In the News

November 28

First-of-its-kind trial tests MDMA for treatment of chronic nerve pain
Hospital News
Comments by Dr. Akash Goel
St. Michael’s Hospital researcher is launching a first-of-its-kind global trial to test the impact of MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, on chronic nerve pain compared with a placebo.

Partnership opens new patient pathway for cardiac care
Hospital News
Comments by Sonya Canzian, Dr. Howard Leong-Poi, Desa Hobbs, Dr. Kim Connelly and Dr. Bobby Yanagawa
Unity Health Toronto and Oak Valley Health are creating a streamlined care pathway to provide patients with timely access to advanced cardiac procedures and interventions at St. Michael’s Hospital. This collaboration marks a significant milestone for Oak Valley Health – which includes Markham Stouffville Hospital, Uxbridge Hospital and the Reactivation Care Centre – as it works towards a Level 4 Regional Cardiac Program status, expanding clinical care for its patients.

November 27

Overdoses are a leading cause of maternal deaths in Canada, but doctors say more integrated supports can save lives
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Erin Lurie and Jasmine Saleh
Every Monday, a mini fridge is filled with snacks and sandwiches at a drop-in clinic in downtown Toronto for people who use substances during pregnancy.

Should postmenopausal women eat soy? U of T researchers dispel myth about soy and cancer
U of T News
Comments by Laura Chiavaroli
A University of Toronto study is providing reassuring evidence about the consumption of soy foods in women* who are postmenopausal.

November 24

‘It’s an optimistic space:’ Inside Toronto’s new drug withdrawal centre
Canadian Press
Comments by Dr. Irfan Dhalla and Joshua Orson
Joshua Orson sits on the edge of a bed in a bright, clean room, thinking about his journey from addict to health-care worker.

November 22

Don’t have private insurance? You’re still paying for others who do — you deserve better care
Toronto Star
OpEd by Dr. Danyaal Raza
Health care in Canada is universal for only two things, doctors and hospitals. For everything else, from psychology to prescription drugs, care depends on your private insurance or ability to pay.

Young people get health advice from social media. But can they tell good information from bad?
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Ripudaman Minhas
Could sunscreen be bad for you? Can kitchen ingredients cure an STI? Students go online to search out all manner of information — including health and wellness advice — but face an overwhelming landscape often full of myths and memes.

November 21

Canadian survey reveals sexual harassment in medicine
Medscape
Comments by Dr. Sharon Straus
In a new Medscape survey, nearly 1 in 10 Canadian physicians said they’ve personally experienced sexual abuse, harassment, or misconduct at their medical workplace during the past 3 years.

AI may illuminate the path to value-based health care
Healio
Comments by Dr. Muhammad Mamdani
AI can be harnessed to provide value to patients, health care administrators and clinicians, said a presenter at the AIMed24 Annual Meeting.

Oak Valley Health partners with St. Michael’s Hospital for advanced cardiac procedures
Markham Economist & Sun
Comments by Sonya Canzian
Patients can look forward to a streamlined pathway for advanced cardiac procedures thanks to a new partnership between Oak Valley Health and St. Michael’s Hospital announced today.

4 in 10 Americans don’t know they have high blood pressure, survey finds
Verywell Health
Comments by Dr. Beth Abramson
Around four in 10 U.S. adults don’t know they have high blood pressure, according to a recent survey by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

November 19

Small incisions, big ambitions: Gianluigi Bisleri appointed the inaugural Joseph Vitale and TLN Media Group Chair in Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery at U of T
U of T News
Comments by Dr. Gianluigi Bisleri
A new, donor-funded chair in minimally invasive cardiac surgery at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine will advance the study and delivery of novel surgical techniques which can reduce the physical, mental and emotional toll of heart surgery on patients.

November 17

Neither exenatide nor restrictive oxygenation boost CV surgery outcomes
TCT MD
Comments by Dr. Subodh Verma
Two strategies used during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB)-assisted coronary artery surgery and/or valve replacement surgery—one using a glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, the other restrictive oxygenation—fail to improve clinical outcomes after surgery, the GLORIOUS study shows.

November 14

Canadian guideline on managing opioid use disorder updated
MD Edge
Comments by Dr. Akash Goe

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Canada’s National Guideline for the Clinical Management of Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) has been updated to reflect the latest literature. The new document recommends buprenorphine and methadone as first-line treatments for OUD.

Temerty Medicine program inspires Indigenous youth to consider future in health care
U of T News
Comments by Dr. Doug Campbell
Before last summer, Charli Mackay hadn’t pictured a career in medical imaging. The tenth-grade student took part in the ZKA’AN NI-BMIWDOOWIN GCHI-KINOOMAADWINAN (ZNBGK) program at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine this past August.

November 13

1st case of avian flu in Canada confirmed. Health Canada says there are vaccines
Canadian Press
Comments by Dr. Fahad Razak
Canada’s public health agency has confirmed the first case of avian influenza in the country in a B.C. teenager who is in critical condition.

Health Canada authorizes 3 vaccines that could be used if bird flu becomes pandemic
Canadian Press
Comments by Dr. Fahad Razak
Health Canada has authorized three influenza vaccines that could be used if bird flu became a pandemic, the agency says.

Families facing high-risk pregnancies can now turn to new clinic at Newmarket hospital
Newmarket Era
Comments by Dr. Howard Berger
Southlake is proud to open a new maternal fetal medicine clinic, a first-of-its-kind program in the region, to bring specialized care for high-risk pregnancies closer to families in northern York Region and southern Simcoe County.

We must tackle misinformation. Our youth’s health depends on it
Healthy Debate
OpEd by Our Kids’ Health Network
It is time to treat misinformation as the public health crisis it truly is, particularly among youth in marginalized Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) communities.

November 12

Toronto scientists develop new scan to improve kidney diagnostics
Global News
Comments by Dr. Darren Yuen and Dr. Eno Hysi
Scientists at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto have developed technology that can scan and more accurately diagnose kidney problems — which would be a major upgrade to the current standard of care.

November 10

Forcing people into drug treatment is on the political agenda. Here’s what the evidence says
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Anita Srivastava and Dr. Dan Werb
As the toxic drug crisis continues to claim thousands of lives each year — fuelling perceptions that existing measures are failing — the notion of involuntary treatment is gaining political traction.

I’m an Emergency Department Doctor. It’s not all bad.
The Good Men Project
OpEd by Dr. Raghu Venugopal
It’s easy to be pessimistic about Canada’s publicly funded health-care system. Public testimony and metrics can shock. A more fulsome reality is that there are successes leading to healthier and longer lives – even in my chaotic specialty.

November 8

New study suggests possible increase in overdoses after some Toronto safe consumption sites close
CityNews
Comments by Dr. Ahmed Bayoumi
When the province closes some supervised consumption sites in Toronto in March of next year, a new study suggests it will result in an increase in public drug usage, overdoses and overdose deaths due to a severe reduction in safe spaces to use drugs in the presence of trained health professionals.

November 7

Hundreds will lose access to safe consumption when some Toronto sites close: study
Canadian Press
Comments by Dr. Ahmed Bayoumi
Hundreds of people will lose access to supervised consumption sites in Toronto when the province closes five of them next year, which will likely mean more public drug use and more overdoses, a new study suggests.

November 5

Doctor of many hats (Women in Ophthalmology)
Cake Magazine
Profile on Dr. Clara Chan
With surgery, research and mentorship, Dr. Clara Chan is on a mission to revolutionize corneal care.

Doctor defends harm-reduction vending machine for Hamilton hospital as councillor’s bid to stop it fails
CBC Hamilton
Comments by Dr. Sean Rourke
A Hamilton councillor’s attempt to stop a hospital from providing harm-reduction supplies like needles and crack pipes in a vending machine has been quashed.

October 31

Tricuspid valve replacement finds surer footing with TRISCEND II’s 1-year report
MedPage Today
Comments by Dr. Neil Fam
The Evoque transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement (TTVR) system continued to show significant benefits 1 year after implant, according to an update from the TRISCEND II trial.

October 30

TRISCEND II: Full results a win for TTVR in severe tricuspid regurgitation
TCT MD
Comments by Dr. Neil Fam
An update to the TRISCEND II randomized, controlled trial of transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement (TTVR) continues to highlight the positive effects of treatment in patients with symptomatic, severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR).

Trial will test if MDMA brings relief for chronic nerve pain
Hospital News
Comments by Dr. Akash Goel
St. Michael’s Hospital researcher is launching a first-of-its-kind global trial to test the impact of MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, on chronic nerve pain compared with a placebo.

AI tools to ease administrative burdens in ER
Hospital News
Comments by Dr. Muhammad Mamdani and Manson Locke
Unity Health Toronto has received $200 thousand in funding from Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners (TIAP) under its Critical Technologies Program, to scale homegrown AI tools that support workforce planning in health care.

All hands on deck: How St. Michael’s ED responded to a steamship fire 75 years ago
Hospital News
Comments by Dr. Carolyn Snider
Since its inception, the St. Michael’s Hospital emergency department has responded to many mass-casualty events – treating patients injured in tragic shootings, to massive parades, to highway car crashes.

October 29

Food as Medicine Update 2024 to highlight nutrition through entire life cycle
U of T News
Comments by Dr. John Sievenpiper
The University of Toronto’s eighth annual Food as Medicine Update will run this Friday, November 1, featuring local and international experts sharing new research on nutrition across life stages.

Rock With Love fundraiser for cancer research honours the legacy of Sarah McComb
Beach Metro News
Event for St. Michael’s Hospital
Each year, cancer takes the lives of thousands across the country. For Katie McComb and her family, honouring their mother Sarah’s memory and raising money for cancer research is what makes the Rock With Love charity event such an important part of the Beach community.

October 28

Canadian doctors call for an end to sick notes
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Nav Persaud
The Canadian Medical Association is calling on employers to stop asking for sick notes, saying they are a burden on the health-care system and a ‘human resources issue,’ not a medical one.

October 27

Dr. Fahad Razak discusses the upcoming flu season and how to prevent the next pandemic
CP24
Interview with Dr. Fahad Razak
Free flu shots are available to the public starting on Monday.

October 25

Traumatic brain injury leads to labour market consequences
Medscape
Comments by Dr. Armaan Malhotra
Across Canada, patients who sustain traumatic brain injury (TBI) face potential unemployment and thousands of dollars of personal income loss in the years following their injury, according to a new study.

October 23

I’m an emergency department doctor. It’s not all bad.
Healthy Debate
OpEd written by Dr. Raghu Venugopal
It’s easy to be pessimistic about Canada’s publicly funded health-care system. Public testimony and metrics can shock. A more fulsome reality is that there are successes leading to healthier and longer lives – even in my chaotic specialty. Being a late-night urban emergency department (ED) doctor, I work the underbelly of health care. Beyond the nihilistic headlines, much good can go unnoticed.

Simulation for elite team performance
St. Emlyn’s
OpEd by and presentation by Dr. Andrew Petrosoniak
In emergency medicine and trauma care, we’re accustomed to acting fast and thinking on our feet. But I also spend a lot of time working on simulation, a powerful tool for training and investigating issues within clinical environments. Today, I want to share how simulation can transform our systems, prevent catastrophic failures, and help us deliver better care.

At-home patients in Ontario are reporting delays in medical supplies
Zoomer Radio
Interview with Dr. Fahad Razak
Why are at-home patients in Ontario reporting delays in medical supplies and drugs for their care? We also discuss the issue of the primary care shortage across the province.

October 22

Sleep, spaces and slices of pie: a recipe for self-care
The Eyeopener
Comments by Dr. Jodi Lofchy
Falling asleep at her desk with a pencil in hand, tension creeps steadily up her body. Undergraduate student Sarah Glynwilliams sits debilitated by an overpowering sense of academic deadline doom. She knows she is tired and will wake up, hours later, with her face in her notebook. Yet, time and time again she pushes through it. Exhausted, stressed out and unfocused—so long as she gets the work done, it doesn’t matter.

What does Canada’s first phase of pharmacare mean for HR?
Canadian HR Reporter
Comments by Dr. Danyaal Raza
On Oct. 10, 2024, the government of Canada marked a significant milestone in healthcare by passing the Pharmacare Act, officially launching the first phase of a national universal pharmacare program.

October 18

Historic disaster remembered at Toronto hospital
CTV News
Comments by Dr. Carolyn Snider
St. Michael’s Hospital pays tribute to the role its trauma centre played 75 years ago when 119 people died in a cruise ship fire.

Overdose deaths saw a sharp drop in the U.S. Experts hope it’s not ‘a blip’
CBC Radio – The Current
Comments by Dr. Dan Werb
New figures from the U.S. Centres for Disease Control show a sharp drop in overdose deaths, offering a rare glimmer of hope in the fight to curb the opioid crisis.

Angels Den is Canada’s largest medical research competition
CP24
Interview with Dr. Claudia dos Santos and Dr. Amin Ektesabi
It’s Canada’s largest medical research competition, giving doctors and scientists an added jolt to get their work off the ground.

October 17

Sharp decrease in U.S. opioid deaths
CBC Radio – The Current
Interview with Dr. Dan Werb
New figures show a sharp drop in overdose deaths in the U.S., offering a rare glimmer of hope in the opioid crisis. Guest host Rebecca Zandbergen digs into what could be driving that decrease, whether it’s a blip — and what it all means for saving lives here in Canada.

Why researchers say Canada needs to prepare for the next health emergency now
CTV News Ottawa/580 CFRA
Interview with Dr. Fahad Razak
A new report suggests future pandemics could be swifter and more severe than what was seen when COVID-19 began a worldwide spread.

‘A different way of perceiving the world’
Université de Montréal Nouvelles
Comments by Dr. Alexia Ostrolenk
A new study reveals children with autism have a keen interest in letters and numbers – something their parents don’t always spot.

October 16

Report on disease surveillance
Zoomer Radio
Interview with Dr. Fahad Razak
Even though it hasn’t been long since we’ve been out of the COVID pandemic, according to a new report it’s time to start preparing for the next global health crisis.

Focus on vulnerable communities, improve data sharing before next pandemic: report
Canadian Press
Comments by Dr. Fahad Razak
An expert panel of doctors and researchers say Canada needs to learn from the COVID-19 pandemic and take action before the next health emergency strikes.

October 15

Not just what we do but how we do it: Creating equity-oriented palliative care
eHospice
Q&A with Dr. Naheed Dosani
The “Improving Equity in Access to Palliative Care” (IEAPC) initiative is a uniquely Canadian collaborative supported by Healthcare Excellence Canada and the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer.

RSV vaccine now available for Ottawa infants
CTV News Ottawa
Comments by Dr. Tali Bogler
For the first time, protective measures are being expanded to infants to ward off RSV this fall and winter.

October 11

AI is here to stay — including in health care. Here’s what to ask your doctor
Canadian Press
Comments by Dr. Muhammad Mamdani
As artificial intelligence continues to develop in seemingly all facets of life — including health care — experts say it’s important for patients to know AI may be used in their care.

Brampton mayor’s call for forced treatment of people with severe addictions ‘incredibly dangerous,’ say some mental health and substance use experts
Brampton Guardian
Comments by Dr. Dan Werb
Kathy Moreland remembers her son, Austin, as charming and loving — unfortunately he also struggled with mental health challenges for most of his short life. Besides being talented with his hands and hoping to one day pursue a career in welding, he was a huge music fan, she recalled.

October 10

Will Semaglutide change cardiac surgery? It already has
TCT MD
Comments by Dr. Subodh Verma
One of the first presentations at Europe’s annual cardiothoracic surgery conference was not about a new technique or device, but whether the revolutionary obesity medications targeting the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor will change the landscape of surgical practice.

October 9

A changemaker in critical care and respiratory medicine
Canadian Medical Hall of Fame
Each year, more than 300 million patients receive mechanical ventilation in hospital settings worldwide. Arthur Slutsky, MD, has advanced the standard of care for these patients. His novel research has transformed the treatment of respiratory failure, including for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), who have a mortality rate of up to 45 per cent.

October 8

Life expectancy varies by almost 12 years across Toronto neighbourhoods
The Local
Comments by Dr. Stephen Hwang
In Toronto’s Bridle Path, Bayview Village, and Willowdale neighbourhoods, the average resident can expect to live past 84 years of age—higher than even Japan’s world-leading life expectancy. Meanwhile, in less affluent parts of the city, such as Rexdale, Oakridge, and Moss Park, death comes more than a decade earlier—on par with countries like Tunisia and Nicaragua.

Why a two-kilometre strip of Yonge Street has the highest life expectancy in Toronto
The Local
Comments by Dr. Andrew Pinto
At the edge of the city, where the northeastern terminus of Line 1 bridges the gap between Toronto and the rest of the GTA, is a long, skinny neighbourhood stretching from Finch Street to Sheppard Avenue. This narrow stretch of Yonge Street is lined almost exclusively with imposing condo buildings, erasing any notion of low housing density in the suburbs.

Moss Park’s lost tears
The Local
Comments by Dr. Stephen Hwang
These days, Sarah Ovens can’t seem to stop taking photos. It’s become a kind of compulsion for the case manager at All Saints Church and Community Centre, a homeless drop-in at Sherbourne and Dundas Streets in the heart of Toronto’s Moss Park neighbourhood.

October 7

Golf cart injuries are on the rise and many involve children, experts warn
Global News
Comments by Dr. Michael Cusimano
Golf-cart-related injuries are on the rise, warn Toronto doctors, and many incidents involve drivers under the influence of alcohol, or children not wearing seatbelts.

October 3

Professor Prabhat Jha appointed as Nuffield Professor of Population Health and Head of Department
Oxford Population Health
Comments by Dr. Prabhat Jha
Professor Prabhat Jha has been appointed as Nuffield Professor of Population Health and Head of the Nuffield Department of Population Health. He will succeed Professor Sir Rory Collins who has been Head of Department since its inception in 2013.

Toronto hospital system offers housing to homeless ER patients
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Stephen Hwang
A hundred people living on the streets of Toronto last year accounted for thousands of visits to two emergency departments run by the University Health Network, but most needed something Canadian hospitals don’t normally provide.

Heart & Stroke applauds Ontario government for initiating the province’s first Automated External Defibrillator (AED) registry
Heart & Stroke Foundation
Comments by Dr. Anthony Graham
Heart & Stroke commends the Ontario government for their leadership in creating heart safe communities by announcing the province’s first Automated External Defibrillator (AED) registry through the AED Foundation of Ontario. This positions Ontario as a leader in the evolution of comprehensive and coordinated heart health systems, with only a few other provinces having established a similar registry.

October 2

The high costs of health when homeless
CityNews
Comments by Dr. Stephen Hwang
People experiencing homelessness cannot always get access to preventive health care and that comes with a hefty price tag.

AI tool reduces risk of unanticipated death in hospitalized patients
Hospital News
Comments by Dr. Amol Verma, Dr. Muhammad Mamdani, Dr. Yuna Lee, Emme Rose Villanueva, Alicia Feruelo and Damian Jankowicz
A new study from Unity Health Toronto researchers evaluates the use of CHARTWatch, the artificial intelligence (AI) early warning system developed at St. Michael’s Hospital that monitors hospitalized patients in real-time and identifies those at high risk of unexpected death or transfer to an intensive care unit (ICU) and sends alerts so that doctors and nurses can intervene early.

October 1

Toronto nurse sets inflatable costume world record at 2024 Berlin Marathon
Running Magazine
Comments by Karen Michelsen
In a story you couldn’t fake, a Toronto nurse has become the fastest woman to complete a marathon dressed in an inflatable costume—while wearing a giant red-and-white coronavirus suit.

September 30

Health care for Indigenous people in Canada is failing. It’s time to give us the power back
Toronto Star
OpEd by Dr. Suzanne Shoush
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) was born out of the tremendous strength of Indigenous people. Opening with the powerful testimony of thousands and closing with 94 Calls to Action, it is a roadmap toward Reconciliation.

September 29

HPV screening crucial to preventing cervical cancer
Toronto Sun
OpEd by Dr. Mandana Vahabi
Cervical cancer, being among the top five most commonly diagnosed cancers among women aged 25-44 in Ontario, could become a disease of the past with screening options that are women-centred and culturally appropriate.

September 26

People with diabetes in lower-income areas at higher risk for amputations: report
Canadian Press
Comments by Dr. Charles de Mestral
More than 7,000 people with diabetes undergo a leg, foot or toe amputation every year — and the majority of those procedures could have been prevented, the Canadian Institute for Health Information said in a report released Thursday.

September 25

Wegovy shows CV benefits among SELECT participants regardless of sex
Healio
Comments by Dr. Subodh Verma
Women with obesity and atherosclerotic CVD without diabetes experience fewer CV events vs. men enrolled in the SELECT trial; however, semaglutide was linked to significant reductions in CV events regardless of sex, a speaker reported.

Synthetic bones for cancer and trauma patients?
Zoomer Radio
Interview with Dr. Fahad Razak
A deep dive into the controversial Bill 7 here in Ontario (aka More Beds, Better Care Act) which is being challenged in court. And, a team out of the University of Waterloo is 3-D printing synthetic bone with the aim of helping cancer and trauma patients.

September 24

Disability reduction ss a twist in negative BTKi RRMS trial
Medscape
Comments by Dr. Jiwon Oh
In two phase 3 head-to-head comparing the Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor (BTKi) tolebrutinib to the immunomodulatory teriflunomide for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), there was no advantage on the primary endpoint of relapse, but the greater protection against disability, a secondary endpoint, might change thinking about BTKis as a potential MS therapy.

September 23

How to tell if your child has iron deficiency
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Michelle Sholzberg
Guelph resident Sasha Burnison was in Grade 6 when she was diagnosed with iron deficiency. “So I would [feel] like I want to do sports, but just … want to go home and sleep,” said Burnison, now 18 years old.

AI versus physicians: who’s better at spotting high-risk patients?
CMAJ podcast
Interview with Dr. Amol Verma
Dr. Blair Bigham and Dr. Mojola Omole discuss how artificial intelligence (AI) significantly improves the identification of hospital patients at risk of clinical deterioration compared to physician assessments alone.

Canadian study suggests AI can prevent unexpected hospital deaths
The World
Comments by Shirley Bell and Dr. Amol Verma
A new study out of the University of Toronto and St. Michael’s Hospital found that using an AI-based tool called ChartWatch led to a 26 per cent drop in the number of unexpected deaths in the hospital unit where it was tested.

On-demand PrEP use among GBQM: Insights from the PRIMP study
CATIE blog
OpEd co-written by Dr. Darrell Tan
Many gay, bisexual, queer and other men who have sex with men (GBQM) can benefit from pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV transmission.

September 20

AI tool may reduce risk for unexpected hospital deaths
Medscape
Comments by Dr. Amol Verma
A tool called CHARTwatch may reduce the risk for unexpected death among hospitalized patients by serving as an early warning system for rapidly deteriorating health, according to a new study.

Community unites to celebrate St. Michael’s Feast
The Catholic Register
Column by Fr. Yaw Acheampong
Do you know the motto of the Archdiocese of Toronto? Every year on September 29, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of St. Michael and the Archangels, Gabriel and Raphael. In the Archdiocese of Toronto, this Feast is of great importance to us because St. Michael is the patron saint of the Archdiocese.

September 19

What do I need to know about iron deficiency?
CBC – The Dose podcast
Interview with Dr. Michelle Sholzberg
Iron deficiency is relatively straightforward to treat, yet a significant percentage of Canadian women and girls live with the condition.

September 18

Integrated Officer Pilot Program launching at UHN’s Toronto Western and partner hospitals
UHN.ca
Comments by Dr. Irfan Dhalla
The Toronto Police Service (TPS) is launching a one-year pilot project in collaboration with University Health Network, Unity Health Toronto and Humber River Health, to expedite the transfer of care of patients and reduce wait times for frontline police officers, getting them back to their core policing duties.

What a new study tells us about the use of AI in treating hospital patients
Zoomer Radio
Interview with Dr. Amol Verma
Today we discuss a groundbreaking study co-authored by Dr. Verma on the use of AI and how it has contributed to a 26 per cent reduction in unexpected deaths for patients being treated in hospital.

September 17

“Access to a family doctor is a fundamental right”: A physician on how Ontario health care fails underserved communities
Toronto Life
Q&A with Dr. Tara Kiran
U of T researcher and associate professor Tara Kiran has been a family physician for more than 20 years with a focus on underserved communities such as immigrants, refugees and people experiencing homelessness. She also headed up OurCare, a recent national initiative on primary care that had close to 10,000 participants.

Moderna’s updated COVID-19 vaccine for 2024-25 approved in Canada
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Fahad Razak
Health Canada authorized Moderna’s updated COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday to roll out in fall immunization campaigns.

LAAO during cardiac surgery may help, even in AF’s absence
TCTMD
Comments by Dr. Bobby Yanagawa
Performing left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) in patients undergoing cardiac surgery may be beneficial even in the absence of preexisting atrial fibrillation (AF), a meta-analysis suggests.

September 16

AI tool saving lives in hospital, study finds
CBC News – The National
Comments by Dr. Amol Verma, Shirley Bell and Dr. Muhammad Mamdani
At a hospital in Toronto, artificial intelligence is being used to save lives.

AI monitoring at Toronto hospital reduced patient deaths, study says
Global News
Comments by Dr. Muhammad Mamdani
A new technology is helping medical teams know when patients in hospital are becoming high risk.

How AI’s helping save lives at St. Mike’s Hospital
CTV News Toronto
Comments by Dr. Jonathan Ailon, Dr. Amol Verma and Shirley Bell
A recent study into an AI system at St. Michael’s Hospital known as Chartwatch has reduced deaths by more than 25 per cent.

AI ‘early warning’ system shows promise in preventing hospital deaths, study says
Canadian Press
Comments by Dr. Amol Verma and Dr. Muhammad Mamdani
An AI early-warning system that predicts which patients are at risk of deteriorating while in hospital was associated with a decrease in unexpected deaths, a new study says.

AI tool cuts unexpected deaths in hospital by 26%, Canadian study finds
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Amol Verma, Dr. Muhammad Mamdani and Shirley Bell
Inside a bustling unit at St. Michael’s Hospital in downtown Toronto, one of Shirley Bell’s patients was suffering from a cat bite and a fever, but otherwise appeared fine — until an alert from an AI-based early warning system showed he was sicker than he seemed.

AI-based tool reduces risk of death in hospitalized patients, finds study
Medical Xpress
Comments by Dr. Amol Verma and Dr. Muhammad Mamdani
Can artificial intelligence (AI) help reduce deaths in hospital? An AI-based system was able to reduce risk of unexpected deaths by identifying hospitalized patients at high risk of deteriorating health, found new research published in Canadian Medical Association Journal.

More Ontarians will be flagged for iron deficiency after doctors advocate for change to guidelines
CP24
Comments by Dr. Michelle Sholzberg
Ontario could soon see more residents receiving treatment for iron deficiency thanks to new guidelines lowering the threshold for abnormal iron levels in the blood.

September 14

How redefining ‘normal’ iron levels could help women’s health
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Michelle Sholzberg
Nicole Williams often felt tired when she was in high school and university, relying on coffee to chase away fatigue. Then the persistent exhaustion was followed by anxiety that left her unable to concentrate.

‘We’re at a high degree of spread’: What you need to know about COVID-19 in Ontario
CTV News
Q&A with Dr. Fahad Razak
It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly five years since COVID-19 emerged. In that time, it has gone from a world-wide pandemic that shut down countries to another infectious disease that is part of day-to-day reality.

September 13

Doctors thought she had the stomach flu. But it was near-fatal sepsis
Global News
Comments by Dr. Claudia dos Santos
In 2011, Shannon McKenney, a singer from Burnaby, B.C., suddenly fell violently ill at a dinner party. Thinking it was food poisoning, the now 51-year-old went to the emergency room with severe pain and nausea, only to be sent home with a diagnosis of the stomach flu.

Despite 41 broken bones and 27 surgeries, Tim Casarin went back to work – and to golf
Fairways Magazine
St. Michael’s is mentioned
In May 2014, Tim Casarin lay immobilized in the ICU of St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto—a thick Aspen cervical collar hugging his broken neck, a “fixator” drilled into his smashed pelvis with nine-inch nails like it was an aluminum girdle.

September 11

Five biggest senior health risks for fall and winter — and how to stay safe, according to an expert: What to know about vaccines, falls & more
Yahoo! News
Comments by Dr. Fahad Razak
As fall and winter approach, seniors face more health risks — ranging from respiratory infections to slips and falls — not to mention isolation and depression. That’s why it’s imperative to take proactive steps to stay healthy and safe during the colder months.

Single dose of MVA-BN vaccine shows 58 per cent effectiveness against mpox
News-Medical.net
Comments by Dr. Sharmistha Mishra
A single dose of the Modified vaccinia Ankara-Bavarian Nordic (MVA-BN) was 58 per cent effective in protecting again mpox infection, according to a new study published in BMJ.

September 10

New lease means Revue Cinema to remain open in Toronto’s west end
CBC News
St. Joseph’s is mentioned
A non-profit organization that runs a much-loved movie theatre in Toronto has signed a new five-year lease with its landlords to keep the cinema in business, both parties announced on Tuesday.

September 8

Exploring AI in Healthcare: Ethical, clinical, and equitable innovations
The Varsity
Comments by Dr. Muhammad Mamdani
On May 6, 2024, the graduate workshop of Absolutely Interdisciplinary at the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society began with an introduction and transitioned into a discussion about artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare.

September 7

Drug checking in Toronto could be significantly impacted by closure of supervised consumption sites
CTV News
Comments by Karen McDonald
Ontario’s plan to shut down six supervised consumption sites in Toronto may significantly impact one local organization’s ability to verify and analyze the city’s unregulated drug supply.

September 6

Many people at risk never got their 2nd mpox vaccine dose, public health agencies say
Canadian Press
Comments by Dr. Darrell Tan
Public health agencies are encouraging people who received a first dose of mpox vaccine over the last two years to make sure they get a second dose.

September 5

COVID activity is high, but Canada not ‘remotely close’ to worst days of the pandemic: experts
National Post
Comments by Dr. Fahad Razak
Nearly five years into its emergence in humans, wastewater data suggest SARS-CoV-2 activity is high across most of Canada, driven by variants that are significantly different from strains circulating even a year ago.

Mandana Vahabi joins Bloomberg Nursing and Unity Health Toronto as Women’s Health Research Chair
U of T News
Comments by Mandana Vahabi
Mandana Vahabi, a champion of equitable access to reproductive health care for women, has been appointed Professor at the University of Toronto’s Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, and Women’s Health Research Chair at Unity Health Toronto health care network, a jointly held position at the two institutions. She began her new role on September 1, 2024.

September 3

Skip potassium after cardiac surgery
Medscape
Comments by Dr. Subodh Verma
Potassium supplementation does not alter the risk for postoperative atrial fibrillation in patients who have undergone cardiac surgery, contrary to expectations and popular clinical practice, new trial results demonstrate.

August 30

Ozempic hailed as ‘fountain of youth’
The Telegraph
Comments by Dr. Subodh Verma
Ozempic could offer “the fountain of youth” and turn back the clock on a host of diseases, scientists have found.

August 29

Emissions from last year’s Canadian wildfires more than most countries: study
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Samantha Green
Last year, the top three emitters of heat-trapping carbon pollution were China, the United States and India. Just missing the podium, in fourth place: that summer’s Canadian wildfires, which released more carbon into the atmosphere than every other country in the world, according to a new study published Wednesday.

St. Michael’s-led research calls for screening program for ‘ticking time bomb’ abdominal aortic aneurysm
Hospital News
Comments by Dr. Charles de Mestral
It’s been seven months since Daniel Hook had successful surgery at St. Michael’s Hospital to treat an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), a condition where there is swelling or ballooning in the aorta. Known as a “ticking time bomb” because it can grow undetected for years, AAA is usually deadly if the aortic aneurysm ruptures or bursts.

How teams are preparing for the new electronic patient record
Hospital News
Comments by Caroline Assouad, Olga Krasik and Punya Ross
On November 30, 2024, Unity Health will launch its new electronic patient record (EPR) system, transforming communication and information sharing between patients, families and their care teams.

Addressing inequities in cancer care
Hospital News
Comments by Dr. Lisa Hicks, Dr. Ronita Lee
Recent advancements in cancer treatment have lengthened and improved patients’ lives, but the increased complexity in care can be challenging to navigate – especially for marginalized communities.

August 27

Toyota Canada announces $500,000 donation to Providence Healthcare in Scarborough for the modernization of its Toyota Canada Motor Skills Clinic
Autosphere
Comments by Dr. Ashley Verduyn
Toyota Canada announced a $500,000 donation to Providence Healthcare in Scarborough for the renovation of the Toyota Canada Motor Skills Clinic. The investment will support the modernization of the existing facility to further enhance the clinic’s program delivery.

Artificial intelligence holds promise for pharmacy research and care
U of T News
Comments by Dr. Muhammad Mamdani
As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more powerful, it can make our lives more convenient and solve challenging problems for large organizations. By using large amounts of data to solve problems and identify patterns, AI can save time and manual labour and help identify insights and patterns that people may miss.

The province is shutting more than half of Ontario’s supervised consumption sites. Why does it matter to you?
CBC Radio – Ontario Today
Interview with Dr. Dr. Ahmed Bayoumi
The Ontario government is closing 10 supervised drug-consumption sites. You weigh in with reaction from Michael Parkinson, head of the non-profit group Drug Strategy Network of Ontario, and Dr. Ahmed Bayoumi, one of the experts behind a review of safety at those sites.

August 26

As more cataract surgeries move to private clinics, more low-income Ontarians are being left behind, study finds
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Danyaal Raza
Low-income Ontarians were less likely to access cataract surgeries in private, for-profit clinics, even as the province increased funding for the procedures in these independent surgical centres, according to new research.

August 23

Alumni Tribute Awards announced
Memorial University Gazette
Dr. Lee Errett among honorees
Memorial University’s Office of Development and Alumni Engagement is proud to announce that this year’s Alumni Tribute Awards recipients.

August 22

Tweaking one setting on mechanical ventilators may help protect patients from lung injury
Fierce Biotech
Comments by Dr. Arthur Slutsky
Mechanical ventilation, the use of a machine to help a person breathe, was not something many people thought about all that often—until the COVID pandemic struck. Stories of patients being put on ventilators, along with associated shortages of these machines, were blasted across the news, thrusting this decades-old treatment into the spotlight.

August 21

Reports ordered by Doug Ford government urge fixes, not shuttering of safe injection site
Toronto Star
Comments by Jill Campbell and Hayley Mick
The Ford government had two provincially commissioned reports strongly urging continued safe drug consumption services at a Queen Street East health centre when it announced rules that will halt the service and close nine other such sites across Ontario.

Experts did not recommend closing Leslieville drug consumption site
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Dan Werb
The Ontario government’s decision to shutter multiple supervised drug consumption sites in Toronto runs counter to the expert opinions it sought about one of those sites.

Ford cracks down on supervised consumption sites
CBC Radio – Here and Now
Interview with Dr. Dan Werb
Ford’s announcement has left many local groups scrambling to figure out their next steps for many Drug injection sites. For clarification, Host Ramraajh Sharvendiran spoke to the director of the Centre for Drug Policy Evaluation.

August 20

Province to close five Toronto supervised drug consumption sites
CBC News
Comments by Zoe Dodd
Five supervised drug consumption sites are slated to close in Toronto after the provincial government announced a ban on such facilities near schools and child-care centres — a move that some harm-reduction experts are slamming as a “deadly mistake.”

Mpox outbreak: What you need to know
Fox 5 New York
Comments by Dr. Fahad Razak
The World Health Organization has declared the ongoing mpox outbreak that originated in Africa and was recently detected in Sweden as a global emergency, requiring urgent action to curb the virus’ transmission.

After testing telerobotic clot removal, this neurosurgeon sees a path for faster stroke treatment
Medical Design & Outsourcing
OpEd by Dr. Vitor Pereira
Recently, I participated in the world’s first demonstration of a mechanical thrombectomy procedure using telerobotics. From a control panel in Abu Dhabi, I successfully performed a robotic-assisted procedure on a simulated patient in South Korea.

Doug Ford to ban safe injection sites within 200 metres of schools and child-care centres
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Dan Werb
Premier Doug Ford is closing most safe injection sites by forcing them 200 metres away from schools and daycares while boosting provincial supports for addiction treatment.

August 19

Ketamine therapy can help people with depression, but also poses risks: experts
Canadian Press
Comments by Dr. Venkat Bhat
Ketamine can be a “life-saving” treatment for depression but also a major risk to patients with a history of addiction, Canadian psychiatrists say after U.S. authorities charged several people in connection with actor Matthew Perry’s overdose death.

WHO calls for international support amid mpox outbreak in Africa
CBC Radio – The Current
Interview with Dr. Darrell Tan
Countries across Africa are struggling with an outbreak of mpox. Now, the World Health Organization is calling for international support. It’s estimated at least 17,000 people have been infected by a new strain of the virus this year, and more than 500 people have died. But the new strain hasn’t been detected in Canada.

What Doug Ford’s government gets wrong about Ontario’s homelessness crisis — and why it’s a problem
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Steven Hwang
When Ontario’s new associate housing minister assumed the role this summer, he was given an internal document briefing him on the housing crisis. That document included a staggering figure the government now concedes is false — an “unofficial” estimate that nearly a quarter of a million Ontarians are homeless.

August 19

UdeM awards honorary doctorates to three eminent scholars
Université de Montréal News
Dr. Sharon Straus among recipients
Every year, Université de Montréal awards honorary doctorates to distinguished individuals whose outstanding achievements have earned them esteem at home and abroad. It is the university’s highest distinction. This year, the recipients are Stephen Toope, Joël Bockaert and Sharon Straus.

August 17

Generations affected by overlooked disease: HHT
CBC Radio – Fresh Air
Interview with Dr. Marie Faughan
HHT is a genetic disorder as common as hemophilia, but it often goes unnoticed, even within families. We’re joined by Dr. Marie Faughan, director of the Toronto HHT Centre at St. Michael’s Hospital, along with Donald Hutchinson and his son Theo, who both carry this hidden genetic disorder. They share their family’s journey and the realities of living with HHT.

August 16

There’s a lot of hype about ketamine therapy, but is it safe?
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Jessica Kent-Rice
Ketamine is a powerful and potentially deadly drug, but some say, if used properly, it can be an effective treatment for mental illness. The National looks at how a Canadian clinic is using the anesthetic for therapy and asks the experts about the latest research.

Mpox strain spreading in African countries could arrive in Canada, doctors say
Canadian Press
Comments by Dr. Fahad Razak
The type of mpox spreading rapidly through several African countries could arrive in Canada, where that strain hasn’t appeared before, Canadian experts say.

August 14

WHO names mpox a global health emergency for 2nd time as virus surges in Africa
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Darrell Tan
The World Health Organization (WHO) has named mpox a public health emergency of international concern for the second time, on the heels of a continental emergency declaration from African health officials as the region remains gripped by outbreaks of the virus.

Toronto Public Health warns of spike in mpox following downtown festivals
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Darrell Tan
Toronto Public Health is urging eligible residents to get vaccinated against mpox amid a sharp rise in cases in the city.

August 13

Mpox cases surge in Toronto as Africa declares a health emergency
CBC News – The National
Comments by Dr. Darrell Tan
Africa has declared a mpox a continent-wide emergency after seeing a 160 per cent increase in cases and deaths compared to 2023. And with cases surging again in Toronto, officials are urging at-risk residents to get vaccinated now.

August 9

Homeless Torontonians are dying younger than the general population — and it’s getting worse
Toronto Star
Comments by Lucie Richard
Losing the roof over your head could reduce your lifespan by 17 years. That’s the takeaway from a new study published Friday, which warns that the gap between life expectancies for housed versus homeless Torontonians has only been growing, and is especially pronounced for younger generations.

Are private health care providers breaking the law? Four doctors speak out on for-profit care in Canada
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Danyaal Raza
More and more high-profile Canadian doctors are speaking out against the rise of for-profit health care, arguing that companies charging patients to access primary care are violating the spirit, if not the letter, of the Canada Health Act.

Scaling back on wastewater testing in Ontario leaves people vulnerable to illness
Policy Opinions
OpEd co-written by Dr. Fahad Razak
During the COVID-19 pandemic, wastewater surveillance had critical scientific and policy importance while also providing clear and easily interpretable data to the public about the threat we faced.

August 8

There’s been a summer surge in COVID-19 cases. Should I get a booster shot now or wait until the fall for the new updated COVID vaccine?
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Fahad Razak
I’ve heard that there’s been a summer surge in COVID-19 cases. Should I get a booster shot now or wait until the fall for the new updated COVID vaccine?

Visitors to the sick need comfort too
The Catholic Regsiter
OpEd by Father Yaw Acheampong
When was the last time you held someone’s hand? On one beautiful morning, as I was setting up for the celebration of the noon Mass in the hospital chapel, three visitors came in and sat down quietly. I noticed that they were holding hands.

PANORAMIC study learnings are key to pandemic preparedness
National Institute for Health and Care Research (UK)
Comments by Dr. Andrew Pinto
More consideration should be given to primary care studies from the very start of any pandemic, to prevent worsening of patient symptoms and reduce hospital admission.

August 7

Pregnancy hypertensive disorders need new model of care
Medscape
Comments by Dr. Joel Ray
The rate of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) is rising among women in Canada, while the morbidity associated with them is falling, according to findings of a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ).

Why are men more reluctant to visit the doctor?
Zoomer Radio
Interview with Dr. Fahad Razak
Why is it that men are more reluctant to pay a visit to the doctor?

August 5

Federal crackdown on user fees will make health care less accessible for millions, private clinics and insurers warn
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Danyaal Raza
Private insurers and virtual health companies are sounding the alarm over a federal promise to penalize provinces that allow private entities to charge patients for medically necessary primary care, saying the move could threaten access to a popular workplace benefit.

August 4

From approval to access: How will Canadians see the full potential of gene therapy
Longwoods
Interview with Dr. Jerry Teitel
Gene therapy has emerged as an exciting innovation for Canadians with rare diseases. As more gene therapy treatments gain approval in Canada, there is promise for transforming and advancing healthcare, especially in areas of high unmet need.

August 3

Think you have a ‘summer cold’? There’s a good chance it’s COVID-19, doctors say
Canadian Press
Comments by Dr. Andrew Pinto and Dr. Fahad Razak
Gayle Robin was surprised when her sister in California told her in early July she had tested positive for COVID-19. “I thought, ‘Really? It’s summer,’” the marketing and communications professional said in an interview from St. Catharines, Ont.

August 2

How trendy Zone 2 workouts can boost heart health and happiness
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Kim Connelly
If you’re not dripping in sweat after a workout, did it even count? Pushing our bodies to the limit used to be a badge of honour, but these days, more fitness enthusiasts are embracing a gentler approach. They’re using a buzzy training style that’s all about being in the zone — Zone 2, that is.

July 31

‘Incredibly disappointing’: Ontario halts wastewater testing for COVID, other viruses
Canadian Press
Comments by Dr. Fahad Razak
Ontario is officially ending its COVID-19 wastewater surveillance program today in a move some public health experts call shortsighted.

What do you need to know about this summer wave of COVID?
CBC Radio – Ontario Today
Interview with Dr. Fahad Razak
Ontario Today is joined by Dr. Fahad Razak, internal medicine physician at St. Michael’s Hospital.

How AI is changing the face of trauma care
Hospital News
Comments by Dr. Christopher Witiw, Dr. Errol Colak and Dr. Brodie Nolan
As a Level 1 Trauma Centre, St. Michael’s Hospital receives patients from all over Ontario who have sustained sudden, severe injuries – such as injures from a car collision or a sporting accident. When a trauma patient arrives to the hospital, the trauma team springs into action to provide life-saving care.

‘A great place to grow’: Stroke learners share their experiences training at Unity Health Toronto
Hospital News
Comments by Dr. Fatma Ger Akarsu, Dr. Justine Itorralba and Megan Hird
June is Stroke Awareness Month, an opportunity to raise awareness about stroke and stroke care.

The longer immigrants reside in Canada, the greater MS risk, new study finds
Hospital News
Comments by Dr. Manav Vyas
St. Michael’s Hospital neurologist and researcher Dr. Manav Vyas has always been interested in the mysteries of the brain. ‘It’s almost like a puzzle you’re trying to solve,” Vyas says. “I like the problem solving.”

Inside one of Canada’s top trauma hospitals
Hospital News
Comments by Dr. Andrew Beckett and Dr. Noemie Elfassy
A helicopter descends into Toronto’s downtown core minutes before 4:30 p.m., rotor blades whirring against a clear blue sky as it cuts a line between skyscrapers and lands on the roof of St. Michael’s Hospital.

July 29

Rate of high blood pressure disorders in pregnancy on the rise, study suggests
Canadian Press
Comments by Dr. Joel Ray
A new study suggests the rate of high blood pressure disorders in pregnancy has risen over the last decade in Canada.

July 27

What a rising summer wave says about Canada’s long-term future with COVID
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Andrew Pinto
Your nose is stuffy. Your sinuses ache. Between a full-body sneeze and another series of phlegmy coughs, you start to wonder: Could this summertime bug be COVID?

July 26

Paulina Porizkova says sex ‘can get better with age’ — here’s how to make the most of your sex life after menopause
Yahoo! Life
Comments by Dr. Sheila Wijayasinghe
Paulina Porizkova is challenging the notion that mature women aren’t sexual. On Friday, the 59-year-old supermodel took to Instagram to share an intimate photo captured by her partner, screenwriter Jeff Greenstein, with an empowering message to women embrace pleasure in their menopausal and post-menopausal years.

July 25

Fentanyl testing shows contamination (segment starts at 1:15:09)
CTV Your Morning
Interview with Karen McDonald
Fentanyl. Cocaine. Meth. MDMA. Those are the drugs people are using the most. How do we know that? Researchers have turned to testing to find out, but they’re not just looking at which drugs people are using, they’re also looking at what’s in the drugs themselves.

The real reasons doctors are giving up on family medicine and how to fix it
Streets of Toronto
Comments by Dr. Archna Gupta
In the heart of Ontario, a longtime family doctor runs a thriving family medicine practice that has served the community for decades. With more than 1,500 patients under care, the practice has been a cornerstone of local health care.

July 24

Doctor says he taught these 3 ‘lies’ in medical school about weight loss, heart disease
NBC News – Today
Comments by Dr. Beth Abramson
Dr. Robert Lufkin is a radiologist who calls himself a “medical school insider.”

As Canadian drug deaths rise, programs to keep users safe face backlash
Reuters
Comments by Dr. Ahmed Bayoumi and Dr. Tara Gomes
Years into a drug overdose crisis, Canada is facing backlash against government-sanctioned programs such as legal injection sites designed to keep users alive without curtailing drug use.

July 23

Jess Allen visits Canadian Blood Services
CTV’s The Social
Comments by Dr. Aditi Khandelwal
Jess Allen speaks with Canadian Blood Services about how to donate blood.

What to know about donating blood
CTV’s The Social
Interview with Dr. Sheila Wijayasinghe
Dr. Wijayasinghe discusses the importance of donating blood and how to take part in the life-saving act.

Health minister says he will soon issue guidance clarifying limits for out-of-pocket primary care fees
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Danyaal Raza
Federal Health Minister Mark Holland is promising to issue in “short order” a letter clarifying that Canadians shouldn’t have to pay out of pocket for medically necessary primary care provided by health professionals other than physicians, including nurse practitioners.

July 22

Medical oncologist seeks to better equip the cancer care workforce around the world
U of T News
Profile of Dr. Nazik Hammad
Dr. Hammad is passionate about improving global inequities and disparities in cancer care. She was raised in Sudan, Africa and holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from the University of Khartoum, as well as a Master of Science in Fundamental Immunology from the University of Toronto (U of T) and a Master of Education in the Health Professions from Johns Hopkins University.
Mandating hospitals to record homelessness among patients improves health outcomes, new study finds
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Lucie Richard and Dr. Stephen Hwang
Mandating hospitals to record homelessness among their patients dramatically improved the health care system’s ability to identify such patients, a new study has found, laying the groundwork for improving care and alleviating strain on the system.

July 21

A big plant-based milk recall
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Samir Gupta
Check your fridges for any Silk or Great Value brand plant-based beverages. Seriously.

July 20

An HIV patient is in remission after a unique stem cell transplant. Why it could be a path to a cure
CBC News
Comments by Jean-Paul Michael
A German HIV patient who is in remission following a stem cell transplant from a donor with genes that are partially resistant to the disease is giving researchers new hope that more people could benefit from the treatment.

July 17

A look inside a lab on opioid epidemic frontline
CTV News Toronto
Comments by Karen McDonald
A lab inside St. Michael’s Hospital serves as the front line of Toronto’s opioid epidemic, checking the city’s drug supply.

July 15

Researchers outline how cells activate to cause fibrosis and organ scarring
Hospital News
Comments by Dr. Boris Hinz and Fereshteh Sadat Younesi
New research led by Unity Health Toronto that examines how fibroblast cells in the body are activated to cause fibrosis and organ scarring has been published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology.

July 11

These Ontarians have a family doctor – they just have to drive 200 kilometres for an appointment
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Achna Gupta
When Linda Thomas wants to see her family doctor in person, she makes a six-hour, 540-kilometre drive from the Northern Ontario town of Elliot Lake to Brampton, the suburb of Toronto where her physician practices.

Number of Ontarians without family doctor reaches 2.5 million, college says
Canadian Press
Comments by Dr. Archna Gupta
There are now 2.5 million people in Ontario who don’t have a family doctor, the Ontario College of Family Physicians said on Thursday.

‘My hysterectomy saved my life’: Canadian women open up about chronic pain and debilitating symptoms
Yahoo! Style
Comments by Dr. Alysha Nensi
Before Fallon Nagy got her hysterectomy in Regina, she lived with daily, debilitating pain. Having both endometriosis and adenomyosis meant she often felt out of breath, nausea from pain, constant congestion, fatigue and mobility issues, among other issues.

July 9

Silk, Great Value plant-based beverages recalled across Canada
CBC News
Interview with Dr. Samir Gupta
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has recalled a selection of plant-based drinks after discovering they could be contaminated with listeria.

TMU celebrates Gold Medal winners at Spring 2024 Convocation
TorontoMet Today
Comments by Vanessa Hoang
Each year at convocation, Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) celebrates the achievements of its remarkable graduating students by awarding one student from each faculty with TMU’s Gold Medal Award.

HiQuiPs: Using dashboards to supercharge clinical care and quality improvement
Canadi’em
OpEd by Vinyas Harish
Odds are in your favourite sci-fi movie or TV show, a character spends time looking at a dashboard to determine their next course of action. However, dashboards are not limited to sci-fi!

Multiple sclerosis among immigrants: Does risk increase in host country?
MedPage Today
Comments by Dr. Manav Vyas
Among immigrants in Canada, the risk of incident multiple sclerosis increases proportionally with the amount of time spent in Canada, a recent study suggests.

July 5

I’ve been caring for people with opioid addiction for more than a decade. Here are the lessons I’ve learned
The Globe and Mail
OpEd by Dr. Vincent Lam; comments by Dr. Anita Srivastava
A dozen years ago, when I started caring for people with opioid addiction, I assessed a patient in the throes of withdrawal. He had tried to “just quit everything” without medical help. He was hunched over, drenched in sweat.

July 3

The patients bringing lived experience to research teams
The BMJ
Comments by Dr. Andrea Tricco
In 2015, when the Cambridge Clinical Trials Unit launched its Patient Led Research Hub (PLRH) it noticed that patients were interested in research topics that weren’t covered by most published studies.

June 27

Top FEAS student reflects on her favourite memories, courses, and mentors from her time at TMU
Toronto Metropolitan University News
Q&A with Vanessa Hoang
Awarded to each faculty’s top-performing student, the Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science (FEAS) is excited to announce Vanessa Hoang from electrical engineering as the 2024 FEAS Gold Medal recipient.

Order of Canada Appointees – June 2024
The Governor General of Canada
Dr. Lee Errett has been appointed to the Order of Canada
Lee Errett is a global leader in cardiac research and care. He transformed St. Michael’s Hospital into a world-class centre for cardiac surgery, teaching and research. A long-standing professor at the University of Toronto, he is committed to educating the next generation of medical leaders. As founding president of the Bethune Medical Development Association, he volunteers his time and expertise to providing care in underserved areas worldwide.

Opioid-related deaths have surged in Ontario shelters
Medscape
Comments by Dr. Tara Gomes
The number of accidental opioid-related toxicity deaths more than tripled in shelters across Ontario, Canada, during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study.

Decomplicating complications: Researchers propose standardizing list of complications from anti-VEGF agents
Managed Healthcare Executive
Comments by Dr. Rajeev Muni
Anti-vascular endothelia growth factor agents (VEGF) have transformed the treatment of wet, or neovascular, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic macular edema and other conditions related proliferating, leaky blood vessels in the choroid that impinge on the retina. But along with successes, such as Lucentis (ranibizumab) and Eylea (aflibercept), have come some setbacks, such as AbbVie’s abandonment of abicipar pegol, even though the phase 3 trial results for the agent were promising.

June 26

Empowering Black communities for cancer wellness on National Cancer Wellness Awareness Day
BPAO
Comments by Dr. Nazik Hammad
National Cancer Wellness Awareness Day is a reminder of the urgent need to address cancer disparities in Black communities. By raising awareness, fostering collaboration, and advocating for equitable healthcare policies, we can empower Black communities to achieve better cancer outcomes and holistic wellness.

From lab innovation to street safety: scientists develop rapid drug testing device to combat overdose crisis
U of T News
Comments by Dr. Dan Beriault
“It’s terrifying when we see drugs like Carfentanil in there which is 10,000 times more potent than morphine. Used in veterinary medicine as an elephant tranquilizer on animals that weigh several tons, then a 180-pound human uses it – even just a tiny amount will kill you. The illegal drug market is so heavily contaminated right now, there is no room for error,” says Dr. Dan Beriault.

June 25

High-level conversations about AI ‘aren’t going to result in true productivity’
HR Reporter
Comments by Dr. Muhammad Mamdani
“We’re talking about something which is resembling an Industrial Revolution, as opposed to another new, exciting, innovative technology — it is way more profound than that.”

Kids learn to recognize signs of stroke
CTV Toronto
Comments by Dr. Manav Vyas
Students at Thorncliffe Park Public School learned how to recognize the symptoms of a stroke with help from the FAST Heroes Program.

June 24

Semaglutide leads to greater weight loss in women than men with heart failure, improves symptoms
Medical XPress
Comments by Dr. Subodh Verma
Semaglutide, a medication initially developed for type 2 diabetes and obesity, significantly improves symptoms in men and women with a common type of heart failure that has had few therapeutic options.

Losing a foot to diabetes is terrifying, and preventable. How doctors are trying to help
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Azza Eissa
Duane Lea is terrified of needing an amputation, or worse. The 46-year-old Toronto resident lost his right foot to a blood clot when he was in his 30s and is now constantly on alert about losing the left leg to diabetes.

AI in healthcare gets a boost from Canada-Sweden knowledge exchange
Arctic Business Journal
Comments by Dr. Muhammad Mamdani
Unity Health Toronto has effectively harnessed AI in its hospitals by maintaining a clear vision for value creation, meticulously planning for deployment from the prototype stage, and integrating clinicians and leaders – the people who will ultimately use the AI tools – into the development process.

June 23

Semaglutide leads to greater weight loss in women than men with HF, improves HF symptoms in both sexes
EurekAlert
Comments by Dr. Subodh Verma
Semaglutide, a medication initially developed for type 2 diabetes and obesity, significantly improves symptoms in men and women with a common type of heart failure that has had few therapeutic options.

June 22

LIFEEnergy drinks, health and the youth: Time to ban sales for under-16s?
Digital Journal
Comments by Dr. Michael Cusimano
Research conducted at the Mayo Clinic raises new concerns about serious implications that energy drinks may have on our bodies.

June 20

COVID-19 no longer novel coronavirus in Ontario
Politics Today
Comments by Dr. Andrew Pinto
The Ontario government is downgrading COVID-19 from a novel coronavirus to a “disease of public health significance,” limiting the kind of data that needs to be reported to, and by, medical officers of health.

June 19

TTC worker hailed as ‘guardian angel’ for saving woman’s life
CBC News
St. Michael’s is mentioned
When Michele-Marie Beer was trembling, dizzy on a Toronto streetcar, she never imagined the driver might save her life.

Involuntary drug treatment: ‘Compassionate intervention’ or policy dead end?
Healthy Debate
Comments by Dr. Dan Werb
Angela Welz has a heart tattooed on her left wrist alongside her daughter’s name. “When I need to feel Zoe, I can feel my heart there. That’s how I feel her. Because the heart is on my pulse point.”

Dream big and ask, ‘What if?,’ John Barford tells Ivey graduates
Ivey/UWO News
Comments by John Barford
While acknowledging that the world has changed profoundly in the 46 years since he graduated, John Barford’s speech to Ivey’s Class of 2024 focused on the one constant during his meandering path in life: staying true to himself.

June 18

These companies are leveraging AI to improve Canada’s stressed health care system
The Globe and Mail
CHARTwatch and Signal 1 are mentioned
Much has been written in recent years about the significant challenges facing Canada’s stressed and cash-strapped health care system. Could artificial intelligence (AI) provide some much-needed solutions?

Opioid deaths in Ontario shelters more than tripled during pandemic, study finds
Canadian Press
Comments by Dr. Tara Gomes
A new study examining data from the Ontario coroner’s office and other sources indicates opioid-related deaths in the province’s shelters more than tripled during the COVID-19 pandemic, when compared with a few years prior.

Some medications and heat waves don’t mix, experts say precautions needed
Canadian Press
Comments by Dr. Samantha Green
As Central and Eastern Canada brace for the year’s first heat wave, medical experts are warning of the particular health risks faced by people taking medications that can alter the body’s response to extreme temperatures.

Opioid-related deaths tripled in Ontario shelters during pandemic: Report
TVO Today
Comments by Dr. Tara Gomes
Opioid-related deaths in Ontario’s shelter system more than tripled during the pandemic, according to a new report.

Surge in fatal opioid overdoses in Ontario shelters, report finds
Public Health Ontario
Comments by Dr. Tara Gomes
Opioid-related toxicity deaths within shelters more than tripled during the pandemic compared to the number of deaths occurring overall in the province, according to new research from the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network (ODPRN) at St. Michael’s Hospital and Public Health Ontario.

Opioid deaths at Ontario shelters surged during pandemic: report
Global News
Comments by Dr. Tara Gomes and Dr. Naheed Dosani
Opioid-related deaths in Ontario’s shelters surged during the pandemic, according to a recent study that examined data from the coroner’s office and other sources.

June 17

Struggling with the heat? Here’s what you should and shouldn’t do
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Samantha Green
Toronto, get ready for your first heat wave of the year. With highs of 35 C (and humidex up to 40 C to 45 C) and nighttime lows of 20 to 23 C, Environment Canada is warning of “excruciating” weather.

Harm reduction vending machine offers free, 24-hour access to supplies
Brantford Expositor
Comments by Dr. Sean B. Rourke
A vending machine that provides “low-barrier access” to naloxone kits, safer sex supplies, HIV self-testing kits and other harm-reduction supplies, is now located at Brantford’s SOAR Community Services office.

June 15

Dusting off hospital cleaning measures would help keep patients safer from superbugs, doctors say
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Matthew Muller
Cleaning contaminated surfaces in hospitals is critically important to protect patients from drug-resistant superbugs, which are on the rise. But some infectious diseases experts say recent moves to outsource hospital services could compromise the standards of cleanliness and result in poorer infection controls.

June 14

Flesh-eating animal tranquilizers showing up in growing proportion of Toronto street drugs
CTV News
Comments by Hayley Thompson
Those watching Toronto’s drug supply say animal tranquilizers which cause flesh-eating wounds are turning up in street drugs with concerning frequency.

Let’s talk about sex: How best to broach post-MI conversations
TCT MD
Comments by Dr. Beth Abramson
Claudio Gil Araújo, MD, PhD (CLINIMEX, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), had some good news for his 63-year-old patient who, just 3 weeks prior, successfully underwent PCI for STEMI.

June 12

Niagara Falls lights up for Rare Disease Awareness
Thorold Today
Comments by Dr. Atif Zafar
In June, cities across Canada, will light up in shades of red, white and grey to raise awareness for Cavernous Malformation.

June 10

Ontario will no longer test watewater as a means to monitor COVID-19 levels. What difference does that make to you?
CBC Radio – Ontario Today
Interview with Dr. Fahad Razak
Dr. Razak is an internal Medicine Physician at St. Michael’s Hospital. He’s also the former scientific director of Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table.

June 8

A bottle of blood serum from the 1940s gives researchers hope to save lives on battlefields of the 2020s
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Andrew Beckett
Andrew Beckett says he will never forget witnessing a Canadian soldier bleed to death during a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Croatia in 1994.

June 7

Nonanemic iron deficiency underdiagnosed in women
MD Edge
Comments by Dr. Michelle Sholzberg
Three different definitions of nonanemic iron deficiency (ID), a common disorder causing substantial morbidity in women, were significantly associated with different population prevalence estimates, a data analysis of the cross-sectional Hemochromatosis and Iron Overload Screening Study (HEIRS) study found.

June 6

Resisting the backlash against equity in medicine will improve health outcomes for all
The Conversation
OpEd by Dr. Gary Bloch
A backlash against EDIA (equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility) is gripping Canadian medicine. This is no surprise for a historically conservative institution, but as a family physician who has dedicated more than 20 years to ensuring we address social inequities in front-line care, I worry our efforts to prioritize the health of those most socially marginalized could face a setback.

Unity Health joins Elephant in The Room Anti-Stigma Campaign
Mood Disorders Society of Canada
Comments by Cheryl Croutch
We are pleased to announce that Unity Health Toronto, a hospital network that includes St. Joseph’s Health Centre, St. Michael’s Hospital and Providence Healthcare, has partnered with us on our Elephant in the Room Anti-Stigma Campaign, raising awareness about mental health and stigma.

June 5

What are ‘wet-bulb’ temperatures — and why can they be so deadly?
Global News
Comments by Dr. Samantha Green
A heat dome in the western U.S. continues to smash temperature records, the latest in cases of significant heat around the world so far this year.

June 4

Embracing the journey
U of T News
Q&A with Shifat Ahmed
Reflections from Temerty Medicine’s research and health sciences graduates.

The fight for access to life-saving medication for Inuit infants
Nunavut News
Comments by Dr. Anna Banerji
Dr. Anna Banerji may be from Toronto, but the Order of Ontario recipient has what she describes as a “deep connection” to the North and Nunavut.

May 30

Carefully consider strategies when switching disease-modifying therapies for MS
Pharmacy Times
Comments by Dr. Jiwon Oh
With the rapid growth of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for multiple sclerosis (MS), the need to switch treatments is becoming more common. However, this presents challenges, particularly for some specific patient populations such as older patients or those considering pregnancy.

“Giants of MS” Award Presented to 7 MS Leaders at 2024 CMSC Annual Meeting
Practical Neurology
Aprile Royal among the winners
Several leaders in different areas of multiple sclerosis (MS) research received the “Giants of MS” award for their contributions and achievements.

May 29

Housing crisis is forcing more seniors into shelters, doctors say
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Jillian Alston
More older adults are becoming homeless in Canada and relying on shelters, straining an already under-resourced system, a group of Toronto doctors says in a new report published by the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ).

Study highlights Wegovy’s expanding benefits from obesity to heart disease
Healthing.ca
Comments by Dr. Subodh Verma
Wegovy (semaglutide), a drug originally intended to help people manage obesity, has recently gained traction in the field of other treatments—namely heart disease.

Unity Health to create ‘coast-to-coast shield’ to protect Canada in the next pandemic
Hospital News
Comments by Dr. Andrew Pinto and Dr. Benita Hosseini
Unity Health Toronto has received $18.9 million in federal funding to create a national pandemic preparedness system that will improve Canada’s capacity to identify and track new pathogens, monitor disease spread and speed up research and development of diagnostic tests, vaccines and therapeutics.

Fibrosis: Researchers outline how cells activate to cause fibrosis and organ scarring
Hospital News
Comments by Dr. Boris Hinz and Sadat Younesi
New research led by Unity Health Toronto that examines how fibroblast cells in the body are activated to cause fibrosis and organ scarring has been published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology.

Addressing homelessness in older people
Hospital News
Comments by Dr. Jillian Alston
Homelessness doesn’t only happen to young people but also affects older adults in growing numbers, write authors in an analysis in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) that describes this emerging crisis.

One in 5 adults in Canada without access to primary care
Hospital News
Comments by Dr. Tara Kiran
More than one-in-five adults in Canada did not have access to primary care, with large regional gaps in access, found new research in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

May 28

Research predicts worsening dengue spread in Mexico and Brazil
U of T News
Comments by Vinyas Harish
Both Brazil and Mexico may be affected by a much greater spread of dengue in the years to come, says a study by University of Toronto researchers.

May 27

Interprofessionalism: The role of team-based primary care within Canada’s health system
Santis Health
Interview with Dr. Tara Kiran
Primary care is the foundation of Canada’s health care system; however the sector is facing a multitude of pressing challenges.

HIROC Conference 2024: Enabling safe AI adoption in healthcare
HIROC
Q&A with Dr. Muhammad Mamdani
With the rise in artificial intelligence (AI) across industries and the many challenges facing the healthcare sector, it is increasingly important that healthcare organizations consider how to enable safe AI adoption.

May 24

System failing growing number of seniors who are homeless: report
CityNews 95.7 Halifax
Interview with Dr. Jillian Alston
Dr. Alston, lead author of the paper published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal and a geriatrician at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, shares a new report that says shelters in Canada are not designed to meet the physical or mental health needs of the growing number of older adults who are homeless.

May 23

Faith in action: hospital ministry
The Catholic Register
OpEd by Yaw Acheampong
How would you feel if you found yourself admitted to a hospital and the hospital priest-chaplain came to visit? At St. Michael’s Hospital there is a tradition — patients when they are being admitted can indicate their religion as part of their admission documentation.

May 22

One in five adult Canadians doesn’t have a family doctor, study finds
Vancouver is Awesome
Comments by Dr. Tara Kiran
More than one in five Canadian adults report having no family doctor, a new study has found.

Study underscores Canadians’ problems with access to care
Medscape
Comments by Dr. Tara Kiran
New data shed light on the problem of access to healthcare in Canada. Not only do roughly one in five Canadians report having no primary care doctor or nurse practitioner (ie, “primary care clinician”), but also access appears to vary by as much as 70 per cent, depending on the province.

Can a virtual stress reduction program help improve my quality of life?
Endonews
Comments by Dr. Carmen McCaffrey
A virtual mindfulness-based stress reduction program may improve the quality of life of patients with endometriosis, according to a new study published in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada.

May 21

More than one in five Canadians lack access to primary care, research finds
News Medical Life Sciences
Comments by Dr. Tara Kiran
More than one in five adults in Canada did not have access to primary care, with large regional gaps in access, found new research in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

System failing growing number of seniors who are homeless, need more support: report
Canadian Press
Comments by Dr. Jillian Alston
Shelters in Canada are not designed to meet the physical or mental health needs of the growing number of older adults who are homeless, a report released Tuesday says.

May 20

Toronto’s rejection from Ottawa on drug decriminalization has ‘dismayed’ some advocates. Here’s what they say the city should do now
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Dan Werb
With Toronto’s request to the federal government officially rejected, proponents of decriminalization for illegal drugs say they are “dismayed” the city has lost what they say is a key measure to fight the ongoing toxic drug crisis.

May 18

“All of my friends are dead”: The overdose crisis is taking a toll on harm reduction workers
Salon
Comments by Gillian Kolla
Stephen Murray’s work in harm reduction doesn’t end when he leaves the office at 5 p.m. As the Harm Reduction Program Manager at Boston Medical Center who runs the SafeSpot Overdose Hotline, he is on call 24/7. Sometimes, his phone rings at 4 a.m. to assist with an overdose.

May 16

Ontario warns Toronto to drop drug decriminalization request
CBC News
Unity Health is mentioned
The Ontario government says it is “100 per cent opposed” to Toronto Public Health’s bid to have small amounts of illegal drugs for personal use decriminalized in the city.

May 15

Spryte Medical announces first human use of novel intravascular brain imaging technology, published in Science Translational Medicine
Associated Press
Comments by Dr. Vitor Mendes Pereira
Spryte Medical, an intravascular imaging and AI company today announced the publication of their first-in-human study of its neuro Optical Coherence Tomography ( n OCT) technology in the peer reviewed journal Science Translational Medicine, entitled “Volumetric microscopy of cerebral arteries with a miniaturized optical coherence tomography imaging probe.”

“Snake-like” probe images arteries from within
IEEE Spectrum
Comments by Dr. Vitor Mendes Pereira
Neurosurgeon Vitor Mendes Pereira has grown accustomed to treating brain aneurysms with only blurry images for guidance.

Remote surgery showcased in Abu Dhabi could be future of healthcare, experts say
The National News (UAE)
Comments by Dr. Vitor Mendes Pereira
A glimpse into the future of health care was offered on Wednesday when a doctor in Abu Dhabi remotely simulated surgery on a stroke victim in Korea.

Doctor in UAE, treatment 7,000km away in Korea: World’s first public telerobotic surgery trial performed for stroke
Khaleej Times
Comments by Dr. Vitor Mendes Pereira
Giving a sneak peek into what the future of healthcare holds, a for emergency stroke treatment was successfully performed by a doctor in Abu Dhabi on a model about 7,000km away in Seoul, South Korea.

May 14

Absolutely Interdisciplinary 2024 fosters innovation and collaboration
U of T News
Comments by Dr. Muhammad Mamdani
How can we design artificial intelligence (AI) systems that are aligned with human values? And how are these technologies impacting our world today?

In world first, XCath to perform live telerobotic surgery model trial at Abu Dhabi Global Healthcare Week
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Vitor Mendes Pereira
In a world first, a UAE-owned company will be performing a live robotic surgery in Abu Dhabi on a model in South Korea, demonstrating the immense power of remote telerobotic surgery for emergency interventional procedures in cases like stroke and cardiovascular emergencies.

May 13

Caring for the health-care workers who care for us
CBC Radio – The Current
Interview with Dr. James Maskalyk, Alaina Cox and Tsering Luding
Health-care workers face immense pressure in Canada’s understaffed and overcrowded emergency rooms. But while they care for us, who cares for them?

Preparing for future health emergencies
CityNews 95.7 Halifax
Interview with Dr. Andrew Pinto
Dr. Pinto, Prepared project lead and a family physician at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, joins Todd to discuss how scientists and clinicians across Canada are preparing for future pandemic threats.

In world first, UAE’s XCath to perform live telerobotic surgery model trial
Arab News
Comments by Dr. Vitor Mendes Pereira
In a world first, a UAE-owned company will be performing a live robotic surgery in Abu Dhabi on a model in South Korea, demonstrating the immense power of remote telerobotic surgery for emergency interventional procedures in cases like stroke and cardiovascular emergencies.

May 11

Thousands of Canadians are on doctor wait-lists. Are they effective?
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Tara Kiran
In Ontario, the average wait time for the thousands of prospective patients on the province’s list looking to be connected to a family doctor is, according to the government, around 90 days.

May 10

Ontario faces fifth consecutive year of soaring drug poisoning deaths, calls for expanded harm reduction services
The Manitoulin Expositor
Comments by Dr. Dan Werb
The alarming trend of escalating drug poisoning deaths continues in Ontario for the fifth consecutive year, with projections exceeding 3,000 fatalities annually, averaging over 8 deaths per day.

Syphilis cases surge in Canada
The Manitoulin Expositor
Comments by Dr. Sean Rourke
Recent federal data paints a stark picture: in 2022 alone, Canada recorded nearly 14,000 cases of infectious syphilis nationwide, along with 117 instances of early congenital syphilis. This represents a nearly 15-fold increase from just eight cases reported among infants across the country merely five years earlier.

May 8

What Canadians need to know about AstraZeneca withdrawing its COVID-19 vaccine
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Michelle Sholzberg
AstraZeneca has initiated the worldwide withdrawal of its COVID-19 vaccine because of a “surplus of available updated vaccines,” and it has requested that the European authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine be pulled. While most countries ceased using the shot in 2021, this move Tuesday makes that cessation official.

AstraZeneca withdraws its COVID-19 vaccine worldwide
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Samir Gupta
AstraZeneca says it is withdrawing Vaxzevria, its vaccine to protect against COVID-19, from global markets. The vaccine was used early on in the pandemic in many countries, including Canada.

Researchers outline how cells activate to cause fibrosis and organ scarring
Medical Xpress
Comments by Dr. Boris Hinz and Fereshteh Sadat Younesi
New research led by Unity Health Toronto that examines how fibroblast cells in the body are activated to cause fibrosis and organ scarring has been published in Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology.

New guidelines for depression care emphasize patient-centred approach
University of British Columbia News
Comments by Dr. Sidney Kennedy
Psychiatrists and mental health professionals have a new standard for managing major depression, thanks to refreshed clinical guidelines published today by UBC researchers at the Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments (CANMAT).

What questions do you have about COVID-19?
CBC Radio – Ontario Today
Interview with Dr. Fahad Razak
Dr. Razak is an internal Medicine Physician at St. Michael’s Hospital. He’s also the former scientific director of Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table.

May 7

Disability and poverty: Funding and structure of new federal benefit unacceptable
Healthy Debate
OpEd written by Dr. Gary Bloch
While doctors were up in arms over the federal budget’s changes to the capital gains tax, many overlooked an announcement with far more consequence for their low-income and socially marginalized patients – one that will place an immediate burden on our already stretched work lives.

PAS panel addresses historical trauma faced by Indigenous groups, calls on pediatricians to act
American Academy of Pediatrics
Comments by Dr. Ryan Giroux
When a medical resident came to Benjamin D. Hoffman, M.D., FAAP, in 2012 with concerns about an 18-month-old Navajo patient who was having muscle and motor difficulties, his heart sank, knowing the likely diagnosis.

May 6

Could better asthma inhalers help patients, and the planet too?
NPR
Comments by Dr. Samantha Green
During an asthma check-up at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Joel Rubinstein gets a surprising pitch — for the planet, as well as his health.

U.S. lawmakers are taking aim at private equity in health care. Here’s what is happening in Canada
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Danyaal Raza
In the U.S., the growing role of private equity firms in health care is coming under heightened scrutiny, with Senate committee hearings and a cross-government public inquiry launched earlier this year.

Scientists, clinicians across Canada preparing for future pandemic threats
Canadian Press
Comments by Dr. Andrew Pinto
Nearly $574 million will be doled out to researchers across the country for projects aimed at ramping up Canada’s preparedness for future health emergencies, including the next pandemic, the federal government announced on Monday.

Family Medicine leaders collaborate on new national approach to pandemic preparedness
Queen’s University News
Comments by Dr. Andrew Pinto
Drs. David Barber and Michael Green, Queen’s Family Medicine (QFM), are collaborators on an $18.9-million initiative to shield Canada against future pandemics.

Canadian Hub for Health Intelligence and Innovation in Infectious Diseases awarded $72 million
U of T News
Comments by Dr. Andrew Pinto
Four research programs in the Canadian Hub for Health Intelligence and Innovation in Infectious Diseases (HI3) have received $72 million in federal funding from the Canada Biomedical Research Fund (CBRF) and Biomedical Research Infrastructure Fund (BRIF), bolstering the country’s biomanufacturing capacity and readiness to respond to emerging health threats.

Staples Canada and MAP launch the largest Even the Odds fundraising campaign to date with ‘Close the Gap’
Canada Newswire
Comments by Dr. Stephen Hwang
Staples Canada is amplifying its support for MAP, Canada’s largest health equity research centre, to ‘Close the Gap’ on inequity in Canada.

Schulich profs help prepare for future pandemics
Western News
Comments by Dr. Andrew Pinto
Downtown cores stood silent, streets were almost empty and people stayed six feet apart – that was the ”new normal” four years ago when, after 180,000 cases worldwide and more than 4,000 deaths, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic.

May 2

Physician: Capital gains tax changes will not destroy health care in Ontario
Toronto Star
OpEd by Dr. Danyaal Raza
Doctors are getting burnt out. Nearly 40 per cent of family doctors are considering retiring in the next five years, while early career physicians are most likely to experience burnout.

Immigrants to Canada see MS risk rising with time in country: Study
Multiple Sclerosis News Today
Comments by Dr. Manav Vyas
Among immigrants to Canada, the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) is higher for those who have spent a greater portion of their life in Canada, a new study reports.

May 1

Patient holds Guinness World Record for oldest kidney transplant recipient
Hospital News
Comments by Meriam Jayoma-Austria and Dr. Ramesh Prasad
St. Michael’s Hospital patient Walter Tauro has officially been named the oldest kidney transplant recipient in the world by the Guinness World Records after receiving the kidney at age 87.

Minimally invasive cardiac surgery reduces trauma
Hospital News
Comments by Dr. Gianluigi Bisleri
It has been two months since Bojan, a 51-year-old man, attended the Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery (MICS) Clinic at St. Michael’s Hospital. After experiencing two major open-heart surgeries in the past, Bojan was offered an alternative pathway of care by Dr. Gianluigi Bisleri that uses a less invasive surgical approach to reduce trauma and return patients to their regular lives faster.

Using technology to improve the diagnostic process for patients with a rare disease
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Comments by Dr. Yvonne Bombard
Genome sequencing plays a crucial role in diagnosing rare genetic diseases and sometimes also identifying the risk of other health conditions that might not be directly related to an individual’s primary health issue.

April 29

Most homeless people have mental health disorders
Medscape
Comments by Dr. Stephen Hwang
Most people experiencing homelessness have mental health disorders, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Canada needs to do more to prepare for an aging, and more diverse population
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Andrew Pinto
Canada needs better data to prepare for its future with a rapidly aging – and increasingly diverse – population, experts warn.

April 27

Talking about colon cancer awareness
CBC News – Our Toronto
Comments by Dr. Ian Bookman
This weekend, racers of all ages will be lacing up for the Bum Run, an annual event that raises money for colon cancer.

April 26

Sheridan celebrates student co-op and work-integrated learning achievements
Sheridan College
Maia Azevedo is profiled
Last month, in partnership with Sheridan’s Faculties, the Career-Integrated Learning department hosted the annual Co-op and Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) Student of the Year Awards at the Sheridan Conference Centre located at the Trafalgar Road Campus in Oakville.

April 25

National school food program is a big boost for children’s health
Ottawa Citizen
OpEd by Dr. Daniel Bierstone and Dr. Sloane Freeman
A historic milestone for the health of Canadian children was achieved in last week’s federal budget with the government’s announcement of $1 billion over five years for the creation of a national school food program.

Homeless hospital patients stay twice as long at double the cost
CBC News
Comments by LP Pavey and Dr. Carolyn Snider
Canadians experiencing homelessness stay nearly twice as long in hospital at a cost over double the national average, in part due to the housing crisis, a sweeping new health-care report finds.

Healing power
U of T Magazine
Comments by Dr. Muhammad Mamdani
About eight years ago, artificial intelligence seemed poised to revolutionize health care. IBM’s much-hyped AI system, known as Watson, had rapidly morphed from winning game-show contestant to medical genius, able to provide diagnoses and treatment plans with lightning speed.

A sentinel for global health
U of T Magazine
Comments by Dr. Kamran Khan
In late 2019, a company called BlueDot warned its customers about an outbreak of a new kind of pneumonia in Wuhan, China. It wasn’t until a week later that the World Health Organization issued a public warning about the disease that would later become known as COVID-19.

April 24

Can virtual health care help save a collapsing system?
CityNews Big Story podcast
Interview with Dr. Tara Kiran
Most of us have had a virtual health-care appointment sometime during the pandemic. Those of us that didn’t almost certainly encountered virtual care of some form or another. As we enter the post-pandemic era, there is a push by some for more virtual care.

How AI can reduce turn around times for clinical trial contracts
Hospital News
Comments by Karen Ung and Mani Kang
Unity Health Toronto is one of the first hospitals in Canada to work with Google Cloud to develop a generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) tool to speed up the process of reviewing complex research contracts.

Time spent in Canada increases MS risk for immigrants: study
Global News
Comments by Dr. Manav Vyas and Dr. Dalia Rotstein 
New research is shedding light on the risk immigrants in Canada face of developing Multiple Sclerosis. Data shows the risk for the chronic disease goes up for people who have spent more of their life in the country.

For immigrants to Canada, risk of MS increases with proportion of life spent there
American Academy of Neurology
Comments by Dr. Manav Vyas
Immigrants to Canada who have spent a greater proportion of their lives in Canada have a greater risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) than people who have spent a smaller proportion of their lives there, according to a study published in the April 24, 2024, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

April 23

How to make the most of your virtual mental health care appointment
Healthy Debate
OpEd by Lucie Langford and Braden O’Neill
Think back to March 2020. Suddenly, instead of seeing your family doctor in person, your appointments were by telephone or video call. The phone rang. You waited one … two … three rings and then picked up. “Hello, it’s your family doctor. What can I help you with today?”

April 22

HIV self-test kit: Experts slam government decision to end funding for program — ‘This shouldn’t be happening’
Yahoo! News
Comments by Dr. Sean Rourke
Advocates and health-care experts are concerned about the federal government’s decision not to renew funding for HIV self-testing kits, a program that cost just over $17 million over two years, pointing to the effectiveness of the devices and stressing it will have a severe impact on underserved communities.

Canadian Vinyl Industry names Toronto Anesthesiologist with Sustainability Excellence in Healthcare award
Vinyl Institutue of Canada
Award won by Dr. Ali Abbass
The Vinyl Institute of Canada (VIC) announces that their groundbreaking PVC Medical Device Recycling program continues to see robust growth from Hospitals in the GTA and surrounding areas.

April 20

Who needs Paxlovid now? New guidelines suggest only highest-risk groups should get COVID drug
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Andrew Pinto
If you consider yourself at a higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19 — because of your age, or maybe due to preexisting health issues — you might assume you’ll be able to get treatment with Paxlovid when the time comes.

April 19

The Ottawa Hospital doctors to try AI for patient notes
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Muhammad Mamdani
The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) is launching a pilot project this June that will use a Microsoft artificial intelligence tool to record conversations between patients and doctors and transcribe them into medical notes.

How ‘social contagion’ could be driving some youth to identify as transgender
National Post
Comments by Dr. Joey Bonifacio
It’s considered one of the most important and perplexing developments in the field of transgender medicine over the past 15 years: The startling surge in gender-distressed children being referred to gender clinics, especially biological girls.

“Canada has the best health care”: Markham man receives kidney transplant at age 87
Markham Economist & Sun
Comments by Meriam Jayoma-Austria
June 11, 2023 marked a day of rebirth for Markham resident Walter Tom Tauro, who received a kidney transplant at St. Michael’s Hospital at the age of 87 years and 262 days, earning recognition from Guinness World Records as the oldest kidney transplant recipient worldwide.

April 18

What now? AI, episode 3: Innovation for good
U of T News
Interview with Dr. Andrew Pinto
While the news headlines about AI often focus on dangers and risks, the potential for life-saving innovation in fields such as health care is huge.

This Toronto-based tampon brand is providing an inventive solution to insertion struggles
Now
Comments by Dr. Yolanda Kirkham
Nadia Ladak was in her final year of university when she came up with the concept for her lubricated tampon brand, Marlow.

April 15

Opioids responsible for one in every four deaths among young adults: study
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Tara Gomes
The staggering cost of illicit drug toxicity in Canada, especially among young people, is laid bare in new research published Monday that highlights rapid increases in opioid-related deaths with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sharp rise in OD deaths demands better policies for those in their 20s, 30s: study
Canadian Press
Comments by Dr. Tara Gomes
Opioid-related deaths doubled in Canada between 2019 and the end of 2021, with Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta experiencing a dramatic jump, mostly among men in their 20s and 30s, says a new study that calls for targeted harm-reduction policies.

Over 25 per cent of young Canadian deaths linked to opioids amid pandemic: study
Global News
Comments by Dr. Tara Gomes
More than one in four deaths among young Canadians between 2019 and 2021 were opioid-related, with the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased use of fentanyl potentially playing significant roles, according to new research.

A quarter of deaths among young adults in Canada were opioid related in 2021
Hospital News
Comments by Dr. Tara Gomes
Premature deaths related to opioids doubled between 2019 and 2021 across Canada, with more than one-in-four deaths among young adults aged 20–39 years attributable to opioids, according to new research published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

April 12

Study finds no link between COVID vaccines and fatal heart problems in young people
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Prabhat Jha
A new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows there is no evidence to suggest COVID vaccines cause sudden cardiac death or other fatal heart problems in young people.

April 11

The memory race
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Jennifer Watt
Tyson Haller was in his early 50s when he learned he had a family history of one of the most feared diseases in medicine.

April 10

Why teenage pregnancy carries those extra risks
Research 2 Reality
Research by Dr. Joel Ray
Teen pregnancy, while not typically fatal, can negatively impact both the young parent and their child’s future well-being. It often sets the stage for a cascade of challenges, potentially leading to premature mortality for the teen parent either shortly after childbirth or in the subsequent years.

April 9

Protecting public health care from private investors
Toronto Star
OpEd co-written by Dr. Danyaal Raza
Private equity investment firms exist to make money for their investors. It’s their job. Over the past decade, private equity firms around the world have increasingly invested in the health care industry, including Canada’s long-term care sector and a growing number of private for-profit surgical centres.

Protonitazepyne and Medetomidine? More unfamiliar drugs in our supply
Filter
Comments by Karen McDonald
North America’s unregulated drug supply has grown ever more unpredictable, which often means deadly. Since the arrival of fentanyl, the likes of benzodiazepines, other tranquilizers and nitazenes have all become more prevalent in the mix. I’ve overdosed on “benzo dope” myself.

April 8

Prevalence of dementia in homeless twice that in housed
Medscape
Comments by Dr. Stephen Hwang
The prevalence of dementia among homeless people is almost twice as high as that in housed populations in Ontario, Canada, according to the results of a new study.

April 7

Semaglutide beneficial in HFpEF patients with diabetes
Medscape
Comments by Dr. Beth Abramson
Weekly injections of the glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) receptor agonist semaglutide (Wegovy, Ozempic), relieves symptoms in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), obesity, and diabetes much like it does in similar patients without diabetes, according to results of a pivotal trial likely to expand the drug’s approved indications.

April 6

Canada stops funding HIV self-testing kits, leaving activists in disbelief
CBC News
Interview with Dr. Sean Rourke
The federal government is no longer funding at-home HIV self-testing kits, even though new cases of the virus are on the rise in Canada.

April 5

Canada cancels free HIV self-test program despite ‘alarming’ rise in infections
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Sean Rourke
Over the phone, you can hear the dismay in Dr. Sean Rourke’s voice as he describes how the first self-testing HIV kit to be approved in Canada is about to lose federal funding despite an “alarming” rise in positive cases.

April 4

Calling all volunteers! Yes, there’s something in it for you
Canadian Immigrant
Comments by Masooma Raza
Stepping into a new country can be daunting but volunteering can offer newcomers a unique pathway to integration, empowerment and a sense of belonging.

April 3

Mairlyn Smith takes to social media to promote her “Fart Walk”
CBC Radio – Here and Now
Interview with Dr. Ian Bookman
For years now, Toronto professional home economist, cookbook author and TV personality Mairlyn Smith has taken a post-dinner walk with her partner. It’s something she calls a ‘Fart Walk.’ Mairlyn posted a video about it recently on Instagram and TikTok. It’s now received more than 9.3 million views.

April 2

‘Just a pinch’: Women frustrated as medical community downplays pain of IUD insertion
Healthy Debate
Comments by Dr. Greg Hare
Bridget Irwin, a 28-year-old teacher, was told she would experience “some pressure” during her IUD insertion at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, and that it would be very fast. Instead, it was so painful that she nearly passed out. “We had to Uber home because I couldn’t walk,” she says.

Dr. Michelle Sholzberg appointed Division Director – Hematology
U of T News
The Department of Medicine is excited to announce the appointment of Dr. Michelle Sholzberg as Division Director – Hematology beginning on July 1, 2024.

Toronto study finds race impacts opioid treatment
Sudbury.com
Comments by Tonya Campbell
A new study by Toronto-based health researchers has found distinct differences “between ethno-racial groups in Ontario when looking at circumstances surrounding opioid overdose deaths, as well as in the use of harm reduction tools and access to treatment.”

April 1

A housing remedy for Canada’s hard-hit ERs
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Carolyn Snider and Dr. Sahil Gupta
After three decades as an emergency physician at Edmonton’s Royal Alexandra Hospital, Louis Hugo Francescutti has come to realize that medicine alone is not health care.

Ontario is in the midst of a drug crisis. These seven charts tell us who’s being hit hardest
Toronto Star
Comments by Tonya Campbell
As Canada grapples with a drug toxicity crisis, new research looking at four years of opioid overdose deaths in Ontario offers a revealing glimpse of the face of these victims.

Young children are facing an epidemic of vision loss, experts say. What’s behind the surge in myopia?
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. David Wong
When Karen Kawawada learned both her young daughters were diagnosed with myopia, she feared they would grow to share her struggles with vision.

March 31

Ontario man now holds world record as oldest kidney transplant recipient
Canadian Press
Comments by Meriam Jayoma-Austria
Walter Tauro says he didn’t even know what Guinness World Records were before he was recognized by the popular British corporation as the world’s oldest kidney transplant recipient earlier this month.

March 30

Ontario man receives Guinness World Record for oldest person to receive kidney transplant
CP24
Comments by Dr. Ramesh Prasad
An elderly man living in the Greater Toronto Area has just been officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest person to have ever received a kidney transplant.

‘It may hurt a little bit’: What is sun gazing? Why some people are staring directly at the sun
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. David Wong
As a child, Pame Luz was told never to stare directly at the sun. But after embarking on a spiritual journey near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 36-year-old has found herself doing just that every day.

March 27

‘Ozempic babies’ are the latest phenomenon attributed to viral diabetes and dieting drug
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Howard Berger
It’s been touted as a weight loss drug for the rich and famous. It could help with addiction treatment, colon cancer, maybe even slow the symptoms of Alzheimer’s. Now, Ozempic, and other GLP-1 medications, are being credited with helping to make babies.

Teen pregnancy linked with risk for premature death
Medscape
Comments by Dr. Joel Ray
Teen pregnancy is associated with a higher risk for premature mortality, both among those who carry the pregnancies to term and those who miscarry, according to a new study.

March 26

“Long transition”: Toronto family doctor discusses Ontario Health Teams
Excalibur
Comments by Dr. Danyaal Raza
New regional health authorities introduced by the provincial Ford government are now in place all around the province. Ontario Health Teams (OHTs) are groups of health care providers — including hospitals, doctors, home care providers, and community agencies — that operate in a coordinated way to provide a range of health care services.

March 25

Students lead new study on barriers facing Black medical students pursuing surgical residency
Medical XPress
Comments by Dr. Jory Simpson, Edgar Akuffo-Addo and Jaycie Dalson
A study led by fourth-year undergraduate medical students at the University of Toronto (U of T) is shedding light on the experiences of Black medical students in applying for a surgical residency in Canada.

March 21

Wildfire smoke made Fort McMurray air the worst in Canada, U.S. in 2023
Fort McMurray Today
Comments by Dr. Samantha Green
The 2023 wildfire season made Fort McMurray’s air quality worse than any other city in Canada or the United States, according to a report from the Swiss firm IQAir.

March 20

Toronto team wins $17.5M to create new diagnostics
Canadian Healthcare Technology
Comments by Dr. Claudia dos Santos
A team of researchers from the University of Toronto, Unity Health Toronto, University Health Network and the National Research Council of Canada have been awarded a $17.5M grant from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and partners to build the Diagnostic Horizons Lab in Toronto.

March 19

Surge in fatal suspected overdoses as potent synthetic opioids found in unregulated drug supply: TPH
CBC News
Comments by Karen McDonald
Health officials are warning of a surge in suspected overdose deaths in Toronto as two powerful synthetic opioids were recently found in the unregulated drug supply.

Driven by wildfire smoke, Canada’s air quality worse than U.S.: report
Canadian Press
Comments by Dr. Samantha Green
Canada’s air pollution levels last year were worse than those in the United States for the first time since an air-quality firm started publishing its assessments in 2018.

Toronto Public Health issues alert after spike in overdose-related deaths
Global News
Comments by Karen McDonald
Toronto health officials issued a warning after paramedics responded to six suspected opioid overdose-related deaths, which is triple the current average seen for a 4-day period in the past 12 weeks. Kayla McLean has the story.

What is causing a sudden spike in overdose deaths
CTV News
Comments by Karen McDonald
Toronto’s drug checking service identified two new synthetics in the street drug supply said to be up to 20 times stronger than fentanyl.

March 18

Federal funding for free HIV self-testing to end
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Sean Rourke
HIV advocates are concerned people newly infected with HIV will not get the care they need because federal funding for self-testing kits runs out at the end of March.

6 suspected overdose deaths reported in Toronto over 4 days as new potent drugs found in unregulated supply
CTV News
Toronto’s Drug Checking Service is mentioned
Toronto Public Health (TPH) is alerting the public after paramedics recently responded to six suspected opioid overdose-related deaths.

Antibiotics may soon become useless
The Walrus
Comments by Dr. Greg German
Infectious diseases physician Stephen Vaughan stands at a sink in Calgary’s South Health Campus wearing a surgeon’s scrubs, cap, and mask, washing up with orthopaedic surgeon Stephen Hunt. Inside the operating room, the two men receive sterile towels and gowns and take their place next to seventy-four-year-old Boyd English, already asleep on the table. English has a hip infection and he needs to have the joint washed out. Again.

Five researchers — including two from the Faculty of Arts & Science — recognized with 2024 President’s Impact Awards
U of T News
Dr. Yvonne Bombard and Dr. David Jenkins are among the award winners
Five University of Toronto researchers — including two from the Faculty of Arts & Science — have received President’s Impact Awards for their important work in AI governance, environmental justice, genomics policy, nutritional sciences and quantum computing.

March 15

Teen pregnancy may raise risk of early death
Health Day
Comments by Dr. Joel Ray
Teen pregnancy can change the trajectory of one’s life, but now a new study suggests it could also shorten that life.

March 14

Teen pregnancy linked to risk of earlier death in adulthood, study finds
New York Times
Comments by Dr. Joel Ray
A large analysis in Canada finds that teenagers who had babies were twice as likely to die before age 31.

More measles cases in Ont. than all of 2023
CP24
Interview with Dr. Fahad Razak
Hamilton Public Health is warning travelers may have been exposed to the measles virus in Terminal 3 of Pearson International Airport on March 5.

Teen pregnancy tied to increased premature mortality risk in early adulthood
Healio
Comments by Dr. Joel Ray
Teen pregnancy may be an indicator for future premature mortality risk in early adulthood up to age 25 years, according to cohort study results published in JAMA Network Open.

March 13

Free harm reduction, sex health supplies just a touch away at Winnipeg clinic’s vending machine
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Sean Rourke
People who need clean needles, HIV self-tests and even socks can now get them discreetly at a free vending machine in Winnipeg.

Free harm reduction vending machine now in Winnipeg’s north end
Global News
Comments by Dr. Sean Rourke
Select, dispense, grab and go. That’s how easy it now is to access harm reduction supplies in Winnipeg’s north end with the launch of a special vending machine.

Using AI to determine the right dose of warfarin for heart surgery patients
Medical Xpress
Comments by Lindsay Dryden and Jacquelin Song
A group of St. Michael’s Hospital researchers has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to help clinicians prescribe warfarin to heart surgery patients. The tool is currently in use at St. Michael’s, where clinicians say it’s been helpful in guiding their use of the blood thinner medication.

March 12

Few Black medical students are pursuing a career in surgery. A new study explains why
Canadian Press
Comments by Dr. Jory Simpson and Edgar Akuffo-Addo
Few Black medical students are pursuing careers as surgeons in Canada due to lack of mentorship, problematic admission criteria and racist microaggressions during training, among other factors, a study published Tuesday says.

Clinic vending machine ‘stepping stone’ to harm reduction
Winnipeg Free Press
Initiative led by St. Michael’s Hospital
Naloxone kits, condoms and even sage are now a touchscreen away at Access NorWest.

March 9

Adrenalin can save a heart but hurt the brain. Canadian research aims to find best dose for a potent drug
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Steve Lin
When Dan Shire’s heart stopped beating in 2016, it led to a race against time to save his life. Shire’s wife heard him struggling to breathe in the middle of the night. Then she ran to the phone to call 911, started CPR, and waited minute-by-painful-minute for first responders to show up.

March 8

What is brain fog — and how can we fight it? Experts share simple ways to regain focus
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Atif Zatar
If you’re finding it harder to concentrate, recall memories or grasp new information of late, you may be experiencing “brain fog” — a common and sometimes debilitating condition that has leapt into the spotlight following the COVID-19 pandemic.

March 7

Ontario’s family doctor shortage is so bad that nearly 1 million Torontonians could be without one by 2026: report
Now Toronto
Comments by Dr. Tara Kiran
Nearly one million people in Toronto could be without a family doctor in the next two years if no “urgent action” is taken, according to The Ontario College of Family Physicians.

A sacrament to recognize God’s healing love
Catholic Register
OpEd by Fr. Yaw Acheampong
The Church and the Bible teach that the sacrament was instituted by Jesus and was further made known in the early Church by the Apostle James. It takes a unique place in the Church’s pastoral care of the sick.

March 6

Is Ontario’s health system serving substance users?
TVO – The Agenda
Interview with Dr. Tara Gomes
A new report led by the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network (ODPRN) at St. Michael’s Hospital and Public Health Ontario has found that people who died from a substance-related overdose faced significant gaps in treatment.

Oldest ever kidney transplant patient defies doctors to get ‘second chance’ aged 87
Guinness World Records
Comments by Jennifer Jayoma-Austria
An Indian-born Canadian man has been officially verified as the world’s oldest kidney transplant recipient.

She had 80 per cent of her stomach removed because of cancer. Here’s what she wants you to know
Yahoo! News
Comments by Dr. Christine Brezden-Masley
By the time she was 44, Teresa Tiano was already intimately familiar with cancer. Not only was she treated for stage 0 bladder cancer eight years earlier, but she had also lost both parents to cancer.

People who died from a substance-related overdose faced significant gaps in treatment, report finds
Public Health Ontario
Comments by Dr. Tara Gomes
In the months and years before their death, many people had received substance use diagnoses and used healthcare services, but few engaged with evidence-based substance use treatment—signaling the need for a multi-factorial approach, researchers urge.

March 5

Ontario overdose deaths reveal gap between health care system and addiction treatment, report finds
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Tara Gomes
Nearly two-thirds of Ontario residents who died from accidental drug and alcohol overdoses in recent years had interactions with the health care system for substance-use disorders before their deaths, according to a new report published Monday. Yet, despite the high rate of exposure to the health care system, only a small number of people were able to access addiction-treatment services, researchers found.

New survey conveys Canadians’ impressions of the health-care system
CBC Radio – Ontario Morning
Interview with Dr. Tara Kiran
A new survey from the “Our Care” project at St Michael’s Hospital asked approximately 10 thousand Canadians for their impressions about the state of our health-care system. It found frustration and dissatisfaction with primary care, particularly when it comes to access to family doctors.

‘We’re losing people every day’: Dr. Tara Gomes on Ontario’s drug-toxicity crisis
TVO
Comments by Dr. Tara Gomes
A new report finds that nearly two-thirds of people who died from substance-related toxicities between 2018 and 2022 had previous encounters with the health-care system for substance-use disorders — but were not able to access treatment in time to save their lives.

Primary care, not for everyone
Public Policy Forum
Comments by Dr. Tara Kiran
A comprehensive investigation on the state of Canadian health care has revealed deep dissatisfaction with the system. The OurCare initiative, run out of St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, conducted a national survey and convened panels and community roundtables across the country over the past 16 months.

March 1

What do Canadians want for their health care?
Toronto Star – This Matters podcast
Interview with Dr. Tara Kiran
A nationwide health-care crisis has led a group of medical researchers to criss-cross the country to hear how Canadians would fix primary care, the front door of the health system.

U of T Entrepreneurship Week 2024: 10 startups to watch
U of T News
BlueDot and Dr. Kamran Khan are featured
Preventing nerve damage caused by chemotherapy. Using artificial intelligence to help people who are Deaf communicate with machines through sign language. Accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles in urban communities. These are some of the innovations being advanced by members of the University of Toronto’s thriving entrepreneurship community.

February 29

Heart health and menopause: what you need to know
Chatelaine
Comments by Dr. Beth Abramson
A Canadian woman is diagnosed with cardiovascular disease every seven minutes. The risk of developing it increases during the menopause transition, when changes in the levels of hormones such as estrogen affect blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol.

These Ontario hospitals considered the best in Canada: Report
InSauga
St. Michael’s Hospital is mentioned
If you or a loved one are sick or injured, you want the best care possible and despite ongoing challenges to Canada’s health care system, a newly-released ranking shows that some of the best hospitals in the country are in Ontario.

February 28

CRAFT 2.0: Academic hospital network joins centre for research on microfluidic devices for human health
National Research Council Canada
Comments by Dr. Claudia Dos Santos
The Centre for Research and Applications in Fluidic Technologies (CRAFT) is a unique collaboration between the University of Toronto and the National Research Council of Canada and now Unity Health Toronto.

February 27

More Canadians than ever don’t have access to a family doctor
CJAD 800
Interview with Dr. Tara Kiran

Massive new survey finds widespread frustration with access to primary health care
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Tara Kiran
A Toronto-based research team met with and surveyed some 10,000 Canadians about the state of the health-care system — and what they found is deep dissatisfaction and frustration with primary care as the country grapples with a severe shortage of family doctors.

St. Michael’s Hospital to double NICU space with provincial funding
Ontario Construction News
Comments by Dr. Tim Rutledge
Unity Health Toronto has received provincial funding to plan, design and build the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at St. Michael’s Hospital.

Access to primary care is a priority concern for Canadians
The Niagara Independent
Comments by Dr. Tara Kiran
The federal government must step up to provide its fair share of money to resuscitate Canada’s public health care system.

February 26

10,000 Canadians were asked how to improve health care. Here’s what they said
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Tara Kiran
Amid a nationwide health-care crisis, a group of Toronto-led researchers has criss-crossed the country to hear how Canadians would fix primary care, the front door of the health system.

System redesign, not incremental improvement, needed to erase family doctor shortage, report author says
Ottawa Citizen
Comments by Dr. Tara Kiran
Provincial governments are taking steps in the right direction, but they are not coming close to the magnitude of investments needed to fix worsening family doctor shortages, says the lead author of a new Canadian report.

Patients and family doctors highlight patient-led solutions for the primary care crisis
U of T News
Comments by Dr. Tara Kiran
A new national report led by researchers at Unity Health Toronto and the University of Toronto, with input from close to 10,000 people in Canada, highlights patient-led solutions to the worsening family doctor shortage — and provides feedback from those directly affected on how to improve access to primary care across the country.

Primary-care teams, access to health records key fixes for family doc crisis: report
Canadian Press
Comments by Dr. Tara Kiran
A new report says patients across Canada see more primary health-care teams, access to their own electronic records and faster licensing of foreign-trained physicians as key ways to solve the country’s family doctorshortagecrisis.

Does menopause negatively impact your sexual health? We asked a doctor the questions you might be too afraid to ask
Yahoo! News
Comments by Dr. Sheila Wijayasinghe
Women’s sexual health is a topic that’s often shrouded in secrecy —especially when it comes to menopause.

February 25

My journey to cardiac surgery as a Black medical student
The Varsity
Op-Ed written by Ekene Nwajei
My journey has been characterized by significant milestones, both academically and professionally. In 2022, I graduated from Health Sciences at Wilfrid Laurier University with high distinction, which solidified the foundation for my pursuit of medicine.

February 23

Canadians will soon have a national pharmacare plan
CBC Radio – Here and Now
Interview with Dr. Danyaal Raza
According to NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, draft legislation has been reached with the federal Liberals on a plan that will cover diabetes treatment and contraception.

February 22

Ontario to fund new neonatal unit at St. Michael’s Hospital
QP Briefing
Comments by Dr. Tim Rutledge
Minister of Health Sylvia Jones announced Thursday that the government will support a new neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at St. Michael’s Hospital.

February 21

Drug overdose deaths lower in Toronto neighbourhoods with supervised consumption sites: study
CP24
Comments by Indhu Rammohan
Toronto neighbourhoods that are home to a supervised consumption services (SCS) are seeing significantly fewer fatal drug overdoses than they were before the service opened, a new study has found.

Supervised injection sites reduce overdose deaths as far as five kilometres away, according to a study
CBC Radio – Metro Morning
Interview with Dr. Dan Werb
Werb is director of the Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation, and co-author of a study on supervised injection sites in Toronto, published in The Lancet.

February 20

Fewer regenerative blood vessel cells may explain higher cardiovascular risks among South Asians: Study
U of T News
Comments by Drs. Subodh Verma and David Hess
A new study led by researchers at Unity Health Toronto and the University of Toronto has found that South Asians with either heart disease or diabetes had fewer vascular regenerative and reparative cells compared to white, European patients.

February 19

‘No backup plan’: Funding for HIV self-testing kits ending in March
Canadian Press
Comments by Dr. Sean Rourke
Prossy Luzige often gets calls from people looking for HIV tests that they can do in the privacy of their own homes. The program co-ordinator at CAYR Community Connections in Ontario says the take-home tests are crucial to connecting with people as Canada’s HIV infections climb.

February 18

Here’s what happened to overdose deaths in Toronto neighbourhoods with safe consumption sites
Toronto Star
Comments by Indhu Rammohan and Dr. Dan Werb
As opioid overdoses continue to ravage Ontario, Toronto neighbourhoods with supervised consumption sites have seen dramatic decreases in drug fatalities, a new study shows.

February 16

Could you be a surgeon? A Toronto program wants racialized students to consider the career
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Bobby Yanagawa
A program that gives under-served Toronto high school students the chance to experience life as a surgeon continues to grow. “The Next Surgeon” launched last year with the goal of diversifying the health-care system.

February 15

Why do South Asians have higher rates of heart disease? Researchers identify potential ‘missing link’
U of T News
Comments by Drs. Subodh Verma and David Hess
A new study led by researchers at Unity Health Toronto and the University of Toronto has found that South Asians with either heart disease or diabetes had fewer vascular regenerative and reparative cells compared to White European patients.

February 14

Dissecting Ontario’s escalating overdose crisis
TVO – The Agenda
Interview with Dr. Carolyn Snider
Last week officials in Belleville declared a state of emergency after paramedics responded to 23 drug overdoses in two days. What’s behind the crisis?

City budget (so far): Police demand big bucks, but where’s the debate?
London Free Press
Comments by Melanie Seabrook
More than half of the proposed property tax increase – five percentage points of the projected 8.6 per cent hike – is attributable to a proposed massive increase in police spending.

Scientists reveal what happens to your life expectancy when you quit smoking
Science Alert
Comments by Dr. Prabhat Jha
It’s never too late to reap the benefits of a smoke-free life. No matter at what age a person quits smoking cigarettes, they are likely to add years to their life expectancy, according to a large new analysis from researchers in Canada and Norway.

February 13

Heart disease hits South Asians earlier and harder. Blood vessel repairs offer clue as to why: study
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Subodh Verma
The timeline for heart disease is sped up in people of South Asian ethnicity, and part of the answer for why may lie with faulty repairs to blood vessel damage, a new Canadian study suggests.

Insights from the Engage Study: HPV vaccine effectiveness and uptake among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men
CATIE blog
OpEd co-written by Dr. Ann Burchell
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a very common virus that is most easily passed during sexual contact. The body clears most HPV infections on its own, however some become persistent.

Quitting smoking yields quick boost to life expectancy
Medical Economics
Comments by Dr. Prabhat Jha
Quitting smoking can significantly increase an individual’s life expectancy after only a few years, according to results of a new study.

February 12

Stem cell study offers clue to South Asians’ increased risk of cardiovascular disease
STAT News
Comments by Dr. Subodh Verma
A growing body of data show that South Asians are at greater risk of developing heart disease than white people, and they tend to get complications at younger ages, but it’s not been fully clear what explains this disparity.

CRAFT 2.0: Academic hospital network joins centre for research on microfluidic devices for human health
U of T Engineering News
Comments by Dr. Claudia Dos Santos
The Centre for Research and Applications in Fluidic Technologies (CRAFT) has been extended to 2028 and has expanded to formally include Unity Health Toronto, an academic hospital network and leading Canadian health research institute.

Tackling HIV stigma: Why it’s important and what needs to be done
Healthy Debate
OpEd co-written by Jason Tian and James Watson
Experiences of HIV-related stigma are still incredibly high in Canada – about 75 per cent of people living with HIV are careful telling others because of the associated stigma, according to a recent survey. However, given the continued lack of understanding about how stigma makes people feel unwell, it is a challenge to design solutions to reduce its impact.

February 11

‘We have a very large problem’: Why Ontario is dealing with syphilis rates it hasn’t seen in decades
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Malika Sharma
For much of his medical career, Dr. Ari Bitnun rarely had to consider the symptoms that indicated a baby was sick with syphilis. Rashes, often on the palms and soles of the feet. Poor weight gain and growth. Persistent nasal discharge, sometimes bloody. Swollen liver and spleen.

February 10

Quitting smoking at any age brings big health benefits, fast: Study
Medical Xpress
Comments by Dr. Prabhat Jha
People who quit smoking see major gains in life expectancy after just a few years, according to a new study by University of Toronto researchers at Unity Health Toronto.

February 9

Ontario receives $3.1-billion from federal government in health accord deal
CHCH News
Comments by Dr. Fahad Razak
Ontario Premier Doug Ford signed a deal with the federal government on Friday worth $3.1 billion in an effort to improve access to primary health care in the province and reduce wait times.

An alarming number of my friends have COVID-19. Are we in another wave?
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Fahad Razak
An alarming number of people I know have recently caught COVID-19 – including three close friends, two neighbours and my sister-in-law. Are we in another wave?

Animal tranquilizer sylazine increasingly found in Canada’s illegal drug supply
Medscape
Comments by Hayley Thompson
Xylazine, a tranquilizer for animals including horses and cattle, has increasingly been found in the illegal drug supply chain in Canada. The drug is most often found mixed with fentanyl, and often, users don’t know they’re ingesting it.

February 8

Family doctors’ burnout is about more than their workload
The Walrus
Comments by Dr. Tara Kiran
In 2019, Lorraine Sharp began noticing that something was off. She dreaded going to work in the morning. She continually felt she wasn’t doing enough for her patients. For nearly a decade, she’d worked part time in a group practice in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario; while the team set-up meant she had administrative support, she was solely responsible for her roster of 800 patients. She also worked on call at the regional hospital. If she ever considered taking a break to go on vacation, she imagined the paperwork and backlog of appointments piling up in her absence.

February 7

Lingering cough? Here’s what you need to know
CBC Radio – The Current
Interview with Dr. Nicholas Vozoris
Are you dealing with a nagging cough that just won’t go away? Respirologist Dr. Nicholas Vozoris says if you’ve been sick recently, it could just be a post-infectious cough. He explains what you can do to ease the annoyance — and when to check if it’s something more serious.

This Toronto woman is battling both an eviction and terminal cancer. Soon, she’ll plead her case to the LTB
CTV News
Comments by Dr. Stephen Hwang
For a Toronto bar owner with terminal cancer, navigating a lingering eviction has been like floating with no steady ground to land on for over a year – but next month, her fate will be decided as she pleads her case to Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board.

February 6

Ford government issues order that could sideline many huge Toronto developments
Blog TO
St. Michael’s is mentioned
The provincial government just issued an order that could throw a wrench into several plans for high-rise developments in Toronto — and it all has to do with airspace for helicopters.

February 4

Are people with non-urgent problems clogging up Ontario ERs? Here’s what the data shows
Toronto Star
St. Joseph’s and St. Michael’s included in study
Amid long wait times and overcrowding at emergency departments across Canada, hospitals in the GTA have recently been urging patients to consider other options if their medical issue is “non-emergent.”

February 2

COVID-19 reinfection rates high among people who are homeless, Toronto study says
Canadian Press
Comments by Lucie Richard
People who are homeless have high rates of COVID-19 reinfection, putting the health of an already vulnerable population at further risk, a study published Friday in the BMC Infectious Diseases journal says.

January 31

Potent animal tranquilizer found in Toronto’s street drug supply for first time
CBC News
Comments by Hayley Thompson
A drug testing service in Toronto says it has detected a new, highly potent animal tranquilizer circulating in the city’s unregulated drug supply.

Government of Canada announces appointments to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Governing Council
Health Canada
Dr. Christine Fahim is an appointee
Today, the Honourable Mark Holland, Minister of Health, announced three new appointments as members to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Governing Council.

How effective is Indigenous cultural safety and anti-bias training at improving patient experience?
Medical Xpress
Comments by Dr. Janet Smylie
Researchers from Unity Health Toronto led a first-of-its kind trial in which Indigenous actors were trained to perform as patients and evaluate health care providers who completed intensive and brief Indigenous cultural safety trainings.

Inside Unity Health’s efforts to better understand the care experience
Hospital News
Comments by Jamar Stanton, Caroline Monteiro and Patrick Soo
It was around lunchtime and the Geriatric and Medical Rehabilitation unit at Providence was bustling. Jamar Stanton, a patient experience coordinator, had stepped into a patient room to ask a patient about his experience at the hospital when the patient let Stanton know that they were hungry.

A Canadian first: New device helps to tackle challenging deep vein thrombosis cases
Hospital News
Comments by Dr. Andrew Brown
When Crystal Ellis arrived at the hospital in July, her left leg had swollen to nearly twice its size. “The pain was from my foot to my stomach,” she describes. “My stomach was swollen and I could barely walk.”

January 30

New animal tranquilizer detected in Toronto’s unregulated drug supply
CP24
St. Michael’s Toronto’s Drug Checking Service is mentioned
A new, highly potent veterinary tranquilizer is circulating in Toronto’s unregulated drug supply.

January 27

Spending more money on police shows no clear link to lower crime levels
New York Times
Comments by Mélanie Seabrook
One effect we’re now seeing from the inflation that is largely a product of the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are municipal tax increases on a scale that was politically unimaginable not long ago.

Astronaut Chris Hadfield attends St. Joseph’s Health Centre gala
Toronto Star
It was “An Extraordinary Evening” indeed as friends and supporters of St. Joseph’s Health Centre Foundation converged on the Symes on Dec. 4. Hosts Pat and Jennifer DiCapo, Joe and Laurissa Canavan, and George and Rayla Myhal welcomed guests including Col. Chris Hadfield to celebrate the power of community to impact health care.

What’s behind that lingering, hacking cough — and why it shouldn’t mean you’re shunned
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Samir Gupta
It’s one of those awkward situations we’ve all been in. Sitting in a meeting, or on crowded city transit, or at the dinner table, you desperately try to stifle it, but you can’t. You turn red. Your eyes start to water. The veins on your forehead may even bulge a little as you try to prevent the unleashing of some otherworldly beast from the depths of your throat, chest and lungs.

January 24

How AI will – and won’t – change health care in 2024
U of T News
Q&A with Dr. Muhammad Mamdani
Muhammad Mamdani understands why people are wary of artificial intelligence having a say in their health care – but he’s even more concerned about the patients who are waiting to benefit from the potentially life-saving benefits of AI-assisted medicine.

When research becomes the reason: How one GH alum discovered how to remain on the frontlines while working behind the scenes
University of Guelph-Humber News
Interview with Anna Kiriakidis
Anna Kiriakidis felt like a celebrity as a swarm of people waved flags and excitedly called out to her and four other research assistants (RAs) who had arrived in Japan as part of the University of Guelph-Humber’s involvement with SERC-GC (Soka Education Research Centre on Global Citizenship).

Lower drug costs may improve adherence in patients With PAD
MedScape
Comments by Dr. Mohammad Qadura
Adopting simple strategies to lower out-of-pocket medication costs for Canadians with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) may help improve adherence and ultimately health outcomes, according to a new study.

January 23

Study finds no correlation between amount spent on policing and crime rates
CBC Radio – Ottawa Morning
Interview with Melanie Seabrook
Seabrook and her colleagues at Upstream Lab at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto analyzed the data from 20 Canadian cities in a study released in December. Ottawa is middle-of-the-road in terms of spending, and our crime rates – both the level of reported crime and the crime severity index – are on the rise.

January 22

From awareness to action: Supporting equitable preventative care with a few yes/no questions
U of T News
Comments by Dr. Nav Persaud
A team of family doctors, researchers, and patients from across Canada have developed a screening tool to help easily identify a patient’s preventative care needs.

January 18

Higher police spending doesn’t equal lower crime rates: Researcher
London Free Press
Comments by Melanie Seabrook
Boosting police spending isn’t associated with lower crime rates in London and more than a dozen other Canadian cities, according to new research.

Two pharmacy volunteers honoured with U of T Arbor Awards
U of T News
Comments by Alina Lalani
Two volunteers with the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy are being honoured with U of T’s 2023 Arbor Awards. Christine Donaldson and Alina Lalani have both volunteered with the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy for many years in a variety of leadership and mentorship roles that have supported the Faculty and its students.

January 17

ER wait times, private clinic expansion
CP24
Interview with Dr. Fahad Razak
Dr. Razak, an internist at St. Michael’s Hospital, on ER wait times and expansion of private clinics in Ontario.

January 16

Toronto’s drug checking pilot to expand
Drug and Alcohol Testing Association of Canada
Comments by Karen McDonald and Dr. Tara Gomes
In November of 2023, the Toronto Drug Checking Service announced its plans to expand its service, after receiving a new federal grant from Health Canada for the recipients of the Substance Use and Addictions Program (SUAP). The grant will provide $21 million in funds to 52 organizations across Canada to address harms related to substance abuse.

January 15

The campaign bringing HIV self-testing kits to Western University’s campus
CBC Radio – London Morning
Interview with Dr. Sean Rourke
Self-testing HIV kits are now available on Western University’s campus. It’s all part of a national research project called the I’m Ready to Know campaign, launched with the goal of increasing access to HIV testing.

January 12

Self-testing HIV kits available at Western University to help remove screening barriers
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Sean Rourke
Self-testing HIV kits are now available at Western University as a part of a nation-wide project to break stigma and to get more people diagnosed through low-barrier testing.

January 11

Here’s why you might want to stop making your bed in the morning
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Karen Binkley
Even if you live by yourself, you’re never sleeping alone. Every night, millions of microscopic, sightless arachnids called dust mites emerge from our mattresses and bed sheets, crawling over our unconscious forms in search of tasty flakes of shed skin.

Health Canada ignored warning signs before Ottawa spent billions on BTNX rapid tests
Global News
Comments by Dr. Larissa Matukas
Health Canada ignored critical warnings about a rapid-test supplier before approving its COVID-19 kits for distribution nationwide, Global News has found.

January 9

OB-GYN answers questions about advanced maternal age, fertility and pregnancy
Medical XPress
Q&A with Dr. Howard Berger
The average maternal age in Canada increased over the last few decades, according to data from Statistics Canada. In 2021, 25% of all mothers at childbirth were 35 years of age and older, an increase from 16% in 2001.

‘Additional capacity’ promised with second Sault Area Hospital cardiac catheterization lab
North Bay Nugget
St. Michael’s is mentioned
Sault Area Hospital’s second cardiac catheterization lab is slated to begin operations at month’s end.

January 7

Was your family sick and miserable this holiday season? You weren’t alone
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Fahad Razak
If you talk to parents, they’ll tell you it was a holiday season filled with coughs. Nasty coughs. Weird coughs. Unrelenting coughs. Coughs paired with fever and exhaustion. Coughs from COVID, flu and pneumonia. Coughs of unknown origin. Coughs that cancelled plans. Coughs that outlasted vacation.

January 5

An early-morning dash to ER and a helicopter to Toronto show health care link’s live-saving value
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Bobby Yanagawa
Pam Devitt doesn’t remember much about Sept. 15. Her husband, John Devitt, remembers all too well: the sound of his wife crying out in pain in the early morning hours, rushing to her side and then realizing something was horribly wrong.

January 3

More than 260 Ontario long-term care residents died after getting COVID-19 in last four months
CTV News
Comments by Dr. Fahad Razak
Respiratory virus outbreaks in Ontario’s long-term care homes remains dominated by COVID-19, with nearly 16,000 cases of the virus reported in the last four months.

January 2

Emergency rooms struggle with illness surge
CBC News The National
Comments by Dr. Fahad Razak
Emergency rooms across Canada are still struggling tonight from a surge of illness and a shortage of staff.

January 1

2023 Order of Ontario Appointees
Ontario Government Newsroom
Dr. Lee Errett is an appointee
The Honourable Edith Dumont, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and Chancellor of the Order of Ontario, announced 25 new appointments to the Order of Ontario for 2023.

Canadian health care workers turn to AI for help amid a staffing crisis
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Tim Rutledge, Dr. Amol Verma and Dr. Yuna Lee
During one of her shifts on the internal medicine unit at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Yuna Lee received an alert on her phone from CHARTWatch, an AI-powered early-warning system, indicating a patient in the ward was at high risk of dying or needing intensive care.