Five years ago, researchers in Ontario raised concerns about access and quality in privately owned clinics that performed colonoscopy, suggesting that the quality in these clinics was significantly below the standard of care in public hospitals. Privately owned clinics can be either for-profit or not-for-profit. Medical services provided at these private clinics are paid for …
The Personal Health Navigator is available to all Canadian patients. Questions about your doctor, hospital or how to navigate the health care system can be sent to AskLisa@Sunnybrook.ca The Question: I have run out of conventional medical treatments for my cancer, which has metastasized. How do I join a clinical trial? How do I increase my chances …
October is “Breast Cancer Awareness” month. Just when you thought there could not be any more pink ribbons in the world, there are. I have never liked the cutesy, little girl symbolism of a pink ribbon to represent breast cancer. I refuse to buy any product sporting a pink ribbon and I do not support …
Vigorous patient advocacy over the past 25 years has pushed funding for breast cancer research in Canada to the top of the charts, outstripping the amounts devoted to research into other cancers. It’s a remarkable success story for a type of cancer that, just forty years ago, was spoken of only in hushed tones. But …
How can the idea of early detection and screening for cancers even be a debate? What could possibly be the downside of catching cancers early, and treating them before they cause great harm, even death? Logic says if you can’t prevent a cancer in the first place, then diagnose it as early as you can, …
The thought of the annual Pap smear causes me as much discomfort as it does any young woman. When I read the new guidelines for cervical cancer screening in Ontario, reported in last month’s issue of Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Canada, I was slightly relieved at the recommendations being put forth. Rather than …
Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner recently ordered Cancer Care Ontario to stop sending paper copies of screening reports containing personal health information to physicians. However, a massive amount of personal health information is mailed or faxed every day in Ontario. The implications of this order to information sharing and transfer across the health care …
As a rural family doctor I have to factor in travel costs when referring my patients for specialized services. Costs of travel include not only transportation expenses but time from work and home. Increasingly patients are being forced to travel again and again after having tests. A good example is breast screening which causes many …
The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care recently released recommendations about screening for breast cancer. These recommendations have been criticized by some because they emphasize the results of randomized trials. This article explores the advantages and limitations of randomized trial evidence regarding screening mammography. The recent recommendations by the Canadian Task Force on Preventive …
The results of research on screening for breast cancer with mammography can be presented in ways that make the benefits seem larger or smaller Similarly, the benefits can be described as avoiding deaths from breast cancer or avoiding deaths from any cause Part of the debate about the benefits of screening mammography may be related …
In medical journals, doctors and scientists continue to debate the relative benefits and harms of breast cancer screening for women who are at average risk of developing breast cancer. This debate is not always reflected in screening programs, most of which strongly recommend mammography to average risk women within a certain age bracket. Some experts …
Colon cancer screening is more effective than breast cancer screening, but uptake in Ontario is still low. Screening more individuals each year would prevent many needless deaths. Nurses can safely and effectively screen patients for colon cancer. Despite this, efforts to increase the number of screening procedures performed by nurses in Ontario are not widespread. …