A narrow, winding corridor at Vancouver’s St. Paul’s Hospital leads to a clinic offering quick access to addiction treatment for people seeking help on their own or after a referral from an emergency room, a family doctor or social worker. Nurses and physicians at the Rapid Access Addiction Clinic see…

The federal Liberals face a choice early in 2024: They can allow a sunset clause to take effect so that eligibility for medical assistance in dying expands to adults whose only reason for seeking it is a mental disorder. Or they can do what they did in 2023 and postpone it…

At his clinic in a northern suburb of Mumbai, Dr. Pralhad Prabhudesai stared at an X-ray, flipped through a chart and quickly fired a string of questions at the patient standing before him.  “Are you around pigeons often? What else are you exposed to?”  The pulmonologist is part of a group…

Manitoba’s health minister and chief provincial public health officer made a plea to health-care workers to consider picking up shifts over the holidays, with intensive care units already stretched and an increase in respiratory illnesses expected over the holidays. During a hastily called Saturday afternoon news conference at the Manitoba Legislature, Chief…

Gert-Jan Oskam could no longer walk after a cycling accident 12 years ago in China. He suffered an incomplete spinal cord injury, so while he had some sensation in his lower body, he used a wheelchair after he returned home to the Netherlands.  But he wanted to be able to stand. That’s…

Canada’s first-ever South Asian physician died at 92 in New Westminster, B.C., last Sunday. Dr. Gurdev Singh Gill made history in 1958 when he became the first Indo-Canadian physician, according to the B.C. government. Gill moved to Canada from India in 1949 at a time when the Canadian Encyclopedia estimates there were only about…

If you or someone you know is battling a cold, the flu or COVID-19, you’re not alone. It’s that time of year when more people are feeling sick and health officials are stressing the importance of preventing the spread of respiratory illnesses. They’re urging Canadians to get updated flu and…

This is Part 2 of an in-depth look at changes to a leading child and youth mental health clinic in Hamilton, and the impact they’ve had on families and mental health practitioners. Read Part 1 here. When registered psychotherapist Louise Oke shared an article on her Facebook page about toxic…

This First Person column is written by Glenn Deir, a retired journalist who lives in St. John’s. For more information about CBC’s First Person stories, please see the FAQ. I was a six-pack-a-day man for five months. Not beer — god no. I haven’t touched alcohol of any kind since…

When Trudy Goold received a cost-of-living increase to her Canada Pension Plan disability payments earlier this year, she felt a sense of relief. But it didn’t last long.  The increase of $66 per month was then deducted from her provincial disability support payment, leaving her right where she started.  “It’s…

The Public Health Agency of Canada is reporting another death from a salmonella outbreak involving cantaloupes, bringing the total to seven. The agency says there have so far been 164 lab-confirmed cases of salmonella in eight provinces linked to Malichita and Rudy brand cantaloupes. Quebec has been hardest hit, with 111…

Testing of the mysterious respiratory illness affecting dogs across the United States has not yet revealed any new pathogens or any common cause for the wave of infections that have alarmed pet owners, the agriculture department said. Instead, common causes of canine infectious respiratory disease have been identified in many…

A Winnipeg man who was misdiagnosed with a fatal disease by two different doctors says anybody believed to have a life-threatening condition should be sent to a specialist in the field for final determination. A neurologist at Sunnybrook Hospital agrees. Fredrik Bergstrom, 51, went to see his family physician in March after developing…

This is Part 1 of an in-depth look at changes to a leading child and youth mental health clinic in Hamilton, and the impact they’ve had on families and mental health practitioners.  Warning: This story mentions suicidal ideation. A Hamilton woman says her daughter’s therapist at a free mental health clinic…

On Jan. 18, 1998, Kent Dooley sat across from a brilliant pediatric pathologist with a devoted following at Halifax’s IWK Grace children’s and maternity hospital and told him he was fired. The move by Dooley, the head of pathology and laboratory services, was bewildering to many outside the division. “‘I sure…

Warning: This story contains graphic images of an injury. A passenger who landed at Vancouver International Airport says he almost lost his foot to a septic injury after he was left stranded on a British Airways flight for hours — and was only able to exit the plane after paramedics loaded him…

As a young Black person, the more mental health help you need, the harder a time you seem to have getting it. At least, that’s what Mary, a mental health clinician, told researchers with the Black Health Alliance (BHA), whose study of the state of mental health services for Black…

At one point, Elaine Dawe’s sense of loneliness enveloped her life. “I was sad all the time. I was lonely. I didn’t want to get dressed. I went for a week in my nightgown, didn’t wash my hair sometimes for a week-and-a-half,” said the 76-year-old Toronto woman. Dawe is a…

A harm reduction non-profit group is on the defensive after brochures it supplied to a high school wellness expo caused some jaws to drop. Handouts with titles like “How to Prepare Your Crack Pipe” and “Safer Crystal Meth Smoking” were available to students at Medicine Hat High School until the…

A newly published peer-reviewed study found that mistreatment of medical residents in the Maritimes remains common and underreported. From October to November 2021, all 645 medical residents associated with Dalhousie University were invited to answer questions about their experiences on the job since graduating. Residents are medical school graduates who are training in a…