Healthcare and Medicine

Sidney resident Courtney MacMurchyher is feeling the benefits of a trip to Barcelona in Oct. 2023 for surgery to help with her rare disease, Chiari malformation. (Courtesy Maureen MacMurchyher)

Rarest day on the calendar draws attention to some of B.C.’s rarest diseases

Fundraiser allows access to treatment, outpouring boosts morale

 

Tai August fitting a young person with a breast binder in Salmon Arm. (Tai August/Submitted)

Gender-affirming care for youth is lifesaving, say B.C. experts

Transgender youth are at increased risk of mental distress without access to gender affirming care

 

FILE - This Tuesday, April 3, 2018 file photo shows a closeup of a beam scale in New York. High-dose oral versions of the medication in the weight-loss drug Wegovy may work as well as injections at paring pounds and improving health, including hard-to-treat people with diabetes, according to research released Sunday, June 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File)

No more needles? A daily pill may work as well as Wegovy shots to treat obesity

What if treating obesity could be as easy as popping an effective…

 

(Black Press Media Creative)

TikTok: Here’s why #medicalgaslighting is trending

Now topping over 226 million views on TikTok, the social media tag…

(Black Press Media Creative)
Kerry Toneguzzi poses for a portrait at her home in Kanata, Ont., on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. When she was diagnosed with diabetes in the fall of 2020, her doctor suggested she try Ozempic – a drug approved in Canada to treat diabetes, with a frequent side effect of weight loss. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

Despite social media buzz, Ozempic is not a quick-fix weight loss solution: doctors

Diabetes treatment gaining popularity but doctors say it’s not a simple path to a bikini body

Kerry Toneguzzi poses for a portrait at her home in Kanata, Ont., on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. When she was diagnosed with diabetes in the fall of 2020, her doctor suggested she try Ozempic – a drug approved in Canada to treat diabetes, with a frequent side effect of weight loss. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
Green Party of Canada Leader Elizabeth May looks on as Valorie Masuda, a palliative care doctor speaks about access to medical psilocybin for Canadians with treatment-resistant illnesses on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Advocates, MPs call on feds to expand access to psychedelic treatment

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May says she wants Canada to consider expanding…

Green Party of Canada Leader Elizabeth May looks on as Valorie Masuda, a palliative care doctor speaks about access to medical psilocybin for Canadians with treatment-resistant illnesses on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Co-first author Jimena Pérez-Vargas works in the UBC Facility for Infectious Disease and Epidemic Research, studying natural compounds that can be used to fight COVID-19. (Credit: Paul Joseph)

Bacteria harvested from B.C.’s coastline fight COVID-19 in a new and exciting way

UBC researchers have identified 3 compounds with long-term promise

Co-first author Jimena Pérez-Vargas works in the UBC Facility for Infectious Disease and Epidemic Research, studying natural compounds that can be used to fight COVID-19. (Credit: Paul Joseph)
Jeff Ross, CEO of Miromatrix, leads a team working towards developing organs that may someday be used in humans at the headquarters on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. “We essentially regrow the organ,” says Ross, CEO of Miromatrix. “Our bodies won’t see it as a pig organ anymore.” (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

VIDEO: Making pig livers humanlike in quest to ease organ shortage

Scientists looking to biomedically engineer human organs

Jeff Ross, CEO of Miromatrix, leads a team working towards developing organs that may someday be used in humans at the headquarters on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. “We essentially regrow the organ,” says Ross, CEO of Miromatrix. “Our bodies won’t see it as a pig organ anymore.” (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)
Children’s Tylenol sits on a shelf at a pharmacy on November 9, 2022 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Should Canada produce more medicine amid ongoing shortages? Trudeau isn’t sure

Drug shortage has led to some calls for Canada to invest more in its pharmaceutical production

Children’s Tylenol sits on a shelf at a pharmacy on November 9, 2022 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Internationally-trained doctors are speaking out about B.C.’s particularly restrictive licensing qualifications. Some say they are leaving the province to practise medicine elsewhere as a result. From top left clockwise: Dr. Rajkumar Luke, Dr. Azadeh Shafiei, Dr. Honieh Barzegari and Dr. Reza Asgari. (Submitted photos)

Amid a chronic shortage, B.C. at risk of losing hundreds of internationally-trained doctors

Restrictions in B.C. pushing doctors to other provinces

Internationally-trained doctors are speaking out about B.C.’s particularly restrictive licensing qualifications. Some say they are leaving the province to practise medicine elsewhere as a result. From top left clockwise: Dr. Rajkumar Luke, Dr. Azadeh Shafiei, Dr. Honieh Barzegari and Dr. Reza Asgari. (Submitted photos)
St. Paul’s hospital in Vancouver is shown on April 29, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

B.C. doctors ratify new agreement that includes pay increase, more rural funding

3-year agreement includes better after-hours pay, more rural funding, shift toward primary care

St. Paul’s hospital in Vancouver is shown on April 29, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

B.C. medical services agency files court injunction against Telus LifePlus program

Agency alleges program creates two-tier health-care system

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
Taika Loo, 16 months, receives a COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. Preventable diseases like measles could spread quickly in Canada like elsewhere in the world due to a drop in routine vaccinations during the pandemic, say pediatricians who are urging parents to ensure their kids are fully immunized.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Doctors urge parents to get routine vaccines for kids following pandemic disruptions

Rates for non-COVID vaccinations have dropped dramatically among kids

Taika Loo, 16 months, receives a COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. Preventable diseases like measles could spread quickly in Canada like elsewhere in the world due to a drop in routine vaccinations during the pandemic, say pediatricians who are urging parents to ensure their kids are fully immunized.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Infants’ Tylenol brand fever and pain reliever is seen in a home in Toronto, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says the previously announced 1 million units of imported kids’ pain relievers are hitting some pharmacy shelves now, while an additional 500,000 units have been ordered and are expected over the next few weeks. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Giordano Ciampini

1M units of imported kids’ pain meds now hitting pharmacy shelves as flu rates spike

RSV and influenza have skyrocketed amid shortage of pediatric acetaminophen and ibuprofen

Infants’ Tylenol brand fever and pain reliever is seen in a home in Toronto, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says the previously announced 1 million units of imported kids’ pain relievers are hitting some pharmacy shelves now, while an additional 500,000 units have been ordered and are expected over the next few weeks. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Giordano Ciampini
A B.C.-led clinical trial is showing promise for a drug to cure Type 1 diabetes. (Credit: Pixabay/stevepb)

B.C. clinical trial showing promising signs for Type 1 diabetes cure

Two of four completed participants no longer require insulin, study lead says

A B.C.-led clinical trial is showing promise for a drug to cure Type 1 diabetes. (Credit: Pixabay/stevepb)
Many pharmacy shelves are empty of children’s pain medication. (Canadian Press photo)

‘My child is suffering’: BC parents furious at shortage of pain relievers

Many pharmacy shelves are sitting empty

Many pharmacy shelves are empty of children’s pain medication. (Canadian Press photo)
Infants’ Tylenol brand fever and pain reliever is seen in a home in Toronto, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. Health Canada says it’s importing a foreign supply of children’s pain and fever medications that will be available on retail shelves in the coming weeks. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Giordano Ciampini

Health Canada importing more kids’ pain and fever meds to restock store shelves

Months-long shortage fueled by increase in respiratory illnesses

Infants’ Tylenol brand fever and pain reliever is seen in a home in Toronto, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. Health Canada says it’s importing a foreign supply of children’s pain and fever medications that will be available on retail shelves in the coming weeks. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Giordano Ciampini
Dr. OmiSoore Dryden, co-lead of the national Black Health Education Collaborative and associate professor, James R. Johnston Endowed Chair, Black Canadian Studies, Faculty of Medicine, at Dalhousie University, is seen in an undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Dalhousie University, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Canada’s top medical journal acknowledges its role in perpetuating anti-Black racism

Publication working on ways to better represent work of Black experts. needs of Black patients

Dr. OmiSoore Dryden, co-lead of the national Black Health Education Collaborative and associate professor, James R. Johnston Endowed Chair, Black Canadian Studies, Faculty of Medicine, at Dalhousie University, is seen in an undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Dalhousie University, *MANDATORY CREDIT*
In this Feb. 9, 2018, file photo, a radiology technician looks at a chest X-ray of a child suffering from flu symptoms. Radiologists in B.C.. say hundreds of thousands of patients are waiting for medical imaging. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

‘Hundreds of thousands’ waiting for medical imaging in B.C., radiologists say

Delays could cause ‘tsunami of cancer cases,’ radiological society warns in letter to Dix

In this Feb. 9, 2018, file photo, a radiology technician looks at a chest X-ray of a child suffering from flu symptoms. Radiologists in B.C.. say hundreds of thousands of patients are waiting for medical imaging. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
FILE - A worker walks alongside the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant’s array of digester eggs, Aug. 12, 2022, in the Greenpoint neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough of New York. In the U.S., an unvaccinated young adult suffered paralysis in his legs after being infected with polio, New York officials revealed last month. The virus has also shown up in New York sewers, suggesting it is spreading. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

Polio in US, UK and Israel reveals rare risk of oral vaccine

It can cause polio in about 2 to 4 children per 2 million doses

FILE - A worker walks alongside the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant’s array of digester eggs, Aug. 12, 2022, in the Greenpoint neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough of New York. In the U.S., an unvaccinated young adult suffered paralysis in his legs after being infected with polio, New York officials revealed last month. The virus has also shown up in New York sewers, suggesting it is spreading. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)