Healthcare

Healthcare


Saskatchewan health minister quashes claim of babies going to U.S. for medical care

Saskatchewan’s health minister has rejected accusations from a nurses union and the Opposition NDP that some babies from Regina’s neonatal intensive care unit were sent to North Dakota for care. “No child has had to be moved out of the province for capacity issues,” Jeremy Cockrill told reporters Tuesday. “No patient has been moved out […]

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Some Physiotherapists Fear ICBC Changes Will Hurt Crash Victims

Some physiotherapy clinics are warning that recent updates to ICBC’s health-care services terms could reduce the recovery care for people hurt in car crashes. On Dec. 10, ICBC sent an email updating health-care providers it works with about a new way clients could search for eligible clinics. In the fifth paragraph ICBC said it was […]

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Texas sues to stop a rule that shields the medical records of women who seek abortions elsewhere

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas has sued the Biden administration to try to block a federal rule that shields the medical records of women from criminal investigations if they cross state lines to seek abortion where it is legal. The lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services seeks to overturn a regulation […]

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Alaska law saying only doctors can provide abortions is unconstitutional, judge rules

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska judge struck down Wednesday a decades-old state law that restricted who could perform abortions in the state. The decision comes out of a 2019 lawsuit brought by Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, which challenged the law that says only a doctor licensed by the State Medical […]

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New York temporarily barred from taking action against groups for promoting abortion pill ‘reversal’

Citing free speech rights, a federal judge has temporarily blocked New York’s attorney general from taking enforcement action against certain pregnancy counseling centers for promoting what critics say is an unproven method to reverse medication abortions. U.S. District Judge John Sinatra Jr. in Buffalo issued a preliminary injunction against state Attorney General Letitia James and […]

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Data shows evolving state of reproductive health care in Alberta

Since becoming available in 2017, Mifegymiso, commonly called the abortion pill, has transformed reproductive health care in Canada. Before the drug’s legalization, medical abortion was a relatively rare procedure, and surgical abortion services were often only available through hospitals and specialized clinics in major urban centres. Because any physician or nurse practitioner in Alberta can […]

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County of Stettler will send doctor shortage concerns to lobby group

The County of Stettler council agreed to send its concerns about a rural physician shortage across Alberta to a lobby group. The decision was made at the Aug. 14 regular meeting of council. On the “council’s request for information” part of the agenda Coun. Justin Stevens asked his peers to consider approving a formal resolution […]

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Access to abortion pill expanding beyond Alberta’s major cities, data shows

The abortion pill is slowly changing the reproductive health landscape in Alberta, new data suggests. When Mifegymiso came on the market in Canada in 2017, advocates and medical professionals hoped the medication would expand reproductive health care in rural and remote communities. In the years that followed, however, severe access issues in Alberta persisted and […]

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Washington parental rights law criticized as a ‘forced outing’ measure is allowed to take effect

A new Washington state parental rights law derided by critics as a “forced outing” measure will be allowed to take effect this week after a court commissioner on Tuesday declined to issue an emergency order temporarily blocking it. The civil liberties groups, school district, youth services organizations and others who are challenging the law did […]

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Alberta hears mixing patients at long-term care facilities leading to violence

The Alberta government is facing calls to stop admitting complex mental health patients into long-term care facilities until the risks are fully reviewed. Seniors’ advocates joined Opposition New Democrats at a news conference Monday in asking for the halt. They said mixing residents at Calgary’s Carewest Colonel Belcher facility with those who have vastly different […]

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Delaware hospital system will pay $47 million to settle whistleblower allegations of billing fraud

DOVER, Del. (AP) — Delaware’s largest hospital system will pay more than $47 million to settle whistleblower allegations by its former compliance officer that it provided kickbacks to outside doctors in return for patient referrals, resulting in fraudulent Medicaid billing.  The settlement announced Friday comes nearly seven years after Ronald Sherman filed his whistleblower lawsuit, […]

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Ontario auditor: at least 99 patients placed in LTC homes without their consent

TORONTO — At least 99 hospital patients in Ontario have been placed in long-term care homes without their consent, the province’s auditor general has found. Opposition politicians and seniors’ advocates have roundly criticized a law the Progressive Conservative government enacted last year to enable those moves, which can see those patients placed in homes up to 70 […]

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