From the category archives:

Healthcare

I volunteered in the Emergency Room where a Winnipeg man diedin 2008 after waiting 34 hours for treatment. I wasn’t there when it happened, but I am at least superficially familiar with the unique challenges of managing an inner city emergency room environment.

There are the indigent, the chronic, the intoxicated, and the damaged, who for better or for worse, however they got there, depend on the compassion of those around them. And the staff of the Health Sciences Centre Emergency Room are among the most hardworking, diligent, and compassionate people I’ve met. But – they aren’t perfect, and the system isn’t perfect, and someone was missed and died. I’ve seen the changes that followed in the emergency room – new policies, procedures, and staff, right down to changes to the layout of the ER so that people cannot physically be in the waiting room without having checked in, brighter lights to discourage sleeping, and so on.

All of which is why the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority’s (WHRA’s) new move to have the case against the hospital dismissed – on the grounds that the dead don’t have charter rights – is shameful. It might be an example of budgetary prudence or toothless legal posturing, but its a slap in the face to the family of the deceased, to the people at hospital who are working hard to deliver care to those who need it, and to every Manitoban who has compassion in their soul.

Finally, its an embarassment to the WRHA itself, and all of the kind, decent people who undoubtedly work there. The WRHA has not endeared itself of late to the people it is supposed to serve: it has been roundly criticized for being a bloated bureaucracy, and for not dealing effectively with many of the health care challenges in the city. The WHRA had an opportunity with the Brian Sinclair story to show some humility.

Regardless of whether you think the family deserves a payout or not, and however just or unjust the family’s claims, the WHRA is doing no-one a service with their current defence, least of all themselves.

To quote some commenters from the Free Press:

“Mr. Sinclair was probably a lot of things, but unworthy of medical treatment, I think not.” Citizen 204

 

“Remind me to sue the WHRA for wrongful death BEFORE I die.” Rural Reader

 

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“…Apples that suppress appetite could also be in the pipeline, with the first varieties on shelves within five years.”

via Extra healthy apples on the way as scientists crack genome for Golden Delicious | Mail Online.

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The Velluvial Matrix

June 17, 2010

Why does anyone receive suboptimal care? After all, society could not have given us people with more talent, more dedication, and more training than the people in medical science have—than you have. I think the answer is that we have not grappled with the fact that the complexity of science has changed medicine fundamentally. This [...]

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Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

May 27, 2010

In the late 1950s, psychologist Milton Rokeach was gripped by an eccentric plan. He gathered three psychiatric patients, each with the delusion that they were Jesus Christ, to live together for two years in Ypsilanti State Hospital to see if their beliefs would change. Read on at Salon – “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus”. (found on Reddit)

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The Nanny State vs. the Childhood Obesity Epidemic

May 11, 2010

Despite the Nanny State label, this is probably a good thing. That being said, our descent into idiocracy is only hastened when government abdicate parents of their responsibilities. Mom & Dad are too slovenly to feed the kids anything other than Doritos and McDonalds? Clearly the problem is… Doritos and McDonalds. “For the first time, [...]

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Don’t hold back: maple syrup cures cancer

March 25, 2010

… [researchers] found more than 20 compounds in maple syrup from Canada that have been linked to human health, 13 of which are newly discovered in maple syrup. In addition, eight of the compounds have been found in the Acer (maple) family for the first time. via Pure maple syrup contains medicinally beneficial compounds, pharmacy [...]

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Ice-cold gas ‘kills’ breast cancer

March 17, 2010

The cure for breast cancer: freezing tumors. And, in a major breakthrough, the “ice-ball” created around a tumour by the injections not only kills it off but ensures the cancer does not return. via Express.co.uk – Home of the Daily and Sunday Express | UK News :: Ice-cold gas ‘kills’ breast cancer. Should be something [...]

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Vitamin D better than vaccines at preventing flu, report claims – Times Online

March 17, 2010

Why don’t we put Vitamin D in municipal water alongside flouride? No side effects, and a continual stream of new benefits being found, most famously huge decreases in rates of certain cancers, and now, the flu: The risk of children suffering from flu can be halved if they take vitamin D, doctors in Japan have [...]

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Stem Cell Transplant Cures Leukemia Patient’s HIV

February 20, 2010

The article speaks for itself. An HIV+ person received a stem cell transplant to treat leukemia. The transplant was from someone with natural resistance to HIV. The donor’s HIV resistance was conferred upon the recipient: A 42-year-old HIV patient with leukemia appears to have no detectable HIV in his blood and no symptoms after a [...]

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Vitamin D Cuts Breast Cancer Risk by 50% – take 2,000 IU / day

February 11, 2010

If its really this effective, and harmless in large dosages as suggested below, why don’t municipalities start adding it to drinking water, like we do with flouride? I’ll let you wonder whether that’s a serious suggestion or not. In the meantime, do your part for our healthcare budget and take your vitamins. Don’t be concerned [...]

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