Health

There is a shortage of some commonly-prescribed painkillers in Canada, as companies that supply them deal with manufacturing disruptions and increased demand, according to a notice published on Health Canada's website.The medications in question are acetaminophen with codeine (sometimes known as Tylenol 3) and acetaminophen with oxycodone (sometimes sold under the brand name Percocet).As a result of the shortage, Health Canada's notice said these drugs have become harder to get and "may not always be available."Here's what you need to know.Manufacturing troubles cause ripple effectsHealth Canada's notice says the shortage of acetaminophen with codeine is linked to manufacturing disruptions reported by Teva Canada Limited, resulting in increased demand and shortages reported by  Apotex Inc ...

Wildfire smoke in Manitoba could be even more toxic than usual and more research needs to be done on the pollutants being released into the air, according to scientists. The fires may be releasing pollution stored in the province's soil for millennia, including toxic chemicals from more than a century of resource exploitation in the north, said Colin McCarter, Canada Research Chair of Climate and Environmental Change. What questions do you have about wildfire smoke and air quality? Send an email to ask@cbc.ca. Peatlands cover about one-third of the province and the boggy wetland is a critical carbon storehouse and even acts as a natural fire barrier, but climate change is increasingly putting them at risk.As the landscapes dry out and become more susceptible to the flames, a "pollution ...

Nora Nunn-Murphy doesn't know how her Halifax-area family will come up with more than $85,000 for a rare hip surgery in the United States, but she knows she has to try.If not, her daughter may have little hope of walking as she gets older. Nunn-Murphy's seven-year-old daughter, Brenna Benoit, has cerebral palsy and a condition called hip dysplasia, which is forcing her hip to fully dislocate from the socket.Brenna used to be able to stand up and walk with the help of braces and a walker, but now gets around in her pink and blue wheelchair. Nunn-Murphy sees Brenna's hip mobility deteriorating and worries if she doesn't get the right treatment soon, her hip will be inoperable.She and her husband, Al Benoit, said they believe they have no option but to forgo the Nova Scotia health-care system...

Alberta Health Services says 18 people have tested positive for presumptive E. coli — three of whom also tested positive for a parasite that causes amoebiasis — in an outbreak at Saskatoon Farm.So far, 235 people have reported symptoms linked to the outbreak, officials said. Two people have been hospitalized, one of whom has been discharged.Alberta Health Services (AHS) previously said people were reporting gastrointestinal illness after dining at Saskatoon Farm, near Okotoks, on July 15 and 16. Now, officials are saying they're still working to identify when exactly people were exposed, but it was likely early that week.Officials at AHS are asking people who ate or drank at the farm between July 1 and 16 and have symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea to call Healt...

Kendra Hebert had never seen a visibly disabled physician and has often questioned whether there was a place for her in medicine. (Meredyth Elisseou)This is a First Person column by Kendra Hebert, who lives in Garnett Settlement, N.B. For more information about First Person stories, see the FAQ.It was the first day of a new rotation. I entered the ward wearing scrubs, my stethoscope draped around my neck and my hospital ID clipped to my shirt. Indistinguishable, I thought, from any other medical student.As I approached the nursing station in my wheelchair, a nurse I hadn't met before looked up and asked, "Are you here for an appointment?"I paused, momentarily caught off guard. "No," I replied. "I'm the new medical student starting today."Her face changed instantly; an apology, an explana...

Daytime parties are trending across Canada, with people trading alcohol and all-night clubbing for coffee and croissants.One such party is Croissound in Montreal, which is rethinking nightlife culture by gathering local DJs at cafés. So far, it's presented four Canadian events this year, with thousands of attendees. Its most recent party was a free, ticketed event at a popular Montreal food court.The Coffee Party, which calls itself "a global movement reimagining how people connect," has held several events in Toronto since late last year.An increasing number of these sober daytime events seem to be popping up. There have been parties in Vancouver and Edmonton, and even in places like Kazakhstan and Singapore.And in August during the National Bank Open tennis tournament, Sobeys Stadium in ...

The new morgue, inside the Janeway Children's Hospital, can store 96 bodies. (Elizabeth Whitten/CBC)Newfoundland and Labrador has vastly increased the number of bodies it can store in a new morgue facility in St. John's, say health authority officials.Daniel Parsons, senior director of provincial capital planning and engineering with Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services, said this new facility consists of two fridge units and two freezer units, which is located off a hallway in the parking garage of the Janeway Children's Hospital.He said the original morgue facility was constructed in the 1970s and had a capacity of 12 bodies. The new facility can store 96 bodies."What we've done here is significantly increased our capacity," he told reporters on Friday during a tour of the facility....

Ava Haddad and Anna Gleig tell The National about the moment they rescued a foal from the fast rapids of the Kananaskis River in Alberta.

Overdoses at drop-in centres in Toronto have sharply increased since the provincial government shut down four supervised consumption sites in April, according to a coalition of community agencies. Before the supervised consumption sites closed, there were typically less than 10 overdoses a month at drop-in sites — which include churches, food banks and neighbourhood centres — said Melanie Joy, manager of the Toronto Drop-In Network. Now, these sites are reporting overdoses in the high thirties every month, she said. Joy said this surge is happening throughout the city, not just in the downtown core. "It's been a dramatic increase, without an increase in resources or supports," she told CBC Radio's Metro Morning on Friday. This comes as Toronto Public Health (TPH) data shows fatal and non-f...

The rate of serious liver disease among heavy drinkers has more than doubled over the last 20 years as the demographics around who is consuming more alcohol shift, a new study suggests.The research, published Wednesday in American medical journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, found that heavy alcohol use is up among women, older adults, lower-income individuals and people with metabolic syndromes like obesity, high blood pressure and high blood sugar. These groups tend to already be at a higher risk for liver disease, and excessive drinking only makes that worse, doctors say.  "Liver disease is real, it's surging, and your risk is much higher than you might think," said Dr. Brian Lee, a study author and a transplant hepatologist who treats liver transplant patients in the U.S. ...