Health

Health


Toronto hospital network appoints chief AI scientist in bid to improve health care

Canada’s largest network of research hospitals has appointed a chief artificial intelligence scientist to harness promising technology that has the potential to speed up diagnoses, improve and personalize patient care and shorten recovery times. Bo Wang, whose expertise at the Toronto-based University Health Network includes machine learning and computational biology, is stepping into the role […]

Read More


Planned Parenthood sues to expand South Carolina abortion access under strict new ban

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Abortion providers urged South Carolina’s highest court on Thursday to lengthen the narrow window when a pregnancy can be legally terminated under the state’s strict new ban. The conservative state’s all-male Supreme Court last month upheld a so-called “fetal heartbeat” law commonly understood to restrict access after about six weeks of […]

Read More


Hundreds of military promotions are on hold as Republican senator demands end to abortion policy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top defense officials are accusing Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville of jeopardizing America’s national security with his hold on roughly 300 military promotions, raising the stakes in a clash over abortion policy that shows no signs of easing. Tuberville brushed off the criticism, vowing he will not give in. “We’re going to be […]

Read More


Ottawa eyes relaxing rules for imported baby formula, as costs soar after shortage

OTTAWA — The federal government is looking for ways to bring more infant formula products to Canada while it overhauls regulations to prevent future shortages, an internal memo shows. Many parents still struggle to find the right formula for their babies at a reasonable price, after last year’s temporary shutdown of a U.S.-based manufacturing plant […]

Read More


Court rejects Connecticut officials’ bid to keep secret a police report on hospital patient’s death

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Police reports about deaths and other incidents in public hospitals cannot be kept secret, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, citing the importance of government transparency and the public’s right to know what happened. A majority of the justices rejected an attempt by state officials to prevent the release of a […]

Read More


Feds mull stopgap plan for formula shortage before overhauling approval process: docs

OTTAWA — The federal government is looking for ways to bring more infant formula products to Canada while it overhauls regulations to prevent future shortages, an internal memo shows. Many parents still struggle to find the right formula for their babies at a reasonable price, after last year’s temporary shutdown of a U.S.-based manufacturing plant […]

Read More


South Carolina’s new all male highest court reverses course on abortion, upholding strict 6 week ban

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s newly all-male Supreme Court reversed course on abortion Wednesday, upholding a law banning most such procedures except in the earliest weeks of pregnancy. The continued erosion of legal abortion access across the U.S. South comes after Republican state lawmakers replaced the lone woman on the court, Justice Kaye Hearn, […]

Read More


Newfoundland hospitals grapple with patients admitted because they have nowhere to go

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — The woman in the corner of the emergency room still haunts Dr. Gerard Farrell, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association. Obviously suffering from dementia, she was impossible to miss as he passed back and forth, always sitting in the same chair in an environment not built to care for […]

Read More


Tennessee hospital faces civil rights investigation over release of transgender health records

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Vanderbilt University Medical Center is facing a federal civil rights investigation after turning the medical records of transgender patients over to Tennessee’s attorney general, hospital officials have confirmed. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ investigation comes just weeks after two patients sued VUMC for releasing their records to Attorney […]

Read More


Liberals lag on invitation to join global group that crafts vaccines for world’s poor

OTTAWA — The federal Liberal government has spent three years deliberating on an invitation to join a global body that designs vaccinations to protect the world’s poorest from preventable diseases. Documents reviewed by The Canadian Press show South Korea has been encouraging Canada to join the International Vaccine Institute, an agency based in Seoul that […]

Read More


Judge’s decision could force change in Michigan’s handling of newborn blood samples

DETROIT (AP) — The state of Michigan must return or destroy dried blood samples from nine newborns or get approval from parents to keep them, according to the latest scathing opinion from a federal judge who found parts of a routine testing program unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Thomas Ludington is not interfering with the practice […]

Read More


Provincial EMR use was non compliant with privacy laws

PEI’s $7.8 million electronic medical record was operational for 10 months before the Department of Health and Wellness moved to ensure patient information shared over the system complied with provincial privacy legislation, records show. Despite this, government contends patient confidentiality was never jeopardized. “It’s my understanding that (the ways practitioners were sharing information over the […]

Read More