Health/Sick Care
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Advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday recommended, by a vote of 10 to 4, that the agency approve Pfizer’s respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine for pregnant women, despite questions about the vaccine’s safety.
During Thursday’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) meeting, committee members and medical experts raised concerns about premature births identified during Pfizer’s clinical trials.
The FDA is expected to issue a final decision on the vaccine in August. If approved, it would become the first RSV vaccine authorized for pregnant women.
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Read MoreLegalization of marijuana has normalized cannabis use by 13-year olds, says a Department of Health report. Children considered it a natural relaxant from ordinary stresses like schoolwork or loneliness said federal research.
“By normalizing cannabis use and making it more accessible, aspects of legalization are considered to have contributed to inducing consumption among youth,” wrote researchers. “Youth report cannabis consumption begins as early as 13 or 14. Introduction to cannabis is typically positioned as harmless and enjoyable and considered a recreational activity.”
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Read MoreThe Department of Health says it worries private employers who currently provide dental coverage for most Canadians nationwide will offload costs onto taxpayers as cabinet expands its national dentacare program. “It is something that we are concerned about,” the head of the department’s dental task force yesterday told the Senate social affairs committee.
“Certainly we are looking at ways to make sure those who currently provide coverage will continue to do so,” testified Lindy Van Amburg, director general of the task force. “I would say however we will need to be very careful about what the levers are.”
Bill C-47 the Budget Implementation Act includes a clause mandating that all employers with dental coverage report the fact to the Canada Revenue Agency effective December 31 under threat of $100 fines. Van Amburg said it was a data collection exercise.
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Read MoreFollowing recent Alberta Health Services data showing decreased wait times under Danielle Smith, the Alberta NDP has announced their plan to tackle the health care crisis.
Candidates David Shepherd and Cam Heenan announced Wednesday that an NDP government would work with doctors instead of “fighting” them. Shepherd said the NDP would increase the supply of family doctors so all Albertans have a family doctor.
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Read MoreProminent Canadian political commentator Aaron Gunn held a premiere for his documentary Canada is Dying about the drug crisis in the country at the Canyon Meadows Cinemas in Calgary.
“Elections have consequences,” said Gunn at a Wednesday event.
“There are severe consequences based on how you vote.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said on Monday she would bring in a bill forcing people with severe drug addiction into treatment if she is re-elected.
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Read MorePandemic-era lockdowns and travel restrictions violated the freedoms of association, conscience, religion, mobility and peaceful assembly set forth in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Even today, despite acute under-staffing in health care, the British Columbia government still prevents many doctors and nurses from returning to work, solely because they legitimately exercised their right to bodily autonomy by refusing the COVID vaccine.
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Governments have also disregarded the constitutional principle of democratic accountability. Our Constitution requires that prospective laws be debated, and come into force only after approval by a vote of elected representatives who are accountable to the people.
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Read MoreApril 2023 was the 31st consecutive month in which at least 150 died from unregulated drugs in B.C. – and the 13th month in which more than 200 deaths were reported.
In April, 206 British Columbians died. That’s about 7 people dying every day, according to a statement from the BC Coroners Service and the Public Safety Ministry. There have been 814 deaths so far in 2023.
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Read MoreCalifornia has backed down on enforcing a law requiring medical practitioners to participate in physician-assisted suicides against their will and has agreed to pay $300,000 to the Christian medical professionals who took the state to court.
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Read MoreMcKinsey was aware at the time that the “opioids were addictive and were being aggressively promoted to treat conditions that opioids are not effective in treating.” If Ottawa does officially join the lawsuit, it would come after the Liberal government has awarded over $100 million worth of contracts to McKinsey since 2015.
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Read MoreUniversity officials and proponents of the new facility argue the laboratory is necessary to enhance research capabilities looking into emerging diseases and viruses resulting from zoonotic — animal-to-human — transfer.
While CSU denies that gain-of-function research will occur at the laboratory, some researchers connected with the new facility previously were associated with actors involved with such research, including experiments conducted in Wuhan, China.
Francis Boyle, J.D., Ph.D., a bioweapons expert and professor of international law at the University of Illinois, is concerned about the facility.
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