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British
Columbia
No gender equity
in cancer tests
VANCOUVER —
Cancer screening need not be provided equally to men
and women, according to a January 17 BC Human Rights
Tribunal decision. Victoria lawyer Laurence Armstrong
complained men were being discriminated against by the
government's policy to pay for cervical and breast cancer
screening for women, but not for prostate cancer screening
for men. The tribunal ruled prostate specific antigen
(PSA) testing is not clearly beneficial for asympomatic
middle-aged men, agreeing with the position of the Canadian
Cancer Society.
Alberta
Canada gets its
first HeartNet
CALGARY —
Calgary woman Maggie Thiesen recently became the first
Canadian to receive a HeartNet, an experimental metal
"sheath" to control the size of cardiomyopathic patients'
hearts. Drs Paul Fedak, Debra Isaac and Jenagir Appoo
implanted the device through a tiny opening in Ms Thiesen's
chest in just one hour in a January operation at Calgary's
Foothills Hospital. The procedure is part of a study
of the HeartNet implant being conducted by physicians
in Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and the United States.
Saskatchewan
Health admin faces
drug charges
SASKATOON —
A senior government health official has resigned after
he was arrested for allegedly operating a major drug
ring. Police caught 54-year-old Saskatoon Regional Health
Authority board member Eric Braun, who is also involved
in the local theatre scene, with over $200,000 in illegal
drugs in mid-January, including marijuana, cocaine and
psychotropic mushrooms. Health Minister Don McMorris
pledged not to remove Mr Braun from the board unless
the charges were proven, but Mr Braun resigned beforehand.
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Manitoba
Nurse doctored his
credentials
WINNIPEG —
A Winnipeg nurse has been fired after he was found to
have worked at Seven Oaks General Hospital for two years
with forged credentials. Eduardo Canseco, a Philippine
immigrant, also worked in longterm care and youth addiction
treatment centres and has been praised by colleagues
as an "excellent" nurse. Mr Canseco is now under investigation
by the police, the government and the nurses' regulatory
body. Mr Canseco told recruiter Mike Vasilica that he
was an RN in the Philippines and had passed his RN exam
in Manitoba.
Ontario
Neighbour accused
in FP's murder
LION'S HEAD —
A neighbour of Dr Henry Janssen, a 57-year-old family
physician murdered January 22, has been charged. Wayne
Powney, 63, was taken into custody by police two days
after Dr Janssen, who served as a site chief at two
local hospitals, was discovered in his truck, killed
by a gunshot. Dr Janssen passed up a career in the Canadian
Football League to attend medical school after he was
drafted third overall by Calgary in 1974.
Hot
Spot
MD pays again for
birth defects
TORONTO —
Parents of twins born prematurely with birth defects
after Sault Ste Marie obstetrician Paul Hergott prescribed
the fertility med clomiphene citrate have been awarded
a further $3.5 million in damages by an Ontario Superior
Court judge. Dr Hergott was previously ordered to pay
them $5.1 million before the appeal. Dr Hergott's defence
rested on having the case heard as a 'wrongful life'
suit (a first in Ontario history), but the prosecution
successfully argued "the [clomiphene citrate] caused
the twinning, the twinning caused the prematurity, and
the prematurity caused the damage."
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