Category: Health Fitness

Multivitamins and supplements sold in Canada under various brand names are being recalled due to concern they could contain metal fibres. The brands include Equate, Kirkland Signature, Life, Natural Factors, Option+, VegiDay, Webber Naturals, Wellness by London Drugs and Wellquest, according to Health Canada. The full list can be found here. The products “may contain metal fibres which, […]

Some dog owners say the temporary exemption Canada has received from the most onerous new U.S. rules for bringing dogs across the border doesn’t go far enough and the reprieve needs to be made permanent. Earlier this month the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that as of Aug. 1, dogs coming […]

Canada’s federal vaccine advisory body is now recommending a single dose of the HPV vaccine for children and youth, bringing the country in line with multiple others that have already reduced the number of required doses for young people. The new guidance, out Wednesday from the National Committee on Immunization (NACI), strongly recommends that individuals nine to […]

Janice Strickland says she’s grateful for the donations the family has received, which will allow them to bury her daughter Sarah. (Curtis Hicks/CBC) A grieving mother says she’ll be able to get her daughter out of a hospital freezer storage unit and buried with dignity, after an outpouring of community support has helped the family […]

The sheer scale of the U.S. bird flu outbreak is hard to fathom.  More than 100 million farmed birds have been infected with H5N1 since 2022, followed by roughly 170 herds of dairy cows, along with virus detections in more than 200 other mammals — humans included. Recently, a handful of farm workers in Colorado were […]

More Quebec doctors are opting out of the public health-care sector than ever before, Radio-Canada has learned.  A total of 780 general practitioners and specialists left the public system in the past year — an increase of 22 per cent compared to the year prior, according to data compiled by the Régie de l’assurance maladie […]

Swallowing a handful of pills is a daily ritual for many people, from young adults coping with anxiety to older adults managing chronic conditions. Overall, 13 per cent of people in the U.S. take five or more prescription drugs. For those 65 and older, that number is 42 per cent. However, people taking multiple medications […]

A recent decision to drop some burdensome new border-related paperwork requirements for Canadians entering the U.S. with their dogs might only be temporary, Canada’s health minister says. Citing concerns about the potential spread of rabies, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced earlier this month that new measures would be put in place for dogs […]

More Canadians should receive their main health care through teams of professionals so their increasingly complex needs can be met while not paying privately for it, the Canadian Medical Association said in a new report released Tuesday. The CMA’s recommendations come after it undertook a major review of the interface of public and private care, […]

Peter McQuaid was scheduled to die the following Monday, but first he wanted to see a priest. His wife, Connie, was apprehensive. The Catholic Church had staked its opposition to medical assistance in dying, the course Peter planned to take. As she put it, “MAID is not for everybody.” Still, she reached out to a […]

Danielle O’Hanley, from Toronto, runs early in the morning to avoid the heat. “I saw it was going to be 30 or 35 degrees after work, so I was up early and out running by 7 a.m. so that I could have a bit of a cooler temperature,” she told CBC News last week. She’s […]

Ahead of the new school year, P.E.I’s Chief Public Health Office is reminding post-secondary students to get a free meningitis B vaccine.  The provincial program administered 1,900 doses of the vaccine in it’s first year, which began in May 2023. Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison said she is very pleased with those numbers. She’s encouraging students to get […]

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday confirmed two additional cases of bird flu in Colorado poultry farm workers. Last week, Colorado reported four confirmed infections of H5N1 bird flu and was checking on the status of a fifth suspected case. The two new cases were in poultry workers with exposure to […]

A fake nurse who treated nearly 1,000 patients at medical facilities in Vancouver and Victoria wept Friday as she pleaded guilty to assaulting victims with the weapon of her would-be trade — an intravenous needle. Clutching a box of tissues as she appeared in front of a B.C. Supreme Court judge via video, Brigitte Cleroux uttered the […]

A German HIV patient who is in remission following a stem cell transplant from a donor with genes that are partially resistant to the disease is giving researchers new hope that more people could benefit from the treatment. The first step in a stem cell transplant for people with cancer involves wiping out a patient’s […]

Montreal The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is recalling a WeCook ready-to-eat meatball dish due to possible Listeria contamination. The recall applies to WeCook brand Swiss cheese meatballs with creamy mustard sauce, with a best before date of July 20. Recall applies to products with a best before date of July 20 The Canadian Press · […]

The latest Listeria contamination involves some plant-based beverages in Canada. However, from pre-packaged salads to six-layer bean dips to mushrooms, this isn’t the first time food or drink products have been recalled due to the bacteria. Listeria monocytogenes, widely referred to as Listeria, can be found in soil, vegetation, sewage and water, as well as […]

Two people have died after being sickened with listeriosis, as part of a wider set of cases linked to plant-based beverages that prompted a recall. Health Canada reported the deaths in an advisory issued Wednesday night, which have occurred out of 12 listeriosis cases — 10 in Ontario, and one each in Quebec and Nova Scotia, according […]

Health Minister Mark Holland says he has secured concessions on the new rules being imposed by the United States on dog owners bringing their pets across the border, but he’s “concerned” about the forthcoming changes.   “I am quite concerned, if I’m honest, about the regulations that are being brought in by the United States, as of […]

As Ed Marshall stood in the doorway of a plane over Cayuga, Ont., preparing to parachute out, the 100-year-old said he had a fleeting thought.  “I don’t really want to do this,” he recalled thinking while halfway through the door. “But by that time, it [was] too late.”  Marshall’s jump on July 12 ended well though — from […]

A nursing mother says she was left feeling embarrassed and overwhelmed after being told she wasn’t allowed to breastfeed her baby in or on the deck of a pool at a Nova Scotia military base. The 14 Wing Greenwood Aquatics PSP in Greenwood, N.S., has since publicly apologized for what happened to Kelsey Hutchinson, vowing to change […]

A 10-year-old girl from Swift Current, Sask., who attracted millions of followers while sharing her health story online has died.  Bella Thomson, who went by Bella Brave on social media, was born with several rare health conditions. Her mother, Kyla Thomson, confirmed to CBC Saskatchewan that Bella died on Sunday after being placed in a […]

More children were left out of critical vaccination drives for diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough last year as a rise in conflicts across the globe hindered the supply of life-saving shots mostly in strife-torn regions, the United Nations said on Monday. About 14.5 million children worldwide failed to get vaccinated in 2023, compared […]

What happens after Canadian patients are prescribed addictive opioids in the emergency department for short-term pain? The answer from a new study is being called an “eye opener.”  The issue matters because of the overdose crisis, which has killed more than 44,000 people in opioid-related deaths since 2016, according to Health Canada. In 2023, 22 […]

Is your office freezing? Do you need to keep cool to stay healthy? Should you set your thermostat based on recommendations from your utility? If you’re lucky enough to have air conditioning, there are a number of factors to consider when choosing the right temperature. Comfort and avoiding negative health impacts that come with heat exposure […]

A group of oral health-care providers have banded together against what they call misinformation about the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) being spread in part by the associations representing dentists. “I don’t understand how dentists are saying it’s an administrative burden when they haven’t even registered or tried to submit a claim,” said Kelly Mansfield, president 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. One morning in Sept. 2021, MaryAnn Harris felt strangely tired. She told her husband, Charles de Lint, that she needed to […]

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called on the federal government to shut down Montreal’s first supervised drug-inhalation centre while stopping in the city Friday, saying the site is a “drug den.” The Maison Benoît Labre drew criticism from residents before it opened in April and in the months following, with some parents saying they were blindsided […]

A water main ruptured near the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) Glen site early Friday morning, causing the hospital to turn ambulances away, cancel surgeries and tell people to avoid its emergency rooms. At noon, the issue was resolving, according to hospital officials. Water pressure was returning to the hospital and clinical services were beginning to resume, […]

As It Happens7:22His cancerous voice box was removed. Now he’s speaking again Only a few months ago, Marty Kedian of Haverhill, Mass., couldn’t speak a word — and he didn’t know if he ever would again.  But, in February, Kedian received a total larynx replacement following a laryngeal cancer diagnosis and years of surgeries. “I had an […]

Canada is investing about $15 million toward the development of artificial intelligence in health care, which Federal Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne calls a “game changer” for improving the industry’s ability to serve patients. Champagne says the funding will be invested through the ministry’s Vancouver-based technology cluster program in five medical tech companies, creating technology that automates […]

11 hours ago News Duration 7:30 Dr. Vanessa Allen, a microbiologist and infectious diseases specialist, explains the dangers and illness brought on by listeria contamination and how it could have occurred in facilities that develop products like Silk and Great Value beverages, which were linked to nine listeriosis cases in Ontario and have resulted in […]

Nova Scotia plans to follow the lead of other provinces in the way it screens for cervical cancer, but the switch from Pap smears to testing for HPV is at least two years away, the legislature’s health committee heard Tuesday. Dr. Robert Grimshaw, the medical director of Nova Scotia Health’s Cervical Cancer Screening Program, told the […]

For the first time, the Canadian government has conducted a rapid analysis of a period of extreme heat and determined its connection to human-caused climate change. The analysis conducted by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) found that a heat wave in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada between June 17 and 20 was made two […]

Nine confirmed cases of listeriosis have been reported in Ontario as part of an ongoing investigation linked to recalled plant-based refrigerated beverages, provincial health officials say. On Monday, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced a recall affecting certain Silk and Great Value brands of oat and almond refrigerated beverages that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Dr. […]

The bird flu strain found in cows in the United States is not easily transmitted through the air among ferrets, a new study shows, although the scientist who led the work said it had shown some ability to spread this way. Ferrets are considered to be the best small mammal for studying influenza virus infection and transmission and are often used […]

As of today, oral health-care providers can treat patients under the Canadian Dental Care Plan on a case-by-case basis without officially signing on to the program. Ottawa introduced the measure in the hope that it would entice more dentists to take part in the new national public insurance plan. “You can just try it out, submit […]

Police in London, Ont., say roughly half of the drugs they seized last year were prescribed opioids, indicating they’re being diverted onto city streets. But Deputy Chief Paul Bastien said safer opioid supply (SOS) programs aren’t the only source of drugs being diverted for other uses. He also said it’s hard to quantify how much they contribute to the redistribution […]

Sidney Wood says he was evicted last month because he couldn’t pay his rent. Wood, 41, couldn’t afford the $1,620 per month for a basement apartment in Edmonton that he shared with his two teenage children. Not after he and his wife separated in March, and not on his CPP disability income that he says is $1,403 per month. So Wood, […]

An Edmonton doctor is set to become the first Canadian woman to be a commercial astronaut.   Dr. Shawna Pandya told CBC the opportunity will fulfil her childhood dream “I was lucky enough to be growing up in the ’90s watching Canada’s first female astronaut, Dr. Roberta Bondar, go to space,” Pandya told CBC’s Radio Active. “And I thought, […]

An environmental charity is calling for access to energy-efficient heating and cooling systems to be protected as a right. In a recently released report, Ecotrust Canada makes several policy recommendations that would accelerate several existing policies and introduce new housing regulations.  In its report, released at the end of June, Ecotrust spoke to nine tenants […]

A group of Christian doctors is fearful their position on medical assistance in dying will result in disciplinary action against them and lead to an exodus of like-minded doctors from Nova Scotia, but the province’s physician regulator called their remarks incendiary. The Dartmouth, N.S.-based Christian Medical and Dental Association of Canada held a news conference Thursday to discuss a […]

Concerns are growing in Alberta about the accessibility and affordability of Paxlovid, after the federal government ended its program supplying the COVID-19 treatment to provinces, which provided the drug for free to specific groups of high-risk patients. Paxlovid is an anti-viral medication used to treat mild to moderate COVID-19 in people at high risk of severe illness. It should […]

Parents who steal a moment of calm by handing over a smartphone or tablet to a fussy toddler could set off a cycle of poor anger management and other problems, according to a recent study.  Research published last week in the journal Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry says using such devices for emotional regulation “can be effective […]

An Alberta judge is recommending the provincial government set standards for governing residential medical detoxification and addiction treatment programs after she examined the death of a 25-year-old man at a rural recovery centre. On the morning of Aug. 19, 2021, Joshua Corbiere was found unresponsive in his room at the Thorpe Recovery Centre, in the […]

The video shows an old, low-ceilinged basement, the dirt floor flooded with black and brown sludge. A broken cast-iron pipe is visible — the source of a leak spewing raw sewage into the basement of a home in New Glasgow, N.S., for about a year.   A plumber is walking through the mess, assessing the damage.  […]

Dr. Brian Nadler outside the Ottawa Courthouse on Tuesday after he was officially acquitted of eight charges against him. (Patrick Louiseize/CBC) Dr. Brian Nadler, who formerly practised at a hospital in Hawkesbury, Ont., and faced eight charges in connection to the deaths of four patients, was officially acquitted Tuesday at the Ottawa Courthouse. Lawyer Brian […]

Experts are warning Canadians not to heed misinformation spread online that sunscreen can cause cancer, stressing that proper use of the right lotions or sprays is, in fact, one of the best ways to prevent potentially deadly ailments like melanoma.  Quebec’s Order of Chemists warned last week against what it called a worrying trend circulating on […]

U.S. officials have approved another Alzheimer’s drug that can modestly slow the disease, providing a new option for patients in the early stages of the incurable, memory-destroying ailment. The Food and Drug Administration approved Eli Lilly’s Kisunla on Tuesday for mild or early cases of dementia caused by Alzheimer’s. It’s only the second drug that’s […]

This is a First Person column by Ummni Khan, who lives in Victoria. For more information about CBC’s First Person stories, see the FAQ.  The arrival of my first period was an eagerly awaited sign of adolescence. I wanted it all. Boobs. Pubes. Even breakouts seemed to carry a kind of angsty cool.  Four decades […]

A recent lawsuit over access to medical assistance in dying (MAID) in some hospitals in British Columbia has put the practices of religious health organizations in the spotlight.  Faith-based health organizations in B.C. are allowed to opt out of providing certain services if they conflict with their values and beliefs — including access to abortion, contraception […]

This First Person article is by Julie Green, a writer who was diagnosed with autism in her 40s. For more information about CBC’s First Person stories, please see the FAQ In 2012, my three-year-old son was diagnosed with autism. At the time, his diagnosis felt all-consuming.  It was the steepest of learning curves because the […]

Dr. Brian Nadler, who formerly practised at a hospital in Hawkesbury, Ont., and is facing eight charges in connection to the deaths of four patients, is expected to be acquitted on Tuesday, according to both Crown and defence counsel. Brian Greenspan said Saturday that his client will likely be acquitted of all eight charges against him — […]

The Dose20:45What can I do to prepare for a summer medical emergency? As the parent of four very active children, Dr. Shaneka Kulasingham is no stranger to taking precautions to prevent medical emergencies while travelling.  And as an emergency physician at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton in Ontario, Kulasingham is also abundantly familiar with the common […]

The city’s public health unit and doctors are urging people to get vaccinated against a potentially fatal bacterial disease amid a rise in cases.  Toronto Public Health (TPH) has reported 14 confirmed cases of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) so far this year, more than double the previous average of six cases per year.  “This is a substantial […]

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) issued a recall of a canned coffee product on Friday over botulism concerns, a move that follows a similar action in the U.S. The CFIA recall affects the Elevate Snapchill Coffee product distributed by in Canada by Alberta-based Eclipse Coffee Roaster. The product itself is made by Wisconsin-based Snapchill company in the U.S. “The […]

Heidi Clarke says all the warning signs should have been evident and well-documented in the days before her 25-year-old daughter Brandi died from diabetic ketoacidosis in March 2023. That is, in essence, a death caused by a lack of insulin. As the body of someone who doesn’t have enough insulin burns off fat to create […]

Ottawa plans to expand eligibility for the federal dental program today to include children under the age of 18 and people who receive a disability tax credit. The government estimates 1.2 million more people will now be able to apply for the program. Critics have suggested that basing eligibility for people with disabilities on the […]

The head of the National Microbiology Lab (NML) in Winnipeg says he is stepping down to continue his medical work and take a position at  the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba, CBC News has learned.  Since 2020, Dr. Guillaume Poliquin has overseen Canada’s only Level 4 virology facility, which is equipped to deal with the most serious and deadly human […]

A unique online tool designed by University of Calgary researchers is helping refugees in Canada connect with key health care and settlement supports. The Canadian Refugee Healthcare System Atlas provides information and links for 146 organizations across the country, including primary care clinics treating refugees, public health clinics and settlement services. The Atlas, which is free and […]

Vi Roden said she reads an average of 50 books a year, attends history lectures at her local seniors centre, and does yoga twice a week.  She’s 101, and still lives in her own condo in West Vancouver, B.C. “It never occurred to me that I would live this long,” said Roden, a former Air […]

Quebec’s chief coroner has ordered a public inquiry into the death of a quadriplegic man who sought medical assistance in dying (MAID) in the weeks after a hospital stay left him with a severe and painful bedsore.  Normand Meunier, 66, was stuck on a stretcher in an emergency room at the hospital in Saint-Jérôme, Que., for […]

Persistent staffing shortages in the health-care sector across Canada in the wake of the pandemic have led some organizations, including some provincial government agencies, to increasingly call upon temporary foreign workers to fill positions in clinics, hospitals and senior care facilities across the country. While health-care still represents a small fraction of the overall temporary foreign worker […]

Tick experts are warning Canadians to be on the lookout for symptoms of a tick-borne disease whose case counts have been steadily increasing over the past 15 years. Anaplasmosis is an infection contracted by humans and animals caused by the Anaplasma phagocytophilum bacteria and spread by ticks.  In the early 2000s, provinces and territories began reporting a handful […]

Tick experts are warning Canadians to be on the lookout for symptoms of a tick-borne disease whose case counts have been steadily increasing over the past 15 years. Anaplasmosis is an infection contracted by humans and animals caused by the Anaplasma phagocytophilum bacteria and spread by ticks.  In the early 2000s, provinces and territories began reporting a handful […]

Spark53:59Being Human Now 9 – Wellness It’s “scroller beware” on #mentalhealth TikTok, where content ranges from informed to misleading, and has the potential to be both helpful or harmful, mental health caregivers say. Jonathan Shedler, a psychologist and clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, says he’s concerned about the quality […]

The Sunday Magazine17:43Worried about your posture? You can probably just relax If you do a web search for “back pain and posture,” you’ll be met with articles about the effects of poor posture on the body, guides telling you how to reduce your back pain with posture exercises, and ads for all kinds of posture-correcting […]

White Coat Black Art26:30Health-care lessons from an unprecedented fire season The meals hadn’t even been served at the 2023 Physicians Appreciation Dinner in Grande Prairie, Alta., when Candice Edey stepped forward to deliver the bad news. “I had to go up to the microphone and, at this event that was supposed to be really appreciative of the folks […]

This First Person article is written by Kerry Yang, a first-year medical student in Calgary. For more information about First Person stories, see the FAQ. When the plaques started appearing on my knees in Grade 1, my mom thought it came from all the kneeling I did on the carpet during reading time. “Aiya! You […]

McMaster Children’s Hospital has cancelled roughly 100 tonsil and adenoid surgeries since the death of two children. The hospital paused all tonsil and adenoid surgeries for patients 17 and under on June 4, shortly after the death of a second child who had undergone the routine procedure. The children died, one in May and the other in June, after they […]

WARNING: This article contains details of abuse. With a stifled sob, Mary Tuktudjuk says she’s spent all of her life thinking about her father. Decades ago, he was among a number of Inuit patients brought south to be treated for tuberculosis at the Parc Savard Hospital, a former sanatorium in Quebec City, and never came […]

The federal government unveiled details of a new national school food program Thursday that it hopes will be providing meals to more kids in more schools before the end of the next school year, but Families, Children and Social Development Minister Jenna Sudds cautioned that it will take time for organizations to scale up their existing operations. […]

A program in Fort McMurray that pairs police officers with nurses to help people experiencing mental health crises has expanded after seeing early success. The Police and Crisis Team (PACT) program, a partnership between RCMP and Alberta Health Services, was started in 2022. It began with one mental health nurse and funding for one year. Now […]

With millions under heat warnings from Ontario eastward, new research is shedding light on the health risks from exposure to unusually warm temperatures — particularly in cities with more renters. The study, released Wednesday by Statistics Canada, found a higher than average risk of death, particularly among those 65 and over, during stretches of extreme […]

Most Manitobans will never encounter the province’s chief psychiatrist, but if a doctor has decided you’re mentally incompetent, the trajectory of your life is in his hands.  The Public Guardian and Trustee of Manitoba is an arm’s-length government agency that makes the personal and financial decisions for more than 2,700 people deemed medically incompetent by […]

The U.S. surgeon general has called on Congress to require warning labels on social media platforms similar to those now mandatory on cigarette boxes. In a Monday opinion piece in the New York Times, Dr. Vivek Murthy said that social media is a contributing factor in the mental health crisis among young people. “It is […]

A Calgary doctor recently discovered that his name was being used on forged prescriptions as they were shopped around pharmacies in Ontario. In his work as an anatomical pathologist at the Peter Lougheed Centre, Dr. James Cotton doesn’t prescribe medication or see patients. He spends most of his time behind a microscope analyzing biopsies and […]

Quebec’s Health Ministry and family doctors have reached an agreement to continue a service that helps connects patients without a family doctor to health-care professionals. The Guichet d’accès à la première ligne (GAP) program, launched in 2022, goes further than the traditional 811 phone service by allowing people to speak with a nurse, get their symptoms assessed […]

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. Cleaning contaminated surfaces in hospitals is critically important to protect patients from drug-resistant superbugs, which are on the rise. But some infectious […]

The Dose22:22How can mindfulness help athletes? Read transcribed audio Any athlete knows that being in top form is as much a mental as a physical game.  The Edmonton Oilers — approaching Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals Saturday — are relying on George Mumford to help them stay in good shape mentally.  The sports […]

The Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP) says it will never again work with Big Tobacco after getting an earful from angry members who read a CBC News: Go Public investigation last week. The story featured a B.C. woman speaking out about a sponsorship deal CARP accepted from Canadian tobacco company Rothmans, Benson & Hedges (RBH).  […]

First Nations women in northern Ontario are advocating for better access to menstrual products at the Kenora District Jail. Longtime community advocate Tania Cameron has held menstrual product drives in the past, but after hearing that a female inmate was in tears about inadequate access to such supplies, she decided to go to the Ministry of the Solicitor […]

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a bid by anti-abortion groups and doctors to restrict access to the abortion pill, handing a victory on Thursday to President Joe Biden’s administration in its efforts to preserve broad access to the drug. The justices, two years after ending the recognition of a constitutional right to abortion, ruled 9-0 […]

Alberta’s seven supervised consumption sites lack something advocates say would save lives — a room where users can inhale drugs, with trained staff ready to intervene if someone ingests a poisoned batch that could kill them.  The sites in Grande Prairie, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Red Deer and Calgary only have space for people who inject drugs, leaving […]

More than 400 patients have been forced into Ontario nursing homes they did not want to go to and the rate of those moves is increasing, The Canadian Press has learned. There were 424 discharged patients who moved to a nursing home not of their choosing out of 20,261 patients who were moved to long-term […]

Quebec’s College of Physicians is introducing new measures aimed at stopping the forced sterilization of Indigenous women, following a 2022 report that found more than 20 such cases in the province since 1980. “We are taking concrete actions to ensure that no woman ever again undergoes sterilization without her knowledge or against her will. We must […]

A plastics plant in southwestern Ontario that was ordered by the province and federal government to reduce emissions of the cancer-causing chemical benzene now says it will permanently close by June 2026.  The Sarnia facility, which employs about 80 people directly, has been shut down since late April, after members of nearby Aamjiwnaang First Nation said they went to hospital […]

Canada’s privacy commissioner is teaming up with his U.K. counterpart to investigate a data breach discovered last year at 23andMe. Philippe Dufresne’s office says the joint investigation with U.K. Information Commissioner John Edwards will aim to determine the scope of the October 2023 breach at the direct-to-consumer genetic testing company. They will also look into […]

The new Canada Disability Benefit will lift about 25,000 adults out of poverty, according to new numbers released by the federal government — a figure well short of the hundreds of thousands the government said the benefit would help when it introduced the legislation in 2022. “We have an opportunity in the House to bring about […]

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 cursory glance at Canada’s wastewater trends for COVID-19 reveals a messy, unpredictable picture: Viral loads ebb and flow all throughout […]

Ideas53:59Smell: The Invisible Superpower When Jessie Cabot lost her sense of smell in 2021, the absence that hit her hardest was the scent of the sea. Aromatic sea breezes used to bring her back to childhood summers on the beach. Now, when she visits her parents on the New Zealand coast, the air has no […]

Three pharmaceutical companies are recalling various tablets due to concerns about the tests used to demonstrate their efficacy, Health Canada announced. Accel Pharma, Mint Pharmaceuticals and Pharmascience are recalling the following: Accel-Ondansetron ODT (4 mg and 8 mg tablets). Mint-Betahistine (8 mg, 16 mg and 24 mg tablets). PMS-Pirfenidone (267 mg and 801 mg tablets). Health […]

The Current9:00Why your approach to back pain could be all wrong Aidan O’Leary, 77, has suffered with back pain brought on by a hip replacement, but says he’s found great relief by staying active at his local swimming pool.  “Everything moves when I swim. It’s not like walking or using a gym machine or anything,” O’Leary […]

A man who contracted bird flu in Mexico died due to chronic diseases and not the virus, Mexico’s health ministry said on Friday. Earlier this week, the World Health Organization reported the first laboratory-confirmed human case of infection with A(H5N2) avian influenza in Mexico. In a Friday press conference in Geneva, WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier […]

After spending nearly a solid month alone in a jail cell in Hamilton, Cedar Hopperton remembers how the deafening quiet and isolation impacted her.  “The main thing that strikes you is the silence … it definitely aggravated feelings of anxiety and fear, like listening to every little sound in this totally silent environment, just being really worried and stressed,” she said.  […]

Deodorant for your armpits? Sure. Deodorant for your butt crack? Well … it exists, and it’s trending. Big brands like Secret, Dove, Native and Old Spice have recently started selling whole-body deodorants, advertising sticks, sprays and creams that promise to combat stink everywhere from your “pits, privates, underboobs and feet” to your chest, hands and “even down below.” These more […]

Health The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that a man in Mexico has died from a subtype of avian influenza, in the first laboratory-confirmed human fatality from the strain globally. Globally, this is the 1st lab-confirmed human case of infection with A(H5N2) subtype of bird flu Thomson Reuters · Posted: Jun 05, 2024 5:17 […]

Two children have died after tonsil and/or adenoid surgery at McMaster Children’s Hospital, the Hamilton hospital said Wednesday, adding it’s pausing such procedures as a precaution while doing a “comprehensive” review. In an afternoon news release, Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS), which operates McMaster Children’s Hospital, said, “one child passed away the day after their surgery and the […]

A 50-year-old woman would suddenly fall asleep multiple times while getting ready for work, slurring her speech and falling. She went to emergency departments seven times in two years and was diagnosed with alcohol intoxication. But she hadn’t had alcohol in years, which her family confirmed. This week’s issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal includes […]

The popular weight-loss drug Wegovy has been available in Canada since early May, but anybody hoping to use it will have to shell out about $400 a month.  One advocate says that lack of coverage will hurt the country in the long run. “There is a cost of inaction in terms of not providing care, right? More people showing up to […]

Children under 18 and people with disabilities will be eligible for the federal government’s dental plan starting June 27, federal ministers said Monday. Minister of Citizens’ Services Terry Beech announced the date, adding the newly eligible group accounts for 1.2 million additional Canadians who will be able to access the program. The government previously said that […]

The Dose21:34What should I know about dry eye? Read transcribed audio It’s a complex condition that affects roughly one-fifth of Canadians — and that number is growing, including among young people.  Dry eye can range from mild to severe, and experts say it can have a big impact on someone’s overall health and quality of […]

WARNING: This story contains discussion of suicide and traumatic events. Firefighter Rob Leathen says he was haunted by the memory of a woman he was trying to save. Leathen is one of the nearly two-thirds of Canadians to experience a traumatic event like a car crash, which is the most common type of traumatic event Canadians say […]

This is a First Person column by Matthew Heneghan, who lives in Falkland, B.C. For more information about CBC’s First Person stories, please see the FAQ. My name is Matthew and I’m an alcoholic. An addict. That sullen string of words has taken me a long time to say aloud, let alone write and lay […]

People should be able to get a mammogram starting at age 40 but it shouldn’t be routinely offered to women under 50 who are of average risk, new Canadian screening guidelines suggest. The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care is an organization created by the federal government to develop clinical practice recommendations in areas like cancer to […]

The Current18:35Seniors are using cannabis — and ending up in the ER Many seniors are turning to cannabis for recreational or medicinal use — but a new study suggests some are ending up in the ER with accidental cannabis poisoning. Matt Galloway speaks with Dr. Nathan Stall about how to help seniors reduce the risk […]

When Trent and Seana Tatomir looked at their bank account right before Christmas 2023, they were shocked.  “Merry Christmas,” Trent said. “Here’s a kick in the teeth.” Trent, 32, was injured in a workplace accident and for the past four years has relied on payments from Alberta’s Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) program. […]

A 51-year-old Calgary man who suffers debilitating cluster headaches has won a Federal Court battle forcing Health Canada to reconsider his bid for legal access to psilocybin to treat his extreme pain.  Ottawa Federal Court Judge Simon Fothergill, on May 24, granted an application for judicial review of Health Canada’s denial of Jody Lance’s bid for legal access […]

Another Michigan dairy worker has been diagnosed with bird flu, the third human case associated with an outbreak in U.S. dairy cows, health officials said Thursday. The patient reported a cough and eye discomfort, unlike the other two workers, who had only eye symptoms, health officials said. The farmworker was quickly provided antivirals and is […]

It all started with a few text messages in late April. Several well-known Canadian scientists — Toronto-based infectious diseases specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch, Saskatoon-based virologist Angela Rasmussen and Winnipeg-based microbiologist Jason Kindrachuk — were all chatting about the unprecedented outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in U.S. dairy cows. By then, American officials had tracked cow cases […]

Toronto’s top doctor is calling the opioid overdose crisis a drug toxicity epidemic and is pushing for an empathetic health response as officials release preliminary annual data on the city’s overdose deaths. Toronto Public Health says the data released Wednesday shows 523 opioid toxicity deaths were reported last year, up slightly over the year before […]

Dr. Adrienne Borrie can pinpoint the time when it became clear to her she wanted to focus on family medicine. Borrie was in her third year of medical school doing clerkship rotations at collaborative family practices in the Nova Scotia towns of Annapolis Royal and Lunenburg where, for the first time, she was given her own roster […]

One in eight pregnant people in Ontario has a disability, but many face barriers to accessible care and disrespect from health-care providers, a new report published Tuesday says. People with disabilities have been overlooked in reproductive health care partly because of false societal assumptions that they aren’t sexual and won’t have children, Hilary Brown, lead […]

When Dr. Meaghan Labine met Monica Kehar in 2018, they almost instantly became friends. The two women had been elected to sit on the national body representing the College of Family Physicians of Canada and appeared to have a lot in common. Both had gone to medical school and were doing their residencies to become […]

A wall of flames met David Matear when he finally stepped outside of the downtown Fort McMurray hospital, after the final patient was hurried out of the building and into a waiting bus. “You couldn’t see the trees. You just saw fire,” said Matear, the senior operating director for the health system in northern Alberta […]

The Dose25:48How can I keep my brain sharp as I age? Read transcribed audio The health of our brains can change as we age.  For some, that might look like worries about memory loss. But experts say cognitive health is about much more than forgetting someone’s name or where you put your phone.  It also […]

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. When U.S. dairy cows began falling ill with a dangerous form of bird flu, many scientists were struck by an unusual […]

Allergy Quebec is recommending the removal of peanut bans in schools, favouring education and awareness like other provinces have done.

White Coat Black Art26:30The kidney transplant waiting game Judith Morrison is keenly aware of the state of her kidneys. She has polycystic kidney disease (PKD) and needs a kidney transplant. Over the last five years, she’s watched their function drop to five per cent. “It’s so scary watching it slowly decline,” she told Dr. Brian […]

Janet Nevala has walked for exercise her whole life, but about 10 years ago she added a new element to her jaunts — walking backwards.  “Every time I walk, I just do a little twirl and walk backwards for a bit, and I’ll do it just a few times during my walk,” said the 62-year-old […]

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a multi-million dollar funding commitment to build a vaccine plant in Montreal to churn out Canadian-made COVID-19 shots by the end of 2020. Four years later, not a single vial of usable vaccine has rolled off the line. The publicly owned Biologics Manufacturing Centre (BMC) […]

As the U.S. identified a second human case of bird flu linked to dairy cows this week, some Canadian dairy farmers and veterinarians are on guard, taking measures like stocking up on personal protective equipment.  The latest patient, a farm worker in Michigan, had mild eye symptoms and has recovered, state health officials said. In […]

22 hours ago News Duration 8:12 The impact of Canada’s primary-care crisis is being felt acutely in Sault Ste. Marie Ont., where 10,000 people will be cut off from their family doctor at the end of May. CBC’s Nick Purdon breaks down the Group Health Centre’s de-rostering and what it means for patients.

The number of Naloxone kits distributed free at Quebec pharmacies has increased tenfold in six years, from 6,892 distributed in 2017-18 to 78,360 over the last year, according to the latest numbers from the province’s health insurance board, the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ). “Glad that the measures put in place to raise awareness of […]

A Michigan farm worker has been diagnosed with bird flu — the second human case associated with an outbreak in U.S. dairy cows. The patient had mild eye symptoms and has recovered, U.S. and Michigan health officials said in announcing the case Wednesday. The worker had been in contact with cows presumed to be infected, and […]

A chemical plant in Sarnia, Ont., that has been shut down over benzene emissions says complying with certain conditions set out by the provincial government can’t be done safely and will cost up to $50 million. INEOS Styrolution is now appealing the government’s actions and wants the province to reverse new, stronger emissions restrictions. The company started to shut down its operation […]

In a new report, a think-tank within Employment and Social Development Canada cites 35 “plausible” global disruptions that could reshape Canada and the world in the near future. The Policy Horizons Canada (PHC) panel drafted the list and then asked more than 500 stakeholders within and outside government to suggest which ones were more likely, when they might happen and how […]

The B.C. Supreme Court has ruled that the province’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health-care workers was justified, based on the significant risk posed by the virus when the province’s mandate was renewed in October 2023. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry had first imposed the orders  on all workers in B.C. health-care settings in October 2021. […]

Last year’s record-breaking wildfire season forced Canadians to become familiar with the scale of air pollution as hazardous smoke drifted across the country. Environment Canada’s colour-coded Air Quality Health Index (AQHI), designed to help people understand health risks associated with contaminated air, was closely watched under hazy, orange skies that stretched beyond the Canada-U.S. border. But the […]

On his YouTube channel, Anand Munje interviews entrepreneurs, academics and artists. He communicates with them even though his cerebral palsy makes it hard to speak, but it’s possible thanks to the software his brothers Arun and Amit Munje developed — AIHEARU.  It’s pronounced “I hear you,” and it takes Anand’s words and turns them into […]

Canada’s vaccine advisory group said Friday it recommends building toward immunizing all infants from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The common and highly contagious virus normally causes cold-like symptoms. But for more vulnerable populations such as infants and older adults, it can lead to more serious illness like pneumonia and bronchiolitis; a swelling of the small airway […]

The Current24:02Top chef says hospital food can be tasty — and healing You might be familiar with some of the less-than-appetizing meals that get served in hospital if you, or a loved one, has ever had an extended stay. But a recent pilot project at a Vancouver hospital aimed to replace unappealing mush with something that’s […]

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. An Ontario child’s death from measles this year offers a grim reminder: When vaccination rates drop and this virus rears its head, […]

The federal government has rejected a request from Toronto to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of illegal drugs for personal use within the city. Mental Health and Addictions Minister Ya’ara Saks rejected the request due to lingering concerns about safety, according to a statement from Health Canada released Friday. “She has determined that it […]

A Hamilton child under five years old has died of measles, says the city’s public health agency.  “This is a profoundly tragic situation where a young child has left us too soon with their whole life ahead of them,” said Dr. Brendan Lew, Hamilton’s associate medical officer of health, in a statement Friday.  “To respect and protect the […]

Lorraine Sherren says what’s holding her together as she and her husband grieve the death of their 40-year-old son is knowing he was able to donate his heart, with some out-of-the-box thinking. Robbie Sherren, 40, was a Special Olympics bowler, Trekkie and computer whiz, his parents said. What started as a trip to the emergency […]

WARNING: This story contains discussion of suicide. Marien de Freitas has seen one too many friends die by suicide. De Freitas started at the University of Waterloo in the fall of 2020, right at the peak of the pandemic. Classes were all online, and the isolation amplified anxiety and other mental health issues for her […]

After abysmal Quebec nursing exam results in 2022 and 2023, 92 per cent of candidates passed this spring. A total of 1,702 candidates passed the test, meaning they scored a minimum grade of 57 per cent. The exam was held on March 26 and was open to all candidates, regardless of how many times they […]

Residents of The Maples, a social housing building in Kenora, Ont., say they don’t feel safe due to the city’s escalating drug crisis.  While some have threatened to take matters into their own hands through acts of vigilantism, others are calling for a more collaborative approach between the city and community agencies. Coun. Lisa Moncrief called […]

Early tests on milk being sold in Canada found no signs of the virus that causes a dangerous form of bird flu, federal officials say. Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) laboratories have tested 142 retail milk samples from “across Canada,” reads a Tuesday statement from the agency.  To date, all samples in the CFIA’s interim round […]

Cape Breton University is pushing ahead with plans for a new medical school in Nova Scotia despite concerns by local doctors that they are too busy to take on new teaching duties. The doctors say they are already overworked and understaffed and CBU has not shown them a clear plan for potential instructors at the […]

The Dose25:46How should I treat migraine attacks? Read transcribed audio The stereotypical image of a migraine sufferer is someone lying in a dark, quiet room for hours with an ice pack on their head.  And while that is still true in some cases, new effective medications specifically designed for migraine have changed the outlook for […]

Ontario will need 33,200 more nurses and 50,853 more personal support workers by 2032, the government projects — figures it tried to keep secret but were obtained by The Canadian Press. The government recently won a fight in front of the Information and Privacy Commissioner to keep those figures under wraps after denying Global News […]

Bruce Ballingall grew up playing with his five brothers in the sun. He says they didn’t wear hats or sunscreen and they all ended up with some form of skin cancer. “Nobody warned me, until it was too late,” said the 75-year-old whose skull is covered with skin grafted from his legs after the removal of melanomas. He now […]

A rare 911 dispatch service in Ontario’s Niagara Region that includes nurses as part of the team responding to emergency calls has resulted in fewer ambulances rushing to scenes, say program staff.  Niagara Emergency Medical Services has included the nurses since 2019, one of three emergency services in Canada to do so, said Marty Mako, commander of […]

White Coat Black Art441:40:00The Unshakeable MD When Dr. Soania Mathur was 28 years old and pregnant with her first child, she developed a trembling feeling in her right pinky finger. She thought at first it was related to the pregnancy. But after further testing, she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. “From a medical standpoint, I accepted […]

In Ontario, the average wait time for the thousands of prospective patients on the province’s list looking to be connected to a family doctor is, according to the government, around 90 days. But that, of course, is the average. And depending where one may reside in the province, the wait time can be significantly longer. “In some places, we have patients […]

Canadian Blood Services has apologized to the 2SLGBTQ+ community for its “harmful” former policies that prevented or restricted men who have sex with men from donating blood for decades. For years, the blood donor service prevented sexually active gay and bisexual men from donating blood and plasma. Its rules for donors were updated in 2022 to focus on sexual behaviour […]

Scientists in the U.S. and Canada are watching wastewater for early signs of H5N1 as an outbreak of bird flu among American dairy cattle keeps growing. With cases confirmed in dozens of herds across nine states — and roughly 300 people being tested or monitored for symptoms after the detection of one human case — […]

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Employers need to be more proactive in helping workers maintain their psychological well-being, including by being more cognizant of suicide prevention strategies, a mental health summit in Grande Prairie, Alta., heard this week. A two-day mental health summit, hosted this week by Northwestern Polytechnic and the Resource Centre for Suicide Prevention in Grande Prairie, focused on promoting wellness […]

AstraZeneca says it is withdrawing Vaxzevria, its vaccine to protect against COVID-19, from global markets. The vaccine was used early on in the pandemic in many countries, including Canada. In an update on the European Medicines Agency’s website on Wednesday, the regulator said that the approval for Vaxzevria had been withdrawn “at the request of the […]

Updated screening rules for sperm and egg donors came into force on Wednesday that remove a ban that restricted gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks, Health Canada said. “As a continuation of changes made to screening criteria for blood donations, Health Canada reviewed the donor screening criteria for sperm and ova donors […]

Warning: This story contains distressing details and discussions of sexual violence. Glorieuse Uwizeye believes it was a miracle that she and her family survived the 100-day genocide in 1994 against the Tutsis, a minority group in Rwanda.  Thirty years later, Uwizeye is an associate professor in nursing at Western University in London, Ont., and studies the physical and […]

Minister of Addictions and Mental Health Ya’ara Saks said Tuesday the federal government has approved the B.C. government’s request to recriminalize the use of illicit drugs in public spaces. The province is just over a year into a pilot program that allows adults to carry up to 2.5 grams of drugs for personal use without […]

Quebec’s Laurentian health authority is putting in place corrective measures in the Saint-Jérôme hospital weeks after the death of Normand Meunier, who developed a severe bedsore during his four-day hospital stay in January. The 66-year-old quadriplegic Quebec man chose assisted dying in March after developing the horrific pressure sore — where bone and muscle were exposed. […]

In the U.S., the growing role of private equity firms in health care is coming under heightened scrutiny, with Senate committee hearings and a cross-government public inquiry launched earlier this year.  “When private equity firms buy out health-care facilities only to slash staffing and cut quality, patients lose out,” said Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina […]

The Dose347:46:40How do ultra-processed foods affect my health? Sandra Elia is intimately aware of how prevalent ultra-processed foods are in the Canadian diet.  As a recovering food addict, Elia struggled for years to control her intake of ultra-processed fried foods, heavy in refined sugar and flour.  She’s not alone; Canadians get nearly half of their […]

The Current23:09What dying people see in their dreams As Charlotte Good was dying of pancreatic cancer in a Toronto hospital in 2007, she experienced a dream or vision of her own mother — who had died years before. Charlotte’s daughter, Cynthia Good, was staying over that night and sensed that she’d sat up. “I got […]

London Drugs is gradually reopening its stores across Western Canada, six days after it shuttered all locations due to a “cybersecurity incident,”  the retail and pharmacy chain said. It is working with its nearly 80 stores in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba individually to get them up and running, said the retailer, headquartered in Richmond, a […]

Sandra Langlois has no other choice but to get her left foot amputated on Monday. For a year, she’s had a bedsore that just won’t heal. “It’s very debilitating,” said Langlois, who is paralyzed from the waist down. She says she’s come to terms with it, but it took time. “There was a period when […]

Federal officials say Canada is expanding its surveillance for a dangerous form of avian flu amid a growing outbreak of H5N1 in U.S. dairy cattle, with monitoring efforts now set to include testing of milk being sold on store shelves. The Friday night update comes just days after leading Canadian researchers questioned the country’s response to the unprecedented spread […]

A Quebec man with serious health issues is calling for changes to the way people with long-term disabilities are provided financial support from the province after spending four years fighting for adequate help. George was diagnosed in 2013 with a synovial sarcoma in his left knee, which is a rare type of cancer that occurs near large joints. […]

Crouched inside her makeshift tent at a camp in Rafah, Samah El-Nazli fidgets as she recalls what her living conditions have been like since the war began. The mother of four is among millions of Gazans struggling to access food, water and sanitation in the overcrowded camp after losing their own homes in the strip. […]

Family doctors frustrated with writing sick notes have created a template letter for patients to give to their employers, explaining that the notes place an unnecessary burden on physicians during an ongoing primary-care crisis.  They are also calling on the province to restrict when and how employers can ask for sick notes.  The template, addressed “Dear Employer” […]

The family of Candida Macarine, an 86-year-old woman who was found dead on the floor of a room in the ER at Lakeshore General Hospital in 2021, is suing the agency that oversees health care on Montreal’s West Island for $1 million. The lawsuit also names an ER doctor and a nurse at the Lakeshore […]

WARNING: This article references sexual assault and suicidal ideation, and may affect those who have experienced​ them or know someone affected by them. A Brantford, Ont., woman sentenced in February to house arrest for faking pregnancies, harassment and fraudulently seeking the services of numerous doulas is in custody and facing new charges, Hamilton police say. Allegations between […]

Stacey Button felt unsupported and overworked as a licensed practical nurse in Springdale, N.L. She says leaving and becoming a travel nurse has been life-changing. (Troy Turner/CBC) Stacey Button felt unsupported and overworked as a licensed practical nurse in rural Newfoundland, an experience fraught with so much stress and dejection that she left her home and a […]

Members of the body that advises Alberta Health Services about 2SLGBTQ+ health care were surprised by Premier Danielle Smith’s proposed transgender policies announcement earlier this year, according to internal records obtained by CBC News. In a video posted to social media on Jan. 31, Smith laid out a host of proposed policies focused on transgender youth, including […]

The federal minister for addictions and mental health says it’s too early to draw conclusions about drug decriminalization after British Columbia asked Ottawa to scale back its pilot to help curb concerns about public drug use. Ya’ara Saks noted Monday that the province is only a year into its three-year pilot project, which began in early […]

Three women who were diagnosed with HIV after getting “vampire facial” procedures at an unlicensed New Mexico medical spa are believed to be the first documented cases of people contracting the virus through a cosmetic procedure using needles, federal health officials said. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its Morbidity […]

After weeks of troubling stories about problematic street drug use in hospitals, parks and at bus stops, the province of British Columbia announced plans to recriminalize the use of drugs in public places Friday — radically altering a pilot program aimed at addressing the toxic drug crisis. In a statement, Premier David Eby insisted that […]

The Sunday Magazine23:20How to talk to your aging parents about their future Talking to aging parents and family members about their future can be tricky, but Megan Johnson says the sooner, the better. The Halifax-based research assistant, 36, is a secondary caregiver to her father, who is in the late stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Navigating […]

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 dangerous type of bird flu virus discovered in the lung of a U.S. dairy cow that didn’t show symptoms. Viral […]

The Dose22:46How can I safely stay active while injured? <p>While we tend to think rest is the key to recovering from an injury, physicians recommend keeping the body moving, if possible, but at a lower intensity. Sport medicine physician Dr. Laura Cruz explains why “motion is lotion” and provides some low-impact exercises that can help […]

Poultry producers will be required to bring salmonella bacteria in certain chicken products to very low levels to help prevent food poisoning under a final rule issued Friday by U.S. agriculture officials. When the regulation takes effect in 2025, salmonella will be considered an adulterant — a contaminant that can cause foodborne illness — when […]

As she prepared to return home from Montreal’s Lakeshore General Hospital earlier than expected, Danielle Lacasse was given a smart watch and a cell phone last Friday. “A virtual nurse will see all the information, such as your blood pressure, saturation, your temperature and respiration,” Sharon Dubiel told Lacasse. Dubiel is head of the transition […]

Inside a garage in an established Edmonton neighbourhood, animals were being slaughtered and the meat was advertised for sale to consumers, a CBC News investigation has learned. Police entered the rented garage in the quiet residential Woodcroft community in February 2023. Images shared with CBC News show piles of goat carcasses, tubs of blood and […]

After last summer’s heat waves, deadly floods and record-breaking wildfires, some scientists are urging Canadian health professionals to help their patients better prepare for climate change-related extreme weather and natural disasters. Blair Feltmate, head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo, told a national public health conference in Halifax Wednesday […]

A Kingston, Ont., nightclub must meet a list of specific conditions if it wants to host another foam party, following an investigation by public health officials into several cases of eye irritation. Ten people had their eyes flushed by staff at Kingston General Hospital’s emergency department overnight on April 7 and into the next morning […]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that samples of pasteurized milk have tested positive for remnants of the bird flu virus that has infected dairy cows. The agency stressed that the material is inactivated and that the findings “do not represent actual virus that may be a risk to consumers.” Officials added that they’re continuing […]

Peel Region has a massive childhood vaccination backlog, with more than half of children missing at least one mandated vaccine dose. That’s the warning from Peel’s acting medical officer of health, who says the lack of school immunizations is spelling trouble for communicable diseases. “Without significant dedicated resources, we estimate it will take seven years to […]

This story is a collaboration between the Investigative Journalism Foundation and CBC Saskatchewan. Newly obtained internal data shows the Saskatchewan government knew COVID-19 was spreading at an “exponential” rate in the fall of 2021, providing new insight into what officials knew before a devastating COVID-19 wave hit the province. The Investigative Journalism Foundation (IJF) and the CBC have obtained […]

Suzanne Kuchinka, mayor of the village of Macoun in southeast Saskatchewan, says it’s been a struggle for years to keep family doctors, because they retire or move elsewhere. In Lloydminster, a city on the Saskatchewan-Alberta boundary, Mayor Gerald Aalbers says doctors who want to work in his community are facing roadblocks. These are some of […]

Systemic racism and inequity in health care may be contributing to why First Nations patients in Alberta disproportionately leave emergency departments without being seen, or against medical advice, according to a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The peer-reviewed paper builds on a previous one that found nearly seven per cent of […]

When eight-year-old Emma English discovered her younger brother would have to wait up to three years for an autism assessment, she took it upon herself to raise funds for a faster, private diagnosis.  A Sunday lemonade stand held in front of the family’s Kamloops home earned a total of $1,500, surpassing Emma’s initial goal of […]

A chemical plant in Sarnia, Ont., announced on Saturday that it is temporarily shutting down for maintenance and to “address a mechanical issue” following complaints from a nearby First Nation whose members say they’ve become ill from the plant’s emissions. “At INEOS Styrolution, ensuring the health and safety of our employees and community is paramount,” the […]

When Nicole Lukas-Mckenzie tells her clients she knows what they’re going through, she means it. At People Advocating for Change for Empowerment (PACE), a drop-in centre on Thunder Bay, Ont.’s south side, she sees people experiencing homelessness, addiction and the stigma that comes with facing complex social challenges. “I was in active addiction for 12 years 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. If you consider yourself at a higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19 — because of your age, or maybe due […]

A safe place to consume drugs is vital to saving lives, but even more crucial in the harm-reduction approach is providing a safe supply of drugs, says a Winnipeg mom whose son died from fentanyl poisoning. “We won’t change things enough unless we do something about the supply. That’s the most important thing that we […]

Health Canada says it will end a long-standing policy that blocked all men who have sex with men from donating to sperm banks. The move lifts a blanket ban that has been in place for more than 30 years. “After a review of the latest scientific evidence and feedback received from recent consultations, Health Canada is […]

Christine Rogers says she won’t go back to work until something is done at a neighbouring chemical plant. The 40-year-old lives and works on Aamjiwnaang First Nation, along the shores of the St. Clair River, next to the southwestern Ontario city of Sarnia, and says she and other family members started noticing symptoms of illness earlier this week. […]

The World Health Organization (WHO) and around 500 experts have agreed for the first time what it means for a disease to spread through the air, in a bid to avoid the confusion early in the COVID-19 pandemic that some scientists have said cost lives. The Geneva-based U.N. health agency released a technical document on […]

Aamjiwnaang First Nation in Sarnia, Ont., is calling on all levels of government to shut down a facility after data indicated high levels of a harmful chemical were present in the air.  In a news release, the First Nation said it sent its employees homes Tuesday as they were complaining of headaches, nausea and dizziness — symptoms associated with high […]

It’s suppertime at Health Park Early Learning Centre in Sydney, N.S., and six children are nibbling away on grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup. Sarah Chow sits at a tiny table beside her 15-month-old daughter Mira, spending a few minutes together before leaving for work.  “She actually settled really well. She eats here, she loves […]

Tuesday’s federal budget laid the groundwork for a national disability benefit but the funding falls well short of what advocates were seeking. The government passed legislation last year, Bill C-22, to introduce the national benefit, which is meant to lift people out of poverty by topping up provincial support funding. The budget has allocated $6.1 billion […]

When doctors told Karen Ganong she needed a double lung transplant, she thought they had the wrong person. What started as a cough in April last year led to several hospital visits and respiratory failure. Ganong has since been diagnosed with interstitial lung disease. From Airdrie, Alta., Ganong and her husband Fred have been in Edmonton for […]

A class-action lawsuit has been authorized to proceed against 16 pharmaceutical companies for their role in manufacturing, selling, marketing and distributing opioid drugs in Quebec. The lawsuit covers people who have been diagnosed with opioid use disorder since 1996, and their direct heirs if they are deceased. That means there could be thousands of people in the province […]

Free tuition for doctors. Public exercise programs. Bringing in the military.  These were just a few of the 2,200 ideas submitted by health-care workers who entered the provincial government’s contest last fall seeking quick, easy, and low-cost ideas to improve the Nova Scotian health-care system.  For a month, they were invited to submit an idea that would be entered in […]

It’s back to the negotiating table for the Quebec government and the provinces’ largest nurses’ union, Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ), after union members voted against the tentative contract deal negotiators for each party struck last month. In March, negotiators on behalf of the FIQ, which represents some 80,000 nurses, practical nurses, respiratory […]