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British
Columbia
Acupuncture now
covered — sort of
VICTORIA —
British Columbia is now the first and only province
to agree to pay for acupuncture with public medical
insurance funds. The change, announced last October
and officially launched April 1, has been hailed by
acupuncture and Chinese medicine practitioners. However,
the new move only applies to residents whose families
earn a combined total $28,000 or less, and even then
they only qualify for $23 reimbursements per visit —
less than half the price of a typical session —
up to 10 times a year.
Hot
Spot
Alberta
15 pharmacists can
write new scripts
EDMONTON —
Alberta's pharmacists may now begin prescribing medications,
including starting new prescriptions from a defined
list of drugs. Despite initial misgivings by physicians,
last year's 15-person pilot project has proved to be
a success; those 15 pharmacists were officially given
"additional prescribing authority" on April 1, and more
are sure to follow. The rest of Alberta pharmacists
must complete extra training before they can join them.
Saskatchewan
Is our next PM
a young Sask doc?
SASKATOON —
Canada's Next Great Prime Minister is 25-year-old Saskatchewan
Métis medical resident Alika Lafontaine. The
young physician impressed the CBC television program's
panel of judges — a tough crowd made up of ex-PMs
Paul Martin, Kim Campbell and John Turner, plus Newfoundland
Premier Danny Williams (no friend of the current PM)
— with a proposal to create a third branch of Canada's
Parliament, the Aboriginal House.
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Manitoba
Internet pharmacies
under fire
WINNIPEG —
Manitoba's large internet pharmacy industry — with
20 businesses operating out of the province — is
being threatened by the Manitoba Pharmaceutical Association,
which recently decided to withdraw licensing from internet
pharmacies this summer. But the internet pharmacies'
lobbyist is confident a deal will be worked out. "If
we follow the rules and we conduct our businesses appropriately,
ethically and legally, I can't see how the pharmacy
regulator could take our licences away," Troy Harwood-Jones
told CBC News.
Ontario
New budget buys
more FHTs
TORONTO —
Money for 50 new collaborative care Family Health Teams
in the 2008-09 Ontario budget is making the Ontario
Medical Association (OMA) smile. That money totals $53
million of the more than record-breaking $40 billion
total allocated to healthcare in the budget, released
last month. The OMA, however, says new nurse-only clinics
(another budget proposal) will not be effective.
MD
sues over Ontario "conspiracy"
TORONTO —
The Ontario College was in cahoots with the health ministry
to destroy Dr Jeffrey Lipsitz's practice and force him
out of medicine, alleged Dr Lipsitz in a lawsuit filed
last month. Dr Lipsitz, who operated 12 sleep-disorder
clinics before changes in government regulations and
repeat investigations forced him to close them down,
is demanding a modest sum of $50 million in compensation.
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