Canadian hospitals profiting from foreign patients raises questions of ethics
Could a for-profit sector that allows foreign patients to be cared for in Canadian hospitals be the financial cure for this country’s cash-strapped universal health care system? That is the question being posed by a series of programs that have taken place, or continue to operate in Canadian hospitals. Critics think that treating medical tourists for cash […]
Questions raised about for-profit DoctorCare Accessing Patient Records
Susannah Hendricks is still rattled by the call. It came out of the blue and the for-profit company on the other end seemed to have access to her private health information. The caller from Doctor-Care Inc. urged her to attend a session with a dietitian, suggesting she had risk factors for diabetes and high cholesterol. […]
College of Family Physicians of Canada – Finally – issues Social Determinants of Health Guide for MDs
This practical guide provides family physicians with concrete steps on how to consider and improve patients’ social determinants of health (SDoH). The document provides a background on the social determinants of health, and a practical component with suggested clinical, community, and population-level interventions. Open the link to learn more – http://patientsmedicalhome.ca/files/uploads/BA_SocialD_ENG_WEB.pdf
Medical Marijuana in the Workplace
In the last few years, statistics show that an increasing number of licences to possess medical marihuana have been granted, and with the recent changes to the federal legislation, this number is very likely to keep growing. One of the many issues to be considered in the wake of these changes is the impact on […]
Drug manufacturers required to report shortages under new rules
Drug makers and pharmacists say that while they welcome new mandatory drug shortage reporting rules announced today, reporting on shortages will not be enough to end them. Health Minister Rona Ambrose announced the new mandatory reporting regulations Tuesday in Vancouver, saying the new rules will give Canadian health care providers and patients advance notice of upcoming shortages […]
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Calls for Bioethics Cases
The Royal College Ethics Committee (EthC) invites cases to enhance the breadth of its existing bioethics curriculum. Cases should reflect new and emerging ethical issues and challenges facing residents and Fellows practising in Canada. Some suggested topic areas include, but are not limited to: the growth of transplantation/medical tourism, more particularly a physician’s obligations to […]
New Canadian Guidelines put Family Physicians on the Front Line Against Adult Obesity
National guidelines say family physicians have to do more in the battle against obesity. According to a recent article in Canada’s national business newspaper, the Globe and Mail, the guidelines, issued by the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care and published on Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, urge physicians to track the body mass index […]
Appealing to Public Emotions and Greed, Personal Injury Law Firms on Rise in Canada
Personal injury: the changing landscape, by Dr. H. Jaye Goldstein on January 20, 2015 In the course of my morning commute across the roads of Vaughan and north Toronto, I see them everywhere—on billboards and the broadside of buses and in transit shelters. I hear their ads on my all-news radio choice of the day, […]
Healthcare reform to address needs of Canadians not service providers
TORONTO – Canadian Association of Retired People (CARP) is calling for a full system re-design of the healthcare system to provide a comprehensive 360 degrees of care and that treats Canadians as “healthcare citizens” – with the right to expect timely and appropriate care and equal treatment regardless of age, income and postal code. CARP’s […]
How safe are your hospitalized patients?
Adverse event rates in Canadian hospitals have not significantly improved. According to “The Canadian Adverse Events Study” published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, approximately 7.5 per cent of hospitalizations are associated with at least one adverse event, of which 37 per cent are preventable. In 2013, a Commonwealth Fund Study revealed that Canada is […]
