Health – Winnipeg Free Press

Poland lawmakers back law intended to release EU funds

Monika Scislowska, The Associated Press 3 minute read Friday, Jan. 13, 2023

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s legislators voted Friday to approve a new law on judicial accountability that the government hopes will meet European Union expectations and help unfreeze billions of euros in pandemic recovery funds for the country.

Brussels suspended the aid for Poland, saying the government's policies of exerting control over the judiciary are in violation of democratic principles. The EU has called for essential changes to be made before Poland can be granted access to the money.

The right-wing coalition government says that the provisions of the new law have been agreed on with Brussels and should lead to the release of more than 35 billion euros ($37 billion) of EU grants and loans. Some previous changes made by Poland didn't go far enough for the EU.

But the justice minister, who introduced the measures to wield political control over the judiciary, opposes the changes, threatening the government's future, and President Andrzej Duda says he hasn't been consulted on the new law.

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Germany to scrap mask mandate in long-distance transport

The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Germany to scrap mask mandate in long-distance transport

The Associated Press 2 minute read Friday, Jan. 13, 2023

BERLIN (AP) — Germany will soon drop a mask mandate on long-distance trains and buses, one of the country's last remaining COVID-19 restrictions, the health minister said Friday.

The mandate will be dropped on Feb. 2, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach announced in Berlin.

Other European countries already have scrapped mask mandates in public transport, and Lauterbach faced increasing pressure to follow suit in recent weeks. Masks remain mandatory in doctors’ practices, while masks and negative tests are still required to enter hospitals and nursing homes.

Rules for local transportation are a matter for Germany’s 16 state governments, and an increasing number have dropped or are dropping their mask mandates. Some also have scrapped rules requiring infected people to isolate at home.

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Friday, Jan. 13, 2023

FILE --People wear face masks to protect themself against the coronavirus as they leave and get on board of a subway train in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, June 23, 2020. Germany's health minister says the country will soon drop a mask mandate in long-distance trains and buses, one of the country’s last remaining COVID-19 restrictions. Rules for local transport are a matter for Germany’s 16 state governments. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn,file)

Emergency departments are in a state of crisis, Halifax ER chief says

Lyndsay Armstrong, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Emergency departments are in a state of crisis, Halifax ER chief says

Lyndsay Armstrong, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Friday, Jan. 13, 2023

HALIFAX - The head of emergency medicine for Halifax and the surrounding area says ERs are under the most extreme pressure that he’s seen in his 23-year career, and he says it’s taking a toll on patients and health-care workers.

Emergency medicine is in a state of “crisis” amid a shortage of nurses, physicians and hospital beds, and with a rise in patients with complex needs, Dr. Kirk Magee, chief of the central zone’s network of emergency departments, said in an interview Thursday.

“We all went into emergency medicine because we love to do it and we love a challenge — but we used to have the resources to meet that challenge,” he said.

“Now (emergency department staff) are extremely worried they're going to be put in a position where they're not able to manage the expectations or even the needs of patients and their families.”

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Friday, Jan. 13, 2023

Chief of the central zone’s network of emergency departments Dr. Kirk Magee says emergency medicine is in a state of “crisis” amid a shortage of nurses, physicians and hospital beds, and with a rise in patients with more complex needs. Paramedics are seen at the Dartmouth General Hospital in Dartmouth, N.S., on July 4, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

Appeals court rules against vaccine mandate in 3 states

The Associated Press 1 minute read Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

CINCINNATI, Ohio (AP) — An appeals court has affirmed a ban in three states on enforcing a federal vaccine mandate for workers who contract with the federal government.

A panel of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati on Thursday affirmed a lower court's ruling that said the mandate was unconstitutional. President Joe Biden's administration is not enforcing the rule while legal battles play out around the country.

A federal judge in Louisville, Kentucky, blocked the Biden rule in November 2021 for that state and two others: Tennessee and Ohio. The mandate requires workers contracting with the federal government to wear face masks and be vaccinated for COVID-19.

The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a similar ruling in December for Indiana, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Wisconsin Republicans block ‘conversion therapy’ ban

Harm Venhuizen, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Wisconsin Republicans block ‘conversion therapy’ ban

Harm Venhuizen, The Associated Press 4 minute read Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Republicans voted Thursday to again allow therapists, social workers and counselors to try to change LGBTQ clients’ gender identities and sexual orientations — a discredited practice known as conversion therapy.

A ban on conversion therapy was passed in 2020 by a state board within the Democratic governor's administration overseeing licensing for mental health professionals. But a committee in the Republican-controlled Legislature temporarily blocked the ban then and did so again Thursday, with all six Republican members voting to block it and the four Democrats voting to keep it in place.

LGBTQ rights advocates have decried the scientifically discredited practice of trying to “convert” LGBTQ people to heterosexuality and traditional gender expectations as harmful, citing research suggesting the practice can increase the risk of suicide and depression.

At least 20 states and the District of Columbia have outlawed conversion therapy for minors, according to the Movement Advancement Project, a pro-LGBTQ rights think tank. Wisconsin is not one of them.

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Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

FILE - State Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, looks on during a hearing at the state Capitol in Madison, Wis., on Feb. 24, 2015. Wisconsin Republicans planned to vote Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023, to again allow therapists, social workers and counselors to try to change their LGBTQ clients’ gender identities and sexual orientations, a practice known as conversion therapy. (Amber Arnold/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, File)

‘Shocked’ family says Cape Breton woman died after leaving busy emergency department

The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

‘Shocked’ family says Cape Breton woman died after leaving busy emergency department

The Canadian Press 4 minute read Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

SYDNEY, N.S. - The family of a Nova Scotia woman says she died at home after waiting seven hours without seeing a doctor and deciding to leave the emergency department.

Katherine Snow said her mother-in-law, Charlene Snow, went to the Cape Breton Regional Hospital on the afternoon of Dec. 30 with jaw pain and flu-like symptoms and was triaged by a nurse.

She said the 67-year-old left the hospital after giving up on seeing a doctor and assuming she would have better luck the next morning at a nearby urgent treatment clinic.

However, Snow said her mother-in-law had a heart attack and died at about 9:45 p.m., about an hour after returning to her house in Donkin, N.S., about 30 kilometres east of the hospital in Sydney.

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Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

Charlene Snow and her granddaughter, Nora Snow, are seen in 2021 in this handout image provided Jan. 12, 2023. The family of a 67-year-old Cape Breton woman says Charlene Snow died at home the night she left her local emergency department, after she waited seven hours without seeing a doctor. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Katherine Snow **MANDATORY CREDIT**

Alberta premier backs off on promise to seek pardons for COVID-19 health violators

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Alberta premier backs off on promise to seek pardons for COVID-19 health violators

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

EDMONTON - Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, less than three months after promising to seek pardons for COVID-19 health violators, says she will now let justice take its course while also announcing she is regularly contacting Crown prosecutors about these cases.

“The way our system of justice works is we do have an independent justice department and independent Crown prosecutors,” Smith told reporters Thursday when asked why she has not followed through on the pardon commitment.

“As we continue to see some of these cases go through — some of them get dropped, some of them fail — (prosecutors) have to consistently recalibrate, but I do want to make sure they have an independent process for assessing that.

“But I ask them on a regular basis, as new cases come out, is it in the public interest to pursue and is there a reasonable likelihood of conviction?”

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Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith gives an Alberta government update in Calgary, Alta., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who promised less than three months ago to seek pardons for COVID-19 health violators, now says she will let justice take its course. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

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US kindergarten vaccination rate dropped again, data shows

Mike Stobbe, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

US kindergarten vaccination rate dropped again, data shows

Mike Stobbe, The Associated Press 4 minute read Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

NEW YORK (AP) — Vaccination rates for U.S. kindergarteners dropped again last year, and federal officials are starting a new campaign to try to bring them up.

Usually, 94% to 95% of kindergarteners are vaccinated against measles, tetanus and certain other diseases. The vaccination rates dropped below 94% in the 2020-2021 school year, during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study released Thursday found rates dropped again in the 2021-2022 school year, to about 93%.

The pandemic disrupted vaccinations and other routine health care for children, and also taxed the ability of school administrators and nurses to track which children weren't up-to-date on shots. CDC officials said decreased confidence in vaccines is another likely contributor.

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Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

FILE - Socially distanced kindergarten students wait for their parents to pick them up on the first day of in-person learning at Maurice Sendak Elementary School on April 13, 2021, in Los Angeles. Vaccination rates for U.S. kindergarteners in 2022 saw a significant drop for the second year in a row, according to new data released Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023, and worried federal officials are launching a new campaign to try to help bring them back up. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Worst cholera outbreak in decades kills 750 people in Malawi

Gregory Gondwe, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Worst cholera outbreak in decades kills 750 people in Malawi

Gregory Gondwe, The Associated Press 5 minute read Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — The worst cholera outbreak to affect Malawi in two decades has now claimed 750 lives, a government minister said, while the World Health Organization chief described the southeast African country as among the hardest-hit amid ongoing global epidemics that are “more widespread and deadly than normal.”

Malawi’s Health Minister Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda on Thursday ordered the closure of many businesses that lack safe water, toilets and hygienic refuse disposal facilities, and announced restrictions on the sale of pre-cooked food.

“We continue to record rising number of cases across the country, despite signs of reduced transmission and deaths in a few areas,” Chiponda said in a statement, and urged adherence to sanitation and hygiene measures.

On Wednesday, Chiponda said 17 people had died from 589 new cases of the waterborne disease “in the past 24 hours.” She said the country has recorded 22,759 cases since the onset of the outbreak in March last year.

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Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

Health workers treat cholera patients at the Bwaila Hospital in Lilongwe central Malawi Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. Malawi’s health minister says the country’s worst cholera outbreak in two decades has killed 750 people so far. The southern African country of 20 million people first reported the outbreak in March last year. (AP Photo/Thoko Chikondi)

Researchers consider how to ‘denormalize’ drinking culture ahead of new alcohol guide

Camille Bains, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview

Researchers consider how to ‘denormalize’ drinking culture ahead of new alcohol guide

Camille Bains, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

Lee-Anne Richardson is celebrating the three-year anniversary of a support group she founded for people who've decided to ditch alcohol or cut back as part of what she considers a movement toward healthier living, especially by younger generations.

Richardson, 38, said she spent much of her 20s binge-drinking. She blames alcohol for destroying many of her relationships and says her self-esteem plummeted as she tried to control how much she consumed.

The turning point came after another night out with friends at a bar in March 2014 when Richardson realized she either had to quit drinking or "something very, very bad is going to happen."

After attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, Richardson realized she needed to replace the social connections she'd made during her "drinking career" with more positive ones while also supporting others through their own journey to sobriety or less alcohol.

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Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

Lee-Anne Richardson poses in this Jan. 9, 2023 handout photo. Richardson supports a change in Canada's national low-risk drinking guidelines, to be released next week, and says a dramatic shift in alcohol guidance would be in line with younger people's attitudes, many of whom are open about the health risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Lee-Anne Richardson

Stricter Medicaid abortion process up for debate in Montana

Amy Beth Hanson, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Stricter Medicaid abortion process up for debate in Montana

Amy Beth Hanson, The Associated Press 5 minute read Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Officials in Republican-controlled Montana on Thursday heard comments against a health department proposal to require prior authorization to pay for abortions for Medicaid patients. Critics say the proposal would unnecessarily reduce access and delay or even prevent abortion care for low-income women.

The Department of Public Health and Human Services wants doctors to submit medical information supporting the need for an abortion to save a patient’s life or for any other medically necessary reason before Medicaid would agree to pay for the procedure. The information would include the number of her pregnancies and children.

Opponents outnumbered supporters 27-1 in the online hearing, in which two Missoula physicians argued the proposal represents an intrusion in the physician-patient relationship, exacerbates the existing health inequities for low-income women and puts medical decisions in the hands of bureaucrats rather than medical providers.

The agency said it is putting into state rules a 1995 court decision that found Montana Medicaid has to cover the costs of “medically necessary” abortions, but not elective abortions. Montana is one of 16 states where Medicaid is required to cover “medically necessary” abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

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Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

FILE - Protesters fill the Montana state Capitol rotunda in Helena, Mont., on Feb. 11, 2015, during a rally to show support in an attempt to change the Montana Constitution to define life as beginning at conception. State officials in Republican-controlled Montana want to require prior authorization before its health department pays for abortions for people covered by Medicaid, a proposal critics say would reduce access and delay or even prevent abortion care for low-income women in a state. (Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP, File)

Mississippi reports 14th death of a child due to COVID-19

The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Mississippi reports 14th death of a child due to COVID-19

The Associated Press 2 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A 14th Mississippi child has died from COVID-19, the state's department of health said Wednesday.

The infant under the age of one was the most recent child to die in Mississippi. The child was the first person under 18 to die from COVID-19 in the state in 2023. According to state department of health data, eight children between the ages of 11 and 17 have died since the first cases of the virus were identified in 2020, making that age range the most prone to pediatric deaths in the state so far.

Dr. Paul Byers, the state epidemiologist, said the death should serve as a reminder for residents to get vaccinated and to make sure that they are up to date on booster shots to protect against the virus.

“Vaccination not only protects you, but it also protects those around you who may not be eligible for vaccination or who may be at higher risk for complications due to age or underlying health problems,” Byers said in a news release. “It is important to stay up to date and receive the most recent bivalent booster when eligible in order to provide the best protection against infection, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19.”

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Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

FILE - State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers, right, listens to Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, left, at a news briefing, Aug. 24, 2021, in Jackson, Miss. The state's Department of Health said Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, that the 14th Mississippi child has died from COVID-19. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

New push to restrict abortions to be introduced in Nebraska

Margery A. Beck, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

New push to restrict abortions to be introduced in Nebraska

Margery A. Beck, The Associated Press 4 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska lawmaker who sponsored a failed total abortion ban last year announced Wednesday that she will introduce a new bill this week that would ban abortion once cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo, which is generally around the sixth week of pregnancy.

State Sen. Joni Albrecht, of Thurston, announced at a news conference that she would introduce the bill Thursday or Friday. It will require an ultrasound to be performed before any abortion and would bar abortions if cardiac activity is detected. It will include exceptions for cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.

“We heard the cry of the public last year,” Albrecht told The Associated Press. “Rape and incest was a big deal.”

The bill also will not include criminal penalties for women who receive abortions or doctors who perform them. Instead, it would subject doctors who perform abortions in violation of the measure to professional discipline, which could include losing their medical licenses. The bill also would not affect in vitro fertilization procedures, Albrecht said.

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Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

FILE - Nebraska state Sen. Joni Albrecht, R-Thurston, is pictured in the Legislative Chamber in Lincoln, Neb., March 1, 2019. Albrecht, who sponsored a failed total-abortion ban in 2022, announced Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, that she will introduce a new bill this week that would ban abortion once cardiac activity can be detected in a fetus, which is generally around the sixth week of pregnancy. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

Toronto hospital network says all systems restored after outage

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

Toronto hospital network says all systems restored after outage

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

TORONTO - A major Toronto hospital network says all of its systems are working normally again after an outage earlier this week.

The University Health Network reported Monday that it had issued a "code grey" -- hospital code for system failure -- which it later attributed to a systems communications issue.

UHN said Tuesday it had restored virtually all of its digital systems but that it would take time for all systems to become operational again.

The network said the outage was caused by internal problems – not an outside cyberattack – and there was no breach of patient data.

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Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

A major Toronto hospital network says all of its systems are working normally and access has been restored to users after reporting a code grey earlier this week. Toronto General Hospital is shown on April 5, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Doug Ives

Ontario willing to accept accountability if health-care funding increased: Ford

Liam Casey, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Ontario willing to accept accountability if health-care funding increased: Ford

Liam Casey, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

TORONTO - Ontario is willing to accept some strings from the federal government if they give the province more health-care funding, Premier Doug Ford said Wednesday.

Premiers and health ministers across the country have demanded more help by way of the Canada Health Transfer.

They want to see Ottawa cover 35 per cent of health-care costs across the country, up from the current 22 per cent.

"There always has to be accountability," Ford said.

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Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks during a press conference at a Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacy in Etobicoke, Ont., on Wednesday, January 11, 2023. Ford says he's willing to accept some strings from the federal government if they give the province more health-care funding. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Tijana Martin

Nova Scotia adds 600 new long-term care beds to planned system increase

Keith Doucette, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Nova Scotia adds 600 new long-term care beds to planned system increase

Keith Doucette, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

HALIFAX - Long-term care facilities across Nova Scotia are to get another 600 single occupancy rooms as the provincial government strives to meet current and future demand.

The announcement Wednesday by Seniors and Long-Term Care Minister Barbara Adams builds on another 600 beds that were pledged last February and is now part of a plan to add 1,200 single rooms to the network by 2027.

Adams said that by 2027, the province's long-term care system will have 9,200 beds compared with the current 8,000.

“Demand for nursing homes is expected to grow,” said Adams. "As we were doing an analysis of the trend in population growth and the wait-list for each of the facilities … we certainly knew that the number of projected (rooms) was not going to come anywhere close to meeting the need."

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Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

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