Gord Downie, the lead singer of The Tragically Hip, has brain cancer. In a year when we have already lost Bowie, Prince, Guy Clark and Ron Hynes — another musical giant might be leaving us. Like many 40-something Canadians, the lyrics of The Hip have been gospel for me ...

On June 30, 2012, most refugees to Canada, including those who arrive seeking asylum, had major cuts to health insurance coverage provided by the Interim Federal Health Program. Coverage for many is now limited to conditions deemed a public health or public security con...

It was a pleasure to read Dr. Andrew Hogan’s article on the social and medical models of disability.[1][1] As someone who works at the intersections of public health, disability studies, gender studies and psychology, I was delighted to see Dr. Hogan’s eloquent summary ...

Sara is a 41-year-old secretary in an autobody shop who comes to see you for evaluation of intermittent episodes of wheeze and shortness of breath that have progressed over the past 2 years. She feels that she has more “colds” than her workplace colleague, each of which...

BACKGROUND: The evolving clinical burden of limb loss secondary to diabetes and peripheral artery disease remains poorly characterized. We sought to examine secular trends in the rate of lower-extremity amputations related to diabetes, peripheral artery disease or both....

Present, yet somehow deeply absent, this quiet man sitting beside me is Robert Perkins, my father. Throughout his life, many of his friends simply called him Bob, which is unfortunate because he dislikes Bob, preferring Robert or — if absolutely necessary — Rob. As chil...

We respectfully object to the interpretation[1][1] of our commentary[2][2] as one that would promote withholding information from screening participants. We essentially sought to express concerns about the proposed guideline because it entailed serious limitations, on m...

A 68-year-old woman sought care at our emergency department because of a three-month history of lower back pain, which had started during a recent trip abroad. She complained of difficulty walking and had been experiencing low-grade fevers. Just before presentation, she...

BACKGROUND: There is a lack of data in Canada on the longitudinal effects of adverse events that occur in hospital, specifically in the period after discharge. Our objective was to quantify the impact of adverse events on hospital length of stay, length of person-centre...

[See related article at [www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.181621][2]][2] KEY POINTS What is the cost of an adverse event? This question, which now underpins many quality improvement efforts, initially interested only medical tort litigators and their clients. In 1991...