Catching up today on some stories you might’ve missed. Here's a quick look at what stood out.
If you visited an emergency room in 2024-2025, you may have waited more than 14 hours, according to a new CIHI report.
The Highlights:
→ 10 per cent of Canadian patients spent more than 48 hours in an emergency department waiting for an inpatient bed.
→ 8 per cent of patients left an emergency department before being assessed by a physician.
→ Shortages in hospital beds, long-term care and community supports.
The three-month Hantavirus saga has officially come to an end, says WHO.
The Highlights:
→ The last exposed person to the outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise has officially completed quarantine.
→ All 34 Canadians with potential exposure have completed quarantine.
→ A total of 13 cases stemmed from the cruise ship. Three people died.
→ One Canadian tested positive for the virus.
Conservative MP Corey Tochor introduced new legislation to legalize psilocybin and psilocin, the active ingredients in magic mushrooms, for therapy purposes.
The Highlights:
→ Under Canada's current drug laws, psilocybin is a controlled substance and possession. Production and distribution are illegal without authorization.
→ Health Canada’s Special Access Program allows limited access to psilocybin.
→ The private member bill would allow physicians to prescribe psilocybin without approval from federal bureaucrats
On June 17, The Special Joint Committee of Medical Assistance in Dying (AMAD) recommended the government not expand MAID to people whose sole condition is a mental illness.
The Highlights:
→ MAID has been available in Canada for a decade now.
→ The federal government has delayed expansion to include people with mental illness in applications to MAID twice since 2020, when it was first tabled.
→ Now, Canadians whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness are excluded from applying to MAID until March 17, 2027.
The federal government invested $100 million to expand VITAL health data platform. This aims to strengthen health services and accelerate medical innovation.
The Highlights:
→ VITAL currently connects Canadians’ health information from electronic records in Ontario, Alberta, and Quebec. It is actively expanding nationally.
→ Data from imaging, medication records and vitals will help researchers conduct clinical trials, detect outbreaks, test AI tools and identify new treatments.
→ Names, birth dates and health insurance numbers won't be included in the datasets.
VDP sergeant Lee Marten is one of the first Canadian ALS patients to receive Elon Musk's Neuralink brain implant.
The Highlights:
→ The implant is a coin-sized brain chip that uses over 1,000 microscopic electrodes to record and translate brain activity.
→ At least two other quadriplegic Canadians received the implant, as well as a dual American-Canadian citizen with ALS.
→ The robot is more accurate and precise than what a human neurosurgeon can do.
→ Marten is the 26th person in the world to undergo the procedure.
Pulse Check™
What else we're reading:
- Health Canada permits temporary imports of Chinese-authorized chemo injection drug amid critical shortage
- How a clinic for seniors in Quebec City is taking the pressure off ERs
- More than 120 people fall sick from norovirus outbreak on cruise ship bound for Canada
- 1st generic semaglutide injection for weight loss approved
- Opinion: Hospitals should be a part of 'buy Canadian' plans
Canada Healthwatch
[email protected]
