why experts say women should know about their risks and prevention.



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MUN's faculty association, administration reach tentative deal

MUNFA rally

Memorial University's faculty association and administration have reached a tentative deal after a nearly two-week strike.



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How a group of Indigenous people in Alberta found their way out of addiction through culture

Sobercrew

Robbie Daniels is one of several people behind Sobercrew, a group of mainly Indigenous people who’ve found a way out of their addiction through culture and sobriety.



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