Raghu Venugopal MD

Unlike Ontario's Premier, I don't blame patients for coming to the ER. The problem in Canada is that profiteers are just salivating to capture the need for urgent care. The fundamental problem of ERs is not kids with fevers, it's the admitted with no hospital beds.
www.cbc.ca/news/health/...

Despite the author's vested interest, micromobility makes sense. It's illegal in Toronto. With bylaws, mandatory helmets and maximum speeds, they reduce congestion, reduce pollution, less costly and help people. But in ER, we see many serious injuries.
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Medicine is political in this "post-truth" era where some cannot agree on basic facts. If you believe in any modern healthcare at all - by far the most proven and safest intervention is vaccination. Solid op-ed by @manishakrishnan.bsky.social
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Nasal injury with misalignment. When I first started these were an ENT outpatient referral of unclear date. With time, I started doing them under procedural sedation. Now I am doing cases with effective pre-procedural analgesia. The patient breaths better, looks better and can still have follow-up.

Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford nails it that Trump is just still upset after we burned down the American White House 212 years ago.

There are humanitarian emergencies that dominate the news and others with far more humans affected which get paltry attention and support - like Sudan. "People from all walks of life must push our governments and global bodies."
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Canada has long faced calls to join the U.S.: A short history of saying nope to the American dream Donald Trump joked that Canada could become America’s 51st state. But for much of Canadian history, the sentiment has been no laughing matter.

Among the many disgusting parts of American life that repulse Canadians is their morally bankrupt healthcare system which impoverishes millions. And all the wars we fought with them - we won by the way.
www.thestar.com/news/canada/...

I did my residency in Quebec, work in the publicly funded system in Ontario, overseas with MSF and remain in the public system. I didn't feel part of Quebec society, an outsider, while speaking French and from eastern Canada. I support barring MDs from profiteer work. @picardonhealth.bsky.social

We need to be honest Ontario. You have a drinking problem. And Ontario Conservative policy is part of the problem and not part of the solution.

There are not enough ER stretchers in Ontario for those presenting on a daily basis intoxicated. Thankfully our publicly funded system has offsite stabilization centres that are warm and where patients can sober up safely. This frees EMS crews, frees ER beds and hopefully is a bridge to supports.

"Swapping a dirty needle for a clean one is not a pathway out and does not give people hope" said Ontario Deputy Premier Jones. Swapping a live person for a dead person is not a pathway out either and does not give people hope.

"There’s a phrase in provincial auditor general Shelley Spence’s report that could, by now, serve as a slogan for Doug Ford’s government: “Without proper planning".... an all-purpose description of The Doug Ford Way." - by @thekeenanwire.bsky.social
www.thestar.com/opinion/star...

In this instance I agree with the Action démocratique du Québec. Québec taxpayers pay between $435,000 and $790,000 to train an MD. They should be barred for not 5 years - but many more - for leaving the publicly funded healthcare system for the profiteer system.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Americans: Canadians have 4 words for you: Vietnam, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq.

Post by Roddy, Canadian flag in his handle: Americans. If you're wondering why Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to Florida to meet with Donald Trump, it's because Canada doesn't allow convicted felons into the country.

This is pretty funny.

If President-Elect Trump wants Canada to be the 51st US state he will have to contend with NATO Article 5. I hope all NATO nations would join Canada in its armed resistance to an American invasion. You may laugh, but this is not funny for Canadians.

"Without proper planning" and "without a needs assessment" - that is the determination of the Ontario Auditor General on the creation of Ontario HART Hubs. Our tax dollars and human lives in play.

Ontario rushed Bill 223 into legislation without basic planning.

www.thetrillium.ca/news/health/...

Ontario shutting down supervised consumption sites without assessing harm to drug users: auditor Health Minister Sylvia Jones once promised that ‘people are not going to die,’ but the province hasn’t tried to figure out if they will or not, the auditor general reports

"Health Minister Sylvia Jones once promised that ‘people are not going to die,’ but the province hasn’t tried to figure out if they will or not, the auditor general reports". In 2022-2023 1600 overdoses were prevented. Where these will go now?

www.thetrillium.ca/news/health/...

In a consistent policy pattern of introducing harms to Ontarians without effective mitigating strategies (like liberalization of alcohol) the Auditor General rips Ontario's Health Ministry for lack of basic planning.

Ontario's Auditor General rips to shreds the dangerous and deadly policies of the Ford Conservative Government.

The Ontario Auditor General slams the Ford government for its lack of "Anything done to mitigate an “increased risk of overdoses” likely to end up in hospital emergency rooms that are already overcrowded." - ER doctors like I totally agree with
Auditor General Shelley Spence

"In a scathing annual report to the legislature Tuesday, auditor Shelley Spence also found Ford’s decision to close 10 supervised drug consumption sites near schools and daycares was made “without proper planning.” - An unprofessional, uncaring and disorganized government.

André Picard nails it - "As Robert Redfield, former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said: “It’s not a question of if, it’s more a question of when we will have a bird flu pandemic.” - an important read. @picardonhealth.bsky.social

Let's not forget the policy lunacy of Ford Conservatives, slashing wastewater testing in July 2024 and the 1918 Influenza epidemic killing 50 million and 50,000 in Canada. Two timestamps that should evoke fear but moreso a shrug by Conservatives focused on bike lanes. @picardonhealth.bsky.social

Ontario doesn't take epidemic disease seriously. We do commissions like by Justice Campbell on SARS in 2006, and then ignore it. We are condemned to stumble into repeated infectious emergencies because public health surveillance is not something our governments value. @picardonhealth.bsky.social

Clinically we are seeing this. As microbiologic cause is not on the child's forehead, amoxicillin is still first line for pneumonia. If needed, a macrolide can be added if no improvement. The PCR NP swab should be of the throat, not NP.

The American healthcare system is morally bankrupt. I cannot imagine how awful it would be to be a doctor there. In 2016 Vox reported on a 1-year old who needed a bandaid and the family was charged $629. @picardonhealth.bsky.social

This is no joke. Anyone else wonder if a war between the US and Canada would be like the Russian war with Ukraine? In the post-truth world where only force and stupidly reigns, we have to seriously think about this. Canada should expect the world would just watch with an American invasion.

There is absolutely no #1 hospital. Medicine is vast with the critical elements of geography, local knowledge, an incredible array of clinical services and local expertise, as well as research and teaching components. To claim to be #1 is patently false. Just to clear things up.