Category: patient safety

Dr. Paula Gordon: pleas for better breast health screening

by Pamela Fayerman | Sep 29, 2022 | breast cancer, COVID19, Health, mammograms | 0

The pandemic disrupted health care across Canada. Breast cancer screening and treatment have suffered greatly and women are still facing delays in diagnosis and treatment.

Eco-conscious”green” burials, MAID and other death and dying issues in planned med school course

by Pamela Fayerman | Sep 1, 2022 | death, doula, healthcare workers, medical education, palliative care, UBC | 1

Eco funerals, medical assistance in dying, cultural traditions and other matters related to death and dying

Teamwork in healthcare a necessity as medicine becomes more complicated

by Pamela Fayerman | May 4, 2022 | healthcare workers, hospitals, medical education, nurses, patient safety, physicians | 0

The latest book by Dr. Brian Goldman is about how health professionals are teaming up to improve the safety and quality of medicine and hospital care for patients.

Lucky breaks for former ski competitor after Whistler accident brain injury

by Pamela Fayerman | Apr 18, 2022 | ICU, skiing, traumatic brain injury, Vancouver General Hospital, Whistler | 0

Former Utah skiing champion got engaged on the 7th anniversary of her near-fatal accident at Whistler. She now does motivational speaking and builds awareness about traumatic brain injuries.

The problems with clinical trials: negative results not reported by pharma sponsors

by Pamela Fayerman | Mar 28, 2022 | Canada, clinical trials, Health Canada | 0

When research trials show negative results, drug companies can nix releasing the data from research trials.

Heart health scientist calls crisis line, then goes to rehab for serious depression

by Pamela Fayerman | Mar 20, 2022 | rehab | 1

Heart scientist goes to rehab for depression.

The best timing to use a rapid test kit

by Pamela Fayerman | Feb 15, 2022 | COVID19 tests, Omicron, rapid COVID-19 tests | 0

Rapid test kits for COVID are most effective when used after symptoms develop, when viral load is highest.

Paxlovid for COVID patients; the ridiculously long list of meds that could pose dangerous interactions

by Pamela Fayerman | Jan 30, 2022 | COVID19, Health Canada, hospitals, Paxlovid, Pfizer, physicians | 1

Patients who may qualify for the new Pfizer pills, for COVID

Vaccination exemption on medical or religious grounds a 2022 legal challenge for employers

by Pamela Fayerman | Jan 11, 2022 | Canada, COVID19, vaccine exemptions | 0

The legal challenges with mandatory vaccinations for employers and those seeking exemptions

Aversion to rapid antigen home kits by this province is a pandemic failure

by Pamela Fayerman | Dec 15, 2021 | BC health, COVID19 tests, rapid COVID-19 tests | 0

Rapid antigen tests to detect COVID-19 are grossly underused in some provinces like B.C.

Breast cancer screening mammogram policies are based on flawed research: Dr. Paula Gordon

by Pamela Fayerman | Dec 1, 2021 | breast cancer, mammograms, radiology | 0

Controversy rages on about breast cancer screening mammography policies.

About 11,000 cases of COVID-19 in BC healthcare workers since pandemic began

by Pamela Fayerman | Nov 21, 2021 | BC health, care aides, COVID19, healthcare workers, nurses | 0

Healthcare workers account for over 5% of all COVID-19 cases in B.C. since the pandemic began. About 9% of healthcare workers have contracted COVID-19.

Website Author: Pamela Fayerman

I'm an award winning Canadian journalist for nearly four decades. I’ve worked at six daily newspapers, and for 25 years, I was the medical/health issues reporter for The Vancouver Sun and other newspapers in Canada’s largest newspaper chain. My professional development has been assisted with numerous fellowships awarded by the Association of Health Care Journalists, New York Times Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and Knight Science Journalism. I’ve received training in various aspects of medical journalism at Columbia University (neuroscience), MIT (medical evidence and digital science journalism), Mount Sinai Medical Center (aging) and Dartmouth College medical school (Medicine in the Media).

I graduated from Ryerson University with a degree in journalism and attended Queen’s University law school on a one-year legal journalism fellowship from the Canadian Bar Association.

I’m the recipient of several prestigious journalism awards as well as two major grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, one for a series on patient navigators and another for a series that focused on knowledge translation as it pertains to fallopian tube removal to prevent ovarian cancer.

My goal for this website is to share valuable information that will help readers learn about health care, research and medical advancements.