Alan Cassels

Providing evidence-based information to patients in general practice and pharmacies: what is the acceptability, usefulness and impact on drug use?

Background  A common and often integral method of delivering patient information is the use of patient guides. However, the acceptability, utility and impact of evidence‐based therapeutic guides on physicians, pharmacists and patients have not been well evaluated.

A new national holiday? My vote’s for World Toilet Day

Nov. 19, 2009, was World Toilet Day. Before you say, “Who cares?” and flush that idea, consider this: The lack of access to toilets is one of the world’s most pressing health problems. And it’s a problem that has long been recognized by physicians and other health experts around the world.

Move over war on transfats; make way for the war on salt

The place of nasty transfats, formerly the most evil food additive on the planet, has been usurped by a spice that just happens to be the mainstay of the modern Canadian diet: salt. Citing statistics claiming up to 15 000 Canadians are dying every year due to excessive sodium consumption, our

Does the C in CME stand for “Continuing” or “Commercial”?

The commentaries on commercial sponsorship of continuing medical education (CME) by David Davis[1][1] and Bernard Marlow[2][2] contain good recommendations, but both are hampered by an incomplete analysis. Davis refers positively to the Code of Marketing Practices of Rx&D (Canadas Research-Based

Most of our prescription drugs are manufactured overseas — but are they safe?

We have to be thankful to Health Canada for helping keep the population safe from defective baby cribs, leaded paint, unpasteurized milk and a whole assortment of stuff we might ingest that could be really bad for us. If you’ve seen the recent email alerts from Health Canada, you’ll find that

Ponziceuticals within the medical industrial complex

It didn’t take long for the metaphors of financial meltdown to infect the lexicon of the medical industrial complex. Faster than you can say “toxic assets,” the financial medicine men are out there taking the “pulse” of the economy, demanding governments “inject life” into ailing

Camouflaged sampling and contacting of people from administrative databases: reaching target patients without knowing who they are

Methods are needed for using confidential data to select and reach patients without compromising their health privacy.

Patient speaking for patients

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to recognize the vital reasons for including public and patient voices in health policy decision-making, but illustrates the challenge it creates for decision-makers who must consider whether those voices represent patient interests or corporate interests. Design/methodology/approach – This paper takes the form of a narrative review. Findings – The history of flibanserin, a controversial new drug to treat a debatable condition, illustrates how a public relations campaign could circumvent the well-established process to weigh evidence of potential harm vs benefit by one of the most robust drug regulators in the world. Practical implications – It is both vital to recognize a fundamental problem that exists when corporate interests deceptively assume the mantle of “the patient voice” and then act to reduce that influence while supporting and building capacity in genuinely independent, consumer-focused activities. Originality/value – This paper suggests that organization...

Cycling and the middle-aged man: More urodynamics than aerodynamics?

Last summer, for the third year in a row, more than 4000 people (mostly middle-aged men) pedalled their road bikes from downtown Vancouver to Whistler, BC, a whopping 122 km, uphill. If anything, the Whistler GranFondo (Italian for “big ride”) is evidence that cycling is soaring in popularity

Infectious anxiety disorder.

At the risk of people worrying even more than they already do about their health, we propose adding a new diagnosis to the expanding collection of psychiatric diagnoses: infectious anxiety disorder (IAD). Concerned that a pandemic of anxiety is fast becoming a leading cause of global unhappiness, we