Turning the tide on the harm of opioids

 By Wendy Levinson and Laurent Marcoux As clinicians, we are bound by professionalism and our ethical responsibilities to do no harm and to do what we can to address the pain and suffering of our patients. When powerful pain relieving opioid medications were introduced a few decades ago, they seemed

What Should be Covered by our Publicly Funded Healthcare System?

 Patients and doctors need to learn the difference between ‘need’ and ‘want.’ All across Canada provincial governments are grappling with ever growing healthcare demands in the face of shrinking resources.  Our enviable publicly funded health system is now well into a downward spiral of unenviable disrepair.  As patients are becoming

Canada has Mixed Wait Time Results in Health Care

 We need governments to promote best practices across the country and improve patient outcomes Wait times have long been a source of concern for Canadians, and in some jurisdictions, remain a significant problem. Recently the Canadian Institutes of Health Information (CIHI) released its report for 2015. There is both encouraging

How to Eliminate MRI Wait Lists in the Public Health System

 How to do all this and save Alberta millions of dollars a year in the process Value for money appears to be finally getting the attention it merits as Alberta’s new health minister, Stephen Mandel, takes the reins of the portfolio that is close to consuming 50% of the province’s