Sholom Glouberman

Catherine Cross -- The federal government is considering making adverse drug reaction reporting mandatory for doctors and other health care providers, says Health Canada.

Health Canada is concerned that adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are underreported. The Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology estimates that only 5% of suspected ADRs are reported... Every year, drug distributors submit a summary of all ADR reports to Health Canada, stating whether the reported ADRs change the drug's risk-to-benefit profile.

For the first time ever patients in the South East Local Health Integration Network have nominated physicians and a critical care team for the Patients’ Choice Award. The Patients’ Choice Award honours health-care professionals who have demonstrated exceptional care within their community.

Adriana Barton -- Despite a health care system burdened by high costs and patients facing long waits for medical procedures, many Canadians are getting unnecessary diagnostic tests and surgeries that may leave them worse off, physicians say.

On Saturday, April 13th, the Patients' Association and Oakley & Oakley hosted To Err is Human: What Every Patient Should Know About Medical Errors. The purpose of the conference was to shed light on the nature of medical error in Canada, and many participants left feeling like they had gained a lot of information. We were lucky to have the expertise and perspective of speakers from many backgrounds including malpractice law, medical science, and risk management. Many of the speakers were happy to share their presentations; please find them attached below.

Five aspects of hospital care covered in CBC's patient feedback tool.

Yesterday, the first ever meeting of Patient and Family Advisers (PFAs) was held at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto. Patient and Family Advisers from Thunder Bay to Halifax were there to get to know each other and work on issues that they felt strongly about. Everyone there wanted to build a strong national network of advisers in order to bring a helpful patient and family voice to healthcare.

Modern health care systems emerged in the late 19th Century from the ascendance of scientific medicine. The major killers at the time of Robert Koch and Louis Pasteur were infectious diseases such as anthrax, tuberculosis and typhoid fever.

Find the full article here.

CTV -- "... In the medical world, a patient’s ability to understand medical language is called “health literacy” and most of us are pretty low in it. In fact, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nearly nine out of 10 adults have difficulty handling medical information, advice and health product labels."