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British Columbia
VANCOUVER —
Pass the dutchie
A Health Canada pilot project that will see pot distributed
in pharmacies has medical marijuana advocate, Hillary
Black, up in arms. The founder and co-director of the
BC-based Compassion Club, agrees that the project will
allow more access to the medicinal weed, but she has
concerns about drugstores doling it out. The BC Pharmacy
Association disagrees, saying there won't be any problems
if pharmacists undergo some training first. PB
ABBOTSFORD
— Bird
flu hits human After weeks of chickens being
stricken with avian flu on various farms in the Fraser
Valley, a human may have contracted the virus. The worker,
who was handling dead chickens, developed pink eye but
has since recovered. Provincial health officer, Dr Perry
Kendall, said it might be the first time the virus has
been detected in humans in Canada. To date, no other
workers have tested positive. PB
Alberta
EDMONTON
— Money
changes everything More health spending is on
the way with the release of Alberta's 2004-2005 provincial
budget. Program spending for Alberta Health & Wellness
will increase by 8.4% to $8 billion in 2004-05. The
province also announced that it will launch a worldwide
study of health systems in an effort to curb rising
costs. As well, the Calgary Health Region will receive
$82 million to address pressing acute care needs. GH
EDMONTON
— Heart
to Heart Wyatt Morissette, a four-month-old baby
with blood type O, got a new heart last month from a
blood type A donor at the University of Alberta Stollery
Children's Centre. In the past, having different blood
types meant no transplant, but this proves that infants
in their first year of life haven't yet developed the
antibodies that would attack a transplanted heart. JH
Saskatchewan
REGINA
— Show
me the money Healthcare is coming out as the
big winner in this year's provincial budget, taking
a whopping 43.8% of the pie. But the extra resurgence
of money may not be enough to keep the system sustainable.
So much so that Premier Lorne Calvert is considering
introducing healthcare premiums in the future. "We would
certainly put that into the mix of potential options
to fund healthcare," he told reporters. CS
SASKATOON
— Bed
ban bad Whoever thought that being above the
national average could have negative repercussions?
Well in Saskatchewan that seems to be the case. The
province will be cutting the current number of nursing
home beds (114 beds per 1,000 people aged 75 or older)
to something closer to the Canadian average (96 beds
per 1,000 population of the same age). Health Minister
John Nilson said that fewer long-term care beds are
needed because of the changing expectations of today's
seniors. CS
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Manitoba
WINNIPEG
— Internet
Rx cozy up to the US Some Canadian internet pharmacies
are seeking US accreditation to reassure certain States
that the drugs they're selling online are safe. Accreditation
granted by the Internet and Mailorder Pharmacy Accreditation
Commission (IMPAC) costs $21,000 but many Canadian pharmacists
believe that the hefty bill is worth it. Right now only
two of the 220 online pharmacies have IMPAC accreditation;
15 others are in the middle of the process. CS
Ontario
TORONTO
— Promises,
promises Ontario unions workers hit the streets
on April 3 to protest against private-public partnership
(P3) funding to build and run hospitals. Under the previous
Tory government two hospitals were to be built and run
under the P3 model. During provincial elections the
Liberals campaigned strongly against P3; now they have
reconsidered and given the green light on both private
hospital projects. CS
TORONTO
— I
can't do it without you Dr Alan Abelsohn, a 52-year-old
family practitioner in Toronto, has been charged with
incompetence, professional misconduct and sexual abuse,
and may lose his license if convicted. Dr Abelsohn's
lawyer told a discipline committee that the female accuser
couldn't be trusted. The accuser, who complained she
wasn't able to achieve an orgasm, masturbated with Dr
Abelsohn in the room, believing it would help her condition.
JH
Quebec
MONTREAL
— Bound
by ethics Surgeons with AIDS are under no ethical
obligations to tell patients about their condition but
they must inform their superiors, announced The Quebec
College of Physicians last week. This decision came
after the public report on the case of the Ste Justine
Hospital surgeon, Dr Maria Di Lorenzo who was HIV positive.
Testing on Dr Di Lorenzo's former patients revealed
that none of the 2,175 children contracted HIV from
her. CS
QUEBEC
CITY — Psst!
That'll be two bucks Provincial Health Minister
Philippe Couillard came down hard on pharma companies
last week accusing them of luring hospitals into prescribing
expensive drugs to patients. He referred to one particular
campaign that sold gastrointestinal pills to hospitals
for one cent per pill, whereas the pharmacy price came
up to two dollars per pill. The province claims that
stopping this practice and using cheaper meds could
save up to $60 million. CS
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