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Hot
Spot
Quebec
Specialists get
raw deal
QUEBEC CITY —
Jean Charest's Liberals invoked closure in the national
assembly, suspending debate, to force through a bill
that would impose a new contract on the province's 8,000
medical specialists. Bill 37 gives specialists the same
deal as other public servants, an 8% wage increase over
four years. Dr Yves Dugré, president of the medical
specialists' federation, says the imposed deal is undemocratic
and accused the government of trying to push the specialists
out of the province. The average annual income for Quebec
specialists is $232,000, about $100,000 less than the
Canadian average. DB
Private
health insurance gets go-ahead
QUEBEC CITY —
After more than a month of hearings regarding the role
of private healthcare in Quebec, provincial Health Minister
Philippe Couillard says his government will table legislation
to allow Quebecers to buy health insurance for some
publicly funded procedures, like knee- and hip-replacements
and cataract surgery. The bill will also suggest private
clinics specializing in those procedures staffed by
doctors from the public health system be created. DB
New
Brunswick
Group asks FPs to
do abortions
FREDERICTON —
New Brunswick family doctors should be allowed to perform
abortions in order to ensure women get easy access to
the service, says the National Abortion Federation.
The group is asking the NB government to repeal its
abortion law, which only lets a woman get a government-funded
abortion in a hospital and only with the consent of
two doctors. The call comes after the Chalmers Hospital
in Fredericton, where almost all publicly funded abortions
are performed, announced it would stop offering the
service at the end of this month. SB
Nova
Scotia
Psych wait times
reach crisis point
HALIFAX —
Prominent Nova Scotia psychiatrist Dr Bill McCormick
says the wait times for mentally ill patients have reached
a crisis point and that there is a severe dearth of
acute-care beds. He adds that patients in the capital
region are waiting too long to be seen and often must
travel too far to receive care. "When people with sore
knees and sore hips squeal loud enough, the politicians
listen and more orthopedic services are provided, ...
but the mentally ill are not very good at pleading their
own case," he told the CBC. Dr McCormick said the target
wait for patients is three days, but this is not being
met by a long shot. PL
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Prince Edward Island
We're not freemasons
CHARLOTTETOWN
— The PEI College of Physicians and Surgeons
has been under fire by the public and several doctors,
including group members, for waiting more than a year
to inform the public of the suspension of Dr Grant Matheson's
licence to practise medicine. Dr Matheson was suspended
on June 2, 2005, for narcotic prescribing irregularities.
President Dr Reg Hutchings told the Guardian
his group is not "a secret society" and this will be
proven when they launch their website later this month.
PL
Newfoundland
New NLMA prez calls
for balance
ST JOHN'S —
The new president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical
Association (NLMA) hopes to advance the theme of balance
between work and home life during her one-year term
in office. Dr. Terry O'Grady, an ob/gyn, spoke at a
recent NLMA annual general meeting about the challenges
she faced as a mother when she graduated from medical
school 21 years ago. "The missionary zeal of past generations
of physicians is being replaced with a desire for a
well-balanced, healthy lifestyle," Dr O'Grady said.
DSS
The
North
New strains worry
medical officer
WHITEHORSE —The
vaccines that have been saving the lives of northerners
from bacterial infections are beginning to fail because
of new emerging strains, reported scientists at a meeting
on northern health in Siberia. The situation doesn't
surprise the Yukon's chief medical officer, Dr Bryce
Larke. He points to worrisome developments with vaccine
against Haemophilus influenza type B, which he
says has been almost miraculous in the fight against
meningitis. He's now seeing another serious strain,
called type A, and there's no vaccine for it. HY
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