An article by Andreas Laupacis in HealthyDebate.ca reviews conflicts of interest with respect to government and contract health services researchers, and raises some provocative issues not often discussed even amongst COI watchdogs: For example, Evidencenetwork.ca, a web site that provides…
The Toronto Star reports on a study that found University of Toronto medical school students are being routinely misled about the enormous influence of pharmaceutical companies on their educational programs. As Canada’s opioid addiction epidemic took root, students at one…
A new study published in PLOS One looks at pharmaceutical industry activities and influences on universities in Canada and conflict of interest policies in Canadian medical schools, and finds COI policies “Too Few, Too Weak.” Lead author Adrienne Shnier is…
David Hutton of the Parkland Institute has done an analysis of whistleblower legislation along with recommendations, with a focus on Alberta in particular. Looking at the important health findings that have come from whistleblower protections and incentives in the U.S.…
Global TV News has released an encore presentation of its investigation into how antidepressants got into the marketplace despite glaring flaws in evidence that they even worked, and their terrible side effects.
The Canadian Health Coalition has posted videos of the proceedings of the conference Rethinking Drug Coverage: Time for Universal Pharmacare?
Paul Webster provides a good overview in the Vancouver Observer of the BC liberal government’s gutting of public-service drug research and analysis in the province, including this admission from Premier Christy Clark about axing the Therapeutics Initiative: Unplugging the Therapeutics…
Focus magazine has published the Canadian Medical Marveller’s investigation into the activities of drug company sales representatives in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. What did we find? Seems like things may not be different in Canada as in the U.S., except…
This Journal of Social, Cultural and Political Protest case study of suppression tactics against a Canadian animal rights group is interesting reading, especially for the linkages it draws between AstraZeneca and Novartis pharmaceutical companies and their private security firms, local…
The Canadian Medical Association Journal is reporting that the chair of a special committee charged with assessing the safety of wi-fi did not disclose that he’d taken payments from Industry Canada specifically to help them dismiss public concerns about wi-fi safety:…
Several articles explore dramatically rising rates of antipsychotic prescribing in BC children. Watch out for a mixed bag in terms of who’s being quoted and numbers getting muddled up and incomprehensible at times, but the overall message is clear that…
The National Post has run a good op-ed which dispels some of the common beliefs used to argue against publicly-funded universal prescription drug coverage, and exposes some of the ways that pharmaceutical companies become less helpful the more profits they…
A new book called Mad Matters has been released from Canadian Scholars Press. It’s a collection of writings by academics, psychiatric survivors, activists and others taking critical perspectives on the psychiatry industry, that gives a fascinating overview of the emerging…
An interesting website, “Scientists for the Right to Know,” has gotten going. It is tracking prominent examples of the muzzling of scientists by the Canadian government.
One of many devastating consequences to the re-election of the BC Liberals in British Columbia this week could be the final destruction of all independent drug research, evaluation, and regulation in the province for processes more favourable to pharmaceutical companies.…
Postmedia News reports that children are dying from antipsychotic drugs which Health Canada hasn’t even approved for doctors to be prescribing to children in the first place. Once reserved for schizophrenia and mania in adults, the drugs are increasingly being…
Here’s a copy of the lawsuit launched by drug researcher William Warburton against BC Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid for libel, defamation and improper firing. It’s an interesting read insofar as Warburton directly accuses the Liberal government of trying to protect…
The CBC reports that Canada’s National Research Council will no longer support research unless it’s specifically geared to helping commercial enterprises. Essentially, it seems the NRC is being turned into a giant operating subsidy for corporations, where they will be…
Drug researcher Bill Warburton alleges in a lawsuit that he was fired along with others in a BC Health Ministry purge because the BC Liberals were trying to protect and increase donations from pharmaceutical companies heading into an election. Here’s…
The Georgia Straight reports that the Therapeutics Initiative’s funding has been cut. TI has been internationally renowned for its independent analyses of the safety and efficacy of drug treatments. To do this in the middle of an election campaign shows…