Election day is less than two weeks away, but Rowena Edwards is still unsure who she should vote for. “Honestly, I don’t like any candidates,” the 63-year-old told CBC News through an email interview. Edwards is one of more than eight million Canadians living with a disability. She says she spends around 20 hours a […]

The Dose22:15What do I need to know about the federal government’s role in health care? Most Canadians know it’s a provincial or territorial health card they carry in their wallets, not a federal one. Still, the election April 28 does present an opportunity to have a say on certain aspects of health care the federal […]

The Alberta government appointed Dr. Sunil Sookram as interim chief medical officer of health Thursday amid growing measles outbreaks and after the previous top doctor left the role earlier this week. Sookram takes over for Dr. Mark Joffe, whose contract ended on Monday, after it had been extended for two weeks. Premier Danielle Smith confirmed thi

The IWK Health Centre says it has been bombarded with feedback as it looks to overhaul its menu. The Halifax hospital for women and children launched a survey in March, asking current and former IWK families to weigh in on the Dial for Dining food services. It operates similar to room service at a hotel, […]

Measles pread to 109 more people in Ontario over the last week, bringing the province’s total cases to 925 since an outbreak began in October. Sixty-nine people have required hospitalization — that’s eight more than last week — including four in intensive care. Measles is still predominantly infecting unvaccinated infants, children and

Quebec’s Health Ministry says it’s on the verge of declaring its measles outbreak over, just as cases reach new heights in other parts of the country. The province says it has not recorded a new measles case since it hit 40 infections on March 18. If no additional cases are reported by Saturday — 32 […]

Members of the World Health Organization reached a landmark agreement on Wednesday on how to learn from COVID-19, which killed millions of people in 2020-22, and prepare the world for future pandemics. Sticking points on the road to the deal included how to share drugs and vaccines fairly between wealthy countries and poorer ones. The […]

A Nova Scotia woman recovering from a lung transplant says she had to take tens of thousands of dollars from her retirement fund in order to undergo the life-saving procedure because provincial medical allowances fall far short of her expenses. Nan Clarke, who is originally from Charlottetown but retired in the Halifax area, was diagnosed with idio

An open letter from a group of Manitoba researchers has garnered support from hundreds of other scientists and academics across the country, sounding the alarm about the effects of research cuts in the U.S. on Canadian research and urging federal political leaders to take action. The letter, which was shared Friday and as of Tuesday afternoon [&hel

A Federal Court judge will begin hearing arguments Tuesday in the case of a B.C. ostrich farm which has been ordered to cull its entire flock over avian flu concerns. Universal Ostrich is located on a rural road near Edgewood, in B.C.’s West Kootenay region, an approximately 175-kilometre drive east from Kelowna along a winding highway. Its [

Nine years ago, former B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall declared a public health emergency in response to a sharp increase in deaths related to toxic drugs and drug overdoses.  Overdose deaths had been climbing steadily since 2010; the 474 deaths in 2015 were a 30 per cent increase from the year before. Those annual […]

Demand for the services of local food banks has never been higher, and Carolyn McLeod-McCarthy of the Guelph Food Bank says she’s worried about the impact U.S. tariffs will have on the local economy and workers. “We’re quite nervous about what that’s going to mean for being able to provide food to people in need,” [&he

On April 12, 1980, Terry Fox wrote in his diary, “Today is the day it all begins,” after starting his Marathon of Hope in St. John’s.  On Saturday, Terry’s older brother Fred Fox returned to Mile 0, the place where it all started 45 years ago, and ran the path to the city hall as his brother […]

White Coat Black Art26:30Meet the people who help sedate you One solution to a critical shortage of anesthesiologists in Canada could lie with increasing the ranks of anesthesia assistants, advocates say. “In a situation where we have a serious … access to surgical care issue, we have to think about creative solutions to move forward [&

This story is part of CBC Health’s Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here. Dr. Michelle Barton has been working at the heart of Ontario’s measles outbreak for months, trying to contain the dama

White Coat Black Art26:30Public healthcare is a national crisis. So why isn’t it an election priority? In this federal election period, the twists and turns of tariffs, annexation threats and other surprises from the Trump administration have stolen focus from addressing the state of public healthcare in Canada. A leading expert on health law

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pledged that the country’s top health agency will pinpoint the cause of autism by September, an announcement which sparked a wave of concern among medical experts and advocates who question the feasibility and focus of the research. Kennedy — a longtime vaccine critic who has pushed a discredite

Nova Scotia’s health authority issued a tender on Thursday for master planning services as part of the continued redevelopment of the QEII Health Sciences Centre, work that could include the development of a new hospital building. The tender calls for project management and architectural services for further redevelopment of buildings on the

Canada has a unique chance to become a medical and scientific powerhouse — if it moves quickly to scoop up professionals leaving the United States in the wake of health cuts and layoffs, the head of the Canadian Medical Association says. Dr. Joss Reimer, president of the Canadian Medical Association, says American medical professionals often face [

The Manitoba government says a program introducing advanced care paramedics at seven locations will improve medical care for emergencies throughout rural and northern Manitoba. Fourteen “clinical service leaders” trained in advanced care paramedicine have been strategically placed in Portage la Prairie, Flin Flon, Dauphin, Ashern, Neepa

Multiple pharmacists linked to a south Thunder Bay, Ont., pharmacy face an additional set of misconduct allegations by the profession’s provincial regulator, including falsifying records. One pharmacist also faces allegations of taking or misappropriating drugs from the shop on Victoria Avenue.  Fort William Medical Pharmacy and two pharmacis

Dr. Sophia Halassy couldn’t be happier. The 32-year old bilingual obstetrician-gynecologist is settling into a new job at the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre in Moncton, helping to tackle a years-long waiting list of patients.  This is a homecoming for Halassy, her husband and their two young daughters. After more than a deca

B.C.’s Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender says she has found “systemic discrimination” in how health authorities detain vulnerable adults who are at risk of harm. Adults who appear to be abused, neglected, or facing self-neglect and are unable to give consent for care in hospitals or care facilities are sometimes detained u

A Canadian researcher has won a 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for discovering the GLP-1 hormone used in diabetes and obesity medications — including Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro — that have changed the lives of millions of people around the world. Dr. Daniel Drucker, an endocrinologist and a clinician-scientist at the University of Toron

Ontario’s measles outbreak has become so big that public health officials in New York state have included the province in a travel advisory that urges residents to get vaccinated before visiting. “Measles is only a car ride away!” reads the April 2nd measles travel advisory for all New Yorkers from the New York State Department [&

There is a window of relief for British Columbia farmers from the devastating waves of avian flu, leaving them to assess the toll of outbreaks spanning more than three years that saw millions of birds culled at hundreds of farms. Farmers and scientists also worry what the next migration of wild birds will bring this year. Some […]

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. travelled to West Texas on Sunday after a second unvaccinated school-aged child died from a measles-related illness. Ahead of a “Make America Healthy Again” tour across the southwestern United States, Kennedy said in a social media post that he was in Gaines County to comfort families who had

An independent report detailing the “choices and mistakes” that led to the overdose death of a first-year University of Victoria student in January 2024 has been released by the university, casting new light on the circumstances of the incident and her parent’s fight for transparency in the year since. The report, written by forme

A Burnaby spa employee who provided purported vaginal-tightening treatments has been found guilty on all seven charges of sexual assault by a B.C. Supreme Court jury. Farshad Khojsteh Kashani was first charged in 2022 after two clients of Fab Skin Care complained to police of being sexually assaulted during treatments. After police said there might

This story is part of CBC Health’s Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here. Many top scientists in the U.S. are now out of a job. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is aiming […]

Recent city data shows the number of non-fatal suspected overdoses paramedics respond to has declined over the last six months. The figures were collected by Toronto Public Health in collaboration with Toronto Paramedic Services using the calls it receives each month.  In September, there were 357 reported non-fatal suspected overdoses, a number th

Patrick Cully wasn’t sure his daughter Scarlet would ever be able to say, “I love you.” But she’s now talking, thanks to applied behaviour analysis (ABA) therapy in Thunder Bay, Ont., where the four-year-old lives with her parents, and a $190,000 grant the family says they received under Jordan’s Principle, a program r

Health officials in three Ontario hotspots for measles are focusing on communication and vaccination to help get the outbreaks under control. Public Health Ontario on Thursday reported 89 new cases of measles since March 26, bringing the province’s total of confirmed and probable cases this year to 655. They have been linked to a travel-relat

Nova Scotia’s health authority says it has hired one doctor eager to leave the United States because of President Donald Trump, and is in talks with more than two dozen more. The authority launched a digital recruiting campaign in the U.S. in November, targeting physicians feeling uneasy about the election results. “We saw it as an [&he

Scientists may have produced the strongest evidence yet that the shingles vaccine is linked to reduced dementia risk. Using the health records of more than 280,000 older adults in Wales, researchers found those who received the shingles vaccine were 20 per cent less likely to develop dementia over the next seven years than those who […]

Saskatchewan adults might not have sufficient immunity to the latest measles outbreak and are being asked to check their vaccination records and get a booster shot if needed. Cases of measles, which is highly contagious and can lead to serious complications, have been on the rise across Canada recently and there were three cases in Saskatchewan in

Some fungal diseases in humans no longer respond to medicines, which increases the risk of severe illness and death as well disease spread, according to a new report. On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) published what it calls its first-ever report on the lack of tests and treatments for fungal infections. Yeasts, moulds and mushrooms [

This First Person column is by Eyasu Yakob, who is a nursing student in Edmonton. For more information about CBC’s First Person stories, please see the FAQ.  I began nursing school in 2021 at the University of Alberta during the COVID-19 pandemic. Across Canada, growing attention was being raised around the shortage of nurses as many [&hellip

Prescription drugs have been exempt from tariffs in the past. But Donald Trump looks poised to change that as early as April 2. That could result in shortages for critical drugs for Americans, warn experts.  Bupropion, used to treat major depressive disorder; ibalizumab, for patients with multi-drug-resistant HIV; and sotalol, to treat a life-threa

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 t

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 […]

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 […]

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.

This story is part of CBC Health’s Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here. There’s a sizzling debate on social media over seed oils, with some people adamantly claiming they are unhealthy. But 

Bird flu is at a dangerous point in the United States: Nearly 167 million birds have been impacted by the H5N1 strain since 2022, and 70 people have been infected. Now, birds are flying our way for the spring migration season. A snow goose near Montreal, a great horned owl in southwestern Ontario, a Canada goose in […]

At the end of the fourth round in a six-round fight on Aug. 28, 2021, Jeanette Zacarias Zapata went into convulsions. A left uppercut and a right hook from her opponent were among the string of punches that had become too much to overcome for the 18-year-old Mexican boxer. Her trainer, on-site paramedics and a […]

7 days ago News Duration 2:55 Originally touted as a healthier option than cigarettes, statistics show vaping’s popularity is rising among young people in Quebec. Health experts say it’s now become a public health issue, and they’re trying to develop ways to help people stop.

The Cure is a CBC News series examining strategies provinces and territories are using to tackle the primary care crisis. A group of doctors in British Columbia’s northeast, with the help of city council, has saved a clinic from closure — and now has its sights set on bringing team-based care to a region where many people are […]

Weekly tutoring sessions. Reluctance to see friends in person. These are just some ways in which the educational impacts of COVID-19 still linger for Katherine Korakakis and her children, 14-year-old Bella and 17-year-old Nathan. “We’re spending probably close to $400 a week for the children to supplement and there’s no other opti

As Canada deals with its largest measles outbreak in more than a decade, health experts say a COVID-era tool could help tame the spread. Wastewater surveillance, which involves testing sewage samples for viral pathogens, became essential during the pandemic. The data helped overwhelmed health officials map out COVID-19’s path and better predi

Around 10:45 on the morning of Feb. 25, Lee Goguen asked her father if he had any last requests. The death that was coming to 70-year-old Gerald Goguen was the death he had chosen weeks in advance and his wife of 41 years had chosen to go with him.    Diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2008, Gerald’s […]

When Bruce Masales was diagnosed with Stage 4 bladder cancer, he says the news came without warning. But as a longtime volunteer Halifax firefighter, Masales said he at least took comfort in the belief he would receive financial compensation.  However, Masales said he was told he doesn’t qualify under the provincial Workers’ Compensatio

Wietske Flor goes through every day wondering when the next seizure will hit.  Sometimes, the seizures happen multiple times a day. Sometimes, days will go by without one, leaving her on guard and waiting for the inevitable.  It means the 41-year-old Chilliwack mom can’t be left alone to care for her three kids, aged nine […]

The health unit for Oxford County, Elgin County and the City of St. Thomas is dealing with almost half of the measles cases in Ontario with 228 people infected, predominantly in unvaccinated kids.  The medical officer of health for Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) said Thursday that 28 new cases were reported this past week. He also debunked [&hel

Quirks and Quarks19:30Beyond long COVID — how reinfections could be causing silent long term organ damage COVID may no longer be considered an official global emergency, but mounting scientific evidence suggests every COVID infection a person gets increases their risk of developing long-term health issues.  “There is no such thing as a COVID

Hundreds of nurses rallied outside several Ontario hospitals on Thursday to demand that CEOs improve staffing levels across the province. The Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA), which represents 68,000 registered nurses, health care professionals and student affiliates, said it wants hospital leaders to implement registered nurse-to-patient st

In an 11-page court document filed Thursday, the former CEO of Alberta Health Services alleges the province’s health minister and AHS have crafted a narrative about her that is “completely unfounded, entirely fictitious, malicious” and replete with “bad faith allegations.” Athana Mentzelopoulos was responding to statem

This story is part of CBC Health’s Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here. Once a day, Tim Lagman takes a pill that reduces his risk of contracting HIV, a precaution he’s taken since […]

Measles is so infectious that when under-vaccinated individuals mingle, they’ll always be at risk. That’s why public health officials are stressing the importance of high vaccination rates amid backsliding and growing outbreaks. The disease is spreading across the country, with hundreds of cases reported this year and the majority in On

When Jennie Passche gets sick, she finds herself in a competition to get care. The 65-year-old in Esquimalt, on B.C.’s Vancouver Island, says she has to wake up early to call her community’s urgent and primary care centre, which opened in 2021 to provide same-day care and alleviate the family doctor shortage. But by the time […]

Canada has slipped to 18th place in the global World Happiness Report, down three spots from last year and placing it among the “largest losers” in happiness rankings over the last two decades, according to the annual report released Thursday. At its peak, in the 2015 report, Canada had placed fifth. Now, in 18th, Canada has dropped to

Marcie McIlveen never thought she’d work in a hospital. Due to her negative experiences in treatment for substance use disorder on about 14 occasions, “I hated health care, did not like it, wanted nothing to do with it,” McIlveen said. What she endured, however, has led to the work she does today. McIlveen is a peer […]

The provincial government has for years kept a hand in the contracting-out of private surgeries through Alberta Health Services, despite repeated comments by the premier and health minister that any potential issues with procurement are AHS’s own responsibility. Multiple documents obtained by CBC News show direct interventions by Alberta̵

As astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams get their land legs back on Earth, the effects of being stranded in space for nine months — and their recovery — will give scientists a chance to improve preparations for eventual, and even longer, space flights, say experts. NASA aims to send humans to Mars as early as the 2030s; flights which, there [

As concerns about measles grow, and case counts tick up, health-care workers are preparing for a surge and pleading with Albertans to ensure they’re fully vaccinated. According to Alberta Health there were 13 confirmed cases in the province as of midday Tuesday, including two in the Calgary zone, three in the Edmonton zone and eight in the no

Testing wastewater for diseases and viral activity gained prominence during the pandemic, but scientists are concerned that funding for such work could be threatened. Monitoring wastewater for pathogens — and even illicit and prescription drugs — was around for decades before the pandemic, but the method of estimating virus levels gained public att

The United States reported the first outbreak of the deadly H7N9 bird flu on a poultry farm since 2017, as the country continues to grapple with another bird flu strain that has infected humans and caused egg prices to hit record highs. The spread of avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has ravaged flocks around […]

Five weeks after Cathy Croskery’s right breast was biopsied for suspected cancer, she still hadn’t received the results. She figured that was good news. It wasn’t. The 58-year-old mother and wife eventually discovered she has invasive carcinoma, but had to track down that diagnosis herself. Croskery doesn’t have a family doc

Protesters demanding the government provide more funding and treatment for people with long COVID gathered at a demonstration at the Vancouver Art Gallery on Saturday. Long COVID is a chronic condition that can lead to debilitating symptoms, like brain fog and fatigue, months or even years after an acute COVID-19 infection. No one knows exactly how

The Dose22:51What does the research show about the benefits of creatine supplements? Creatine is a naturally occurring compound that provides energy to our muscles and brain, but it also comes in supplement form. It’s long been used by athletes and bodybuilders, but now some research suggests it may also improve cognition. Darren Candow, prof

As anxiety grew among Nova Scotians over the fear of the arrival of COVID-19 in early March 2020, Premier Stephen McNeil wanted to meet with a public health official he barely knew. That person’s name? Dr. Robert Strang, the province’s chief medical officer of health. Because Public Health operates independently of government, McNeil sa

White Coat Black Art26:30Saving elderly patients from the hazards of the ER It’s 7 a.m. in the emergency department of St. Mary’s Hospital in Montreal, and geriatric nurse Leeza Paolone is starting her day in front of a screen filled with patient names, taking note of each one highlighted in blue. “We’re fighting against the

In response to an Ontario-wide measles outbreak, with many cases occurring near Brantford, some public health units have expanded vaccinations to include infants as young as six months.  Typically, the measles vaccine is given to children at one year old and then four years old.  But with dozens of cases reported in the community, Grand Erie Public

From finishing high school to caring for patients in the hospital, here’s how five people navigated the beginning of the pandemic.

The Alberta government wants to cut more than $400 million in the fees it pays to doctors, according to a confidential memo obtained by The Canadian Press. The Feb. 18 memo, sent by Alberta Medical Association head Dr. Shelley Duggan to member physicians, says Alberta’s health ministry seeks cuts to more than 800 physician billing […]

Two people died a little over an hour apart in Victoria on Monday, Victoria police and the B.C. Coroners Service have confirmed.  An outreach worker says the city’s enforcement of anti-sheltering bylaws has made it more difficult for support workers to help those struggling on downtown streets and blames their deaths on drug overdoses. The B.

Dr. Alex Wong vividly remembers the night, five years ago, when he read modelling data about the potential surge of COVID-19 positive patients in Saskatchewan. His kids were sleeping peacefully, unaware of what was coming. “[It] basically showed that we were going to get crushed, like the system was going to get crushed,” he said, revea

British Columbia has turned its eye toward luring doctors and nurses from the United States to move north in what Health Minister Josie Osborne is calling an “unprecedented” recruitment opportunity. Osborne says the province is changing its licensing rules so U.S.-trained doctors can begin practising in B.C. right away, without any need

When Nathanael Rafinejad first moved to Montreal, they loved the city’s nightlife and worked as a bartender and a waiter while studying business management. But after catching COVID-19 in January 2022, the 29-year-old is now mostly confined to their apartment. “I feel completely cut off from the world most of the time,” said Rafin

Hantavirus, the rodent-borne pathogen blamed for the death of concert pianist Betsy Arakawa, the wife of actor Gene Hackman, is a rare but often fatal virus that has killed at least 34 people in Canada over the past three decades. Arakawa, 65, died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in mid-February, roughly a week before the 95-year-old Hackman [&hel

Conversations are happening in Nova Scotia about developing the first midwifery education program east of Quebec. Documents released to CBC News under freedom of information laws show correspondence between provincial officials in recent months that mention Mount Saint Vincent University and Cape Breton University as possible locations. It’s

Retired nurse Valerie Alderson doesn’t find herself thinking back to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic anymore, but when someone brings it up, “it’s a flashback of what has happened.” That includes the death of her 82-year-old dad, Lloyd Hodgins, who was sent to the hospital after breaking his hip in a fall and [&helli

Stem cell researchers are trying to reverse a deadly genetic variant that’s plagued families in this province for generations. Those who carry the mutation say the medical research is straight out of science fiction.

In defence of the Cialis and Viagra he was accused of passing off as “natural health” remedies, Yan (Andy) Zhang claimed he took one of the products himself — “almost daily.” The owner of four Lower Mainland sex shops said he had “no adverse reaction” to the medicine that he sold as a “reliable traditional

In the fall provincial election campaign, Premier David Eby and NDP candidates made bold promises for investments to improve the health-care system in order to address staff shortages and gaps in vital services. But patient groups and health-care workers who spoke to CBC News say they are disappointed to see several key campaign promises absent fro

This story is part of CBC Health’s Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here. Measles infections are ticking up and up across multiple provinces, with more cases already this year than all of 2024. Loca

The annual death toll of people experiencing homelessness in British Columbia has nearly tripled in just a four-year period, according to the B.C. Coroners Service. A new report says at least 458 homeless people died in 2023, up 23 per cent from the year before, when 373 died. The new toll was also nearly three times […]

A historic deal that calls for three major tobacco companies to pay out billions in compensation to provinces and territories as well as former smokers across Canada has cleared its final legal hurdle in Ontario, bringing a decades-long court saga to a close. Ontario Superior Court Chief Justice Geoffrey Morawetz approved the $32.5-billion plan in

Public health officials are warning some 2,500 people they may have been exposed to blood-borne infections at a Toronto gynecology office where medical tools were not properly cleaned. Toronto Public Health said in a letter to patients that during a four-year span beginning in October 2020, tools at Dr. Esther Park’s clinic in the High Park n

In a small auditorium at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, about a half-dozen cancer patients sit, getting tips on how to deal with hair loss during chemotherapy. It’s not an unusual workshop for cancer patients — except that every patient in the room is under 40. It’s part of a program at the […]

The federal government is moving to add PFAS, a class of thousands of chemicals used in a wide range of products from food containers to clothing, to the official list of toxic substances, in light of growing scientific and public concern about the substances in Canada and around the world. PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl […]

Measles is a respiratory disease caused by a highly contagious virus that’s more infectious than influenza, chickenpox or COVID-19. Measles illnesses tend to be mild, but the severity can range from ear infections and pneumonia to swelling of the brain called encephalitis — which can lead to convulsions, deafness or intellectual disability. I

In Nanyuki, a market town just northwest of Mount Kenya, some foreign aid workers and volunteers are worried what U.S. President Donald Trump’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development will mean for the people there. “It’s a concern. It’s a real issue,” said Rex Taylor, co-founder and president of T

When Kwaku Ayisi lost a friend who hadn’t even reached 40 to breast cancer, it inspired him to look at the barriers Black women face in Saskatchewan’s breast-health system. Ayisi, a researcher at the University of Regina, saw that Black women had much higher breast cancer mortality rates and wanted to know why. He found that Black women

He was known as “the man with the golden arm.” James Harrison, who according to the Australian Red Cross was the world’s most prolific blood and plasma donor, has died at age 88. Harrison’s plasma contained the rare antibody Anti-D, also known as Rhesus D antibody, which is used to make the medication given to mothers whose

WARNING: This story mentions suicide. People who take prohibited psychedelics such as psilocybin or LSD and go to the emergency department for care show a higher risk of death within five years compared with Canada’s general population, a new study suggests. Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs. In the last 10 years, use of dru

Ontario identified 78 new measles cases over the course of two weeks, public health officials said Thursday, calling it the largest outbreak the province has seen in almost 30 years. The new cases bring Ontario’s total this year to just over 140, far surpassing the 101 total infections recorded in the province between 2013 and […]

This story is part of CBC Health’s Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here. A drug prevention program that began in Montreal has been found to reduce the risk of substance use disorders in […]

Five years after the first reported COVID-19 case in Quebec, the province’s curfew remains controversial — more than half the fines are unpaid, legal battles continue and health experts still debate whether the benefits outweighed the costs. Quebec was the only province to prohibit its citizens from leaving their homes at night during the pan

White Coat Black Art26:30What if palliative care was about living better? Palliative care has an image problem. Despite what people think, it’s not some kind of “Grim Reaper service,” say two of Canada’s leading experts in this field of medicine. Ideally, it should focus on improving a patient’s quality of life when th

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration took part in a World Health Organization meeting to discuss flu vaccine composition, an official at the UN agency said on Friday. President Donald Trump started the 12-month withdrawal process for the U.S. to leave the WHO on his first day […]

As It Happens7:03For the 1st time in Canada, surgeons are putting teeth in patients’ eyes to restore sight When Brent Chapman’s doctor first pitched him on the idea of having one of his own teeth surgically embedded in his eye to restore his sight, he says he felt “a little apprehensive.” But then he spoke […]

Andrea Hancock says she understands that people are angry with her daughter — she’s angry too — but she says the 19-year-old is also severely unwell, and she warned police, social workers, doctors, shelter workers, therapists — even the neighbours — that her daughter was dangerous.   “I said, ‘Somebody is going to get hurt …

The Cure is a CBC News series examining strategies provinces and territories are using to tackle the primary care crisis. With Canada currently in the depths of the cold and flu season and COVID continuing to spread year round, frustrated doctors say they don’t want to waste time writing notes to excuse people from school […]

The former head of Alberta Health Services Athana Mentzelopoulos tried to caution the government about the potential impact of chartered surgical facilities on the provincial health-care system months before she was fired, CBC has learned. Mentzelopoulos earlier this month filed a $1.7 million wrongful dismissal suit alleging she faced government p

In northern Ontario’s largest city, the drug toxicity crisis can sometimes feel like a battlefield, with white crosses lined up on a bustling downtown corner and anxious family members flooding social media for news of their loved ones. Accidental overdoses are the leading cause of death for adults under 50 years old in the Greater […]

WARNING: This story contains an image of an infant with serious injuries and a description of the injury and death of several other babies. At least six infants have died from cold-related injuries over the past two weeks in the Gaza Strip, local medics say, due to a lack of adequate shelter and heating. Temperatures […]

The Cure is a CBC News series examining strategies provinces and territories are using to tackle the primary care crisis. Kristen Walsh pours over the journal she uses to log everything she can about managing her multiple chronic medical conditions without a family doctor. Walsh, who lives in Conception Bay South, N.L., just outside St. […]

When Lorraine Brown got her bone density scan results earlier this year, she was shocked to find that the lab had listed her ethnicity as ‘white’ and that the results were based on norms for Caucasian women — because she is Black.  The more she dug into the issue, the angrier she became after being told […]

Ken Rekowski has had to make a home of his room at the Renfrew Victoria Hospital for most of the last 16 years. The 53-year-old was first admitted in 2009 after a car crash left him with a serious brain injury. Since then, he’s been waiting for suitable permanent care in the small community west of […]

Health A news release from Health Canada says the solvent can be absorbed through the skin or by inhaling it, and it may cause harm to fetal development and the reproductive system when used frequently. Affected products have expiry dates of November 2025 and April 2026 The Canadian Press · Posted: Feb 22, 2025 7:50 […]

The Current19:15How to beat insomnia with cognitive behavioural therapy For more than 30 years, Faye Dickieson battled the exhausting effects of insomnia. She turned to sleeping pills in an attempt to get a peaceful night’s rest, but found no relief — only its lingering side effects.  “I would just toss and turn, toss and turn,” [

The flu may be at its worst in Canada since the COVID-19 pandemic. The Public Health Agency of Canada’s Flu Watch report, released Friday, shows test positivity for influenza at 26.9 per cent and rising. “Nationally, indicators of influenza activity continue to increase,” according to the report. “The percentage of tests pos

White Coat Black Art26:30Primary care for all: Lessons from Denmark Emily Ritchie wasn’t nervous about finding a doctor in Denmark. She knew that within days of moving from Vancouver to her family’s new home in Copenhagen last year, they would be connected to a general practitioner.  Denmark residents are given a card with a number they

It was in early January that Awanti Naik’s symptoms first crept up on her, starting with double vision and quickly followed by a debilitating headache and a strange feeling in her face.  “There was heaviness in my jaw and eyes, and my throat was completely blocked,” she said. “I was very much worried.”  She and [&helli

Health Canada is warning people that unauthorized sexual enhancement products sold in at least three provinces may pose serious health risks. In a public advisory published on Wednesday, the agency told people to stop using the 372 different products they’d identified — with names like Spanish Fly 22,000, Rhino 69 and Magnum Gold  — and consu

Ontario’s Ministry of Health is asking some health units in the province to accelerate and expand administering measles vaccines as outbreaks continue to grow. The areas in question are in the southwest where 92 cases of measles have been confirmed since January, many in children and almost all in unvaccinated people. Southwestern Public Heal

Seasonal flu vaccines need to be updated each year because the virus changes so frequently. But the U.S. hasn’t contributed its information on what’s spreading there since January, a World Health Organization (WHO) official said. For seasonal influenza, which forced schools to shut down in some American states earlier this month, the da

British Columbia’s health minister has announced that the province is changing its safer-supply anti-addiction program to a witnessed model, in which users will be watched as they consume the drugs.  Josie Osborne says the “significant” change to end the take-home model will be difficult for some but is designed to reduce the crim

An independent group of physicians on Vancouver Island is renewing calls for B.C.s Ministry of Health to make good on a promise to create space for overdose prevention at acute care facilities.  An unsanctioned overdose prevention site has been set up near the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, where volunteers with experience in recognizing and [

The Vatican says Pope Francis has developed pneumonia in both his lungs, after new tests showed a further complication in the condition of the 88-year-old Pope. The Vatican said late Tuesday that Francis’s respiratory infection also involves asthmatic bronchitis, which required the use of cortisone antibiotic treatment. “Laboratory test

Health authorities in British Columbia say a new case of the measles has been confirmed in the Lower Mainland, in a resident who travelled to Southeast Asia. A joint statement from Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health says the infection was acquired by a Fraser Health resident and that public health officials are following up […]

WARNING: This article contains mention of suicide and suicidal ideation. You can find ​a​ variety of things on​ a New Brunswick​ farm: potatoes​, cows and ​a tractor, ​for instance — and more stress than you might think. A recently launched crisis line aimed at Canadian farmers is a much-needed resource, according to a New Brunswick group.  Anxiety

A remote First Nation in eastern Manitoba has a new emergency response vehicle to move people in need of medical treatment. People in Poplar River First Nation have previously been transported in the beds of pickup trucks or the backs of SUVs or vans. “It was uncomfortable for the patients in our community,” said Poplar […]

Health-care workers in Nunavut say changes to a federal funding program for Inuit children are forcing some pregnant women to make a tough choice: have a safe birth or ensure the kids they already have are properly cared for. The Inuit Child First Initiative (ICFI) was launched in 2019 to ensure Inuit kids have access […]

The Dose21:45What do I need to know about HPV and the HPV vaccine? Gilles Charette first noticed something was going on with his body when he found an anal wart during a shower.  Charette confirmed with a nurse practitioner that he had acquired a human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, and quickly received topical ointment for treatment.  […]

A UCP cabinet minister is urging the premier to remove Health Minister Adriana LaGrange from her post while investigations continue into serious allegations a fired Alberta Health Services CEO has made about major health contracts, CBC News has learned. Infrastructure Minister Peter Guthrie sent a memo Thursday to his cabinet colleagues urging quic

This story is part of CBC Health’s Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here. Whether it’s kosher, Himalayan pink or sea salt, Canadians have a wide range of choices when it comes to salts. [&hell

The United States’ pause on foreign aid contributions is having a serious impact on global health, hitting programs fighting polio, HIV and other threats, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday. Tedros urged the U.S. to consider resuming aid funding until solutions can be found. “There are a

The former CEO of Alberta Health Services has filed a $1.7-million wrongful dismissal lawsuit against AHS and the province. Athana Mentzelopoulos claims she was fired because she’d launched an investigation and forensic audit into various contracts and was reassessing deals she had concluded were overpriced with private surgical companies she

The call to Angela Rasmussen came out of the blue and posed a troubling question. Had she heard the rumour that key data sets would be removed from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website the next day? It’s something Rasmussen had thought could never happen. “It had never really been thought of before [&helli

Two years ago, on a late November morning, Sylvie Hudon woke up shaking like a leaf. The 66-year-old, who is paralyzed from the waist down, was trembling from what she says were the early signs of sepsis. She hadn’t seen it coming. Just the day before, nurses visiting her Quebec City home had told her she had […]

Canada’s newly appointed fentanyl czar says his goal is to bring the already low percentage of the deadly opioid smuggled south into the United States down to zero. “Getting the number to zero is in fact our goal and should be our goal,” Kevin Brosseau told reporters Wednesday, his first official day in the position. “If it

You may be seeing and hearing a lot of people coughing and sneezing around you right now. Why? Well, Canada’s winter respiratory virus season got off a late start and now it is in full swing, officials say. That suggests more people are sick with the flu and landing in the hospital compared to years past.  “We […]

Neskantaga First Nation in northwestern Ontario has been under a boil-water advisory for over 30 years — the longest in effect in Canada — and now leaders of the remote Ojibway community are ramping up efforts to get the federal government to pay for a new water treatment plant. “It’s been traumatic for a lot of my people. We […]

A dairy worker in Nevada who was infected with a new type of bird flu that’s different from the version that has been spreading in U.S. herds since last year has recovered, federal health officials said Monday. The illness was considered mild. The person’s main symptom was eye redness and irritation, similar to most bird […]

A lawyer representing Horizon Health Network and two of its nurses says a lawsuit filed against them by the family of a man who died waiting for care at the Fredericton hospital’s emergency department in 2022 should be dismissed with costs. Susan Mesheau of Fredericton, executor of the estate of her brother Darrell Mesheau, is suing Horizon, 

A huge swath of northern Ontario between Timmins and Thunder Bay has almost no one trained in obstetrics, forcing women to relocate for the final weeks of pregnancy. CBC’s Nick Purdon went there to find out what it’s like to navigate the ‘maternity ward desert.’

Brent Devloo says his iPad is the reason he was able to graduate high school after he suddenly became blind in the 11th grade.  Now, the Langley resident is fundraising to give iPads to other visually impaired youth.  Devloo was 16 when he lost his vision one day in history class in 2011. He was […]

Alberta’s auditor general has launched an investigation into procurement and contracting processes within the province’s health authority to address “concerns or allegations related to contracting and potential conflicts of interest.” In a statement Thursday, Auditor General Doug Wylie said his probe within the department of

This story is part of CBC Health’s Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here. With football fans expected to wager billions of dollars on this year’s Super Bowl, experts are urging governments to

A New Hampshire man fought for the chance at a pig kidney transplant, spending months getting into good enough shape to be part of a small pilot study of a highly experimental treatment. His effort paid off: Tim Andrews, 66, is only the second person known to be living with a pig kidney. Andrews is […]

The U.S. winter virus season is in full force, and by one measure is the most intense in 15 years. One indicator of flu activity is the percentage of doctor’s office visits driven by flu-like symptoms. Last week, that number was clearly higher than the peak of any winter flu season since 2009-2010, according to […]

When Trisha Holland’s father applied for a medically-assisted death, she had to decide what — and how much — to share with her three children. Her father, Ronald Watt, had been diagnosed with cancer and chose medical assistance in dying (MAID) after learning his illness was terminal. At the time, Holland’s sons were 10, 13 and […

U.S. dairy cattle tested positive for a strain of bird flu that previously had not been seen in cows, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Wednesday, ramping up concerns about the persistent spread of the virus. The H5N1 virus has reduced milk output in cattle, pushed up egg prices by wiping out millions of […]

An Opposition critic is calling for an inquiry into B.C.’s safer supply drug program after it emerged that the province is investigating the diversion of opioids prescribed by doctors and pharmacists. A recent B.C. Ministry of Health document says a “significant portion” of prescribed opioids is being diverted and that prescribed

Twenty years ago, Susan O’Sullivan was working full-time with the Ministry of Forests and volunteering as a singer at her local art centre when her voice began to crack.  “There was some crack that started happening in my voice randomly, and I couldn’t understand what it was . . . you sort of put it […]

The province sent out a notification on Tuesday warning the public of five confirmed cases of measles in southern Manitoba that are connected to an outbreak in Ontario.  The cases involve five people living in the same household who recently travelled to Ontario, and have since been told to isolate themselves at home, a provincial […]

A Halifax woman with lymphedema who fought the Nova Scotia government in court — and won — is now getting out-of-country treatment paid for by the province.  Jennifer Brady, 46, is meeting with a medical team at the Institute for Lymphatic Surgery and Innovation in New Jersey this week for testing that will determine which type […]

This is the first in a two-part series looking at what it takes to deliver emergency care in the central Manitoulin region in Ontario. The family doctor shortage in northeastern Ontario has caused some emergency rooms to close, but what may be less well known to the public is how many others are frequently on the […]

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is facing its greatest threat since its inception over 60 years ago, as President Donald Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk spent the weekend impugning the agency that has contributed to Washington being the most critical source of foreign assistance around the world. USAID employees wh

If you’re taking a flight or attending a conference, chances are you’ll get meat on your tray unless you request a vegetarian meal. Photos of meaty steaks and burgers feature prominently on menus and flyers. Even daycares and hospitals typically serve meat-heavy menus. Public health recommendations such as Canada Food’s Guide and

The Dose26:02How can I spot and deal with health and science misinformation? A new survey from the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) shows that health misinformation is on the rise, as more Canadians turn to social media for their news over traditional media organizations.  According to the CMA’s annual health and media tracking survey, 62 p

This story is part of CBC Health’s Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here. A patient sounds slightly short of breath with a subtle decline in their strength. The diagnosis? It could literally be [&he

More than 100 years after his death, Anderson Ruffin Abbott’s visit to the White House and his relationship with President Abraham Lincoln continue to fascinate people. Abbott, a man of notable firsts, is included in Jill L. Newmark’s book Without Concealment, Without Compromise: The Courageous Lives of Black Civil War Surgeons. In addi

Canada’s healthcare system increasingly relies on internationally trained professionals but many immigrants complain that becoming licensed to practice here takes months, if not years, even as different levels of government recognize the need to accelerate the accreditation process.  Some new arrivals say they’re falling through the cra

A B.C. ostrich farm ordered to kill off its entire herd of what it says is roughly 400 birds due to an avian flu infection is instead fighting its case in court — and in the court of public opinion. Universal Ostrich is located on a rural road near Edgewood, in B.C.’s West Kootenay region. […]

Politics Health Minister Mark Holland says he’s looking forward to signing more pharmacare deals with provinces and territories “in the coming days” — and opposition parties should rethink their plans to bring down the government this spring to allow that to happen. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he plans to vote down government in

A teenager and the man he saved from a tent engulfed in flames are forming an unlikely friendship. Zeke Fox, 17, dragged Shawn Goodwin to safety on the night of Jan. 5 as a fire destroyed the 53-year-old’s encampment at Bayfront Park in Hamilton.  Since then, Fox has visited Goodwin several times in Hamilton General Hospital’s burn [&he

Three employees at the Halifax Infirmary hospital were injured by a patient Wednesday, including two who were stabbed, according to sources. Halifax Regional Police were called to the hospital, the region’s largest, around 1 p.m. for a weapons complaint. Police took the patient into custody. An email to staff from Nova Scotia Health CEO Karen

Past statements attributed to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. regarding vaccine safety were in focus Wednesday during his confirmation hearing to become the top health official in the United States. In sometimes heated exchanges, Kennedy denied that he is anti-vaccine. But Kennedy, who pointed out that his children are vaccinated, acknowledged he has asked &

On Jan. 28, 2020, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry held a news conference announcing B.C.’s first confirmed case of COVID-19, setting into motion what would be months of public health restrictions and uncertainty amid the world’s worst pandemic in over a century. Five years later, Henry is reflecting on the “collective t

A new study is showing a policy change in 2016 related to the vaccination of some premature babies for RSV in Nova Scotia led to a tenfold increase in the number of infants in that group that were hospitalized with the respiratory virus. The policy was reversed in 2023. Halifax pediatric infectious disease physician Joanne Langley […]

In early 2020, Lili Wu was already “armed to the teeth” whenever she ventured to public places near her home in Port Coquitlam, B.C. — face mask, sanitizer, protective eyewear and gloves. It was more than a month before the World Health Organization’s March declaration of a global pandemic that introduced most other Canadians to [

Two friendly eyes stare out from a dark screen, held aloft by a black robotic arm that curves upwards from a metallic blue base. The robot’s 12-year-old inventor gazes back.  “How would you describe yourself? Give me a five-word answer,” Alex Rose tells his creation.  AIRO, which stands for AI Robot, pauses and then replies in [&h

Nicotine control groups that have waited years for a nationwide ban on vaping flavours say they’ve now been given indications it won’t happen — despite the minister responsible vowing last fall that the restrictions were coming “soon.” Cynthia Callard, executive director of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada, said she and re

This First Person column is by Julianna Maggrah, a Cree filmmaker and storyteller based in Prince Albert, Sask. For more information about CBC’s First Person stories, please see the FAQ.  I used to think I was broken. Now, after learning about Indigenous views of autism, I consider myself gifted. I am Cree. My people have long had a word [&he

The jury in the Florence Girard coroner’s inquest has returned a unanimous verdict, classifying the death of the 54-year-old woman with Down syndrome as homicide caused by starvation. Homicide is a neutral term for human-caused death that does not imply criminality or intent. The five-person jury also submitted 13 recommendations, including b

Most days, Lisa Cloutier takes her preschool class outside: exploring the forest nearby or running around the east Toronto school where their daycare is located. “Kids naturally are curious. They’re going to try to climb the bleachers and jump off the top,” said the longtime early childhood educator (ECE), who recalls scrambling o

An Ontario court has thrown out a Charter challenge of a long-term care law that allows hospitals to move people into homes they didn’t choose, or charge them $400 a day if they want to go elsewhere. The case — brought forward by the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly (ACE) and the Ontario Health Coalition — was heard in the Superior Court [&hel

This story is part of CBC Health’s Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here. Those working at the World Health Organization had been expecting the worst — but Donald Trump’s executive order still

The union representing workers with the Public Health Agency of Canada says the federal government is not renewing the contracts of over 800 employees, including at least 245 at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.  Shimen Fayad, national president of the Union of Health and Environment Workers, told Radio-Canada in an email the health

Amy Silva has always recognized the importance of being part of a network of doulas who understand the intricacies of supporting clients during childbirth. The London, Ont., doula’s need for community was reaffirmed last year when she was in court as one of the 17 victims of Kaitlyn Braun, the Brantford woman who pleaded guilty to faking preg

British Columbia’s attorney general says the B.C. Supreme Court has certified the province’s class-action lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors. Niki Sharma says B.C. can now proceed as a representative plaintiff on behalf of other Canadian governments with the litigation aimed at recovering the costs of treating opioid-

For the past five weeks, Toronto night nurse Keren Elumir has been handing out clean underwear and electrolyte packets at a safe consumption and overdose prevention site in Moss Park. She’s been seeing more and more people with the telltale signs of a Shigella infection, also known as shigellosis: diarrhea, stomach cramps and fever. Toronto [

Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Health has enough COVID-19 vaccine doses for the province’s high-risk population this spring, but would not confirm whether it plans to purchase more doses in the future. The province has more than 100,000 doses, all of which were provided through the federal government’s procurement process. Ottawa has

Germany said Tuesday it will try to dissuade U.S. President Donald Trump from pulling out from the World Health Organization as many global health experts fear the move could substantially weaken global health security and set back progress in fighting infectious diseases like AIDS and malaria. “The new U.S. president’s announcement to

The Public Health Agency of Canada said nearly 1,600 people may have been infected with salmonella linked to the recall of mini pastries. The federal agency’s director of outbreak management said Monday that calculation is based on the agency’s estimation that for every reported case, there’s another 26.1 in the community. “

When Dr. Patrick Hemmons’s daughter Saoirse was born pre-term late last year, he wanted to protect her ahead of the coming respiratory illness season.  Hemmons, who is a family physician practising in northern British Columbia, wanted to get her a dose of nirsevimab, which can protect babies from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). But the mon

The Public Health Agency of Canada says 61 cases of salmonella across the country, including 17 that have required hospitalization, have been linked to recalled mini pastries. The agency says the Sweet Cream brand treat has been distributed at bakeries, hotels, restaurants, cafeterias, hospitals and retirement residences, as well as served at cater

This First Person column is written by Emily Ranft, who lives in Orillia, Ont. For more information about CBC’s First Person stories, please see the FAQ.  It was the day before my scheduled abortion.  My partner was in jail and I was gardening at the community church, trying to do something to move through time […]

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a recall due to a possible salmonella contamination of certain brands of eggs in multiple provinces. The agency says the recall covers Compliments, Foremost, Golden Valley Eggs, IGA, no name and Western Family eggs. The expiry dates for recalled eggs are Feb. 16, Feb. 22 and March 1. […]

In April 2017, Glenn Hussey went to The Ottawa Hospital for a regular checkup to monitor his smouldering multiple myeloma — a precursor to the rare blood plasma cancer multiple myeloma. He’d been going every few months for more than a decade. But this time, he remembers his doctor saying: “Everything has changed.” Hussey began can

This story is part of Welcome to Canada, a CBC News series about immigration told through the eyes of the people who have experienced it. Ismelda Ramirez says she never expected to swap her white doctor’s coat for a McDonald’s uniform. Despite training as a family doctor in the Dominican Republic, she ended up working at the […]

Many residents of Los Angeles are now waiting to return to what’s left of their homes. But even for those whose houses were spared, health concerns around smoke and ash will linger.

A London, Ont., teenager with brain cancer and her family will have to travel to the United States to receive a cutting edge form of radiation therapy that’s not yet available anywhere in Canada.  Hailey Merrylees, 17, was diagnosed with germinoma — the most common form of a brain tumour — in mid-November after a series of medical […]

Announcements of job cuts in the health network have multiplied in recent weeks as Quebec tries to eliminate a $1.5 billion deficit in the public health-care system. According to the most recent data from the Health Ministry, the number of employees in the network dropped to 348,353 in mid-December 2024 — a decrease of 1,045 […]

They started to arrive, and the line began to form, as early as 2 a.m. Despite a steady snowfall and bone-chilling cold, they came to stand outside and wait their turn, hours before the doors opened at 10 a.m.  This wasn’t a queue to purchase Taylor Swift concert tickets at a kiosk in downtown Toronto. This line was […]

U.S. regulators on Wednesday banned the additive called red dye No. 3 from the nation’s food supply, nearly 35 years after it was barred from cosmetics because of potential cancer risk. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials granted a 2022 petition filed by two dozen food safety and health advocates, who urged the agency […]

Major medical groups are proposing a change to how doctors diagnose obesity. In Tuesday’s issue of The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, 58 international experts across a range of medical specialties and people with lived experience released a report proposing a new definition and diagnostic criteria for clinical obesity. They say the curr

Catherine, Princess of Wales, said she was relieved to be in remission on Tuesday after visiting the London hospital where she received treatment for cancer to thank all the medics and staff there. Catherine, 43, underwent a course of preventative chemotherapy after major abdominal surgery a year ago revealed the presence of an unspecified form [&h

Two physician assistants have started work at the Saanich Peninsula Hospital on Vancouver Island, the first time the profession has been approved to work in a B.C. hospital setting. Physician assistants (PAs) are medical professionals who work under the supervision of physicians. While they do not possess a medical degree, they are educated through

Advocates with sight loss and people in the medical field in Halifax have been working on a number of initiatives to improve the delivery of health care for people who are blind or partially sighted.  Dalhousie University medical student Tyler Herod, who has helped lead some of the efforts, said focus groups have identified a number of barriers tho

This story is part of CBC Health’s Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here. Headlines warning people to throw out their black plastic kitchen utensils live on, as do social media posts warning of [&he

The Current27:00How to help a loved one drink less It’s a new year, and some Canadians are embarking on Dry January, following a holiday season replete with toasts and tipples. But author and journalist Maureen Palmer and her partner Mike Pond believe the ways we think about problem drinking could do more harm than good. For example, [&hellip

White Coat Black Art26:30Virtual doctors for real ERs Dr. Michael Ertel starts his emergency department shift at about 8 p.m., after making himself a cup of coffee and saying goodnight to his golden retriever, Norman. But he’s not going to the hospital. “Time to head down into the bunker,” he said. The “bunker” is the