10 health stories that mattered: Aug. 23–29

Ron Mattson is the third British Columbian drug scientist to be cleared of charges claiming that he misused confidential data. In 2012, the BC government fired seven scientists and officials.

The Mental Health Commission of Canada released 16 recommendations on how police should interact with people with mental illness. The report, which emphasizes education and training, is designed to help police prepare for potentially difficult situations.

A man returning from Guinea was quarantined before testing negative for the Ebola virus. The man entered the emergency room of Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital in Montréal after experiencing flu-like symptoms.

Workers with the Public Health Agency of Canada have been evacuated from Sierra Leone. The World Health Organization decided to remove the team, which was running a lab to test samples brought from the Médecins Sans Frontières treatment centre, after a Senegalese worker tested positive for the Ebola virus.

A third Canadian drug company has emerged, claiming that its anti-Ebola treatment looks promising. Halifax-based Immunovaccine Inc.’s treatment was injected into four monkeys, all of whom subsequently survived infection with Ebola.

The federal government has invested $15 million to help fund a new Medical Devices Commercialization Centre, which aims to make Canada a player in the commercialization of medical devices. The centre, being set up in Ottawa, will link inventors to investors in the $335-billion global medical device industry.

Canada ranked higher than 10 other developed countries in a report of scientific literacy issued by the Council of Canadian Academies. The report states that 42% of Canadians “grasp basic concepts and understand general media coverage of scientific issues” while the same is true of 30% of Americans surveyed and 35% of Swedes.

Greater use of organs from deceased donors at high risk for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C was recommended by the Canadian Society of Transplantation and the Canadian National Transplant Research Program. Improved testing that decreases the time between potential exposure and the appearance of antibodies has made this viable, according to the report.

A British Columbian woman who lived with dementia before ending her life has generated debate, posthumously, on the state of end-of-life care in Canada. Gillian Bennett created a website, which went live after her death, to share her personal story, which has resonated with many.

A newly released Statistics Canada report looking at the health of aboriginal peoples found that only 45% of Inuit claimed excellent or very good health; 63% of the general Canadian population claimed the same. The report highlighted findings from the 2012 Aboriginal Peoples Survey.