Health

B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix speaks during an announcement, in Vancouver, B.C., Friday, June 9, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Cyberattack on B.C. health websites may have taken personal information

240,000 email addresses may have had their personal data compromised

B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix speaks during an announcement, in Vancouver, B.C., Friday, June 9, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
FILE - This undated, colorized electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, indicated in yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, indicated in blue/pink, cultured in a laboratory. (NIAID-RML via AP, File)

Long COVID struggles persist, new treatment studies bring hope

U.S. investing in research to address brain fog and other long COVID symptoms affecting millions

FILE - This undated, colorized electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, indicated in yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, indicated in blue/pink, cultured in a laboratory. (NIAID-RML via AP, File)
BCEHS paramedic public information officer Brian Twaites (Photo Submitted by BCEHS)

911 calls for severe allergic reactions nearly double in summer: BCEHS

Paramedics urge vigilance for people at risk of anaphylaxis

BCEHS paramedic public information officer Brian Twaites (Photo Submitted by BCEHS)
A surgeon sits at a robotics surgery console to perform an operation. Robotic surgeries are much less invasive, more precise and allow for a faster recovery time with less pain according to Fraser Health’s new program. (Getty Images)

Dr. Robot will see you now: Fraser Health launches robotics surgery program

The program will operate out of Surrey Memorial and Royal Columbian hospitals

A surgeon sits at a robotics surgery console to perform an operation. Robotic surgeries are much less invasive, more precise and allow for a faster recovery time with less pain according to Fraser Health’s new program. (Getty Images)
New Health Canada regulations that require warning labels to be printed on individual cigarettes are coming into effect tomorrow. An example of cigarette packaging with expanded warnings, including a warning printed on the cigarettes themselves, is shown on a screen after a news conference, in Ottawa, Friday, June 10, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

New Canadian cigarette warning labels come into effect this week

‘Poison in every puff’ among messages as feds aim to deter kids, convert parents

New Health Canada regulations that require warning labels to be printed on individual cigarettes are coming into effect tomorrow. An example of cigarette packaging with expanded warnings, including a warning printed on the cigarettes themselves, is shown on a screen after a news conference, in Ottawa, Friday, June 10, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Vernon’s Heron Grove long-term care facility is one of seven long-term care facilities in B.C. operated by Good Samaritan Canada – and one of four in the Okanagan-Shuswap – where Hospital Employees’ Union members have voted overwhelminly in favour of strike action. (Black Press - file photo)

HEU members at 7 B.C. care facilities vote yes to strike

98 per cent vote in favour of job action to back demands for new deal with Good Samaritan Canada

Vernon’s Heron Grove long-term care facility is one of seven long-term care facilities in B.C. operated by Good Samaritan Canada – and one of four in the Okanagan-Shuswap – where Hospital Employees’ Union members have voted overwhelminly in favour of strike action. (Black Press - file photo)
Hazy skies over Terrace on July 8, as Environment Canada issued an air quality statement for the city amid wildfire smoke across northwest B.C. (Kevin Shenanaganz Bolton/Facebook)

Wildfire smoke highlights need for better ventilation in public spaces

Experts say estimates indicate wildfires will increase 25 per cent by 2030

Hazy skies over Terrace on July 8, as Environment Canada issued an air quality statement for the city amid wildfire smoke across northwest B.C. (Kevin Shenanaganz Bolton/Facebook)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau participates in a news conference on the COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa, on January 5, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Feds looking for input on new law to improve safety in long-term care

Legislation is also a condition of the Liberals’ supply-and-confidence deal with the NDP

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau participates in a news conference on the COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa, on January 5, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
B.C.’s only FASD clinic is located in The People Place in Vernon. (Bowen Assman- Morning Star Photo)

Lack of funding to sink B.C.’s only FASD clinic in Vernon

“If we close, patients with FASD will be lost and will be hard or impossible to recreate.”

B.C.’s only FASD clinic is located in The People Place in Vernon. (Bowen Assman- Morning Star Photo)
The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment says a nine-year-old B.C. boy who died from asthma exacerbated by wildfire smoke is the face of the climate crisis in Canada. The St. Mary’s wildfire is shown in this handout image provided by the B.C. Wildfire Service. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-BC Wildfire Service

Asthmatic B.C. boy who died amid wildfire smoke called ‘face of climate crisis’

B.C. doctors group says Carter Vigh’s death underscores urgent need to protect vulnerable people

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment says a nine-year-old B.C. boy who died from asthma exacerbated by wildfire smoke is the face of the climate crisis in Canada. The St. Mary’s wildfire is shown in this handout image provided by the B.C. Wildfire Service. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-BC Wildfire Service
Dr. Keith Yeates, a neuropsychologist at the University of Calgary, poses in this undated handout photo. Yeates has a study published in the online medical journal Pediatrics that says kids who suffer concussions don’t suffer a drop in IQ. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - University of Calgary, Riley Brandt

Canadian study says concussions don’t affect kids’ intelligence

University of Calgary-led research finds there doesn’t appear to be an alteration in a kid’s IQ

Dr. Keith Yeates, a neuropsychologist at the University of Calgary, poses in this undated handout photo. Yeates has a study published in the online medical journal Pediatrics that says kids who suffer concussions don’t suffer a drop in IQ. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - University of Calgary, Riley Brandt
Arti and Anton are shown in this undated handout photo. The dogs recently graduated from a rigorous training program that allows them to sniff out the potentially deadly C. difficile bacterium on surfaces before it can even sicken the most vulnerable patients at hospitals in Vancouver and beyond. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Vancouver Coastal Health

Dogs trained to detect potentially deadly superbug at B.C. hospitals

C. difficile is the most frequent cause of infectious diarrhea in hospitals and long-term care homes

Arti and Anton are shown in this undated handout photo. The dogs recently graduated from a rigorous training program that allows them to sniff out the potentially deadly C. difficile bacterium on surfaces before it can even sicken the most vulnerable patients at hospitals in Vancouver and beyond. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Vancouver Coastal Health
A customer walks down a grocery store’s drinks aisle in Newcastle, Ont. on Thursday July 13, 2023. The Canadian Cancer Society and Health Canada are reviewing the World Health Organization’s classification of aspartame as “possibly carcinogenic.” THE CANADIAN PRESS/Doug Ives

Stay within aspartame limits, cancer society says in wake of WHO findings

Canadian advice offered after World Health Organization reports sweetener ‘possibly carcinogenic’

A customer walks down a grocery store’s drinks aisle in Newcastle, Ont. on Thursday July 13, 2023. The Canadian Cancer Society and Health Canada are reviewing the World Health Organization’s classification of aspartame as “possibly carcinogenic.” THE CANADIAN PRESS/Doug Ives
Barb West, Yana Hempler, Danielle Mulligan and Heather Crow pose for a photo at the day 10 finish line. (Natasha Baldin/News Staff)

B.C. runner finishes 10 marathons in 10 days to benefit her local hospitals

Yana Hempler’s goal is to raise $1 million for Victoria Hospitals Foundation

Barb West, Yana Hempler, Danielle Mulligan and Heather Crow pose for a photo at the day 10 finish line. (Natasha Baldin/News Staff)
(Stock photo) A Victoria nurse has been disciplined. (iStock photo)

B.C. nurse won’t be fired for snooping into patient records, leaking info

Nurse was also “not honest” with bosses over actions

(Stock photo) A Victoria nurse has been disciplined. (iStock photo)
A person draws out Moderna vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Kingston, Ont., Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022. Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) says people should get another COVID-19 booster in the fall if it’s been at least six months since their last dose or COVID-19 infection. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg

Immunization panel recommends Canadians get another fall COVID-19 booster

Shot recommended if it has been more than 6 months since your last

A person draws out Moderna vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Kingston, Ont., Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022. Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) says people should get another COVID-19 booster in the fall if it’s been at least six months since their last dose or COVID-19 infection. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg
The Funk family of Abbotsford is looking to the community for help saving their son’s life. (Aleks Sharpe Photography)

B.C. boy, 7, needs bone marrow match to save life

Young Abbotsford boy already showing damaging lesions on brain from genetic disease

The Funk family of Abbotsford is looking to the community for help saving their son’s life. (Aleks Sharpe Photography)
City of Toronto officially proclaim June as Pride Month in Toronto and raise the Progress Pride flag at City Hall in Toronto on Thursday, June 1, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Advocates want national standards for LGBTQ identities in medical records

Push underway for inclusion of gender, sex and sexual identity information in health records

City of Toronto officially proclaim June as Pride Month in Toronto and raise the Progress Pride flag at City Hall in Toronto on Thursday, June 1, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Workers hold flowers given to them as they watch as 150 nursing union members show support at Orchard Villa Long-Term Care in Pickering, Ont. on Monday, June 1, 2020. The National Institute on Aging found provincial long-term care standards vary drastically across the country and in some cases fall far short of the new national standards released earlier this year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Provinces falling short of national long-term care standards: report

Not a single province or territory covered everything the national standard calls for

Workers hold flowers given to them as they watch as 150 nursing union members show support at Orchard Villa Long-Term Care in Pickering, Ont. on Monday, June 1, 2020. The National Institute on Aging found provincial long-term care standards vary drastically across the country and in some cases fall far short of the new national standards released earlier this year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
Sukinder Mangat of Richmond, B.C., shown here in this undated handout image, has been waiting for a kidney for 11 years but kidneys donated in that province are being sent elsewhere in Canada because there are not enough surgeons to transplant them in B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO

Lack of B.C. transplant surgeons means donated kidneys sent elsewhere

Doctors say between 8 and 10 surgeons are needed in B.C. to keep organs in province

Sukinder Mangat of Richmond, B.C., shown here in this undated handout image, has been waiting for a kidney for 11 years but kidneys donated in that province are being sent elsewhere in Canada because there are not enough surgeons to transplant them in B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO