Past Episodes

Friday December 16, 2011

Concussions and NHL Hockey: Past the Tipping Point

Yesterday, the Philadelphia Flyers announced that all star defensive stalwart Chris Pronger has been shut down for the rest of the NHL season with what the team has described as "post-concussive syndrome".  Pronger joins Pittsburgh Penguin superstar Sidney Crosby, team mate and NHL leading scorer Claude Giroux, and Ottawa Senator forward and NHL second leading scorer Milan Michalek out of action due to concussion.  To list every star player currently on the shelf would fill several blogs.  The NHL may well call these an unfortunate coincidence.  I call it the tipping point beyond which the NHL will take effective action to prevent further carnage or will risk losing a multitude of fans - including this die-hard Leaf fan.   Read more »

Categories: Accountability, Blog Archives, Policy & Regulation

 

Thursday December 15, 2011

Park Your Frustration: Update

On October 29, 2011, WCBA devoted an entire show to the trials and tribulations Canadians face with hospital parking.  On our blog, we posted a lengthy letter sent by Pamela Leeb to Dr. Robert Bell, CEO of University Health Network.  In it, she described receiving a $450 parking ticket when she parked her car across the street from Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, where she was undergoing cancer treatment.  Leeb received some good news.  Click below to read Ms. Leeb's letter and its impact.

Read more »

Categories: Accountability, Blog Archives, Hospitals

 

Thursday December 8, 2011

Generation Rx: Mailbag

Last week, we broadcast our full-edition town hall entitled "Generation Rx - The Use and Abuse of Prescription Pain Medication," recorded before a live audience at Brockville Collegiate Institute.  Brockville, a small city in Eastern Ontario, was the setting for Ontario's first inquest into prescription opioid-related deaths.  My guests were Christine Bois, manager of the Opiate Project with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Detective Staff Sergeant Shawn White, head of the Criminal Investigation Branch with the Cornwall Police, and Dr. Andrea Furlan, a chronic pain physician and scientist at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute.  Not suprisingly, we received many, many emails from you.  Click on the link below to jump to your reaction to show.  And tune in on Tuesday, December 27 from five to six pm (half an hour later in parts of Newfoundland and Labrador) for an extended one-hour version of the show.
Read more »

Categories: Accountability, Blog Archives, Health Professionals, Patient Safety, Town Hall

 

• December 2011
  • Fri., 16 – Concussions and NHL Hockey: Past the Tipping Point
     
  • Thu., 15 – Park Your Frustration: Update
     
  • Thu., 8 – Generation Rx: Mailbag
     
  • Fri., 2 – Generation Rx: The Use and Abuse of Prescription Pain Medication
     
• November 2011
  • Wed., 30 – Generation Rx - The Role of Doctors in Opioid Abuse
     
  • Tue., 29 – Generation Rx: Four Days to Go
     
  • Thu., 24 – Generation Rx: Some Quick Thoughts
     
  • Tue., 22 – UK Report Slams Hospital Treatment of Seniors
     
  • Thu., 17 – Emergency Rooms Must Deliver Palliative Care
     
  • Tue., 15 – Park Your Frustration Mailbag
     
  • Thu., 10 – Marketing Medicine Mailbag
     
• October 2011
  • Fri., 28 – Park Your Frustration Show
     
  • Wed., 26 – Breaking Up Mailbag
     
  • Tue., 4 – Overdiagnosis = Overkill
     
• September 2011
  • Wed., 21 – Nurse Bullying Mailbag
     
  • Fri., 16 – Nurse Bullying Show
     
  • Wed., 14 – Personal Support Worker Mailbag
     
  • Fri., 9 – WCBA Season Debut: Personal Support Workers and Seniors
     
• August 2011
  • Mon., 29 – WCBA in the Summer: Will to Die Part 2 + Overdiagnosed
     
  • Wed., 10 – Do Mental Health Patients Fall Through the Cracks?
     
• July 2011
  • Tue., 26 – Before You Fire Your MD - Have a Chat
     
  • Tue., 12 – Beware of Small, Rural Hospitals
     
• June 2011
  • Thu., 30 – WCBA in the Summer: Boundaries Part One
     
  • Fri., 24 – The Perils of Involving MDs in Crime Prevention
     
  • Wed., 22 – Sleepy Residents Mailbag
     
  • Fri., 17 – U of A Med School Dean Resigns Amid Plagiarism Allegations
     
  • Thu., 16 – Unifinished Business Show Mailbag
     
  • Wed., 15 – Update on Alleged Plagiarism by University of Alberta's Dean Baker
     
  • Wed., 15 – Getting Past Vaccine Skepticism
     
  • Mon., 13 – Medical Deans Who Plagiarize Should Resign
     
  • Thu., 9 – Mental Health Show Mailbag
     
  • Tue., 7 – For Whom the Patient Call Bell Tolls
     
  • Fri., 3 – Mental Health Show
     
  • Wed., 1 – Diseases That Get No Respect Mailbag
     
• May 2011
  • Wed., 25 – To Err Is Medicine Mailbag
     
  • Wed., 18 – Nursing Home Violence Show Mailbag
     
  • Fri., 13 – Nursing Home Violence Show
     
  • Wed., 11 – Mother's Milk Mailbag
     
  • Tue., 10 – "Is There a Doctor on Board?"
     
  • Fri., 6 – Mother's Milk Show
     
  • Wed., 4 – Healthy Skepticism Mailbag
     
• April 2011
  • Wed., 20 – Election Show Mailbag
     
  • Thu., 14 – Overdiagnosed Mailbag
     
  • Wed., 13 – Beware of "Off-Label" Prescribing
     
  • Tue., 12 – Older Doctors: Update
     
  • Mon., 4 – Will to Die Mailbag
     
• March 2011
  • Thu., 31 – Older Doctors Mailbag
     
  • Tue., 29 – Taking Better Care of Seniors in the ER
     
  • Fri., 18 – Older Doctors Show
     
  • Thu., 17 – Concierge Mailbag
     
  • Wed., 16 – Does Your Doctor Check Your Medical Tests?
     
  • Thu., 10 – Breaking Up Mailbag
     
  • Fri., 4 – A Leaky Medical Gadget?
     
  • Tue., 1 – Rrrrroll Up the Rrrrrim to Live?
     
• February 2011
  • Fri., 25 – Good Samaritan show
     
  • Tue., 22 – Getting Older Drivers Off the Road: An MD's Lament
     
  • Thu., 17 – Listen to Me Mailbag
     
  • Tue., 15 – Beware the Blood Test Not Checked
     
  • Mon., 7 – Reverse Medical Tourism?
     
• January 2011
  • Thu., 27 – Hospital Fixer Mailbag
     
  • Thu., 27 – Wanted: Stories on Loved-Ones with Dementia Who Wander
     
  • Tue., 25 – Surgeons and Suicidal Thoughts: Behind the Mask
     
  • Mon., 24 – Why I Respect Eastern Health's CEO
     
  • Fri., 21 – The Hospital Fixer Show
     
  • Thu., 20 – Goldman on 'Q' With Jian Ghomeshi
     
  • Wed., 19 – Wednesday Mailbag
     
  • Thu., 13 – Thursday Mailbag
     
  • Mon., 10 – Patient Privacy: More to Come
     
  • Fri., 7 – Patient Privacy show
     
• December 2010
  • Mon., 20 – Patients with Early Alzheimer's Should be Told!
     
  • Fri., 10 – Lights and Sirens show
     
  • Thu., 9 – Sneek Peek: Our "Lights and Sirens" show
     
  • Wed., 8 – Public Health, Private Lives: Live Chat on December 8, 2010
     
  • Thu., 2 – Thursday Mailbag
     
• November 2010
  • Wed., 24 – Wednesday Mailbag
     
  • Mon., 22 – MS Zamboni Treatment: Where are We Now?
     
  • Thu., 18 – Thursday Mailbag
     
  • Tue., 16 – Can Doctors Impose Do Not Resuscitate Orders? They Can
     
  • Fri., 12 – In Sickness and In Health
     
  • Wed., 10 – Wednesday Mailbag
     
  • Fri., 5 – Healthy Design
     
• October 2010
  • Thu., 28 – Thursday Mailbag
     
  • Tue., 26 – ER Wait: Shame on ERs!
     
  • Fri., 22 – Sex, Lies and Medical Mistakes Episode
     
  • Wed., 20 – Wednesday Mailbag
     
  • Mon., 18 – More Excerpts from Our Townhall
     
  • Sat., 16 – 'To Err is Medicine' Townhall Episode
     
  • Thu., 14 – Sneak Preview of Our Medical Errors Town Hall
     
  • Tue., 12 – Town Hall Tonight
     
  • Fri., 8 – To Err Is Medicine? Meet Our Panel of Experts
     
  • Thu., 7 – To Err is Medicine? Anatomy of a Modern Problem
     
• September 2010
  • Wed., 29 – Bonus Interview on Political Activism with Quebec College President
     
  • Wed., 29 – Wednesday Mailbag
     
  • Fri., 24 – Put down the scalpel and raise a fist
     
  • Wed., 22 – Wednesday Mailbag
     
  • Wed., 15 – Wednesday Mailbag: Reaction to MS Show
     
  • Sat., 11 – WCBA Season Debut
     
  • Tue., 7 – Euthanasia Debate Heats Up in Quebec
     
• August 2010
  • Wed., 11 – Medical Errors: a list you don't want to ignore
     
  • Wed., 4 – Pharma-Sponsored Research: Good News Means Bias
     
• July 2010
  • Mon., 26 – MDs at the Root of Big Pharma's Influence