Health

Renowned Ottawa heart surgeon Marc Ruel was planning a move to the United States last year, with the University of California, San Francisco "thrilled to announce" that he would be leading a heart division in their surgery department.But Donald Trump's threats toward Canada were such that Ruel has now decided to remain in Canada. "Canada is under duress right now," he told CBC. "I felt my role and duty at this point was to directly serve my country from within."Ruel is not the only medical professional now reluctant to work in the United States.That means Canada's health-care system could stand to benefit from the political upheaval unleashed by the U.S. president, as American physicians look to move north and Canadians forgo opportunities south of the border.'I don't want to do politics'F...

Ontario is failing to provide adequate mental health services for youth and children, according to the province's auditor general.In one of two reports released by the auditor general Monday, Shelley Spence found children and youth in Ontario are at risk of not being able to access the mental health services in their communities when they need them. "As one in five children and youth in Ontario will experience mental health challenges in their lifetimes, the Province needs to ensure young people and their families have timely access to the services and supports that government-funded agencies provide to help them through difficult times," Spence said in a release Monday.Supports for children with mental health needs are inadequate in more than half of the province's 33 service areas, Spenc...

When Susannah McKenzie-Sutter heard her cousin in Ontario needed a kidney transplant, the 28-year-old Saint John woman didn't hesitate to offer one of hers.She hasn't kept in close touch with McKenzie Smith in recent years but has fond childhood memories of spending summers with her "cool older cousin." Preliminary blood tests showed she's a good match.But McKenzie-Sutter quickly learned her plans could be thwarted because she's one of thousands of New Brunswickers without a family doctor.The hospital in London, Ont., where the transplant would be done, told her she cannot donate — or even get tested to confirm she's a good candidate — without having a family doctor or a nurse practitioner.WATCH | 'That was a big, big shock.' Cousin’s gift of life-changing kidney almost blocked by family d...

The Dose19:40What do I need to know about benzodiazepines?Within 10 minutes of disclosing his sleepless nights to his family doctor, Georges Marcoux had a little white pill in his hand.His doctor in Shediac, N.B., prescribed him a sleeping pill, Oxazepam, which gave him relief for a few weeks."I got the prescription, and that's it. Nobody was asking questions. I was not asking questions."But 35 years later, Marcoux realized he had been taking the same pill to help him sleep every night.After seeing a story in the paper about a study correlating long-term benzodiazepine use to risk of cognitive impairment, he knew it was time to quit. These pills, part of a class of drugs called benzodiazepines, have been around since 1955. Their use and misuse are portrayed in songs, movies and most recent...

The New Brunswick government has begun the "data analysis phase" of its investigation into undiagnosed neurological symptoms affecting hundreds of people in seven provinces and whether environmental substances, such as heavy metals and pesticides, are a factor.Dr. Yves Léger, the chief medical officer of health, made the announcement during a briefing in Fredericton Thursday.His office has now received completed enhanced surveillance forms for 222 of nearly 400 patients from Dr. Alier Marrero, the Moncton neurologist who first sounded the alarm about a possible mystery disease several years ago, he said.Staff believe this is "enough complete and verified patient data" to begin the next phase of the investigation, he said. "I'm therefore glad to say that that activity is now underway with t...

Northern Health is warning that a toxic drug that is "equal or more toxic than fentanyl" is being sold in northern B.C.The health authority issued the alert Thursday, saying it had tested round white pills as positive for the synthetic opioid sotonitazene or "nitazene". Created in the 1950s as potential pain relievers, they were never approved for clinical use.However, they have emerged within recreational drug supplies in the United States, Canada and European countries since 2019.Scientists have relatively little information about how the human body reacts to nitazenes because the chemicals have never gone through clinical trials that offer a chance to find out.Northern Health says the drug has been detected in pills being sold as oxycocet, a prescription pain reliever.It warns that whil...

The overdose prevention site in Red Deer will be closing at the end of the month, following a decision by a judge released Wednesday. Justice C.A. Rickards of Court of King's Bench denied a request by Aaron Brown, a man with opioid use disorder, to keep the OPS open beyond March 31. In January, a different judge granted an interim injunction to continue being open around the clock until the end of March. The government was planning to phase out the site and had already cut operating hours to 12 hours a day. Brown argued that the OPS closure would violate his Charter rights. The judge said in his decision that while Brown had visited the site four times between October and January, he has continued to use drugs three times a day, and said he "cannot conclude that there is a real probability...

Bianca Buitrago-Poulin is celebrating her successful massage studio's one-year anniversary on Montreal's South Shore this month.But it hasn't been easy.It's a business she started out of necessity — a last-ditch effort to save her family home, continue caring for her mother and stay financially viable while battling a debilitating condition that derailed her life and career.The 34-year-old was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia two years ago, but her illness had been affecting her long before that. After more than a decade of working in geriatric care, symptoms like fatigue, dizziness and muscle pain were making it hard to hold down a job.But she pushed on. Together with her boyfriend, they took out a loan to repair the historic home her grandfather bought decades ago on Gardenvil...

An Ontario judge has granted an injunction to keep 10 supervised consumption sites open while he considers a Charter challenge of a new provincial law that bans the sites from operating within 200 metres of schools or daycares.Justice John Callaghan of the Superior Court of Justice said all sites slated to close under the new law by April 1 can remain open until 30 days after he decides the case."The constitutional issues in this application are complex," Callaghan wrote."My decision will require some time. Thus, I have reserved my decision on the Charter and other constitutional issues and the judgment will be released in the coming months."The Neighbourhood Group, which runs the Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site in downtown Toronto, launched a lawsuit in December along with two ...

It cost $25 million to build, but barely a year after its opening and less than six months in operation, the family birth unit at Montreal's Notre-Dame Hospital is closed for good.The CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, which oversees the hospital, announced the closure a week ago, blaming a lack of specialized obstetrics staff.The loss is a "missed opportunity" and a blow for patients who would prefer to give birth outside of a traditional hospital setting, said Barbara Beccafico, a birth doula and board member with the Quebec Association of Doulas (AQD)."The community was very saddened," said Beccafico. "We felt like it was a beautiful project that was stillborn."The family birth unit emphasized physiological — or natural — medication-free births and collaborated with midwives, wh...