Autism case highlights urgent need to reform Ontario’s regulatory colleges
Evidence Based Medicine
Episode 19 – COVID19 management overview
Welcome back Rounds Table Listeners! This week Mike and John review clinical aspects of COVID-19 management and review the latest data on treatment options. We hadn’t come up with a Good Stuff item at the time of recording, but since then this incredible video came out of a boy singing the #youcanbeABCs — it is …
Episode 7 – Rapid Fire COVID-19
Welcome back Rounds Table Listeners! This episode, we’re focusing on 2 papers recently released related to COVID-19. 1. Our first paper provides an overview of the clinical characteristics of a sample of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2002032 2. The second paper provides timely data to identify factors associated with ARDS among adults diagnosed with COVID-19. …
Can an essential medicines list fix drug coverage gaps?
IgG tests promise to reveal food sensitivities. But are they science or science-ish?
There’s a growing conversation in medicine that patients should know about
Bob B
Primary care quality improvement: Is data the future?
Why aren’t new health care models studied more?
‘An imperfect tool’: The controversy over whether BMI is the best measure of obesity
When Travis Saunders went for his regular physical a few years ago, a nurse calculated his Body Mass Index (BMI). At 24.5, it was at the high end of normal, and she told him to “watch his weight.” “I just kind of smiled and nodded,” he says. As an obesity researcher, Saunders knew that since …
Is wisdom teeth removal really warranted?
In her 20s, Nancy Fornasiero’s dentist told her that her wisdom teeth should come out. They were impacted, which means they were stuck below the gums because they didn’t have enough room. She was warned that the teeth were more prone to decay and infection than other teeth, and that they should be removed before …
Why are mental health disorders and addictions treated separately?
According to statistics from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, at least 20% of people with a mental illness also have a substance use problem. To Peter Selby, chief of the addictions program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, this number is very conservative. Laura Calhoun, provincial medical director of addiction and mental …
Health care system is failing people with alcohol addiction, say experts
It’s one of the biggest health issues Canadians face. It’s responsible for 7% of all premature deaths in this country. The direct health system costs amount to three billion dollars a year. But its most devastating impacts are felt by those with the condition and their families. If excessive alcohol consumption didn’t jump to your …
Confused about the mixed messages on sunscreen safety?
Are patients being informed about prostate cancer screening risks?
Get screened. It could save your life. Don’t get screened. There’s no evidence that screening saves lives. Get tested in your 40s. Wait until you’re 55. Get the test every year. Every four years is enough. When it comes to screening for prostate cancer, the messages from doctors, major medical organizations and media campaigns are …
Should Canadian communities continue to fluoridate water?
Water fluoridation has been hailed as one of the top ten great public health achievements of the 20th century by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Yet, in the past five years, dozens of Canadian communities have stopped adding fluoride to the municipal water supply, including Calgary, Waterloo, Windsor and Saint John. Inspired by online …
A tribute to Dave Sackett
David Sackett, the most important mentor of my professional career, died last month. I am writing this article partly to acknowledge and thank him for his incredible contributions to medicine, critical thinking and evidence-based medicine. However, others such as Andre Picard have already done so beautifully. I am writing this partly because I fear that …
Decision aids: why hasn’t this proven, patient-centred practice caught on?
Health care has supposedly entered an era of patient involvement, where important medical decisions are shared between doctors and patients. But many believe that the reality in Canadian health care falls well short of this ideal. Complex medical decisions can prove difficult for patients, who are often faced with dizzying amounts of information about benefits and risks, …
Hospitals need to be more than just landlords
Last month I had a meeting at the Ottawa Hospital’s Civic campus. On my way through the hospital I passed by something called the Omega Laser Stop Smoking Clinic. According to their literature, “laser therapy treatment is a non-invasive method used to balance the energy flow between meridians“, and is reported by them to work …
Controversy over closing rural hospitals
Hymns, protests, and arrests – that’s what happened when the Fort Erie, Ont. community rallied against a planned conversion of their local hospital’s emergency room to an urgent-care centre. It didn’t work, and in 2009, it seemed their fears were realized when a teenager died after she was in a car crash and had to be …