Monday, January 12, 2009
Diagnostic experience among 4,334 women reporting surgically diagnosed endometriosis
"...Sometime before diagnosis, 63% were told nothing was wrong with them."
(Editorial note: since there is a known connection between endometrioid and clear cell ovarian cancer cell types to endometriosis, it would be interesting to note followup on those subsequently diagnosed not only with endometriosis but also with ovarian cancer)
The government’s role in health care | Health Innovation Forum
The government’s role in health care | Health Innovation Forum
"More importantly, after nearly 30 years of overt attempts to manage provincial systems, they are still not stable or sustainable. This worrisome outcome results from the convergence of three probably uncontrollable and partially self-imposed factors I like to call the “Bermuda Triangle” of health care."
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Toronto Star: Disclose Charity Pay
Disclose charity pay
January 11, 2009
In these tough times, Canadian charities are working harder than ever to raise money for their good works.
But for charities, as for any business, it costs money to raise money.
To help maintain public confidence in charity work, the Canada Revenue Agency regulates fundraising by requiring the disclosure of what percentage of donations is spent on administration costs. Under proposed CRA guidelines released last year, charities should keep fundraising costs below 35 cents on the dollar. The goal is to reassure donors that most of their money is going to help deserving causes, rather than paying expenses and salaries.
Yet Ottawa is still lagging behind the U.S. in its regulation of the vital fundraising sector.
As the Star's Kevin Donovan reminded us in his recent story about a change of the guard at one of Toronto's biggest charities, most fundraisers won't say how much money they are paying their own top people. He reported that the departing president of SickKids Foundation, Michael O'Mahoney, earned a remarkable $624,103 in salary and benefits last year, more than the president of the Hospital for Sick Children for which he was raising money.
The Star discovered O'Mahoney's salary only because of disclosure documents filed with the Internal Revenue Service in the U.S., where SickKids Foundation arm does business, not the CRA.
Canada had long lagged behind the U.S. in disclosure of corporate salaries but, belatedly, shone a light on something shareholders have every right to know. Fundraising has become a big business, and the donors who have a stake in Canada's 83,000 charities deserve no less transparency than shareholders in big corporations.
Critical Care Canada Forum
Critical Care Canada Forum
Presentations
* 'Substitute Decision Making: Conflicts and Controversies in Practice' by Mark Handelman (Flash Movie)
* 'Unilateral Withdrawal: An 11th Commandment?' by Anand Kumar (Flash Movie)
* 'When is Enough Enough? An Ethical Perspective' by Robert Sibbald (Flash Movie)
* 'Legal Framework & Cases Affecting Critical Care in Ontario' by Joan Gilmour (Flash Movie)
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Journal of Ovarian Research | Full text | Can Subjective Global Assessment of Nutritional Status Predict Survival in Ovarian Cancer?
Journal of Ovarian Research | Full text | Can Subjective Global Assessment of Nutritional Status Predict Survival in Ovarian Cancer?
"Background
Malnutrition is a significant problem in patients with ovarian cancer. The goal of this study was to investigate the prognostic role of Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) in patients with ovarian cancer treated in an integrative cancer treatment setting."
Thursday, January 08, 2009
CSDH Conference 2008 video: Health as a Human Right (a Human Rights Report)
CSDH Conference
global inequality and discrimination and poverty - Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Readers as research detectives abstract + free full text
Abstract | Readers as research detectives
"Commentary - Readers as research detectives
Peter C Gøtzsche
Trials 2009, 10:2doi:10.1186/1745-6215-10-2
Published: 7 January 2009
Abstract (provisional)
Flaws in research papers are common but it may require arduous detective work to unravel them. Checklists are helpful, but many inconsistencies will only be revealed through repeated cross-checks of every little detail, just like in a crime case. As a major deterrent for dishonesty, raw data from all trials should be posted on a public website. This would also make it much easier to detect errors and flaws in publications, and it would allow many research projects to be performed without collecting new data. The prevailing culture of secrecy and ownership to data is not in the best interests of the patients."
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Dietary patterns and ovarian cancer risk -- Kolahdooz et al. 89 (1): 297 -- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Dietary patterns and ovarian cancer risk -- Kolahdooz et al. 89 (1): 297 -- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
"Conclusions: A diet characterized by high meat and fat intake may increase the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer. A diet high in fruit and vegetables was not associated with reduced risk."
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Monday, January 05, 2009
Cytoreductive surgery for recurrent ovarian cancer: A meta-analysis
Conclusions
Among patients undergoing operative intervention for recurrent ovarian cancer, the proportion of patients undergoing complete cytoreductive surgery is independently associated with overall post-recurrence survival time. For this select group of patients, the surgical objective should be resection of all macroscopic disease.
Central East LHIN (Ontario)- Integration-Process slide/pdf file
Integration-Process_for_website.pdf (application/pdf Object)
There is no requirement of the LHIN or HSP provider to conduct a community engagement process
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Tragic results of suboptimal gynecologic cancer operations
Tragic results of suboptimal gynecologic cancer op...[Eur J Gynaecol Oncol. 2008] - PubMed Result
"CONCLUSION: If a gynecologist does not have enough experience or expertise about gynecological cancer operations, he or she must consider the possible harm that any surgical intervention might do, as the latin phrase 'primum non nocere' means and should refer patients to a gynecological oncology center without performing any surgery."
Prospective study of physical activity and the risk of ovarian cancer
Prospective study of physical activity and the ris...[Cancer Causes Control. 2008] - PubMed Result
"CONCLUSIONS: Neither moderate nor vigorous physical activity showed a statistically significant association with ovarian cancer in this large cohort of women."
Consideration of hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC/Lynch Syndrome) in BRCA mutation negative familial ovarian cancers
Consideration of hereditary nonpolyposis colorecta...[Cancer. 2008] - PubMed Result
"CONCLUSIONS:: HNPCC should be considered when evaluating patients with suspected hereditary ovarian cancer who have had negative BRCA mutation testing"
Clinical trials in Canada: whose interests are paramount?
Clinical trials in Canada: whose interests are par...[Int J Health Serv. 2008] - PubMed Result
Clinical trials in Canada: whose interests are paramount?
More than 80 percent of clinical drug trials in Canada are funded by the pharmaceutical industry. This article evaluates the overall state of clinical trials in Canada and looks at the interplay between public and private interests. Health Canada has adopted standards developed by the International Conference on Harmonization, a body that is heavily influenced by industry. Commercial interests are increasingly involved in recruiting patients into clinical trials and in running these trials. It is in industry's interests to conduct drug tests on people for which it is easiest to see benefits. These interests are not fundamentally challenged by Health Canada's policy of issuing nonmandatory guidelines on who should and should not be included in clinical trials. The outcome of clinical trials is heavily influenced by commercial sponsorship, with the result that trials may favor corporate interests rather than the interests of the public. How Health Canada deals with that possibility is not known, because of its strict policy of treating clinical trial data as private property. If clinical trials are to serve the purpose for which they are designed, developing reliable and objective information about new drugs, then commercial interests cannot be allowed to take precedence over health interests.
Medical students' experiences with addicted patients: a web-based survey
Medical students' experiences with addicted patien...[Subst Abus. 2008] - PubMed Result
"Students reacted strongly to the psychosocial impact of addictions on patients, yet they viewed addiction as a personal choice, not an illness. Conclusion: Medical students are not being trained to diagnose addiction or provide advice and counseling. Medical schools need to provide students with positive clinical experiences supervised by physicians experienced in addictions."
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Can the preoperative Ca-125 level predict optimal cytoreduction in patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma? A single institution cohort study
Can the preoperative Ca-125 level predict optimal ...[Gynecol Oncol. 2009] - PubMed Result: "Can the preoperative Ca-125 level predict optimal cytoreduction in patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma? A single institution cohort study"
A contemporary analysis of ability of pre-op serum CA-125 to predict primary cytoreductive outcome in patients advanced ovarian, tubal & peritoneal
A contemporary analysis of the ability of preopera...[Gynecol Oncol. 2009] - PubMed Result
"A contemporary analysis of the ability of preoperative serum CA-125 to predict primary cytoreductive outcome in patients with advanced ovarian, tubal and peritoneal carcinoma"
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