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opinion
AI holds much promise in medicine, beginning with easing doctors’ paperwork
André Picard
canada
For fly-in doctors of Manitoba, work is far from home but close to the action
world
Popular nasal decongestant doesn’t actually relieve congestion, experts say
FILE - Sudafed and other common nasal decongestants containing pseudoephedrine are on display behind the counter at Hospital Discount Pharmacy in Edmond, Okla., Jan. 11, 2005. The leading decongestant used by millions of Americans looking for relief from a stuffy nose is likely no better than a dummy pill, according to government experts who reviewed the latest research on the long-questioned drug ingredient. Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023 against the effectiveness of the ingredient found in popular versions of Sudafed, Allegra, Dayquil and other medications sold on pharmacy shelves. (AP Photo, File)
style
What does it cost to try to stay young forever? Inside the hyped-up world of anti-aging
Clockwise from left: Bryan Johnson has spent millions on therapies in an effort to reverse his biological clock; Peter Thiel says he will have his body cryogenically frozen when he dies; Jeff Bezos has invested in a startup that flushes out aged cells.
world
Biden administration takes abortion pill dispute to U.S. Supreme Court
FILE - Boxes of the drug mifepristone sit on a shelf at the West Alabama Women's Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on March 16, 2022. The Supreme Court is being asked to reverse an appellate ruling that would cut off mail-order access to a drug used in the most common method of abortion in the United States. In an appeal filed Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, Danco Laboratories, the manufacturer of mifepristone, argued that federal judges should not second-guess the Food and Drug Administration's approval of the drug or the conditions under which it is dispensed. The Biden administration also was expected to file an appeal. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed, File)
world
Blood test for Parkinson’s disease promising in early study
FILE - The Biogen Inc., headquarters is pictured on March 11, 2020, in Cambridge, Mass. Biogen is spending more than $7 billion to buy Reata Pharmaceuticals and bolster its rare disease treatments. The Alzheimer’s treatment developer said Friday, July 28, 2023, it will pay $172.50 in cash for each share of Reata in a deal it expects to close by the end of this year. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)
report on business
10 drugs targeted for Medicare price negotiations as Biden pitches cost reductions
FILE - President Joe Biden speaks about health care and prescription drug costs at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Wednesday, March 15, 2023, in Las Vegas. Biden's administration will announce on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023, the first prescription drugs being targeted by the U.S. government for price negotiations as part of an effort to lower Medicare costs. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
report on business
US FDA approves Regeneron’s drug for ultrarare blood disease
FILE PHOTO: The Regeneron Pharmaceuticals company logo is seen on a building at the company's Westchester campus in Tarrytown, New York, U.S. September 17, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
canada
How often-discarded blood samples could track Canadians’ health
Blood samples from volunteers are handled in the laboratory at Imperial College in London, Thursday, July 30, 2020. Imperial College is working on the development of a COVID-19 vaccine. Scientists at Imperial College London say they are immunizing hundreds of people with an experimental coronavirus vaccine in an early trial after seeing no worrying safety problems in those vaccinated so far. Dr. Robin Shattock told the Associated Press that he and colleagues had just finished a very slow and arduous process of testing the vaccine at a low dose in a small number of participants and would now be expanding the trial to about 300 people, including those over 75. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
world
FDA approves first postpartum depression pill
FILE - A pregnant woman stands for a portrait in Dallas, Thursday, May 18, 2023. On Friday, Aug. 4, 2023, U.S. health officials approved the first pill, Zurzuvae, specifically intended to treat severe depression after childbirth, a condition that affects thousands of new mothers in the U.S. each year. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)
opinion
Do birth control pills really need to be prescription drugs?
André Picard
world
U.S. FDA grants standard approval of Eisai/Biogen Alzheimer’s drug
In an image provided by the pharmaceutical company, Eisai’s Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi. The FDA gave full approval to Leqembi on July 6, 2023, laying the foundation for widespread use of a costly medication that can modestly slow cognitive decline in the early stages of the disease but also carries significant safety risks. (Eisai via The New York Times) -- NO SALES; FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY WITH ALZHEIMERS DRUG by BELLUCK of JULY 6, 2023. ALL OTHER USE PROHIBITED. --
world
Organon, Samsung Bioepis launch copycat for arthritis drug Humira at 85 per cent discount
Test tubes are seen in front of a displayed Abbvie logo in this illustration taken, May 21, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
international business
Alzheimer’s drug gets FDA panel’s backing, setting the stage for broader use
FILE - This Dec. 21, 2022, image provided by Eisai in January 2023 shows vials and packaging for their medication Leqembi. On Friday, June 9, 2023, health advisers backed the full approval of the closely watched Alzheimer’s drug, a key step toward opening insurance coverage to U.S. seniors with early stages of the brain-robbing disease. (Eisai via AP, File)
opinion
Drug shortages will happen, but we can avoid shortchanging kids when they do
Jonathan Zipursky, Nathan Stall and Eyal Cohen
canada
22 Weeks: The story of the world's most premature twins
Video19:29
canada
Coal miners with black lung struggle for fair compensation
Video4:04
report on business
GSK’s $2-billion purchase of Bellus delivers second big exit for Montreal’s Bellini family
Roberto Bellini, President and CEO of Bellus Health Inc. The drug developer’s shares rose by as much as 75 per cent after Bellus, chaired by former BioChem chief executive officer Francesco Bellini and led by his son Roberto, reported positive results from a trial involving 310 people. Handout/Bellus Health Inc.
canada
Labs race to make pharmaceutical MDMA available to treat mental illness
Ben Lightburn, co-founder of Filament Health, holds a tray of mushrooms inside the Burnaby, B.C. lab on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. Behind him are bags of empty pill bottles for MDMA capsules and cactus used to extract mescaline, a natural psychedelic, he said. Founded in 2020, the company is working to support mental health treatments through natural psychedelic medicine. (Kayla Isomura/The Globe and Mail)
world
Access to abortion pill in U.S. in limbo after competing rulings
FILE - Boxes of the drug mifepristone sit on a shelf at the West Alabama Women's Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala., March 16, 2022. A federal judge in Texas on Friday, April 7, 2023, ordered a hold on the U.S. approval of the abortion medication mifepristone, throwing into question access to the nation’s most common method of abortion in a ruling that waved aside decades of scientific approval. Federal lawyers representing the FDA are expected to swiftly appeal the ruling. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed, File)
newsletter
The changes women surgeons want to see for equity in the field. Plus, how to help a talkative team focus
Team of surgeons working in operation room at hospital
report on business
In the operating room and the hospital boardroom, women surgeons aren’t treated equally
Dr. Fahima Dossa, photographed at the entrance to Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital, found female surgeons made 24 per cent less per hour operating than men and often did procedures that paid less.
alberta
Alberta government says specially ordered child fever medicine at pharmacies
First Nations leaders say Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is minimizing the effects of two releases of oilsands tailings water near lands they harvest from. Smith speaks to members of the media during a press conference in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
opinion
On the perpetual unhappiness of my fellow doctors
Nicholas Pimlott
u.s. politics
Conservative Texas judge weighs challenge to abortion pill
FILE - Boxes of the drug mifepristone sit on a shelf at the West Alabama Women's Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on March 16, 2022. A federal judge will hear arguments Wednesday, March 15, 2023, in a high-stakes court case that could threaten access to abortion medication and blunt the authority of U.S. drug regulators. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed, File)
canada
Western University researchers call for new licensing system to allow physicians to practise in space
Participants leave the Blue Origin Space Simulator during the Amazon Re:MARS conference on robotics and artificial intelligence at the Aria Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 5, 2019. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP)MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images
world
U.S. FDA approves Acadia’s genetic Rett syndrome drug
FILE - A sign for the Food and Drug Administration is displayed outside their offices in Silver Spring, Md., on Dec. 10, 2020. The head of the Food and Drug Administration has announced, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, an overhaul of the agency's food safety and nutrition division. FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf is vowing to better protect consumers and the U.S. food supply.(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
life
University of Alberta researchers eye artificial intelligence to weigh opioid risks
Dr. Dean Eurich, program director for the clinical epidemiology program at the University of Alberta and the lead investigator of research published with JAMA Network, is shown in this undated handout. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-University of Alberta *MANDATORY CREDIT*
canada
Amid debate over health-care deal, foreign-trained doctors seize a chance to rethink restrictive contracts
Dr. Robert Myette pictured at his home January 18, 2023 in Ottawa. Dr. Myette is a physician speaking out about these mandatory agreements, and how they’re a deterrent for international medical graduates from working in Canada. He received his medical degree in Poland, did a residency in Ontario, and is now facing steep penalties if he doesn’t pause his research at an Ottawa hospital to go work in a smaller community. Dave Chan/The Globe and Mail
opinion
Ottawa is not coming for your personal health data
André Picard
canada
Key take-aways from new proposed federal health funding
Video1:08
world
Eli Lilly says U.S. FDA rejects accelerated approval for Alzheimer’s drug
FILE PHOTO: An Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceutical manufacturing plant is pictured at 50 ImClone Drive in Branchburg, New Jersey, March 5, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
u.s. business
U.S. health officials approve Alzheimer’s drug that modestly slows disease
FILE PHOTO: Signage is seen outside of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) headquarters in White Oak, Maryland, U.S., August 29, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo
british columbia
Americans cross-border shopping for Ozempic in B.C.
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix speaks during an announcement about the expansion of a program that assists internationally educated doctors in obtaining a licence to practice in the province, in Richmond, B.C., Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck