What's in the news: Nov. 3 -- Aglukkaq on TV, new film, and more

A round-up of Canadian health news, from coast to coast to coast and beyond, for Monday, November 3.

Newfoundland and Labrador's Commission of Inquiry on Hormone Receptor Testing, also known as the Cameron Inquiry, wrapped up witness testimonies on Friday. A lawyer representing patients injured by the errors in cancer treatment testing and by the subsequent cover-up lauded the commission, telling CBC News that Newfoundlanders "wouldn't have known a tenth that has come out through the inquiry process." [CBC News] The last witness to testify was a woman who was never notified about the testing errors and didn't find out about them until the inquiry was made public. Her breast cancer has returned and metastasized. [Canadian Press] The final report by the commission is due by February 29, 2009. [Commission of Inquiry on Hormone Receptor Testing]

Canada's new health minister, Inuit rookie MP Leona Aglukkaq, appeared on CTV's Question Period yesterday to discuss her plans. [Question Period] Some highlights: "In Canada we have one of the best healthcare systems." The somewhat surprising question: does Ms Aglukkaq see a comparison between herself and Sarah Palin, because they both brought their newborns to work with them? (She says she plans to keep bringing her baby to work in Ottawa.) Her adopted parents were an elder and a hunter. Is she the only one in federal cabinet to ever kill a caribou? I'd say yes, definitely. Lowlights: a bit of excess wonkery, her "unique perspective" goes unexplained, and her first priority is to get to know her staff.

Yet another report from Saskatchewan of syringes being reused to inject meds into IV lines. [CBC News] Alberta's acting chief medical officer organized a conference call with provincial chief medical officers from across Canada to discuss the issue. [Canadian Press]

Now for some good public health news from Saskatchewan: there were only 19 cases of West Nile virus in the province this year, compared to 1,454 in 2007, and zero deaths from the disease this year, compared to four last year. [Canadian Press]

A new documentary chronicles the tragic story of Andrew Bagby and Shirley Turner, both doctors who moved on from Memorial University to practise in the United States. Dr Bagby was shot to death in 2001 after Dr Turner told him she was pregnant and he told her he had been seeing another woman. She headed back to Newfoundland, where she was born, before being charged with his murder; her lawyers delayed extradition for some time. Less than two years later, she killed herself and her one-year-old child in Conception Bay, Newfoundland. The film, Dear Zachary: A Letter to Son About His Father, by a friend of Dr Bagby, has been making the festival circuits. [IMDB] [New York Post] A review in the New York Times, published Friday, called the film "a polemical rant against the Canadian justice system for coddling a dangerous sociopath." [New York Times] The filmmaker's goal, he told the Los Angeles Times, is to pressure Canada to reform its bail and extradition laws. [Los Angeles Times] The film has received lots of press this year. [Reuters]

Nova Scotia has centralized its various regional breast cancer screening programs in an effort to make the process more efficient and better organized. The goal is to reduce wait times for screening. [news release]

A man from London, Ontario, will ski to the south pole to raise awareness of colon cancer. He's due to leave on Sunday. You can follow Thomas Davenport's adventure online. [news release]

Don't miss this great story by Dr Liana about practising medicine in East Timor, called "On breaking points." [Med Valley High]

Saskatoon urological surgeon Kishore Visvanathan is back on the topic of annoying PowerPoints, this time complaining about Mac-PC compatibility issues and some doctors' refusal to bridge the gap. [Plain Brown Wrapper]

I was pleased to learn of a relatively new blog by a Canadian physician today: Physician, Heal Thyself is written by orthopedic surgery resident and recent MBA grad Jesse Shantz of Winnipeg. [Physician, Heal Thyself] Dr Shantz's site is the latest addition to our database of Canadian physician blogs, available on the left-hand sidebar of Canadian Medicine or by clicking here to see the full list on our homepage.

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