After two months of “negotiating”, Deb Matthews and the Ontario government has finally showed their hand. They got up, walked away, and unilaterally made the cuts they wanted to make without entertaining the OMA’s offers of cost-saving, or even the idea of having a third-party conciliator. In hindsight, it is clear from a political point of view that this was a crucial first step in the government’s efforts to curb overall public spending …
The (sub-)sub-specialization sham.
There was a time when your doctor did everything. Sore throat and a nasty cough? You’d see your doctor. 40 weeks pregnant and about to give birth? Your doctor would do the delivery. Your child slipped and broke a bone? Your doctor would splint and care for the fracture. Hell, if you had an appendicitis, there was a good chance your own doctor would be doing part (if not all) of the surgery. …
Public healthcare is unfair.
Might as well say it up front: our public healthcare system is not fair. Yes I know, you’re going to try and throw the Canada Health Act in my face, quoting the infamous “…insured persons must have reasonable and uniform access to insured health services, free of financial or other barriers. No one may be discriminated against on the basis of such factors as income, age, and health status.” – Canada Health Act, …
Miraculous self cure for stroke! (and other internet lore)
One of the privileges (or annoyances, depending on who you ask) of being a medical professional is having your family and friends coming to you for anything that is medically related. They no longer trust their own family doctors; they question all the new medical advice they see on television; and they will simply not start any medications or go through any medical procedures without a phone conversation with you to see if …
From Full Code to No Code.
As the saying goes, there’s only two certainties in life: death and taxes. While it is true everyone will die someday, modern medicine has advanced to the point where we can keep people physiologically alive well beyond the point of any meaningful functional recovery. But just because we can potentially restart patients’ hearts after they die and make them dependent on ventilators and vasopressors, does that mean we should? Descartes’ famous cogito ergo …
The doctors Strike back.
Workers in Canada going on strike seem to occur so often these days that we barely bat our eyes at it anymore. As you casually flip through the morning paper, you read about another Air Canada strike. You shrug your shoulders and grudgingly expect your next flight to be delayed. The post office is walking out? Better send that birthday gift by FedEx. The city garbage/recycling services are protesting? You mentally prepare for …