When it's Time to Get Help

Cooling Therapy for Brain Injured Children Dangerous: Canadian Study

by John McKiggan

Hypothermia therapy, where patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) are cooled to prevent brain swelling, has shown promise in helping adult survivors of TBI. See this article for example.

However, a study led by researchers at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children have found that the practice may be dangerous for children with brain injuries.

The study, involved 225 children at 17 centres in Canada, France and the United Kingdom. There was no difference in how the patients in each group recovered neurologically.

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Posted in: Brain Injury, Child Injuries, Uncategorized

“Dangerous Substance” BPA Found in Children’s Food Containers

by John McKiggan

Last month Bisphenol A was officially designated a dangerous substance by Health Canada. I posted about the news here.
The ruling came about as a result of concerns when the hormone was found in children’s baby bottles.

Now tests conducted for CTV News and The Globe and Mail on cans for several popular children’s foods shows similar or higher levels of bisphenol A than in baby bottles.

Baby bottles were found to leach about 6 parts per billion of BPA. The new test results showed higher concentrations of the dangerous substance in some popular children’s food containers.

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Posted in: Product Liability, Uncategorized

Slow Down and Save a Childs Life!

by John McKiggan

Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death for children in Canada.

Safe Kids Canada has released a research report this week that showed that residential streets may be more dangerous for our children that we think. According to the study, which was released this week a child hit by a car travelling at 50 km/h has an 80 per cent chance of being killed!

Thousands of Children Injured or Killed in Pedestrian Accidents:

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Posted in: Car Accidents, Child Injuries, Uncategorized

Hospitals Reusing Single-Use Medical Devices: Are Patients at Risk?

by John McKiggan

A number of Canadian hospitals are reusing “single-use” medical devices (SUDs) that are supposed to be disposed of after being used. Worse yet, the vast majority of hopitals that are reusing the medical devices are sterilizing the devices in-house. Infection control experts have criticised the practice as being “fraught with risk”, according to a story by the Canadian Press.

…tragedies like the tainted blood scandal and cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease — the human form of mad cow disease — linked to reuse of tools used in brain surgery have deepened the understanding of infection risks and raised the bar for infection control in hospitals.No Regulations:

The story reports that while there appears to be consensus among health care professionals that a national policy is needed and that the practice of in-house reprocessing ought to be banned, a regulatory void means that in many parts of the country hospitals can do as they wish when it comes to reuse of single-use medical devices.

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Posted in: Medical Malpractice, Product Liability, Uncategorized

Nova Scotia Knew about Asbestos in Prison for 20 Years

by John McKiggan

I posted yesterday about the concerns of guards and inmates over asbestos found in the Cape Breton Correctional Facility.

When the announcement was made this week about the presence of asbestos in the jail, Justice Minister Cecil Clarke said all proper procedures had been followed.

“When issues come forward we respond to those and follow the prescribed procedures and policies in place and that’s been done,” said Clarke.

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Posted in: Personal Injury, Uncategorized

Asbestos in Cape Breton Prison may have hurt Guards, Inmates: Union

by John McKiggan

Asbestos found in the Cape Breton Correctional Facility may have injured the guards and inmates that were exposed to the dangerous cancer causing mineral, according to the union that represents Nova Scotia’s jail guards.

The province of Nova Scotia has released air quality test results at the prison which show:

“The reported values were well below the acceptable criteria of 0.1 fibres per cubic centimetre”

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Posted in: Personal Injury, Uncategorized

Trasylol (Aprotinin) Anti-Bleeding Drug Raises Death Risk: Canadian Study

by John McKiggan

Trasylol also known as Aprotinin, an expensive anti-bleeding drug used during heart surgery actually increased the risk that patients would die during surgery or in the 30 days following by more than 50%!

The Canadian Press has reported that a recent Canadian study called the BART trial compared Trasylol to two far cheaper alternatives found that patients who received Trasylol were 53 per cent more likely to die than people who received the other anti-bleeding agents, tranexamic acid or aminocaproic acid.

Dr. Paul Hebert, a critical care doctor at the Ottawa Health Research Institute and one of the investigators in the study, was quoted as saying that:

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Posted in: Product Liability, Uncategorized

Chewing gum ingredient may cause Cancer? Health Canada

by John McKiggan

The federal government is considering declaring an ingedient used to make chewing gum as toxic after tests linked it to cancer in lab rats.

The Canadian Press reported that vinyl acetate is one of 17 substances Health Canada could recommend be deemed toxic in a draft report to be published Saturday.

There has been no link demonstrated between vinyl acetate and cancer in humans.

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Posted in: Product Liability, Uncategorized