What's in the news: August 15

A round-up of Canadian health news, from coast to coast to coast, and beyond, for Friday, August 15. Featuring butt-covering hospital gowns, a high school researcher, surgically restoring facial hair, and "duh" science.

Quebec will be the only province not to participate in the revamped Canadian Blood Services national organ-donor registry. A ministry spokesperson told the Montreal Gazette, "Health is a matter of provincial jurisdiction and we want to run our health-care services." The spokesperson also claimed, falsely, that Quebec is "way ahead of other provinces when it comes to organ donation." [Montreal Gazette]

The Alberta government has opted not to pay for a provincial syphilis awareness advertising campaign. Health Minister Ron Liepert told the Calgary Herald the ad campaign needn't target the entire population -- only high-risk populations. He also said, "What we need to do is convince Albertans to take some personal responsibility. This is a preventable disease, this is not cancer. This is a preventable disease." The Herald writes, "Liepert's comments came a week after the [Edmonton] Journal reported five babies died of congenital syphilis in Alberta since 2005." [Calgary Herald]

Children born to mothers who underwent stress during the disastrous 1998 Quebec ice storm have lower IQs and poorer language skills than average, according to a new study by two McGill-affiliated researchers published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. One of the authors told the Canadian Press that this is the first study to examine the effects of stress caused by a natural disaster on mothers. [Canadian Press] [Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry abstract]

The British Columbia Court of Appeal has reserved three days next April to hear the federal government's appeal of the BC Superior Court decision that declared Insite, the Vancouver safe-injection site, a health facility and prevented the federal government from shutting it down. [Canadian Press]

A Cochrane, Alberta, high school student's study demonstrates that the flavour additive MSG slows brain-cell growth. [Calgary Sun]

A Montreal company, with the help of BC Interior Health Authority's laundry manager, has designed a new hospital gown intended to obviate the well-known problem that most hospital gowns have: leaving your butt hanging out in the wind. [Montreal Gazette]

Ian Furst discusses Canada Health Infoway's goal of providing every Canadian with an electronic health record by the year 2016. [Wait Time & Delayed Care]

Today's entry from the annals of "duh" science comes from a Toronto study: teens feel invincible. [Canadian Press]

Toronto-based blogger Kateland complains of taxpayers' money being frittered away after she receives a safe crack kit in her mailbox, containing crack pipe filters and other materials, as well as condoms. [Dust my Broom] But Kateland's story doesn't hold up under scrutiny: the City of Toronto isn't spending your money on sending out unsolicited crack pipe supplies by mail. Street Health, the distributor of the mailed kits, is a nonprofit agency.

The UK will ban size-zero models from fashion shows. [Canadian Press]

Very few women are entering neurosurgery. [Wall Street Journal health blog]

An Australian study shows that consuming Red Bull energy drinks raises stroke risk. [Reuters]

Trouble for the pro-life crowd: Having one abortion isn't associated with more mental health problems, says the American Psychological Association. [Reuters]

The Canadian Society for International Health's conference takes place October 26-29 in Ottawa. [CSIH]

The International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery is holding its 16th annual meeting in Montreal from September 3-7, with over 500 doctors and surgical assistants set to attend. My favourite part of the press release: there will be a session on "Best practices in transplanting facial hair for patients suffering from hair loss as a result of an accident or a serious burn, including cultural considerations for patients who live in areas of the world where a lack of facial hair - such as a moustache - is considered shameful." [ISHRS]

Subscribe to Canadian Medicine by email or in a news reader