Sex and the Stampede

From the Vancouver Sun:
Sex and Stetsons -- it's enough to get some partygoers at the Calgary Stampede saying yee-haw.

The annual summer festival is renowned for getting folks in the saddle, so to speak.

Just ask Darcy Chalifoux, who said he has seen "some porta-potties rocking" over the years.

There's a lot more than roping going on at the Calgary Stampede. Many of the spectators are hot to trot, too.

"Things get a little wonky," said the sales and marketing director for the Wildhorse Saloon, a Stampede party tent.

"It's a part of people having fun."

But just how promiscuous are Stampede revellers? With the wanton behaviour of participants now a part of the folklore of Stampede parties, it's sometimes difficult to separate fact from the urban myth.

Calgary Health Region officials say their STD clinic is busier with visits the week following Stampede, and there's a slight increase in the number of people picking up the morning-after pill -- also known as Plan B -- at the sexual and reproductive health clinics. ...more

Group calls for national policy to cover drugs for rare diseases

From CBC News:
A group that represents Canadians with rare disorders is calling for a national policy to help pay for their astronomical medical costs.

The call comes after the Alberta government decided to pay for a drug for a 17-year-old boy stricken with Pompe disease, a rare and potentially fatal disease caused by an enzyme deficiency that disables muscles.

Trevor Pare of Innisfail has been a participant in a clinical trial that paid for the drug Myozyme. The trial is over at the end of May and the Alberta government has decided to take over the annual cost, which is more than $500,000.

"It's just like unbelievable, unbelievable," Linda Pare, Trevor's mother, told CBC News. She said without the drug, her son would die in six months.

The Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders is pleased Trevor will continue to get his special drug.

But Durhane Wong-Rieger, president of the organization, said it is time for a national policy on funding of drugs used to treat rare diseases. ...more

Rexall embraces mosaic with Chinese signage

From the Calgary Herald:
Rexall has opened its first bilingual drug store in Alberta in Calgary's Harvest Hills neighbourhood, its second location in Canada with Chinese signage throughout the store.

Also, the company is catering to the large Chinese community in the area by making available prescription drug labels and instructions for those prescriptions in Chinese.

"What we're trying to do here is be part of the community," said Scott Morrow, vice-president operations for Rexall's western division, of the new 10,870-square-foot store on Harvest Hills Boulevard. ...more

Alberta unveils health 'action plan'

From the Calgary Herald:
Health Minister Ron Liepert unveiled an "action plan" for reforming the provincial medical system Wednesday morning, but he suggested the sizeable shortage of doctors in Alberta is far from being the only problem facing health care.

Liepert outlined proposals government will consider during a nine-month overhaul of the $13-billion health system, ranging from a new governance model for the province's health regions to monitoring infection control standards.

The plan also moves to address shortages of nurses and doctors, a problem that is so acute in Calgary that an estimated 200,000 people don't have a regular family physician. But Liepert also expressed doubt about the "so-called shortage of doctors."

"Let's not just jump to the conclusion that we have to run out there and hire 1,500 doctors. There are other ways of addressing this problem," Liepert said at the legislature, referring to plans to add physician assistants and give pharmacists more power to manage chronic diseases. ...more

Teen fears he may die without test drug

From the Globe and Mail:
An Alberta teenager fears he could die within six months if he cannot get an experimental drug for an extremely rare disease.

Seventeen-year-old Trevor Pare suffers from Pompe Disease and has been taking the drug Myozyme for the past four years as part of a clinical trial.

But the trial runs out at the end of May, leaving his family on the hook for the nearly $500,000 annual cost.

Pompe is a hereditary disease caused by a mutation in the gene that produces the enzyme alpha-glucosidase, which the body needs to break down glycogen. ...more

Prescribing powers gained by 15 pharmacists

From the Calgary Herald:
A group of 15 pharmacists in Alberta has become the first in Canada given powers to prescribe new medications to patients without needing final authorization from a doctor.

They were part of a pilot project to ensure all future pharmacists wanting additional prescribing powers under Alberta's Pharmacists Act are rigorously evaluated before taking on the new responsibility.

"Pharmacists are quite highly educated, and to just be stuck doing dispensing-type things, it's not really a good use of our training and expertise," said Christine Hughes, a pharmacist since 1994. ...more

Doctors critical of optometrists' new role

There is a couple of paragraphs later in this article that mentions pharmacist prescribing in Alberta.

From the Calgary Herald:
Alberta's eye specialists and optometrists are at odds over an agreement allowing optometrists to treat more patients with eye diseases -- a dispute that may mark the next battle around the changing role of medical professionals in the province.

Physicians with the Ophthalmological Society of Alberta said Tuesday they are concerned optometrists don't have enough training to treat patients with serious eye diseases such as glaucoma, noting they are not medical doctors.

Optometrists receive four years of training in optometry following their bachelor's degree. Ophthalmologists are physicians who receive five years of hospital training for their specialty after medical school. ...more

NDP touts drug plan

From the Edmonton Sun:
Facing staggering monthly drug bills on top of rising rent, seniors Steve and Arlene Smeredely helped the NDP introduce a drug plan yesterday it says would slash seniors' costs.

The Edmonton couple's monthly drug bill accounts for about $400. Coupled with $840 rent for their one-bedroom apartment and a few hundred for groceries, and the seniors say times are hard.

"It's terrible. By the time we pay our rent and the great big drug supply that we need -- which doesn't always cover our insulin needs, because we're both diabetic -- it can be very hard," said Arlene. "We worry about it, yes we do."

They get some help from family and some government support through the Aids to Daily Living program.

But what the couple really needs is a comprehensive reform of drug benefits in Alberta, said NDP leader Brian Mason. ...more

Family of woman who died of overdose wants MD accountability

From CBC News:
The family of a Calgary woman who died of a toxic combination of prescription drugs wants physicians to be more vigilant in prescribing medication.

Jodie Bruketa, 28, died in January 2004 from an overdose of the painkiller Percocet — which contains a powerful narcotic called oxycodone — and Zopiclone, a sleeping pill. The amount of oxycodone in her blood was about five times the amount expected in someone taking a regular prescription.

Bruketa, who worked as a marketing assistant, was prescribed hundreds of pills in the two months before her death, primarily from one doctor. In total, she visited five different physicians in less than a year. ...more

Calgary resumes routine vaccinations

From the Globe and Mail:
Routine measles, mumps and rubella vaccinations have resumed for children in Calgary, officials said yesterday, ending the suspension to the program ordered this month after a cluster of serious allergic reactions.

The Calgary Health Region, which is battling a mumps outbreak among young adults that has hit Alberta, said yesterday it has found a new supply of the MMR vaccine. ...more

Town desperate for doctor makes unique offer

Here's an innovative way for a pharmacist to help his town. However, if this was done anyplace that didn't have a physician shortage, there would be suggestions of conflict of interest. Undoubtably, the pharmacist is doing this to help his business, but I think the huge public need for a doctor outweighs those concerns in this situation.

From CTV News:
An Alberta community that has been searching without luck for a doctor is trying to sweeten its offer to potential candidates.

Bragg Creek has been without a doctor for the past six months. In July, their previous physician left and since then local residents have been hunting for a new one. But they've had one rejection after another.

Now, they hope to make an offer too good to pass up.

Any physician who wants to set up shop in the community will have a ready-to-go office waiting upon arrival. It comes equipped with a furnished waiting room, scales, and even medical equipment. ...more

Pharmacists on call for medicine questions

From the Edmonton Journal:
People with questions about medication now have access to pharmacists throughout the night to answer them.

Capital Health has launched a new pharmacist telephone line through Capital Health Link. Nurses at Capital Health Link can't answer detailed questions about drug side effects or wrong dosages, but now will be able to transfer those patients to one of 60 pharmacists on call in 10 stores across the city.

The system has been in quiet operation since Oct. 16 and has fielded more than 300 calls, including one from a woman with a rash who wondered what medication wouldn't interfere with her breastfeeding. A man on blood clot medication wondered if he could also take pain medication for a shoulder injury. Another person wondered how to keep pain medication working steadily throughout the night. ...more

Succession Remedy

From Time:
Patrick Rurka's business should be struggling. He owns and manages an independent Value Drug Mart store in rural Rimbey, Alta. (pop. 2,100). He competes with a big regional chain store that offers conveniences like Sunday hours. Rurka stays closed on Sundays--unless a customer calls him with a medication emergency and meets him at the back door for a prescription refill.

But Rurka, a 32-year-old pharmacist, is thriving. Sales have grown 10% each year since he bought the store in 2004. He draws a comfortable salary to support his wife and children. And he's on track to pay off his debt on the business, including a comprehensive renovation, by 2014. "I'm getting exactly what I want out of life," Rurka says. He hopes to buy another Value Drug Mart store in a few years.

Rurka is not alone. Four other rural Value Drug Mart stores have been sold to young Albertan entrepreneurs since 2004. In each case, despite minuscule collateral and a cautious lending environment, pharmacists with big dreams have secured financing in excess of $1 million. In the process, they're building what could be a promising model for helping Canada sustain legions of potentially vulnerable mom-and-pop businesses. ...more

Study to probe whether acne drug can slow MS

From CTV News:
Researchers in Calgary are preparing to begin a new study to see whether a commonly available acne medication could help delay the crippling effects of multiple sclerosis.

The medication, called minocycline, has been available for over 30 years. If it's proven effective in delaying the progress of MS, it could offer an inexpensive option for the treatment of early stages of the disease.

A small study on 10 patients a few years ago yielded promising results. Now, clinical researchers in 14 Canadian centres will be taking an in-depth look at the drug in a $4-million, two-year study funded by the MS Society of Canada.

Minocycline is a prescription antibiotic used to control acne by killing the germs that prompt outbreaks. But the drug also offers anti-inflammatory properties, which researchers believe are responsible for its ability to slow the progress of MS. ...more

Canada's health care workers migrate to cities and Alberta: report

From CBC News:
Canadian health-care workers are leaving rural areas and moving to larger centres, according to a report released Thursday by the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

The report, "Distribution and Internal Migration of Canada's Health Care Workforce," tracks migratory patterns of physicians, dentists, pharmacists, physiotherapists and registered nurses within Canada over a 15-year period, between 1986 and 2001.

The report finds that each year, rural areas of Canada lose on average 1.3 per cent of their doctors to urban areas, with the time period between 1996 and 2001 showing the biggest decline. ...more

Ground broken on $909M Edmonton Clinic

From the Edmonton Journal:
Construction is set to begin on the $909-million Edmonton Clinic, a unique "Mayo North" where patients will have quick access to numerous specialists during one visit and where nurses, doctors, pharmacists and other health professionals will all be trained together.

Monday's official groundbreaking marks the beginning of the largest ever project for Capital Health and the University of Alberta. ...more

Alberta tops B.C. as chief destination for health care workers

From Canada.com:
Heath care workers in Canada are people on the move, according to a new study that shows they are generally more mobile than the rest of the country’s workforce.

The Canadian Institute for Health Information tracked the movement of health care professionals within and between provinces over a 15-year period and published the results in a report released Thursday.

The study showed that Alberta attracted more health care workers than any other province between 1996 and 2001, surging ahead of British Columbia as the number one destination for the first time in a decade.

Alberta had the largest growth of any province in its health care workforce during the period studied, expanding it by four per cent. ...more

Alberta revisits drug funding

It's no surprise that the generic/rebate debate is spreading across the country. It looks like Alberta is going to be moving on it soon. Since Alberta has seen value in pharmacy services and has been open to pharmacist prescribing, perhaps they will be a bit more friendly to pharmacists compared to what has happened in Ontario.

From the Calgary Herald:
On a May day in 2006, as Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman spoke to a luncheon crowd at Toronto's National Club about his plan to cut drug spending, opposition to the proposal raged outside.

Pharmacists, wearing their white lab coats, protested at the club while Smitherman gave his speech.

They said the plan would deal a serious blow to their business -- forcing them to lay off staff -- because it banned pharmaceutical firms from paying pharmacies lucrative "rebates" to carry their products. ...more

Alta. pharmacists want prescribing privileges

I'm glad that I'm in the group of 30 to 40 Alberta pharmacists that are applying for advanced prescribing. I mailed in my application yesterday. It's still not clear when the applications will be approved, but it won't be until more steps in the process are completed in late September. Watch this blog for more updates.

From the Saskatoon Star Phoenix:
A handful of Alberta pharmacists will make Canadian history -- and likely stir a fresh round of debate about their new role -- when they apply for controversial prescribing privileges early next month.

Between 30 and 40 pharmacists in the province will undergo an assessment in the coming weeks to ensure they are qualified to write new prescriptions, adjust dosages and change drug therapies.

"This group of pharmacists will have a larger tool box, a broader spectrum of drugs for the conditions they are already treating," says Greg Eberhart, registrar of the Alberta College of Pharmacists. ...more

Anti-smoking bill calls for maximum $100,000 fine

From the Edmonton Journal:
Alberta's tough new anti-smoking legislation will slap fines of up to $100,000 on stores that visibly display or advertise the tobacco products they sell, or on any pharmacies, post-secondary campuses or health facilities that vend the cancer-causing product.

But the bill, which Health Minister Dave Hancock introduced Tuesday, did not specify when its tobacco-control measures will take effect. ...more