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• Ont. court rejects breast-implant suit against Health Canada

  Posted: September 30th, 2008, 11:04pm EDT

  Two women who say they were permanently disabled by leaky silicone breast implants cannot sue Health Canada for negligence, Ontario's highest court has ruled.

• Genetic risk score could highlight gout risk

  Posted: September 30th, 2008, 6:56pm EDT

  People with three genetic variants may be at up to 40-fold increased risk of developing gout, a finding that could show who is it at highest risk long before symptoms appear, researchers say.

• Driving deaths spike on election days: study

  Posted: September 30th, 2008, 5:50pm EDT

  Drivers and pedestrians face an increased risk of deadly motor vehicle collisions on election days, researchers reported Wednesday.

• Goudge inquiry expected to urge sweeping reforms for child autopsies

  Posted: September 30th, 2008, 5:25pm EDT

  The Goudge inquiry into a string of botched autopsies by discredited Toronto pathologist Charles Smith is expected to recommend major changes in how Ontario's coroner's office operates.

• News articles often fail to report sources of bias: study

  Posted: September 30th, 2008, 4:58pm EDT

  News articles often fail to report on drug company funding and use brand names, two potential sources of bias, say researchers who reviewed coverage.

• Breast cancer risk linked to larger birth size: study

  Posted: September 30th, 2008, 12:23pm EDT

  Girls who were born heavier and longer than average may be at increased risk for breast cancer as adults, a new review suggests.

• Cancer fundraiser 'arresting' personalities

  Posted: September 30th, 2008, 11:43am EDT

  'Keystone Kops' on Monday moved in on CBC television's Geoff Leo, arresting the program host for abuse of the English language and refusing to submit to a tele-prompter.

• Now it's tea: Unilever recalls some Lipton products, fearing melamine

  Posted: September 30th, 2008, 11:02am EDT

  Anglo-Dutch food giant Unilever said Tuesday it is recalling some of its Lipton-brand milk tea powder in Hong Kong and Macau after they were found to contain traces of an industrial chemical.

• Nurses to refuse 'non-nursing' tasks as impasse escalates

  Posted: September 30th, 2008, 10:02am EDT

  Newfoundland and Labrador's nurses will launch a job action on Wednesday to bring more pressure on contract demands, with a refusal to do work that's supposed to be performed by other employees anyway.

• Researchers will study if out-of-body experiences are real

  Posted: September 29th, 2008, 8:33pm EDT

  A group of British, U.S. and Canadian researchers will study whether out-of-body experiences are real, as some people have claimed after surviving cardiac arrest.

• Singapore hospitals lure Calgary patients with lower fees, sightseeing

  Posted: September 29th, 2008, 8:24pm EDT

  A Singapore company is holding seminars in Calgary, offering patients who are on years-long waiting lists quick hip and knee replacement surgeries - and some sightseeing.

• No more nursery for healthy newborns at Charlottetown hospital

  Posted: September 29th, 2008, 4:06pm EDT

  Charlottetown's Queen Elizabeth Hospital is doing away with its nursery for healthy babies.

• Check heart patients often for depression, medical group advises

  Posted: September 29th, 2008, 3:52pm EDT

  Heart patients should be regularly screened for depression, which increases the risk for a second heart attack, the American Heart Association said in its new guidelines, released Monday.

• New wristbands to help identify waiting ER patients: health officials

  Posted: September 29th, 2008, 2:28pm EDT

  There will be more changes to the intake procedures at Winnipeg hospital emergency rooms in the wake of the death last week of a 45-year-old man who had been waiting for treatment at the Health Sciences Centre.

• Wrestlers slammed by stronger skin infection: study

  Posted: September 29th, 2008, 1:35pm EDT

  Rugby players and wrestlers may be at risk of contracting a skin disease, say Japanese researchers who discovered a new strain of the virus that could be more deadly.

• MDs should have been earlier warned about test flaws, cancer inquiry told

  Posted: September 29th, 2008, 1:17pm EDT

  A surgeon has told Newfoundland and Labrador's breast cancer inquiry that warnings about a pathology lab should have gone out further and earlier than they did.

• Genetic clue uncovered for narcolepsy

  Posted: September 29th, 2008, 12:16pm EDT

  A genetic variant may predispose people to narcolepsy, Japanese researchers have found.

• Public health agency investigating possible salmonella outbreak

  Posted: September 29th, 2008, 11:05am EDT

  The Public Health Agency of Canada is investigating a potential outbreak of Salmonella poona after six cases and 14 suspected cases have been reported in Canada.

• Cadbury the latest global firm caught up in China milk scandal

  Posted: September 29th, 2008, 10:20am EDT

  British chocolate maker Cadbury said Monday that tests have "cast doubt" on the safety of its Chinese-made products and ordered a recall, the latest foreign company affected by China's tainted milk scandal.

• Nurses mum on next steps in impasse

  Posted: September 29th, 2008, 7:24am EDT

  The Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses' Union is saying nothing - publicly, at least - about its next move in a campaign to win higher wages from the provincial government.

• Reducing salt intake could save millions of lives, group says

  Posted: September 28th, 2008, 1:09pm EDT

  With heart disease and stroke remaining the No. 1 killer globally, the World Heart Federation is asking people to cut down on their use of salt.

• Teen mom Tasered to rescue child: Vancouver police

  Posted: September 26th, 2008, 5:49pm EDT

  A police officer shocked a mentally disturbed teenage mother with a Taser to save the life of her critically ill infant, the Vancouver police say.

• Adding mirror to stroke therapy speeds recovery: study

  Posted: September 26th, 2008, 4:54pm EDT

  People who have a stroke seem to recover faster when they use a mirror to create the illusion that their paralyzed limb is moving alongside a healthy one, a Japanese researcher said Friday.

• Coffee products, baby cereals pulled in U.S., Hong Kong for melamine fears

  Posted: September 26th, 2008, 3:00pm EDT

  U.S. and Hong Kong health authorities issued recalls Friday for more products, including coffee and baby crackers, because they may be contaminated with the industrial compound melamine.

• World leaders pledge nearly $3B to eradicate malaria

  Posted: September 26th, 2008, 2:15pm EDT

  World leaders and the heads of philanthropic organizations gathered at the United Nations Thursday to pledge nearly $3 billion US to fight malaria in a plan that aims to eradicate the disease by 2015.

• Canada's fertility rate at 10-year high: StatsCan

  Posted: September 26th, 2008, 1:44pm EDT

  Canada's fertility rate reached a 10-year high in 2006, when women aged 30 to 34 had more babies than women aged 25 to 29 for the first time, Statistics Canada said Friday.

• New hospital to be built in Watson Lake

  Posted: September 26th, 2008, 1:28pm EDT

  Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie says his government is going to build a new hospital in Watson Lake, scrapping its original plans to renovate the existing facility.

• Website reports cases of C. difficile in Ont. hospitals

  Posted: September 26th, 2008, 1:21pm EDT

  Ontario hospitals had 319 cases of C. difficile last month, the province's first hospital-generated report on the infections showed Friday.

• Mentally ill mom stunned with Taser to save child: Vancouver police

  Posted: September 26th, 2008, 11:58am EDT

  A police officer used a Taser on a mentally disturbed teenaged mother to save the life of her critically ill infant, Vancouver police say.

• Face of St. John's OxyContin crisis behind bars again

  Posted: September 26th, 2008, 9:32am EDT

  A young woman whom a judge once described as the poster child of an OxyContin crisis remained in custody in St. John's Friday, charged with committing an armed robbery.

• Layton to announce prescription drug plan

  Posted: September 26th, 2008, 9:22am EDT

  New Democrat Leader Jack Layton is set to release an election campaign pledge to start a prescription drug plan for people who pay more than $1,500 a year in drug costs.

• Layton evokes medicare fight in selling prescription drug plan

  Posted: September 26th, 2008, 9:22am EDT

  A New Democratic government would launch a national prescription drug program and reform drug patent laws to make medication more affordable to Canadians, Jack Layton pledged on Friday.

• Premier's office interest in documents 'no way excessive,' cancer inquiry told

  Posted: September 26th, 2008, 6:05am EDT

  A witness at Newfoundland and Labrador's breast cancer inquiry has contradicted earlier testimony that senior government officials tried to control the release of documents to the media.

• Mould in houses affecting health of Sask. reserve residents

  Posted: September 25th, 2008, 5:38pm EDT

  A community-wide infestation of black mould is causing health problems for residents of a First Nation reserve in Saskatchewan.

• Canada recalls White Rabbit candies over melamine concerns

  Posted: September 25th, 2008, 5:20pm EDT

  White Rabbit candies, popular Chinese confections that may be tainted with melamine, are being recalled, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Thursday.

• HPV vaccine refused by 2 Alberta Catholic school boards

  Posted: September 25th, 2008, 5:08pm EDT

  Two Alberta Catholic school boards will not be offering a controversial vaccine to Grade 5 girls this fall.

• White Rabbit candy pulled from shelves in Ottawa

  Posted: September 25th, 2008, 4:49pm EDT

  Municipal inspectors visited Ottawa's Chinatown on Thursday to make sure a popular kind of Chinese candy wasn't being sold after reports that it could contain contaminated milk that has killed four babies in China and sickened more than 50,000 others.

• Family angered by man's ER death

  Posted: September 25th, 2008, 3:42pm EDT

  Family members of a wheelchair-bound man who died in a Winnipeg emergency room say they are shocked and angered he was ignored by hospital staff for more than a day.

• Alberta company recalls 16 ready-made sandwiches over listeria

  Posted: September 25th, 2008, 2:57pm EDT

  The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is warning people not to eat 16 ready-made sandwiches produced by Alberta-based Hygaard Fine Foods Ltd. because they may contain Listeria monocytogenes.

• Eating fish in infancy may help reduce eczema risk: study

  Posted: September 25th, 2008, 2:45pm EDT

  Feeding infants fish before they reach nine months of age may help reduce their risk of developing eczema, a Swedish study suggests.

• N.B. pathologists too busy to do peer reviews: expert

  Posted: September 25th, 2008, 2:21pm EDT

  One of the pathologists called in to check Dr. Rajgopa Menon's work after the New Brunswick College of Physicians and Surgeons received complaints about him said peer review is important, but easier said than done.

• Mothers of disabled children juggle work schedules: StatsCan

  Posted: September 25th, 2008, 2:05pm EDT

  The parents of three out of five children with disabilities said their added responsibilities affected employment, and it was mothers who overwhelmingly said they adjusted their hours, Statistics Canada reported Thursday.

• Patients upset over losing doctors to private clinic

  Posted: September 25th, 2008, 1:13pm EDT

  Two family doctors have closed up their practices and joined Calgary's newest private medical clinic, angering some of their former patients.

• Food recalls grow in Chinese tainted milk crisis

  Posted: September 25th, 2008, 10:12am EDT

  Food recalls expanded in Europe and Asia on Thursday as an industrial chemical linked to the deaths of four babies turned up in candies and other Chinese-made exports that were quickly pulled from store shelves.

• Use Ritalin only as last resort for kids with ADHD, guidelines say

  Posted: September 24th, 2008, 9:43pm EDT

  Parents of children with ADHD should be trained to help their children cope, and Ritalin should only be prescribed as a last resort, a health watchdog in Britain said Wednesday.

• Canadian HIV drugs en route to Africa after years of delay

  Posted: September 24th, 2008, 6:03pm EDT

  Canada's first emergency shipment of seven million HIV pills left for Rwanda Wednesday, four years after a law was passed to help African countries get cheaper drugs.

• No major problems in babies born to older moms, StatsCan finds

  Posted: September 24th, 2008, 3:06pm EDT

  More Canadian women wait until they are well into their 30s before giving birth to their first child, but for the most part the babies are generally as healthy as those born to younger moms, according to a Statistics Canada report released Wednesday.

• Drug maker to disclose payments to doctors

  Posted: September 24th, 2008, 11:48am EDT

  A major drug maker announced Wednesday it will voluntarily report how much it pays doctors for giving advice and speeches for the company. The move comes amid debate over what influence the money has on medical research and prescribing habits.

• Progress made on 'enormous malaria burden': WHO

  Posted: September 18th, 2008, 6:36pm EDT

  Malaria killed nearly one million people worldwide in 2006, but better drugs and more mosquito nets in Africa are helping to thwart the tropical disease, the World Health Organization said in a report Thursday.

• Canada testing Chinese dairy products, Hong Kong issues recall

  Posted: September 18th, 2008, 6:05pm EDT

  Canada food safety officials are testing for melamine in some dairy products made in China after Hong Kong recalled tainted milk, ice cream and yogurt Thursday from a Chinese dairy linked to the deaths of at least three children.

• Montreal Children's ER sees spike in respiratory illness

  Posted: September 18th, 2008, 5:31pm EDT

  The Montreal Children's Hospital says its ER is overloaded with patients suffering from respiratory illnesses.

• Antibiotic use in pregnancy linked to cerebral palsy

  Posted: September 18th, 2008, 3:08pm EDT

  Giving antibiotics to pregnant women in the hopes of delaying labour may increase the child's risk for cerebral palsy, a new study suggests.

• Infant with listeriosis dies in Manitoba

  Posted: September 18th, 2008, 2:54pm EDT

  Public health officials in Manitoba are investigating the death of a baby related to a case of listeriosis.

• N.B. officials must be careful not to create panic in listeriosis case: expert

  Posted: September 18th, 2008, 2:28pm EDT

  While New Brunswick public health officials should be forthcoming with information about the death of an elderly woman who had listeriosis, they must also be careful not to create panic, a Manitoba microbiologist said Thursday.

• P.E.I. listeriosis case not linked to Maple Leaf

  Posted: September 18th, 2008, 2:03pm EDT

  A P.E.I. man diagnosed in August with listeriosis did not contract the bacteria from the outbreak connected to a Maple Leaf Foods plant in Toronto.

• Early detection key to avoiding diabetes, new guide stresses

  Posted: September 18th, 2008, 1:29pm EDT

  Up to six million Canadians have prediabetes that increases their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and its complications, the Canadian Diabetes Association said Thursday in releasing new guidelines for doctors.

• Ambulance crash a mystery: RCMP

  Posted: September 18th, 2008, 1:10pm EDT

  RCMP hope to learn more about a deadly ambulance crash once the driver recovers from surgery.

• Almost 1 in 10 Canadians has post-traumatic stress at some point: study

  Posted: September 18th, 2008, 10:11am EDT

  Almost one in 10 civilians in Canada meets the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder at some point in his or her lifetime, national study suggests.

• N.B. nursing home residents kept in dark about listeriosis threat: advocates

  Posted: September 18th, 2008, 9:20am EDT

  Advocates for seniors are slamming the New Brunswick Health Department's decision not to notify nursing home residents in the province that they may have eaten food recalled in the listeriosis outbreak.

• Kids wait 1 year for mental health services: IWK CEO

  Posted: September 18th, 2008, 8:32am EDT

  A backlog of cases has resulted in a year-long wait for some young people seeking mental health help, the head of the children's hospital says.

• Estrogen levels skyrocket in river around Montreal: researchers

  Posted: September 17th, 2008, 11:17pm EDT

  Scientists have noticed some disturbing changes in the water, and the reproductive organs of fish, in the St. Lawrence River near Montreal.

• MS rates higher farther from equator, atlas shows

  Posted: September 17th, 2008, 6:54pm EDT

  Multiple sclerosis is more common among people living in northern latitudes, but they aren't the only ones affected, according to a new report.

• Maple Leaf reopens plant at heart of listeria outbreak

  Posted: September 17th, 2008, 6:31pm EDT

  Maple Leaf Foods has reopened the Toronto plant connected to Canada's deadly listeria outbreak, but it has not yet started shipping the meat processed there.

• Canadian leader in doctor training wins international award

  Posted: September 17th, 2008, 5:06pm EDT

  A Canadian medical professor is being recognized with an international award worth about $76,000 for his pioneering research into finding better ways to train doctors.

• Indian generic drug-maker vows to resolve U.S. import ban

  Posted: September 17th, 2008, 4:02pm EDT

  India's largest pharmaceutical company said Wednesday that it will resolve manufacturing problems that led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ban imports of dozens of medications.

• Doctors should keep closer eye on peers: expert tells inquiry

  Posted: September 17th, 2008, 3:44pm EDT

  Peer review for doctors should be strengthened, the former registrar of the New Brunswick College of Physicians and Surgeons said Thursday at the inquiry looking into the work of former Miramichi pathologist Dr. Rajgopa Menon.

• Doctors welcome province's study of billing practices

  Posted: September 17th, 2008, 3:23pm EDT

  New Brunswick doctors are welcoming the health minister's willingness to consider changing the way the province issues billing numbers for physicians, says the president of the province's medical society.

• Healthy lifestyle halves women's risk of premature death: study

  Posted: September 17th, 2008, 1:58pm EDT

  Women may cut their risk of premature death from cancer and heart disease in half by following a healthy lifestyle, a new study suggests.

• Patient dies in ambulance crash

  Posted: September 17th, 2008, 12:42pm EDT

  A patient died and two paramedics were rushed to hospital Wednesday when their ambulance rolled over on a Nova Scotia highway.

• Nurses call off talks, blame N.L. for stalling on wages

  Posted: September 17th, 2008, 10:29am EDT

  The union representing Newfoundland and Labrador's nurses said Wednesday it has broken off conciliation talks with government, describing the negotiations as fruitless.

• Patients could die without speedy solution to oncology impasse, Williams told

  Posted: September 17th, 2008, 8:58am EDT

  Newfoundland and Labrador's three gynecologic oncologists have stopped accepting referrals, leaving one patient pleading with government to take action quickly to save lives.

• Breast cancer testing mistakes 'wake-up call' to world, expert says

  Posted: September 17th, 2008, 5:48am EDT

  A world-renowned author has told Newfoundland and Labrador's breast cancer inquiry that the mistakes at a St. John's lab will yield lessons for labs everywhere else.

• 3rd Chinese baby dies, 6,000 others ill from tainted milk

  Posted: September 17th, 2008, 12:30am EDT

  A third child in China has died in connection with tainted baby milk formula that has now sickened more than 6,000 others, China's health minister said Wednesday.

• CMAJ slams Conservatives' move to self-monitoring in meat industry

  Posted: September 16th, 2008, 7:17pm EDT

  The current government's policies on public health mean Canada may be less prepared than in the past for an influenza pandemic, outbreaks of listeriosis and other epidemics, the Canadian Medical Association Journal said Tuesday.

• N.B. woman 17th listeria death linked to Maple Leaf products

  Posted: September 16th, 2008, 6:44pm EDT

  An elderly New Brunswick woman is the 17th person whose death has been linked to the same strain of the bacteria that caused a countrywide recall of Maple Leaf Food products, health officials confirmed Tuesday.

• Canada lags in publicly funded drug spending, study finds

  Posted: September 16th, 2008, 5:42pm EDT

  Canada lags far behind most of the developed world when it comes to covering the cost of prescription drugs for seniors and low-income families, a study suggests.

• Manitoba ranks below average in 'consumer-focused' health index

  Posted: September 16th, 2008, 5:26pm EDT

  Manitoba ranked seventh among the provinces in a recent study of Canada's health-care system from a consumer perspective.

• Ontario tops new health care index

  Posted: September 16th, 2008, 4:50pm EDT

  Newfoundland and Labrador's health care system placed last in the inaugural Canada Health Consumer Index released Tuesday while Ontario was the leader, based on measurements such as wait times, health outcomes and value for spending.

• 3 Montreal hospitals to pay for newborn hearing test

  Posted: September 16th, 2008, 4:17pm EDT

  Three Montreal hospitals are prepared to pay for screening programs to detect hearing problems in newborns, in the absence of any provincial program.

• College acted in timely manner, Miramichi inquiry hears

  Posted: September 16th, 2008, 4:06pm EDT

  Complaints against the former pathologist at a hospital at the centre of an inquiry into allegedly misdiagnosed biopsies were handled properly, a public inquiry heard on Tuesday.

• Years of exposure to BPA linked to health risks in humans: study

  Posted: September 16th, 2008, 9:58am EDT

  People exposed to years of low levels of bisphenol A, a chemical commonly found in plastic food containers, may be at higher risk of developing heart disease and diabetes - the first such finding in humans - U.S. researchers reported Tuesday.

• N.B. to examine how it distributes doctors

  Posted: September 16th, 2008, 9:05am EDT

  The New Brunswick government is examining if it needs to change its doctor billing number system that directs where physicians can work in the province.

• Some Charlottetown daycares turn away allergic children

  Posted: September 16th, 2008, 6:56am EDT

  One in five daycares in Charlottetown either refuses or is reluctant to take children with life-threatening allergies, a CBC survey has found.

• Pharmacies suspected of selling free samples

  Posted: September 16th, 2008, 5:43am EDT

  The P.E.I. Pharmacy Board is looking for help from the public to find out if some pharmacies on the Island are selling for full price drugs that were provided as samples to doctors.

• Chinese officials fear more illness from bad baby formula

  Posted: September 16th, 2008, 12:58am EDT

  An investigation into tainted baby milk formula that has already sickened hundreds of children in China could reveal more illnesses, China's Health Ministry warned Tuesday.

• Massage offers quick pain relief for advanced cancer patients: study

  Posted: September 15th, 2008, 7:21pm EDT

  Massage therapy safely helps to relieve short-term pain in patients with advanced cancer, a trial suggests.

• Malnourished infant returned to hospital, mother released on bail

  Posted: September 15th, 2008, 7:18pm EDT

  The mother of a malnourished nine-month-old boy has been released on bail, but her child remains in the custody of the Children's Aid Society.

• Cutbacks led to cancer test woes, MD tells inquiry

  Posted: September 15th, 2008, 3:36pm EDT

  Botched breast cancer tests were a consequence of years of government funding cuts in Newfoundland and Labrador, a pathologist said Monday.

• Leg pain may point to clots, U.S. surgeon general warns

  Posted: September 15th, 2008, 3:28pm EDT

  Dangerous blood clots may affect up to 600,000 Americans a year, the U.S. surgeon general said Monday in launching a campaign to get patients and doctors to recognize the potential emergency.

• Deaf feel ways to improve their speech: study

  Posted: September 15th, 2008, 2:01pm EDT

  People who become deaf as adults use information from the vocal tract to hone their speech, researchers in Montreal have found.

• Clot buster may be given later for strokes: study

  Posted: September 15th, 2008, 12:30pm EDT

  Stroke patients can safely be given a clot dissolving drug within 4.5 hours, an extension of the conventional three-hour window, a European study suggests. The longer timeframe may help patients who can't reach a hospital quickly to access specialist care.

• Layton pledges $1B over 5 years for more doctors, nurses

  Posted: September 15th, 2008, 12:14pm EDT

  An NDP government would forgive the student loans of new family doctors who remain in general practice at least 10 years, NDP Leader Jack Layton pledged on Monday.

• Equipment may have been faulty: pathologist

  Posted: September 15th, 2008, 7:25am EDT

  Newfoundland and Labrador's breast cancer inquiry has testified that he still believes equipment played a role in faulty tests, even though external reviews pointed to human error.

• Urology patients being flown to Nova Scotia: N.L. health minister

  Posted: September 13th, 2008, 10:29am EDT

  Newfoundland and Labrador's health minister says urology patients are being sent to Nova Scotia because of a lengthy waiting list.

• Genetic mutation behind some mad cow cases, study shows

  Posted: September 12th, 2008, 5:55pm EDT

  Mad cow disease may be caused in some cases by a rare genetic mutation that also occurs in humans who have a related brain-wasting disease, U.S. scientists have found.

• Listeriosis primer outlines risks, symptoms, treatment

  Posted: September 12th, 2008, 5:24pm EDT

  Canadians who want to know more about the risks of listeriosis and how doctors treat the foodborne illness can now turn to a new primer, published in Thursday's online issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

• Miramichi pathology woes not unique, inquiry hears

  Posted: September 12th, 2008, 4:01pm EDT

  Pathology labs in Canada are facing serious challenges due to poor working conditions and aging professionals, a public inquiry heard on Friday.

• Renfrew hospital can't handle more dialysis patients

  Posted: September 12th, 2008, 3:42pm EDT

  An eastern Ontario hospital says its existing dialysis machines can barely meet the demand to treat patients with kidney failure and the local health integration network is lobbying the province for 12 more machines.

• Vote for better food safety policies, unions say

  Posted: September 12th, 2008, 3:30pm EDT

  Canadians should vote for the candidate who commits to improving food safety, two unions urged as they launched a national advertising campaign on Friday.

• Child deaths fell slightly in 2007: UNICEF

  Posted: September 12th, 2008, 1:09pm EDT

  The number of children who die before their fifth birthday worldwide has declined by 27 per cent since 1990, UNICEF reported Friday.

• Doctors add voice to energy drink worries

  Posted: September 12th, 2008, 10:15am EDT

  The P.E.I. Medical Society will vote Saturday on a proposal to ask the province to ban the sale of energy drinks to young people.

• Listeriosis outbreak exposes cracks in public health safety: Ont. labs' head

  Posted: September 12th, 2008, 9:50am EDT

  Canadians should have known earlier about the listeriosis outbreak that has killed at least 16 people, according to the medical director of Ontario's public health laboratories.

• Listeria outbreak exposes cracks in public health safety: Ont. labs' head

  Posted: September 12th, 2008, 9:50am EDT

  Canadians should have known earlier about the listeria outbreak that has killed at least 16 people, according to the medical director of Ontario's public health laboratories.

• OR crunch at crisis point: St. John's specialist

  Posted: September 12th, 2008, 9:02am EDT

  A shortage of operating-room time and space in St. John's has become so critical that some patients are now waiting as much as five years for routine surgery, a specialist says.

• Strict Mediterranean diet lowers disease risk, review finds

  Posted: September 11th, 2008, 6:49pm EDT

  Strictly following a Mediterranean diet rich in fruits and vegetables may significantly reduce the risk of death from cancer and heart disease and the incidence of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, say Italian researchers who reviewed international studies.

• Staph infections linked to SIDS

  Posted: September 11th, 2008, 5:28pm EDT

  A bacterial infection may be an overlooked cause of sudden infant death syndrome, an Australian study suggests.

• Tainted Chinese baby formula may be on sale in U.S., FDA says

  Posted: September 11th, 2008, 3:10pm EDT

  Chinese baby formula contaminated with melamine may be for sale in ethnic grocery stores in the U.S., officials with the Food and Drug Administration warned Thursday.

• Post-traumatic stress disorder may affect up to 70,000 New Yorkers: Sept. 11 study

  Posted: September 11th, 2008, 2:13pm EDT

  As many as 70,000 people in New York may have developed post-traumatic stress disorder because of the Sept. 11 attacks, according to a report by the city's health department said.

• Ottawa listeriosis death linked to outbreak

  Posted: September 11th, 2008, 2:00pm EDT

  An Ottawa resident who died of listeriosis Monday was infected with the strain of the bacteria traced to a Maple Leaf Foods plant in Toronto.

• The cheese had to go, Quebec ministry says

  Posted: September 11th, 2008, 12:55pm EDT

  Quebec's agriculture ministry is defending its massive cheese recall last weekend following a cluster of related listeriosis infections, stating it had no choice but to force dozens of retailers to dumps thousands of dollars worth of retail products.

• $6.5M settlement proposed in Zonolite insulation suit

  Posted: September 11th, 2008, 12:34pm EDT

  A U.S. company that produced home-insulation found to contain asbestos is proposing to pay Canadian homeowners $6.5 million - a settlement some of the plaintiffs suggest is too modest.

• Reports of domestic violence on rise among Canada's soldiers: MP

  Posted: September 11th, 2008, 11:26am EDT

  The Canadian military is receiving an increasing number of reports about soldiers acting out violently against their families, according to the NDP defence critic.

• Had no idea retesting would take so long: oncologist

  Posted: September 11th, 2008, 7:12am EDT

  A St. John's oncologist who advised officials not to inform breast cancer patients of flawed lab work until retests were done has testified she never knew the retesting program would take so long.

• Calgary family sues province over brain disease treatment

  Posted: September 10th, 2008, 8:07pm EDT

  A Calgary family is suing Alberta Health because they say it won't cover the treatments they need for a brain disease that causes migraines, back pain and fainting.

• Therapy for arthritic knees often as effective as surgery: study

  Posted: September 10th, 2008, 5:31pm EDT

  Many people with osteoarthritis gain the same benefits from physiotherapy and mild pain relievers that they would get from arthroscopic surgery, which is often unnecessary, a Canadian-led study suggests.

• Baby formula in China probed for kidney stone link

  Posted: September 10th, 2008, 2:47pm EDT

  Health officials in China are investigating a brand of baby formula after 14 infants were treated in hospital for kidney stones.

• N.B. medical labs have flaws, inquiry hears

  Posted: September 10th, 2008, 1:14pm EDT

  The resources at New Brunswick's pathology labs are stretched and pathologists are overworked, a public inquiry heard on Wednesday.

• Air pollution poses heightened risk to heart patients: study

  Posted: September 10th, 2008, 12:43pm EDT

  Tiny particles in polluted air hamper the heart's ability to conduct electrical signals in people with heart disease, who should avoid traffic pollution after leaving hospital, researchers say.

• Health district prescribes debt relief for new nursing recruits

  Posted: September 10th, 2008, 9:12am EDT

  A rural health district struggling to fill dozens of nursing jobs is proposing to help new staff pay off their student debt.

• Pediatric ward closure will not mean reduction in service: manager

  Posted: September 10th, 2008, 7:29am EDT

  Public services will not be compromised by the temporary closure of a pediatric ward at a central Newfoundland hospital, the managing authority says.

• Never knew about prior lab problems, oncologist says

  Posted: September 10th, 2008, 5:40am EDT

  A leading St. John's oncologist has testified that questionable breast cancer tests may have been reviewed sooner had she known that pathology testing was temporarily shut down in 2003.

• Kids with chronic illnesses feel left out of care decisions: study

  Posted: September 9th, 2008, 8:38pm EDT

  Kids with chronic illnesses told a researcher for a Calgary pediatric study that they want to play a bigger role in their own treatment, including learning how to talk to doctors themselves.

• Unproven therapies commonly given to traumatized kids, report finds

  Posted: September 9th, 2008, 5:03pm EDT

  Children and teens suffering trauma are often given unproven approaches such as drugs, art or play therapy when talk therapy is effective, U.S. scientists said in a report Tuesday.

• Most U.S. hospitals fail to meet colon cancer standard: study

  Posted: September 9th, 2008, 4:31pm EDT

  Most hospitals in the U.S. fail to check colon cancer patients thoroughly for signs their tumour is spreading, say researchers.

• Pharmacy uses kickbacks and threat of eviction to keep methadone clients

  Posted: September 9th, 2008, 3:54pm EDT

  A CBC News investigation into pharmacists that paid kickbacks to drug addicts discovered one outlet with a troubled past used a different tactic to get and keep methadone users coming to the pharmacy.

• Early intervention recommended for N.B. medical labs

  Posted: September 9th, 2008, 1:49pm EDT

  An "early intervention strategy" may be key to preventing the level of misdiagnoses that allegedly occurred at a hospital pathology lab in northern New Brunswick, a public inquiry heard on Tuesday.

• Painkillers may lower prostate test readings: study

  Posted: September 9th, 2008, 12:31pm EDT

  Taking painkillers such as Aspirin and ibuprofen appears to lower PSA levels in a man's blood that are used to screen for prostate cancer.

• Synthetic drugs becoming popular in developing world: UN

  Posted: September 9th, 2008, 12:00pm EDT

  A new UN report released Tuesday says the use of such synthetic drugs as amphetamine, methamphetamine and ecstasy is on the rise in developing countries.

• Woman wants paid leave for parents of very ill children

  Posted: September 9th, 2008, 11:52am EDT

  The mother of an eastern Ontario girl who recovered from childhood cancer is lobbying the government to provide paid compassionate care leave to other parents whose children are very sick.

• Ottawa resident dies of listeriosis

  Posted: September 9th, 2008, 10:00am EDT

  A person died of listeriosis in Ottawa Monday and public health officials are probing whether the death is linked to a recent outbreak that has killed 13 people across the country.

• Tentative deal reached with N.B. nurses

  Posted: September 9th, 2008, 8:39am EDT

  A tentative agreement between the province and New Brunswick's 5,500 unionized nurses has been reached.

• Can't compete with McDonald's for home-care workers, employers say

  Posted: September 9th, 2008, 8:19am EDT

  Newfoundland and Labrador home-care workers can do something simple to earn more than the wages that industry leaders call an embarrassment: flip hamburgers.

• Never threw medical chart, oncologist tells inquiry

  Posted: September 9th, 2008, 5:43am EDT

  A St. John's oncologist who was the subject of bitter testimony this winter at Newfoundland and Labrador's cancer inquiry has flatly denied that he threw a medical chart at a patient.

• Listeriosis claims B.C. woman

  Posted: September 8th, 2008, 7:52pm EDT

  An Okanagan woman died late last week of listeriosis, the regional health authority reported Monday.

• Vitamin B12 may protect older brains from shrinking: study

  Posted: September 8th, 2008, 6:55pm EDT

  Elderly people who have higher levels of vitamin B12 in their blood may gain some protection against brain shrinkage, a new study suggests.

• Declaring emergency helps hospitals in pandemics: SARS study

  Posted: September 8th, 2008, 6:14pm EDT

  When hospital service was disrupted during Toronto's SARS outbreak in 2003, seriously ill patients in hospital did not suffer consequences, a finding that suggests declaring a public health emergency is appropriate to control a pandemic, researchers say.

• When blaming fat on the genes is not an option

  Posted: September 8th, 2008, 5:08pm EDT

  Some people inherit a tendency to pack on pounds, but those in the Amish religious sect who spend hours each day farming, walking, house cleaning and gardening have a way to block the gene's effects, researchers have found.

• P.E.I. school wants caffeine-packed energy drinks banned

  Posted: September 8th, 2008, 4:12pm EDT

  A High School in Prince Edward Island is asking the provincial government to ban the sale of high-caffeine drinks because students are drinking them at unhealthy levels.

• Small labs 'unsustainable,' inquiry hears

  Posted: September 8th, 2008, 3:35pm EDT

  A leading pathologist in the Maritimes told a public inquiry Monday he has concerns about the quality of small hospital laboratories and they need a stronger support system.

• Woman with listeriosis dies in N.B.

  Posted: September 8th, 2008, 3:11pm EDT

  The New Brunswick Health Department has confirmed a woman with listeriosis has died in the province.

• Screening for colorectal cancer recurrence falls short: study

  Posted: September 8th, 2008, 12:35pm EDT

  Fewer than half of older patients treated for colorectal cancer in the U.S. received the recommended screenings to detect whether the disease has recurred, a new study suggests.

• Hot technology that could change health care

  Posted: September 8th, 2008, 12:21pm EDT

  Advances in health care run the gamut from mind-boggling medicines to simple Web solutions that could slice huge slabs of fat from a bloated system.

• 'Active aging' key to getting older

  Posted: September 8th, 2008, 11:24am EDT

  As the population gets older it's crucial to think about building a society for all ages, delegates at an aging conference in Montreal were told on the weekend.

• Short-term reprieve for N.L. gynecologic cancer patients

  Posted: September 8th, 2008, 10:19am EDT

  Newfoundland and Labrador's three oncologists who treat gynecological cancers have agreed to stay in the province until December, although one has cast doubts about talks to prevent their departure.

• Miramichi pathology inquiry enters final phase

  Posted: September 8th, 2008, 9:38am EDT

  The public inquiry into alleged problems in the pathology lab at New Brunswick's Miramichi Regional Hospital enters its third and final phase on Monday.

• U.S. posts drugs under safety probe

  Posted: September 5th, 2008, 5:16pm EDT

  Health officials in the U.S. on Friday began publishing a quarterly list of prescription drugs under investigation for potential side-effects, with the aim of keeping doctors and patients better informed.

• Manitoba, Ottawa come to agreement on 'Jordan's Principle'

  Posted: September 5th, 2008, 5:01pm EDT

  The provincial and federal governments have reached an agreement aimed at putting jurisdictional issues aside when dealing with children with severe disabilities who live on First Nations reserves.

• Extend power to admit mentally ill, medical ethicist urges

  Posted: September 5th, 2008, 3:21pm EDT

  Doctors in all provinces should be able to admit someone to prevent physical or mental deterioration of the patient, a medical ethicist told a psychiatric conference in Vancouver on Friday.

• New methadone clinic takes Pembroke by surprise

  Posted: September 5th, 2008, 3:17pm EDT

  Business owners and politicians in an eastern Ontario town are complaining they were given little or no notice that a drug addiction treatment clinic was moving in downtown.

• Signs of Down syndrome found early in cell development

  Posted: September 5th, 2008, 1:18pm EDT

  Down syndrome may result from early developmental changes in embryonic stem cells, according to researchers who hope the genetic findings could lead to therapeutic clues.

• Food watchdog updates cheese recall for listeriosis

  Posted: September 5th, 2008, 12:37pm EDT

  Canada's food watchdog has released an updated list of cheeses recalled by Ivanhoe Cheese Inc. for listeriosis contamination.

• Camps for kids with cancer, disabilities, served meat in recent recall

  Posted: September 5th, 2008, 9:25am EDT

  About 480 children in New Brunswick who attended summer camps for sick and physically disabled kids may have eaten meat products since recalled for listeria contamination.

• Listeria warning for Labrador

  Posted: September 5th, 2008, 7:33am EDT

  The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has warned people who shop in Happy Valley-Goose Bay that bologna may be contaminated with listeria.

• Liberals call for Ritz's resignation over listeriosis outbreak

  Posted: September 4th, 2008, 6:18pm EDT

  The Liberal party is calling for the resignation of Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, accusing him of staging a coverup over changes to food safety inspections.

• Boost antifungal warnings on arthritis drugs: FDA

  Posted: September 4th, 2008, 5:43pm EDT

  Stronger warnings need to be put on four medications used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease and other conditions following the deaths of 12 people who contracted fungal infections, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Thursday.

• Women who binge drink more likely to engage in unsafe sex: study

  Posted: September 4th, 2008, 5:07pm EDT

  A U.S. study says women who have more than five alcoholic drinks at one sitting are at increased risk of having unsafe sex and contracting sexually transmitted infections.

• Seniors' exercise program ends as funding runs out

  Posted: September 4th, 2008, 4:44pm EDT

  An exercise class for seniors in Cape Breton has petered out now that the funding is gone.

• C-section reduces mother's response to baby: study

  Posted: September 4th, 2008, 4:25pm EDT

  Mothers who push to give birth may be more responsive to the cry of their babies than those mothers who elect to have a caesarean birth, a brain-scanning study suggests.

• Court upholds protection law for women, abortion clinics in B.C.

  Posted: September 4th, 2008, 3:47pm EDT

  The B.C. Court of Appeal has dismissed a challenge to the so-called bubble-zone law aimed at protecting women's access to abortion clinics in the province.

• Labs easy target, former manager says

  Posted: September 4th, 2008, 12:43pm EDT

  The Cameron inquiry heard testimony Thursday of drastic budget cuts at what would become part of Newfoundland and Labrador's largest health authority, now at the centre of public medical scandal.

• Dutch medical isotopes unavailable until end of October, company says

  Posted: September 4th, 2008, 12:40pm EDT

  Cancer patients in Europe may face a longer wait for diagnostic tests and treatments as a nuclear reactor in the Netherlands that supplies medical isotopes extended its shutdown for potential safety reasons.

• Bubble kits sold at CNE may cause euphoria, hallucinations

  Posted: September 4th, 2008, 11:03am EDT

  Health Canada is warning caregivers who may have purchased solvent-based bubble or balloon-blowing kits at Toronto's Canadian National Exhibition against using the products because they could pose serious health hazards to children.

• Health officers considering cold shoulder for cold cuts

  Posted: September 4th, 2008, 10:49am EDT

  In the wake of a massive listeria outbreak believed to have killed 13 Canadians, provincial chief health officers have been talking about taking deli meats off the menus of health institutions.

• Ivanhoe cheese Inc. recalls products for listeria contamination

  Posted: September 4th, 2008, 8:39am EDT

  Canada's food watchdog and Ivanhoe Cheese Inc. on Wednesday issued a recall of certain cheese products distributed in Ontario because they may be contaminated with listeria monocytogenes.

• Defibrillator shocks signal worsening condition

  Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 6:20pm EDT

  Implanted defibrillators can provide a lifesaving shock to the heart patients wearing them, but those people should inform doctors when it happens because it could be a sign their heart condition is deteriorating, two recent studies suggest.

• PM pledges listeriosis probe as death toll rises to 13

  Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 6:14pm EDT

  Prime Minister Stephen Harper has promised an independent investigation will be launched into the deadly outbreak of listeriosis that sparked a nationwide recall of meat products.

• Airport closure could hurt access to health care: northern Alberta leaders

  Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 4:25pm EDT

  Mayors and chiefs from northern Alberta communities vowed they will fight any plan to shut down Edmonton City Centre Airport, a public hearing heard Tuesday.

• Hiring advanced paramedics a challenge amid competition, hazards

  Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 3:39pm EDT

  The Ottawa Paramedic Service is trying to hire 60 advanced care paramedics, but is having trouble finding enough candidates.

• 3 more West Nile cases diagnosed in Manitoba

  Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 3:37pm EDT

  West Nile virus has been diagnosed in three more Manitobans, bringing the total number of human cases in the province this year to nine.

• Blood calcium levels may be tipoff for deadly prostate cancer

  Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 2:44pm EDT

  Men with too much calcium in their blood could be at much higher risk for fatal prostate cancer, a new study suggests.

• 'Some concern' over BPA's effects on human growth: U.S. report

  Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 1:18pm EDT

  U.S. government toxicology experts on Wednesday expressed 'some concern' over bisphenol A, a chemical used in plastic baby bottles, saying it may be linked to health and developmental problems in children.

• Province told N.L. cancer society to back off, director says

  Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 12:07pm EDT

  The head of the Canadian Cancer Society in Newfoundland and Labrador says senior provincial government officials tried to silence him on the faulty breast cancer test controversy, now at the heart of a public inquiry.

• Hunting days pose challenge for Inuit health surveyers

  Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 10:14am EDT

  Researchers working on a comprehensive Inuit health survey in the North say their project has been largely successful so far this year, although good weather has sometimes meant fewer participants were available.

• Hunting days pose challenge for Inuit health surveyors

  Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 10:14am ED