The Ottawa Hospital starts testing overnight patients for superbugs

The Ottawa Hospital will begin testing overnight patients for two virulent strains of bacteria beginning in January to help combat infections and deaths.

Overnight patients will be screened for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), two strains of bacteria that, along with other hospital-acquired superbugs, kill thousands of Canadians annually.

The mandatory screening follows a pilot project the hospital conducted in the summer, which found that certain members of the patient population should but weren't screened for the drug-resistant bacteria, hospital spokeswoman Allison Neill said.

The Ottawa Hospital will be the second hospital to adopt universal screening for these two superbugs. Toronto's University Health Network initiated testing for these two bacteria in the fall.

If patients test positive for either bug, they will be isolated in private hospital rooms, the hospital said.

In the six months ended September 30th, there were 82 cases of hospital-acquired MRSA at the Ottawa Hospital.

In the same period, there were 18 cases of hospital-acquired VRE at the hospital.

Source: CBC

Children's Hospital in London, Ont., to recruit 4 new heart doctors

An all-out effort will be made in 2008 to recruit at least three new children’s heart doctors to London, the head of the city’s hospitals said.

“It is very, very important to me to sustain Children’s Hospital and therefore we are going to devote a lot of time and energy to try and make this happen,” said Cliff Nordal, president of both London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s Health Care.

Both of London’s children’s heart doctors, Dr. Dion Pepelassis and Dr. Ilan Buffo, have resigned to accept positions at Winnipeg Children’s Hospital at the end of June.

"London needs a minimum of three of the specialists to provide a sustainable service and will try to hire four by the end of 2008, " Nordal said.

“We will be looking as well at international medical graduates that are in training in Canada.”

Nordal called the loss of the two children’s heart specialists “a blip” in an otherwise successful drive to recruit health care professionals to London.

Faced with the closure of hospital beds because of a lack of nurses, London Health Sciences Centre set a target last February to hire 450 new nurses.
To date, the hospital has recruited about 340, allowing it to reopen all of the closed beds.

“We expect by the end of March we will reach our target,” Nordal said.

The closed beds contributed to extended waits for patients in the city’s emergency departments and led to the cancellation of some surgeries.

"Not all the problems will be solved with the beds reopened," Nordal said.

The hospital still has difficulties providing enough beds for acute care because 40 to 70 beds are occupied by people waiting for placement in long-term care facilities or back into the community.

The Ontario government announced it will expand the number of long-term care beds in the London area by 600, but those beds won’t be available until late 2010.

St. Joseph’s Health Care has proposed to the Health Ministry that it opens 50 beds at the Parkwood Hospital site, at least on a temporary basis, to reduce the pressure.

“That has not been approved yet, but we are hopeful that that will be considered as at least an interim step,” Nordal said.

Another challenge that will persist in the face of rising cancer rates is the wait times for cancer scans and therapies.
In the past year, the number of people receiving cancer therapy treatments at LHSC grew by 15 percent.

“It is just a burgeoning amount of care required. It spills over into surgery, it spills over into imaging and as a result those are the areas we are having our greatest wait list challenges.”

“Those will be areas we will try to tackle in the coming year, trying to get down to the provincial average where possible,” Nordal said.

Source: The London Free Press

Related article:

Two children's heart doctors for Winnipeg Regional

Two great stories about Canadian health care professionals

Here are two interesting stories I came across, about two Canadian health care professionals who have been active elsewhere in the world to share knowledge with their local health care professional counterparts.

Both are on their own, unique mission:

The first is Dr. Laura Louie, a naturopathic doctor from Vancouver, who set up an acupuncture clinic for HIV infected people in Thailand.

"It's Tuesday morning and Louie is only a few days off the plane from Canada when she arrives at the Mae On Clinic, bright and early so she can consult with head nurse Unchalee Pultajuk before the patients start arriving for the weekly HIV-acupuncture clinic."

"........Patients move from the acupuncture beds to a chair where a Tui Na massage completes their treatment. The traditional Chinese massage is done with bare hands -- "with healing, touch is so important"

The second is Dr. David Chaulk, a pediatrician from Alberta, who teaches Yemeni health care professionals the advanced knowledge from Canada and to help them catch-up.

“When I first arrived in Yemen and began teaching it was easy to have a feeling of superiority — for lack of a better word,” Chaulk said. “As Canadian physicians we have far better education, far superior training and more experience."

"..........You see two children to a bed, two patients with one intravenous infusion going to both patients and extremely malnourished, dehydrated and dying children that would be in intensive care units in Canada lying on a bed, being cared for primarily by the parents and with no monitoring equipment or any type of modern medical devices..........."

Enjoy reading the full stories (just click on their names)

Canadian girl's medication for rare disease not completely covered by health care system

Renee Stocks, a four-year-old Canadian girl from a suburb of Ottawa, was diagnosed with the medical disorder 'Glutaric Acidemia type II', also called GA II, only two-and-a-half years after the first clinical signs of her illness appeared.

The very rare disease prevents the human body from producing enzymes needed to breaking down dietary fats and proteins into forms than can easily be handled by the body.
Without these enzymes, fats and proteins build up and will cause damage to the brain, liver, lungs and kidneys.

Had Renee been tested at birth, she could have been put on a strict diet that would have reduced her chances of serious health problems later in life, according to Frank Frerman, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.

Her parents had no idea anything was wrong with her until she became seriously ill at 9 1/2 months.
She was rushed to the hospital by ambulance after vomiting and a high fever that left her slumped over in her baby seat and then spent 72 days in intensive care on life support.

“We were passed from medical service to medical service, trying to find out what was wrong with her,” Renee's mother, Ms. Stocks said.

On Renee's third birthday, following a series of tests, including organ and muscle biopsies, the family got the bad news when a hospital in Colorado confirmed that Renee had GA II.

Renee's language development was behind her peers but she has since caught up with the help of speech therapy. However, she is taught at home instead of attending junior kindergarten classes at school, because the risk of coming in contact with a sick child is too high.

The Stocks have had to refinance the family home to help pay for Renee's special diet and put other plans on hold, including a summer vacation and finishing the basement.
The high carbohydrate diet prepared by the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto includes fake chicken fingers and macaroni and cheese.

To restrict the amount of amino acids, which Renee cannot break down, the diet adds components of protein individually.
Ms. Stocks said the federal government recently agreed to pick up the tab for the diet.

But her big worry is how the family will pay for the experimental drug Renee started taking on December 1st.
The drug, known as L-3-Hydroxybutyrate, was developed by a Belgian doctor, Johan Van Hove, who now works at the Colorado lab, and costs $200 a day.

It is known as an orphan drug because the cost is not covered by private insurance plans or the Ontario government.
It is also well beyond the reach of what her husband, Andrew, earns as a paramedic.
Local residents recently held a fund raiser for the family, raising $14,200, enough for a two-month supply of the drug.

“I'm not bitter at the government for not funding this because I understand that there has to be checks and balances in place,” Ms. Stocks said. “But it is our only hope.”

Source: Globe and Mail

Editor's opinion:

"So, why exactly is this not covered by our system, why is she not urgent?
Why does someone that smokes (by choice) and gets lung cancer, receive proper and medical help covered by the system and the parents of this innocent little girl, without ever getting a choice of being healthy, have to carry the heavy financial load for treatment of their daughter??
ANGER and DISBELIEF, are the first words that come to mind.........."

Doctors of Ontario urge smokers to quit smoking in 2008

Ontario's doctors are encouraging those who smoke to make 2008 the year they quit.

Doctors and other primary care providers have been working with patients to help them develop a plan to quit smoking and can help increase the chances of success.

"Doctors understand that smoking is a serious addiction and we want to provide patients with the support they need to become smoke-free," said Dr. Ken Arnold, President-elect of the Ontario Medical Association (OMA).
"The beginning of a new year is always a good time to renew your commitment to improving your health and to make the decision to quit smoking for good."

The OMA is offering the following tips for individuals who are looking to quit smoking:

• If you smoke, avoid exposing others (especially children) to second hand smoke
• Never smoke in a car with children present
• Nicotine Replacement Therapies, like nicotine gum and the patch, will help you deal with the cravings. Keep nicotine gum with you at all times. It's available over the counter at pharmacies
• Remove ALL cigarettes and ashtrays in your home and car
• Regular exercise can help calm you down and relieve tension
• Make an appointment to see your doctor to discuss how they can help
• Make a resolution that you're going to have a healthy and smoke-free 2008

Tobacco use is the number one preventable cause of death and disease in Canada.
One in every four deaths from heart attacks and strokes in Canada is caused by smoking, and tobacco use causes about 30 percent of all cancers in Canada and more than 85 percent of lung cancers.
In Ontario and each year 16,000 patients die prematurely because of smoking.

"Make a commitment to be smoke-free in the New Year to keep you, and those around you, healthier in 2008," said Dr. Arnold.

"Everyday doctors treat patients whose health is compromised from smoking, which is why we have been advocating so strongly to protect Ontarians from tobacco use and second-hand smoke."

Editor's opinion:

"Does anyone know anyone who quit smoking with the 'help' of nicotine patches or gum?
You could get addicted to those instead and they don't solve the problem anyways.

Nicotine, the main addictive substance in tobacco products, is processed by the human body in a few hours, hence the need to light up a new one after approximately and averagely an hour.

If a smoker quits smoking cigarettes their body is in complete control.
Many smokers quit smoking cigarettes daily but they never experience any physical problems.

Even chain smokers hardly ever wake up in the middle of the night to 're-fuel', unlike a Heroin or Cocaine addict who often wake up at night to feed the addiction.

A smoker can simply spend a couple of hours watching a movie in a theater or being on an airplane, without having a cigarette and without shaking, screaming and sweating.
This shows clearly that smoking cigarettes is not at all a physical addiction!

There are always smokers who claim that they cannot sit for such long hours without cigarette while I'm sure they never even tried it or are simply lying about it, it's called addictive behavior.
This, in my opinion, only tells us that smoking is a mental addiction.

Therefore quitting smoking doesn't require products that only prevent your body to be in a state of total nicotine neutralness as a starting point to deal with the more important job: the bending of the lies your telling yourself in your mind why you shouldn't quit or just not yet.

Take it from an extreme, 2-packets-a-day, EX-smoker since 7 or 8 years (don't really remember!).
There is another painless, effortless, inexpensive and effective way to quit, since it deals with the mental and not the physical part of the addiction.

Believe it or not, it only requires to read a very amusing book, written by Allen Carr, called "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking"

It was the most valuable, yet in-expensive present I ever gave myself."

Source: CNW Group

Brampton Civic Hospital operates on wrong leg

A Brampton family is frustrated after their 72-year-old grandmother had the wrong leg cut open during Christmas Day surgery at the city's new hospital.

But residents demanding better hospital care say the alleged medical mistake is one more in a long list of complaints they've heard since the Brampton Civic Hospital opened last October 28th.

Amar Kaur Brar, 72, fractured her thigh bone when she slipped from the stairs at the family's Brampton home, her granddaughter Kanwaljot Brar, 21, told The Sun yesterday.

"She just missed one stair and fell down," Brar said.
The family took her to the emergency room at Brampton Civic where doctors told them her left leg was broken and surgery was needed.

"In the operating room, doctors cut Amar's right leg open," Brar said, adding the cut ran almost the entire length of her grandmother's thigh.

When they realized that the bone in Amar's right leg was okay, they stitched her up and performed surgery on her left leg, she said.

"She's in so much pain now," Brar said. "She can't move either leg ... she can't move at all."

Doctors told the family after surgery that they opened the wrong leg, she said.
Along with the pain, Amar has been confused and disoriented since the operation.
She remains in the hospital with her son Gurcharan Singh Brar at her side.

"We don't know what to do now for her," Brar said.

The issue is further complicated because Amar arrived in Canada from India in August and wasn't issued a health card until Thursday.
Brar said the family isn't certain if they will have to pay for the hospital care up to that point.

This week's incident comes a few weeks after 1,000 residents took to the streets protesting conditions at the hospital, where they claim patients wait up to 12 hours in the emergency room only to deal with understaffed and insensitive health-care workers.

In response to inquiries about Amar's case yesterday, the hospital issued a statement.
"William Osler Health Centre's top priority is the well-being and safety of our patients and staff," the statement reads.

The centre is made up of Brampton, Peel and Etobicoke hospitals.

In order to protect patient privacy, the hospital said it could not comment on the specific case. "We cannot release any information about a patient or any information about the care provided to a patient without his or her written consent," the release states.

The hospital does have a quality of care committee, a patient incident reporting system and a patient safety committee in place to respond if an incident occurs.

"We're following all of our processes with regard to this case," hospital communications director Gillian Williams McClean said.

Rajinder Saini of Bramptonians for Better Health Care said the incident is another in a long list of complaints the group has heard about the hospital.

"Things are not good at this new facility," Saini said.
"They use excuses like shortages of funds and staff." He called operating on the wrong leg an 'unbelievable' mistake."

"She had swelling on the broken leg, they had X-rays, they had everything," Saini said.

Media attention focused on the hospital in November when Brampton resident Harnek Sidhu, 52, allegedly waited 12 hours for a bed before he died of pancreatitis 10 days later.

Following the protests in early December, the province stepped in and appointed a hospital supervisor.

Amid the problems at the new hospital the future of the old hospital, Peel Memorial, remains uncertain.
Protesters have maintained the fast-growing city needs both hospitals to serve the burgeoning population.
A plan for the old site, that has been temporarily closed when the new hospital opened, is being developed.
Two public meetings, one January 9th at the Pearson Convention Centre and January 17th at Courtyard by Marriott on Biscayne Court, have been scheduled.
Both meetings start at 7:30 p.m.

Source: Toronto Sun

Related articles:

Brampton Civic hospital has cost $340 million more than planned

Brampton Civic Hospital under fire

Death Calgary baby raises awareness need for bone marrow and blood donors

The heartbreaking story of a baby from Calgary called Evan Pogubila who died from a rare immunodeficiency disease, captivated the whole of Calgary this year.

While the Pogubila family is still coping with grief, Evan has left behind a legacy his family is carrying forward, increasing awareness of the need for blood and bone marrow donors to help save lives.

"It's just before bedtime, but little Jordan Pogubila shows no signs of slowing down for the night. Wearing a pink sleeper covered in butterflies, her strawberry blond hair cut into an adorable bob, she captivates all around her as she dances to the pop song playing on her parents' stereo," says her mom Melanie as she smiles at her exuberant toddler.

If life had gone the way it should, the 19-month-old's twin brother Evan would be right beside her, bopping along to the music in that amusing toddler way.

Instead, a box sitting on the living room side table, his photograph on the outside and his cremains within, look down upon this happy family scene.

Last June 26th, the wide-eyed heart breaker of a baby died, after a courageous battle against severe combined immunodeficiency disease, also known as SCIDs.

Evan was the only known child in Western Canada with SCIDs, a condition first brought to the public eye in 1976 in a TV movie called The Boy in the Plastic Bubble.

Like David Vetter, the real-life boy who inspired the film, Evan spent most of his short life living in solitude from the rest of the world.

Caused by a genetic defect, the condition is the most rare, and deadliest, of the primary immunodeficiencies.
Any contact with others, including his twin Jordan, could compromise what little immune system Evan had.

Read the full article here

Medical Honey back in the health care game

Amid growing concern over drug-resistant super bugs and non-healing wounds that endanger diabetes patients, nature's original antibiotic honey, is making a comeback.

More than 4,000 years after Egyptians began applying honey to wounds, Derma Sciences Inc., a New Jersey based American company with branches in China and Toronto, that makes medicated and other advanced wound care products, began selling the first honey-based dressing this fall after it was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

It is called Medihoney, it's made from a highly absorbent seaweed-based material, saturated with Manuka honey, a particularly potent type that experts say kills germs and speeds healing.

Also called Leptospermum honey, Manuka honey comes from hives of bees that collect nectar from manuka and jelly bushes in Australia and New Zealand.

Derma Sciences now sells two Medihoney dressings to hospitals, clinics and doctors in North and South America under a deal with supplier Comvita LP of New Zealand.Derma Sciences hopes to have its dressings in U.S. and Canadian drug stores in the next six months, followed by adhesive strips.

Comvita, which controls about 75 percent of the world's Manuka honey supply, sells similar products under its own name in Australia, New Zealand and Europe, where such products have been popular for over a decade.

"The reason that Medihoney is so exciting is that antibiotics are becoming ineffective at fighting pathogens," said Derma Sciences CEO Ed Quilty.

"Another big advantage is that the dressings' germ-fighting and fluid-absorbing effects last up to a week, making them convenient for patients being cared for at outpatient clinics or by visiting nurses."

"They also reduce inflammation and can eliminate the foul odors of infected wounds," he said.

Honey dressings and gels, as well as tubes of Manuka honey, have been gaining in popularity overseas, fueled by scientific reports on their medical benefits and occasional news accounts of the dramatic recovery of a patient with a longtime wound that suddenly healed.

Read the rest of the article here

Canada recruits hundreds of Practical Nurses from Jamaica

Hundreds of Jamaicans were recruited in October to work in health care, the construction and hospitality service sectors in British Columbia through the Ministry's Canadian Overseas Employment Programme.

The group included mainly certified practical nurses, but also a group of pipe-fitters, welders, and carpenters.

Over the years, Jamaicans have been recruited to work in Ontario, Montreal, Quebec and New Brunswick on the Overseas Farm Work Programme but this is the first time that employees are being requested for the health care, hospitality and construction sectors.

Canada will be recruiting approximately 2,000 practical nurses by the end of 2008.

As part of the recruitment programme, there is a partnership between the Okanagan College and the HEART/NTA, to ensure the certification of workers so that they will be ready to go directly into the workforce once they arrive in Canada.

Source: JIS

Sleep has great effect on behavior and weight of children

The length of sleep at night, can affect children's behavioral patterns and lead to changes in eating habits, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Children who slept for less than nine hours a night, were more likely to have behavioral problems and also to become overweight or obese, the study indicated.

"Short sleep duration was associated with a three-fold increased risk of the child being overweight or obese," said Ed Mitchell, the study's author in a release.
"Attention to sleep in childhood may be an important strategy to reduce the obesity epidemic."

The study examined the sleep patterns of 591 children using 'actigraphy' which is a method of charting movement in sleep without the use of invasive tools.

The children were assessed at birth, at one year, at 3½ and at seven years.

The researchers in New Zealand determined that the children spent on average 10.1 hours in bed per night.
This differed at different times of the week, in different seasons and in cases where the kids had brothers or sisters.

The researchers state that the recommended amount of sleep for children in preschool is 11-13 hours a night and 10-11 hours for children who are school age.

The study will be published in the January 1st issue of the Journal Sleep.

Source: CBC

Revolutionary device will improve Heart Surgery dramatically

Experts in the U.K. are developing a flexible surgical robot, known as the i-Snake, which they say could revolutionize keyhole surgery.

The i-Snake is not the latest gadget from the Apple company, but it's a long tube housing special motors, sensors and imaging tools that could be used for heart bypass surgery.
It could enable surgeons to do complex procedures previously possible only through more invasive techniques.

But it could also be used to diagnose problems in the gut and bowel by acting as the surgeon's hands and eyes in hard to reach places inside the body.

A team at Imperial College London has been granted £2.1 million for the work.
The Imperial College team will test the device initially in the laboratory before it is used on patients.

Minimally invasive surgery has obvious advantages: it can mean smaller scars, reduced hospital stays and shorter recovery times.
Surgeons are also looking at ways to avoid skin incisions altogether.

One approach is Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery or Notes.
This means operating in the peritoneal space through natural orifices or cavities, such as the bowel.

England's Health Minister and surgeon Lord Darzi said: "The unrivalled imaging and sensing capabilities coupled with the accessibility and sensitivity of i-Snake will enable more complex diagnostic and therapeutic procedures than are currently possible."

Source: Telegraph

Editor:

"In the coming years, we will see more and more that nifty technology will dominate the scalpel in the operating room"

Poor people in Canada healthier than in the U.S.

Poor and less-educated Canadians are healthier than their American counterparts, according to a Kaiser health economist based in Portland.

Although overall population health is similar in both countries, there were differences at the lowest levels of income and education, said David Feeny, senior investigator at Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research.
He was co-author of a study that included the largest survey comparing health in the two countries.

"Income and education are well-known predictors of health status," said Feeny.
"What was surprising, however, was the statistically significant health gap between people in the U.S. and Canada at the lowest levels of income and education. The question is, what explains this gap?"

The most obvious difference between the two countries is Canada's universal health coverage, Fenny said.

"From prenatal care through death, there is no co-pay to see a family doctor or visit the hospital," he said.

"Some people think that is probably important in the differences people observe in the less advantaged. The less advantaged in the United States often have no health insurance, or inadequate insurance."

"There is an argument, not a definitive one, that with access to routine care, people seek care earlier in the progression of a disease, instead of coming in late when you've already become a complicated case."

Source: The Columbian

First human-to-human Bird Flu case NOT confirmed

Editor:

"Earlier today I reported that the World Health Organization had established human-to-human transmission of the bird flu virus in Pakistan.
In fact, officials now say no evidence has been found of that, despite the fact a single case of the H5N1 virus has been established in a sick family.
However, there was no apparent risk of it spreading further."

A statement from the U.N. agency said tests in its special laboratories in Cairo and London had established the “human infection” through presence of the virus, collected from one case in an affected family.

But it said a WHO team invited to Pakistan to look into an outbreak involving up to nine people from late October to December 6th had found no evidence of sustained or community human-to-human transmission.

No identified close contacts of the people infected, including health workers and other members of the affected family, had shown any symptoms and they had all been removed from medical observation, the WHO added.

The outbreak followed a culling of infected chickens in the Peshawar region, in which a veterinary doctor was involved. Subsequently he and three of his brothers developed proven or suspected pneumonia.

The brothers cared for one another and had close personal contact both at home and in hospital, a WHO spokesman in Geneva said. One of them, who was not involved in the culling, died on November 23rd, but the cause of death was not known.

On November 28th another brother who had not been involved in the culling died, and tests on him (in Pakistan as well as in Cairo and London) had established the presence of the H5N1 virus.

The WHO spokesman said there was suspicion that there had been human-to-human transmission, as there had been similar suspicion of such transmission within families in Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, but this could not be confirmed.

Earlier this week 2 more Egyptians tested positive for bird flu H5N1, a day after an Egyptian woman died of the disease.
This brings the total number of bird flu deaths in Egypt to 41.

Read the full story about that here

Related articles:

First human-to-human Bird Flu case officially confirmed

Alert: first cases of bird flu emerged

Revolutionary new Hypothesis about Human Memory

When it comes to human memory, it seems that Canadians are endowed with a special gift of owning the right to unravel its mystery.

The currently pursued hypothesis is based on the proposals made by Donald Hebb, a psychology professor from Canada.

Recently Dr. Kunjumon Vadakkan, also a Canadian, has come up with a new hypothesis named as “Semblance Hypothesis”.

Back in 1949, Professor Hebb proposed that when two neurons fire together then the junction between them, named synapse, undergoes changes.

Since then scientists all around the globe were struggling more than half a century to put together these pieces of synaptic change puzzle to find answers for memory.
Even though experiments conducted thereafter proved changes in synapses, sufficient mechanism for memory was not found.
Alternative proposals for the mechanism of memory also couldn’t find answers.

Scientific nature of memory requires theoretical suggestions similar to that in Physics, followed by laboratory investigations to test it.

Dr. Vadakkan now says that our memory is from “systematic functional illusions” occurring at the shared post synapses and exneurons.
The physician turned biochemist from Kerala state in India came to Canada after spending some years of research in India.
He has received a PhD in Physiology and Neuroscience from the University of Toronto.

Dr. Kunjumon Vadakkan's brand new “Semblance Hypothesis” about the human memory is now published as a book

Read the full explanation about the hypothesis here

House dust greater health risk for kids than lead paint

Canadians may be exposed to a wide variety of metals, chemicals and pesticides on a daily basis as the result of a seemingly harmless domestic nuisance: house dust.

It's a potential health hazard that scientists are only beginning to understand.
Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada have embarked on a landmark four-year national study to determine levels of metals and chemicals in house dust across the country, and how health risks should be addressed.

Dust typically contains a variety of toxins released by common household products including plastics, electronics, furniture, garden soil and lead paint, which is common in older homes.

Scientists don't know for sure where all the toxins commonly found in dust come from.
They also don't know the typical concentration of metals and other toxins in house dust.

Unlike lead paint on toys or chemicals in plastic, scientists say house dust presents a far greater, unique risk because the loose, free particles can be easily ingested by children crawling on the floor or may be inhaled when dust becomes airborne.

Research has linked lead, flame retardants and pesticides found in house dust with the accumulation of these toxins in children's bodies.

"We've found high levels of lead in house dust is associated with higher blood lead levels in kids," said Paul Lioy, director of the exposure science division of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, at jointly sponsored by Rutgers University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

"We don't know what typical concentrations are for metals in house dust and other substances," said Pat Rasmussen, research scientist at Health Canada and principal investigator of the national house dust study.

Read the rest of the story here

Alberta bans smoking completely

In November, the provincial government of Alberta passed Bill 45, 'The Tobacco Reduction Act', with support from all sides of the House.
Each year Alberta spends more than $470 million on health care costs associated with tobacco use.

"This prompted the introduction of Bill 45," said Shannon Haggarty, spokesperson for Alberta Health and Wellness.

A recent report, released by 'Campaign for Smoke-Free Alberta', says Bill 45 will reduce absenteeism, sick leave and disability from tobacco use.

Alberta is shedding the image of the "Marlboro man" as it gears up to introduce one of the strongest tobacco laws in Canada and the world.

The bill will make all workplaces and establishments completely smoke-free and will also ban tobacco retail displays and promotion, along with removing tobacco sales from pharmacies, health care settings and post-secondary institutions.

Bill 45 is set to protect all Albertans from the effects of second-hand smoke and will be implemented in three parts.

1. Coming January 1st, all work and public places will be smoke-free
2. On July 1st, 2008 all power walls will be banned
3. On January 1st, 2009 there will be a complete ban on tobacco products in pharmacies, post-secondary institutions and other health-care facilities.

“The minister has said a number of times that we are losing a lot of people through the effects of smoking and second-hand smoke,” said Haggarty, adding there is also an economic issue of people missing time from work.
Each year, Alberta employers lose more than $1.3 billion from lost productivity.

“The different parts of this bill make it a world-class policy,” said Kim Tradewell, a member of Lloydminster Action for Smoke-Free Places.
She added there is only a handful of jurisdictions such as Ireland, Iceland, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories and Nunavut that have gone this far.

Source: Meridian Booster

Almost 80% of Canadians wary of Plastic Surgery

Almost eight out of ten Canadians would not have a face lift, droopy eyelids fixed or unwanted fat suctioned from their body, even if they could afford it.

This is the conclusion of the latest poll about plastic surgery, conducted in the wake of several high-profile cosmetic surgery deaths.

The Ipsos Reid survey for CanWest News Service and Global National found only 20 percent of 1,000 adults surveyed agreed with the statement, "If I had the means and ability, I'd have cosmetic surgery done."
Seventy-nine percent disagreed and one percent didn't know or refused to answer.)

Similar surveys in the United States suggest approval of such procedures is at an all-time high, with more than half of Americans in favour of surgical enhancement.

"I think that, with what's happened in the news in Canada, people here are a little bit more worried about plastic surgery," says Frank Lista, medical director and founder of the Plastic Surgery Clinic in Mississauga, Ontario, and past president of the Canadian Society of Aesthetic (Cosmetic) Plastic Surgery.

Last September, 32-year-old Krista Stryland, a real estate agent and mother of one, died in a hospital emergency room following a liposuction procedure performed by a family doctor who advertised as a cosmetic surgeon.

Stryland's death raised fresh alarms over untrained and unqualified doctors in Ontario performing cosmetic surgery and the increase in risky procedures being done in private "corner store" clinics.

Read the rest of the story here

First human-to-human Bird Flu case officially confirmed

Yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva confirmed a single case of human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 bird flu virus in a family in Pakistan but said there was no apparent risk of it spreading wider.

A statement from the U.N. agency said tests in its special laboratories in Cairo and London had established the "human infection" through presence of the virus collected from one case in an affected family.

But it said a WHO team invited to Pakistan to look into an outbreak involving up to nine people, from late October to December 6 had found no evidence of sustained or community human-to-human transmission.
No identified close contacts of the people infected, including health workers and other members of the affected family, had shown any symptoms and they had all been removed from medical observation, the WHO added.

The outbreak followed a culling of infected chickens in the Peshawar region, in which a veterinary doctor was involved. Subsequently he and three of his brothers developed proven or suspected pneumonia.

The brothers cared for one another and had close personal contact both at home and in the hospital, a WHO spokesman in Geneva said. One of them, who was not involved in the culling, died on November 23.

His was the human-to-human transmission case confirmed by the WHO. The others all recovered.

"All the evidence suggests that the outbreak within this family does not pose a broader risk," the WHO spokesman said.

"But there is already heightened surveillance and there is a need for ongoing vigilance."

It was the first human-to-human case of H5N1 transmission in Pakistan, while others have been confirmed in Indonesia and Thailand in similar circumstances of what the WHO calls close contacts in a very circumscribed area.

Global health experts fear the virus could mutate into a form that spreads easily from one person to another, possibly triggering a pandemic that could kill millions.

So far, the virus has killed 211 people out of 343 infections reported since 2003.

Source: Reuters

Related article:

Alert: first cases of bird flu emerged

Growing trend Multiple Births in Canada

There is a growing trend of multiple births in the western world.

According to Multiple Births Canada, between 1974 and 1990 the incidence of twins rose 35 percent, triplets climbed 300 percent and quadruplets skyrocketed 400 percent.

In the last five years alone, according to Statistics Canada, the incidence of triplets has increased 14 percent across the country.

"Primarily it's because of reproductive technology," said Dr. Bill Mundle, medical director of the Windsor Regional Hospital maternal fetal medicine department.

"People who are having trouble getting pregnant will often go through treatment, though sometimes they get more than what they bargained for."

This year, on January 7th in Vancouver, Canada's first set of sextuplets were born, eclipsing the country's famed Dionne quintuplets, born May 28th, 1934.
Not all the sextuplets survived, however.

Multiple-birth children are often born prematurely, which is why the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority will soon limit the number of multiple births which reproductive-technology doctors in the United Kingdom can produce.

Heather McAuley, president of the Parents of Multiple Births Association Windsor Essex County, said another reason more twins and triplets are being born is because the average age of women having their first children is rising.
Older women produce multiple-birth children more often than younger women.

Source: Times Colonist

Political Action Award 2007 for two Mississauga nurses

Two Mississauga nurses, whose efforts helped bring about an increase in the food allotment for residents of Ontario's seniors' homes, have won an award for their efforts.
They have been friends since attending Credit Valley School of Nursing together more than three decades ago.

When they began speaking to their congregation at St. Christopher parish last April, Curitti and Shaw had no idea of the campaign they'd soon be embarking upon: collecting thousands of signatures on petitions, visiting Queen’s Park, enlisting the assistance of the RNAO and the Dietitians of Canada and, ultimately, changing the policy of the provincial government.

While those advocacy groups had been trying to get the $5.46 daily, per resident, allowance hiked for several years, the homegrown campaign started by the nurses in the run-up to the provincial election struck a chord with the public, and politicians.

In August, Health Minister George Smitherman announced he was allocating $23.1 million to increase the daily "raw food allowance" to $7 per day.
That covers the costs of three meals (with two choices at each one), three snacks and all beverages.
When Shaw and Curitti, who are co-chairs of the family council at Cawthra Gardens long-term care facility, spoke to managers of seniors' homes, they found many were struggling to provide the required nutrition within the budget limitations.

The fact that the allowance is raised will be making a big difference to the quality of life of senior residents.”
Linda Dietrich, regional director for the Dietitians of Canada, told The News the nurses' efforts are very much appreciated.
“I think their work has been significant to help persuade the government to take the action they did.”

Angela Shaw and Julie Curitti will receive the Political Action Award for 2007 from the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO), at Queen's Park on January 24th.

Source: The Mississauga News

Health claims endorsed by physicians debunked

In an article published in the year-end edition of the British Medical Journal last weekend, the Indianapolis-based team of Rachel Vreeman and Aaron Carroll identified seven widely held health beliefs in need of critical review.

They included the notion that people should drink at least eight glasses of water a day, that we only use 10 percent of our brains, and that turkey causes fatigue.

"These medical myths are a light-hearted reminder that we can be wrong and need to question what other falsehoods we unwittingly propagate as we practice medicine," the authors say in the article.

The researchers used Google and Medline, an archive of medical literature, to find evidence to support or debunk health claims endorsed by physicians and the general public.

The following myths are busted or just have meager medical evidence:

• People should drink at least eight glasses of water a day
  
• We use only 10% of our brains
  
• Hair and fingernails continue to grow after death
  
• Shaving hair causes it to grow back faster, darker, or coarser
  
• Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight
  
• Eating turkey makes people especially drowsy
  
• Mobile phones create considerable electromagnetic interference in hospitals.

Source: British Medical Journal

Editor:
"Enjoy reading the report, it's rather amusing!"

Statistics Canada underestimates our health care system, report says

Canadians are likely getting more value from the health care system than Statistics Canada's figures suggest, says an Ottawa-based think tank in a report criticizing the agency for shoddy estimates.

In a report to be released today and obtained by The Canadian Press, the Centre for the Study of Living Standards says Statistics Canada "may seriously underestimate" the health care system's true economic effectiveness.

It also says the agency "should devote more effort to develop better estimates of output and productivity."

"The true contribution of the health-care sector to the well-being of the Canadian population ... is not being captured in current estimates of health-care output and productivity," the report says.

Statistics Canada estimates productivity in the health care and social assistance industry fell 0.69 per cent per year from 1987-2006, the report says.

The report says that's in opposition to a 1.14 per cent increase in overall productivity in Canada during the same 20-year period.

"It is widely recognized, including by Statistics Canada officials, that these numbers may seriously underestimate the true contribution of the health-care sector to real output, and more importantly to the economic well-being of Canadians," it says.

Reached at his in-laws' house in Toronto, Andrew Sharpe, one of the authors of the report and the executive director of the centre, said the statistics agency's measurement system is flawed.

"It's an input-based measure that doesn't give you a true measure of the output of the sector," he said.

"So, there's a massive downward biased output in the health care sector in the official numbers."

The report notes several European countries and the United States are starting to measure actual output of their health care systems, and suggests Canada adopt this framework.

It suggests Statistics Canada's measurements might not fully account for improvements in the quality of health care. It notes life expectancy in Canada rose by 5.3 years from 1979 to 2004.

There will be "very different" policy implications depending on whether increased health spending stems from higher prices or improving quality, the report says.

Times&Transcript

Plastic surgeons question LipoLaser treatment

Many Canadians are opting for new procedures that use lasers to target fat in order to avoid traditional liposuction, which can require a significant investment and extensive recovery period.

But some plastic surgeons question whether laser treatments produce worthwhile results, especially considering some, including the LipoLaser procedure, don't even remove fat from the body.

“I'm skeptical that it would work as well as they say it does because liposuction isn't just removing the fat, it's sculpting,” said Lorne Tarshis, chief surgeon at the Institute of Cosmetic Surgery in Toronto.
Sculpting is a process where doctors mould skin from the inside to appear firm and toned as they vacuum out the fat.

Meridian Medical Inc., which makes the LipoLaser, touts the treatment as a non-invasive and pain-free way to reduce body fat. However, the company also says the procedure is meant for “spot fat reduction” and that clients shouldn't expect dramatic results.
Patients can expect to lose one to four centimeters after a treatment, which costs $150 to $200.

“You can have fairly significant loss when incorporated with diet and lifestyle,” said Jonas LaForge, a naturopathic physician and Meridian Medical's director of medical and technical sales.

The LipoLaser procedure works by placing paddles on the patient's desired problem area so lasers can target and break up fat cells into fatty acids, water and glycerol that are either used by the body or flushed out.

It's the second laser-based liposuction procedure to be approved in Canada in the past six months as the cosmetic surgery industry seeks to cater to clients who don't want to experience the trauma of surgery in order to trim down.

Read the full story in the Globe and Mail

Benefactress to Canadian Health Care Beryl Ivey dies

Beryl Ivey, an iconic philanthropist who for decades supported education, health care and the arts across Ontario and beyond, died on Christmas day at the age of 82.

Ms. Ivey suffered a heart attack Sunday and was hospitalized in Toronto.

She died there Christmas morning, three days shy of her 83rd birthday.

Ms. Ivey's son Richard said that his mother was in "vintage form" right up until her death.

As news of the death slowly spread, praise poured in for Ms. Ivey, who, along with her husband, donated an estimated $150-million to various causes through the Ivey Foundation.

"This city and province and country has lost a great Canadian," said Tony Dagnone, former chief executive of the London Health Sciences Centre.

At the University of Western Ontario, whose business school now bears the Ivey name, the effects of her generosity cannot be overstated, UWO president Paul Davenport said.
A private funeral will take place in London on Friday and a memorial will be held at a later date.

Born Beryl Nurse in 1924 in Chatham, Ontario, she was a celebrated track star when she arrived at UWO in 1943.
She married Dick Ivey, whom she met two months into her first year at UWO.

Dick's father, Richard G. Ivey, incorporated the Ivey Foundation in 1947.
Beryl, however, is credited with the businesslike approach to philanthropy the family adopted in the 1970s.

In June, she was named to the Order of Canada.

Her friend Bill Brady, who called Ms. Ivey "a remarkable force" - said she was "no pushover" when it came to cash.

"You had to make a strong case for financial support.
You had to prove it was worthwhile. I can't think of another philanthropic family who did the kind of research they did."

Globe and Mail

Lung disease COPD dramatically undiagnosed

New research from the Lung Association shows chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a group of devastating respiratory conditions including emphysema and bronchitis, is dramatically undiagnosed.

About 1.5 million Canadians are diagnosed with COPD, while another 1.6 million are living with the disease without knowing it. The 3 million Canadians living with COPD is double previous estimates.

COPD is also prevalent among younger baby boomers.
One in seven, aged 45 to 49, or 375,000 Canadians, may have the disease.

COPD sufferers lose their lung function gradually, so they may not bring any specific complaints to their doctor, said Dr. Alan Kaplan, a Richmond Hill family doctor and chairman of the Family Physician Airway Group of Canada.

"Because you lose it slowly, you don't realize it," he said.

Kaplan said prevention, namely quitting smoking, is the best way to tackle COPD. He also called for better early diagnosis in Canadians, particularly smokers, over 40 with recurring symptoms such as coughs and respiratory infections.

"We can't reverse it. We can't stop it. We can slow its progression," Kaplan said.

Source: Sun Media

Calgary Health Region wants more than 12% budget increase

"Premier Ed better get a few tips from Santa on this one!"

When asked if the Calgary Health Region wants a big increase in bucks from the province this coming year, bossman Jack Davis says "yes".

When asked if the requested hike is in the double digits in percentage, Jack says "yes".
And when asked if it's around 11% or even 12% next year, Jack responds, "at least that."

"I think the provincial government will have a difficult time with our budget," says the health region heavy-lifter, speaking a sentence only needing a "no kidding" to complete it.

"The budget pressure is going to continue in Calgary. We would like it to be less, but we have an obligation to give the government the best advice we can on what the size of the health care system in Calgary should be and ensure it is properly funded."

Or in other words: "Gimme the money or face the heat!"

Jack is one smart guy, who operated in the highest ranks of the world of Ralph, in a time of cutting budgets and calls for collective sacrifice. A time when we were told we could all put up our feet once the deficit and debt were chapters in the history books.

Read the rest of the story here

At least a month backlog of radioisotopes Western Health Region

It will take at least a month to clear up a backlog of specialized medical tests for western Newfoundland patients, officials said as a nuclear medicine department reopens.

The Western Health regional authority cancelled tests for 48 patients through Western Brook Memorial Hospital in Corner Brook after the Chalk River reactor shut down in November.

The supply of medical isotopes has been restored and officials were expecting to resume tests, including bone and heart scans, on Monday.

"It's wonderful," said Mike Brake, a nuclear medicine technologist who has worked at the Corner Brook hospital for three decades.

"This is the first incident in which we've had an interruption in service, so it's quite unusual for us, but we're so very happy to be back to normal."

Peter Dawe, executive director of the Canadian Cancer Society's Newfoundland and Labrador branch, said the reopening of the department will reduce anxiety for patients waiting for tests.

"It's very important news for people on the west coast, obviously, because you can't treat them and you're absolutely stuck until you get a proper diagnosis," Dawe said.

Western Health has already begun contacting patients to rebook cancelled appointments.

Source: CBC

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The front line warriors in the pending war against the next global epidemic will carry stethoscopes and wear lab coats, and in the case of Dr. Thomas Tsang, spectacles.
And it is likely Hong Kong will be the battleground.

The mild-mannered Tsang is considered one of the world's foremost experts in fighting the devastating Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus that killed 299 people in Hong Kong and spread to Toronto in 2003.

Tsang has a huge responsibility on his hands. He is the key doctor in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region charged with ensuring the next viral outbreak, in whatever form or mutation, doesn't happen.

And if Canadians are to prevent the next tragedy, they would be wise to see what lessons have been learned in trying to stop one of the world's most deadly diseases.

"You never know what's going to happen tomorrow," Tsang said in an interview in his boardroom, which was the initial nerve centre to create a SARS response strategy during the 2003 crisis.
"You have to have a plan ready," he said. "It's not just sufficient to have a plan, you must execute it."
The normally bustling cosmopolitan financial gateway to Asia was at a standstill in 2003. Business and tourism were hardest hit by SARS which infected 1,755 residents and killed 299 from March 11 to June 6 that year.

Health-care workers and officials fought day in and day out to stop the spread of SARS.
Similar scenarios were carried out in Toronto and elsewhere in Canada where 438 people were infected, and 44 died of SARS from Feb. 23 to June 7, 2003.
SARS has been a wakeup call for health-care workers in Toronto.

Dr. Allison McGeer, director of Infection Control at Mount Sinai, said Canadians have learned from the crisis.
"There's been a number of changes in hospitals, such as guidelines for infection control, educating staff in dealing with infectious diseases, strengthening links between public health departments and hospitals, and working together more smoothly," McGeer said.

McGeer says we always have to ask ourselves: "What more can be done?"

Read the full story here

Quebecer complians about "English treatment" in hospital

The reaction of many people to being kept waiting for 20 hours in a hospital emergency ward in Quebec might be to worry, or complain, about what seems like a chronic shortage of medical personnel.

Sitting for hours on a hard chair in a room with other injured or ill people, watching for the faintest hint that the one overworked doctor might see you now, could lead a sensible person to think that whatever Quebec is doing to find more health care workers, it isn't enough.

Jean Dorion, the head of the Société St. Jean Baptiste de Montréal, takes a different approach. His reaction to waiting nearly a day for care was to call for French to be made the working language in all Quebec hospitals, including the few remaining bilingual hospitals.

Why? Because when he was finally seen by a doctor, the doctor asked if he spoke English.
Dorion said he replied that he did speak English. "I was treated in English," he said. "I found it humiliating."
He further suggested that if he had asked for treatment in French the doctor might not have looked at his case "with a very favourable prejudice."

This is ridiculous, to say nothing of offensive. Dorion has the nerve to suggest that a medical practitioner would take less care with his health if he asked to be treated in one of Canada's two official languages.

Dorion provides nothing in the line of proof for this odious suggestion. So pressed is he for ammunition for his make-everything-French cause that he has to go back seven years to unearth a study by the Office Québécois de la langue française.

This dusty study shows, Dorion said, that 18 percent of francophone patients treated in bilingual hospitals said they had been "in contact" with medical workers or other personnel who lacked a "sufficient" knowledge of French. Is he kidding? What does "in contact" mean? Who defines "sufficient"?

More recently, according to information compiled by the Office québécois de la langue française, it received a grand total of five complaints on the subject of language use in hospitals. Four of the complaints concerned language on signs; only one had to do with language of service. Exactly one complaint in the course of a year. In a normal world, that would be considered a triumph. It is a triumph.

Some hospitals in Quebec are allowed to be bilingual but must make French service available - and by the evidence, they do just that. This requirement does not mean that every single person working in a bilingual hospital has to be perfectly bilingual. Dorion, for instance, doesn't even know if the doctor who asked if he spoke English was bilingual. It appears that Dorion preferred getting a chance to complain to the simple expedient of asserting his right to be helped in French. What nonsense.

If any group is having trouble communicating in hospitals, it is rural anglophones. The regions are becoming more unilingually French even as unilingual anglophones grow older and require more medical care. Now there is a real problem.

Source: The Gazette

Editor's opinion:

"How does that work, open heart surgery in French? Or getting a French flu shot? Complaining about something like that, after having waited for 20 hours? To magnify a futility like that can only come from a French speaking nitpicker. Humiliated? What's so humiliating about the English language? How many people, on a world-scale, actually speak French and why is that do you think? Of course there are many nice francophone people, but in general as a people, is there anyone that likes the French? I know in Europe nobody really does. They don't even like each other, hence the cold relationship between the French from France and the ones from Quebec!"

Calgary Health Region huge deficit due to nearly 1 million hours overtime

The Calgary Health Region will post a sizable deficit this year as staffing shortages leave the medical authority with a massive bill for nearly one million hours in overtime, says the region's chief executive.

Despite earlier predictions of a balanced budget, Jack Davis, CEO of the Calgary Health Region, said the CHR will sink into the red in the '07-'08 fiscal year, due to a larger-than-expected pay hike for nurses and $63 million in overtime costs.

Davis would not reveal the anticipated size of the deficit facing the CHR, the body in charge of Calgary's health system including four hospitals. He said it will be larger than last year's $70-million shortfall, which required a government bailout.

"There's no question we'll have a deficit," Davis said in a year-end interview with the Herald.

"It's definitely going to be harder than last year."

The health authority has faced persistent problems finding enough nursing staff in recent years, which has forced local hospitals to close beds and cancel procedures.

Earlier this month, the Alberta Children's Hospital had to reschedule six surgeries in two weeks because there were not enough critical care nurses.

The CHR has faced ongoing financial pressures, largely because of Calgary's booming population and increasingly expensive medical technology.

The cash-strapped region has posted several deficits in recent years, including a $70-million shortfall last year and a $58-million deficit in 2004-05.

This year, shortages of nurses and other health workers have placed a new strain on the region's budget: overtime costs have climbed from $43.5 million last year to $63 million this year.

CHR is also picking up its share of the tab for a new contract the government signed with the province's registered nurses.

The deal, which makes Alberta's nurses the highest paid in Canada, came in higher than the CHR anticipated, leaving the region with a

$13-million unbudgeted expense.

In the past, when the CHR has run a deficit, the province has announced additional funding to help the health body remain in the black.

It is not yet clear if the government will offer the CHR additional funding to cover the deficit for the 2007-08 budget.

"Regions are required by legislation to balance their books," said Howard May, a spokesman for Alberta Health. "Those running deficits need to have a credible deficit elimination plan in place."

Laurie Blakeman, health critic for the Alberta Liberals, said the CHR could save money by hiring more nurses full time, rather than paying them time-and-a-half or double-time to work when they have a day off.

"It's penny wise and pound foolish, and we're paying the price for it," she said.

Davis said the region is already working to address the large number of part-time nurses at city hospitals and is discussing the issue with unions.

"In terms of part-time and full-time, we'll have to work with unions on something that works for everyone," said Davis.

The United Nurses of Alberta says this province has more part-time nursing jobs than any other Canadian jurisdiction.

Read the rest of the story here

Safety warning by Health Canada for sleep drug Alertec

Health Canada has issued a warning about serious skin and allergic reactions related to Alertec, a drug used to relieve excessive sleepiness due to narcolepsy, obstructive sleep apnea and shift-work sleep disorders.

The federal agency said patients taking Alertec (modafinil) should seek immediate medical attention if they have any of the following symptoms: skin rash, hives, sores in the mouth, blisters and skin peeling; swelling of the face, eyes, lips, tongue or throat; trouble swallowing or breathing; or a hoarse voice.

Alertec, made by Shire Canada Inc., is not approved in Canada for use in children for any condition.

The drug can cause mental problems. Depression, anxiety, hallucinations, mania and suicidal thoughts have been reported in patients using the drug, although these events were rare during controlled studies.

Health Canada says anyone experiencing such psychiatric conditions should stop taking Alertec and seek medical attention.

Those taking the drug should tell their doctor if they have any heart problems, chest pain, have had a heart attack or a history of psychiatric disorders. There have been previous but rare reports of severe life-threatening skin reactions and allergic reactions in adults and children using Alertec.

Two of the more severe forms of skin reaction are known as toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) and Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), either of which may quickly develop into a serious condition. There are no known factors that can predict the risk of occurrence or the severity of rash associated with Alertec.

Shire Canada has sent a letter to Canadian health-care professionals informing them of the new safety information.

The Canadian Press

Nova Scotian doesn't get his wife back from British hospital

Sandy Munroe from Tennycape, Nova Scotia, was not surprised to hear Thursday that a British hospital will not send his wife back to Canada. But he was undeniably devastated.

"They said it was not in her best interest to send her back," he said.

"They don’t think she should be sent over to be close to her husband of almost 45 years."

Mr. Munroe was notified of the decision in an e-mail from Billingham Grange, the North Yorkshire hospital where 65-year-old Alzheimer’s patient Helena (Heli) Munroe has lived since last spring.

Many people close to Mr. Munroe believe members of the hospital panel changed their minds after the CBC aired a television report on the couple last month in which their son accused Mr. Munroe of physically abusing his wife.

"I can’t even begin to talk about The Fifth Estate," Mr. Munroe said. "It was a wicked misrepresentation of a loving marriage."

"It broke my heart to hear the things they accused me of. . . . I love my wife and I treated her well. . . . I always did."

"This has been devastating, and Billingham Grange is a good, good hospital, but they did the wrong thing."

Mr. Munroe’s voice quavered as he talked about his two-year battle to get his wife returned to Nova Scotia from her native England, where her brother took her in November 2005.

Mrs. Munroe who herself, held a doctorate in cognitive therapy and was an expert in Alzheimer’s disease, was declared mentally incompetent by her Canadian geriatricians in early 2005.

Read the full story here

Two children's heart doctors for Winnipeg Regional

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority has successfully recruited two children's heart doctors from London, Ont.

WRHA spokeswoman Heidi Graham confirmed doctors Dion Pepelassis and Ilan Buffo of the Children's Hospital of Western Ontario were "aggressively recruited" to come work at Winnipeg's Children's Hospital, which has only one pediatric cardiologist for a population of 1.2 million.

The London doctors will leave their positions in Ontario at the end of June. The two are then expected to start in Winnipeg next summer, said Graham.

The move has left the Southwestern Ontario region with no such specialists for 450,000 kids.

"As every other jurisdiction does when there's a shortage, we recruit," said Graham.

"Manitoba has been short two cardiac specialists since this past summer," she said. The WRHA has been searching for specialists across Canada and the U.S. for months.

The two heart doctors weren't talking yesterday, but the London Health Sciences Centre's senior medical director for women and children said he believes they were offered "a very attractive overall package" in Winnipeg.

Winnipeg Sun

Hospitalists reduce patients' stay in the hospital

Patients cared for by doctors called "hospitalists," who work full-time in hospitals to focus on general patient care, fare slightly better than those cared for by general internists or family doctors, finds a new study.

Hospitalists reduce a patient's average hospital stay by 12 per cent, and modestly lower treatment costs, the study found. But they do not help lower patients' death risk or the chance that they will have to be readmitted.

Hospitalists are doctors who work full-time at hospitals, performing generalist duties traditionally handled by family doctors or internists making rounds.

Though hospitals in Canada are just beginning to make use of "hospitalists", many hospitals in the U.S. have well-established hospitalist programs. In fact, the category has been one of the fastest-growing medical specialties of the past decade in the U.S., according to the Society of Hospital Medicine.

Researchers from Tufts University School of Medicine decided to take the first wide-scale look at hospitalists, to see whether their use saves hospitals time and money.

They followed 75,000 patients admitted to 45 U.S. hospitals between September 2002 and June 2005 for such common conditions as pneumonia, stroke, chest pain, heart attack or heart failure, and urinary tract infection.

As compared with patients cared for by general internists, those under the watch of hospitalists had a slightly shorter hospital stay, about half a day off the average of four days.

Read the full story here