Medicine Canada

A Winnipeg doctor hopes his legacy of providing health care to LGBTQ patients — one of only a few local physicians doing so at the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis — extends beyond his life.

Dr. Dick Smith, who had pancreatic cancer, died with medical assistance on Tuesday. He was 80.

"My biggest thing that I want people to really get a grip on is that no minority of any kind, whether it be religious or sexual or racial, is ever safe," Smith told CBC News in an interview 24 hours before he died.

A Winnipeg doctor hopes his legacy of providing health care to LGBTQ patients — one of only a few local physicians doing so at the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis — extends beyond his life.

Dr. Dick Smith, who had pancreatic cancer, died with medical assistance on Tuesday. He was 80.

"My biggest thing that I want people to really get a grip on is that no minority of any kind, whether it be religious or sexual or racial, is ever safe," Smith told CBC News in an interview 24 hours before he died.

Article itself: Frontiers | Morphologic alterations of the fear circuitry: the role of sex hormones and oral contraceptives

Front. Endocrinol., 07 November 2023 https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2023.1228504

Background: Endogenous sex hormones and oral contraceptives (OCs) have been shown to influence key regions implicated in fear processing. While OC use has been found to impact brain morphology, methodological challenges remain to be addressed, such as avoiding selection bias between OC users and non-users, as well as examining potential lasting effects of OC intake.

Objective: We investigated the current and lasting effects of OC use, as well as the interplay between the current hormonal milieu and history of hormonal contraception use on structural correlates of the fear circuitry. We also examined the role of endogenous and exogenous sex hormones within this network.

Article itself: Frontiers | Morphologic alterations of the fear circuitry: the role of sex hormones and oral contraceptives

Front. Endocrinol., 07 November 2023 https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2023.1228504

Background: Endogenous sex hormones and oral contraceptives (OCs) have been shown to influence key regions implicated in fear processing. While OC use has been found to impact brain morphology, methodological challenges remain to be addressed, such as avoiding selection bias between OC users and non-users, as well as examining potential lasting effects of OC intake.

Objective: We investigated the current and lasting effects of OC use, as well as the interplay between the current hormonal milieu and history of hormonal contraception use on structural correlates of the fear circuitry. We also examined the role of endogenous and exogenous sex hormones within this network.

They looked at the "virtual urgent care" pilot program in Ontario. Relevant bits:

Virtual urgent care (VUC) is intended to support diversion of patients with low-acuity complaints and reduce the need for in-person emergency department visits. We aimed to describe subsequent health care utilization and outcomes of patients who used VUC compared with similar patients who had an in-person emergency department visit.

Of the 19 595 patient VUC visits linked to administrative data, we matched 2129 patients promptly referred to the emergency department by a VUC provider to patients presenting to the emergency department in person

Interpretation: The impact of the provincial VUC pilot program on subsequent health care utilization was limited. There is a need to better understand the inherent limitations of virtual care and ensure future virtual providers have timely access to in-person outpatient resources, to prevent subsequent emergency department visits.

They looked at the "virtual urgent care" pilot program in Ontario. Relevant bits:

Virtual urgent care (VUC) is intended to support diversion of patients with low-acuity complaints and reduce the need for in-person emergency department visits. We aimed to describe subsequent health care utilization and outcomes of patients who used VUC compared with similar patients who had an in-person emergency department visit.

Of the 19 595 patient VUC visits linked to administrative data, we matched 2129 patients promptly referred to the emergency department by a VUC provider to patients presenting to the emergency department in person

Interpretation: The impact of the provincial VUC pilot program on subsequent health care utilization was limited. There is a need to better understand the inherent limitations of virtual care and ensure future virtual providers have timely access to in-person outpatient resources, to prevent subsequent emergency department visits.

'Trying to poach workers from another jurisdiction is not really supporting each other'

'Trying to poach workers from another jurisdiction is not really supporting each other'

A 3rd set of data has been published on the dark web, site says, as OPP continue investigation

A 3rd set of data has been published on the dark web, site says, as OPP continue investigation