Past Episodes

Wednesday December 14, 2011

Unfinished Business Mailbag

Our show this week featured three stories of what we call 'Unfinished Business'.  Earlier this year, a BC hospital bet and lost big on one.  We asked the President of the hospital's charitable foundation what went wrong.  We had more from Generation Rx: our town hall last week examining the epidemic of  prescription drug abuse that's spreading across Canada.  And, we got reaction from Ontario's Minister of Health and Long Term Care to our debut episode this season that looked at the increasingly complex nursing jobs that personal support workers do at retirement homes in the Province of Ontario.  Click oin the link to sample your reaction to the show.

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Categories: Blog Archives, Hospitals, Patient Safety

 

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

 

Friday December 2, 2011

Generation Rx: The Use and Abuse of Prescription Pain Medication

A generation ago, it was considered medical heresy to prescribe strong narcotics to people with chronic pain.  But, a new way of thinking about pain made it more acceptable for doctors to prescribe these drugs. Along with that came the arrival of long-acting opioids like OxyContin, Duragesic, Hydromorph Contin and others - drugs that when used as directed, were supposedly less likely than short-acting narcotics to lead to addiction.  I know, because I taught many doctors how to prescribe narcotics responsibly.   And in the interests of full disclosure, some of those lectures were paid for by the very drug companies that stood to make large profits from the sale of the medication. 

In properly selected patients, narcotics can reduce pain and improve their lives.  But the tragic stories of lives ruined - if not lost - plus some alarming statistics show us that something has clearly gone wrong. That's why we've convened our town hall.  To talk about the extent of the problem of opioid use and abuse, to find out how we got here, and to talk about what more can be done to prevent further addictions and deaths. 

To hear the Generation Rx, download the podcast, or click on the play button below.  You can also tune in Saturday December 3 at 11:30 am (noon NT) and again on Monday December 5 at 11:30 am (3:30 pm NT) on CBC Radio One.

Generation Rx: Town Hall (Pop-up)

And next week on the show, we'll have a bonus segment from the town hall about the role doctors have played.  And listen for a full one hour version later this month - also on CBC Radio One. More details about that soon.

        Our panelists Christine Bois, Detective Shawn White and Dr. Andrea Furlan.

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

 

• December 2011
  • Wed., 14 – Unfinished Business Mailbag
     
  • Thu., 8 – Generation Rx: Mailbag
     
  • Fri., 2 – Generation Rx: The Use and Abuse of Prescription Pain Medication
     
• November 2011
  • Tue., 29 – Generation Rx: Four Days to Go
     
  • Thu., 24 – Generation Rx: Some Quick Thoughts
     
  • Tue., 22 – UK Report Slams Hospital Treatment of Seniors
     
• October 2011
  • Tue., 18 – Want Better Treatment From Your Doctor? Be Likeable
     
• September 2011
  • Wed., 14 – Personal Support Worker Mailbag
     
  • Fri., 9 – WCBA Season Debut: Personal Support Workers and Seniors
     
• August 2011
  • 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
  • Wed., 22 – Sleepy Residents Mailbag
     
  • Thu., 16 – Unifinished Business Show Mailbag
     
  • Wed., 15 – Getting Past Vaccine Skepticism
     
  • Tue., 7 – For Whom the Patient Call Bell Tolls
     
  • Fri., 3 – Mental Health Show
     
• May 2011
  • Wed., 25 – To Err Is Medicine Mailbag
     
  • Fri., 13 – Nursing Home Violence Show
     
  • Fri., 6 – Mother's Milk Show
     
• April 2011
  • Tue., 19 – NHL Concussions: Time to Act!
     
  • Fri., 15 – MS Zamboni: Here We Go Again
     
  • Thu., 14 – Overdiagnosed Mailbag
     
  • Wed., 13 – Beware of "Off-Label" Prescribing
     
  • Tue., 12 – Older Doctors: Update
     
  • Tue., 5 – Take Two Pills and Skype Me in the Morning
     
• March 2011
  • Thu., 31 – Older Doctors Mailbag
     
  • Fri., 18 – Older Doctors Show
     
  • Thu., 17 – Concierge Mailbag
     
  • Wed., 16 – Does Your Doctor Check Your Medical Tests?
     
  • Fri., 4 – A Leaky Medical Gadget?
     
  • Tue., 1 – Rrrrroll Up the Rrrrrim to Live?
     
• February 2011
  • 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
     
• January 2011
  • Thu., 27 – Hospital Fixer Mailbag
     
  • Tue., 25 – Surgeons and Suicidal Thoughts: Behind the Mask
     
  • Mon., 24 – Why I Respect Eastern Health's CEO
     
  • Fri., 21 – The Hospital Fixer Show
     
  • Tue., 18 – Surgeons Need Some Understanding
     
  • Fri., 14 – Medical Tourism show
     
  • Fri., 7 – Patient Privacy show
     
• December 2010
  • Mon., 13 – MS Zamboni Treatment: Dr. Goldman Interview
     
  • Wed., 8 – Public Health, Private Lives: Thank Yous
     
  • Wed., 8 – Public Health, Private Lives: Live Chat on December 8, 2010
     
  • Fri., 3 – The Stress Show
     
  • Thu., 2 – Sneak Peek: Public Health, Private Lives
     
• November 2010
  • Mon., 22 – MS Zamboni Treatment: Where are We Now?
     
  • Tue., 16 – MS Zamboni Treatment: new developments
     
  • Fri., 12 – In Sickness and In Health
     
  • Wed., 10 – Wednesday Mailbag
     
  • Fri., 5 – Healthy Design
     
• October 2010
  • Thu., 28 – Thursday Mailbag
     
  • 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
     
  • Sat., 9 – Pain: a Terrible and Misunderstood Affliction
     
  • 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., 22 – Wednesday Mailbag
     
  • Tue., 21 – Where the environmental rubber hits the road....
     
  • Wed., 15 – Wednesday Mailbag: Reaction to MS Show
     
  • Mon., 13 – Newfoundland and Labrador puts its money down
     
• August 2010
  • Wed., 11 – Medical Errors: a list you don't want to ignore
     
• July 2010
  • Wed., 21 – Tasers in the ER? You've got to be Kidding!