Demystifying private drug plans

private drug plans

There are many pre-conceived notions about private drug coverage in Canada that are really myths. There are also significant differences between public and private drug plan coverage that result in different coverage decisions.  It is important to understand these myths and differences to better understand the overall Canadian healthcare system. Myth #1 – Public and

Vanessa’s Law a laudable first step towards improving patient safety

John Greiss Healthy Debate blogger

On December 6th, Health Canada announced the Protecting Canadians from Unsafe Drugs Act giving powers to the Minister of Health to force companies to recall or stop the sale of any therapeutic drug product or device marketed in Canada. The tabled legislation comes hot on the heels of an investigative report in the Toronto Star outlining Health Canada’s inability to unilaterally

Healthy Debate needs your support

Andreas Laupacis healthy debate editor in chief

Why Healthy Debate? We founded Healthy Debate with a simple goal: to create a destination where Canadians can go for credible, unbiased information about their health care system, and where patients, health care professionals and policy makers can come together and debate the challenges facing our system. We now need your support to continue to achieve our

Naturopaths and the creep of pseudoscience

Timothy Caulfield healthy debate blogger

Sadly, the creep of pseudoscience – as manifested in the provincial legitimization of unproven alternative approaches to health – continues. Ontario naturopaths are pushing hard to become a self-regulating profession, with expanded rights to prescribe drugs and order tests.  Thankfully, the Ontario Medical Association is pushing back. This is not a turf war – there

Combating antibiotic resistance in Canada

Michael’s Story Michael was a 75 year-old living in Canada’s Prairies. His wife recently spent five days in hospital for a scheduled hip replacement. At the time she was admitted to hospital, Michael was on a one-week course of Amoxicillin, an antibiotic medication to treat a sinus infection. Michael spent a great deal of time

Is it time for doctors to abandon the white lab coat?

The doctor’s white lab coat has a long-standing tradition. Some medical schools have created the ‘white coat ceremony’ to welcome new students into the profession. I think it’s time we got rid of these coats. I used to wear one.  When I started clinical work I was proud of mine because it made me feel

The Heart and Stroke Foundation owes Canadian parents an apology

Yoni Freedhoff healthydebate blogger

There’s just no way to sugarcoat this. The Heart and Stroke Foundation, and specifically their Health Check program, in their selling of check marks to so called fruit leathers and fruit gummis, is overtly harming Canadian children’s health – a generation which quite literally is the sickest generation of kids in modern history. In the

Integrating Physician Assistants in Canada

After several decades working in the Canadian military, Physician Assistants (PAs) are being introduced into provincial health care systems. This year, Alberta launched a two-year demonstration project to integrate PAs into selected clinical practices. About a decade ago ago, PAs were introduced in  Manitoba and Ontario. In Ontario, PAs were part of Ontario’s broader health human resources