Space, the final frontier … they even think Jason Kenney and his United Conservative Party Government are an interstellar disaster at Starfleet Command! Well, in fairness to the Alberta premier and his out-of-its-depth government, William Shatner was never a real Starfleet commander, he just played one on TV. Ontario Health
Continue readingTag: Health Canada
Politics and its Discontents: An Ideological And Horticultural Taint
Although I am not a user of medical cannabis, the current scandal (and it can only be termed a scandal) regarding dangerous and forbidden pesticide use by companies with the Health Canada seal of approval is instructive. First, a recap of the situation is in order: After a string of
Continue readingA. Picazo: On Homeopathy, Health Canada Must End The Double Standard
This column appeared on the CBC on December 11, 2016. Until recently, homeopathic remedies sold in the United States enjoyed many of the same privileges — including the freedom to claim they could treat or cure specific ailments or diseases — as real, science-based medicine. The difference? Peddlers of homeopathy
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.- Caroline Plante reports on Quebec’s scourge of medical extra-billing and user fees (as identified by its own Auditor General). And Aaron Derfel notes that the federal government has done nothing to app…
Continue readingHealth Canada—another Conservative mouthpiece?
The Conservatives have started early on their advertising campaign for the upcoming election. We are, for example, being told ad nauseam that Justin Trudeau isn’t ready. With their large war chest, the Conservatives can afford to lay it on thick. But they’re not only relying on their own funds, they
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: I’m Outraged Over Her Outrage
Playing to her party’s base, Health Minister Rona Ambrose yesterday expressed “outrage” over the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision to make it legal for medical marijuana users to ingest their pot in any manner they see fit, be it oils, tinctures, cookies, or brownies. Given her well-demonstrated ineptitude in ensuring that
Continue readingTrashy's World: “Natural” remedies
Check out this exposeé done by CBC’s Marketplace. Turns out the show’s producers “invented” a natural children’s remedy claiming to help bring down fevers. They submitted an application to have this approved by Health Canada. No scientific testing. No quantitative evidence whatsoever that it actually worked. And all totally bogus.
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: Code of Silence Surrounding Canada’s Health Care System
Richard Hughes-Political Blogger Canada’s healthcare system was once a matter of national pride. It was a reassuring to know that the best care possible was available regardless of the patience financial circumstances. During the Stephen Harper reign funding has been reduced dramatically and the stresses on the system has compromised
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Health Canada Fails Us Yet Again
On this blog I have frequently extolled the fine investigative journalism practised by The Toronto Star. Whether on issues of municipal, provincial, or federal significance, The Star, as it frequently proclaims, “gets action.” From the standpoint of average Canadians, probably one of its most important investigations in recent times has
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: If It Scares Canadians, It’s Manna from Heaven for the Tories
Manipulating the public with carefully tailored fear is despicable. It’s also the entire first chapter in Stephen Harper’s playbook. He’s been incredibly successful in using fear as a weapon to motivate his own political base from the outset. If you own a working television set chances are you’ve seen the
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: My CBC Letter Of Complaint
Although probably a futile effort, here is the letter of complaint that I have sent to the CBC ombudsman, The National, and CBC Audience Feedback regarding the Corporation’s absolute failure to keep Canadians informed about the Health Canada’s unwillingness to protect Canadians from tainted pharmaceuticals: To Whom It May Concern:
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: It’s Why I Subscribe
To borrow a line from one of my favourite Shakespearean plays, Macbeth, “So fair and foul a day I have not seen.” It is fair because the newspaper I subscribe to and heartily endorse, The Toronto Star, has achieved a victory whose significance cannot be overestimated. Thanks to its investigative
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Paul Verhaege discusses how unchecked capitalism is changing our personality traits for the worse: There are certain ideal characteristics needed to make a career today. The first is articulateness, the aim being to win over as many people as possible. Contact can
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Possible Soution To Health Canada’s Willful Impotence
Yesterday I wrote about the fact that Health Canada has ‘convinced’ (not ordered) Apotex to stop importing drugs from one of its suspect plants in Bangalore, India. The agency’s (and Health Minister Rona Ambrose’s) ongoing timid relationship with pharmaceuticals at the expense of our health and safety suggests stronger measures
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Health Canada’s Willful Impotence on Tainted Pharmaceuticals
As I have written previously, the scandal of tainted pharmaceuticals continues, and that which should provoke outrage and demands for accountability seems to elicit for the most part only shrugs and mild interest. And were it not for the Toronto Star’s ongoing quest, most of us would be totally unaware
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: Tainted reminds us why we should never forget Canada’s greatest public health disaster
It’s been more than two years since we said goodbye to the staff and donors of Canadian Blood Services’ Thunder Bay plasma collection centre. October 30 we will be returning there again as part of a unique cross-province campaign to … Continue reading →
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Pros and Cons
Following up on Rona Ambrose’s stout denial that the government’s planned anti-marijuana campaign has anything to do with trying to undermine Justin Trudeau, along with Canadian doctors refusing to be part of a campaign that has become, as they describe it, political messaging, here are the perspectives of two National
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Denial And Outrage
During my teaching career, it was occasionally my unpleasant task to confront a student with evidence of his or her cheating; most situations revolved around plagiarizing essays or having skipped a test. The student’s responses when confronted were invariably the same; indeed, they tended to parallel Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’ five stages
Continue readingreeves report: New evidence of Triclosan toxicity
Hand soaps containing triclosan and triclocarban. (Andrew Reeves/Reeves Report) OTTAWA KNOWS that a common ingredient in antibacterial soaps is posing acute and chronic problems for human health and freshwater ecosystems but has done nothing to ban triclosan, according to environmental and consumer advocates. But now there’s even more evidence against the
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Slamming Harper Secrecy
The Toronto Star recently revealed the following: Health Canada is keeping secret the vast majority of the drug reviews it conducts despite a clear promise from the federal minister to publish this critical safety information. Only 24 of 152 drug reviews completed last year by Health Canada are being considered
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