It was surreal, really. About 30 women gathered for a Thursday luncheon at the Manitoba Club, enjoying a chicken caesar salad while their guest speaker held the floor with a PowerPoint presentation to underscore his main points. Suddenly, the screen was filled with a photo of male genitals covered in ulcers, or “chancroids,” the more […]
Originally published in the Winnipeg Free Press on August 17, 2017 Canada has always liked to see itself as slightly better than the United States when it comes to racism. Certainly after this weekend’s violence in Virginia, in which Ku Klux Klan members, neo-Nazis and white nationalists clashed with protesters over the removal of a statue of […]
A version of this commentary appeared in the Montreal Gazette, Vancouver Sun and the Huffington Post It is one of the most common brain ailments, affecting over 65 million people globally, and yet it remains shrouded in stigma and ignorance. Epilepsy: A disease that is as old as civilization itself. According to Epilepsy Canada, tablets […]
On May 1, 2016, Errol Greene died while in the Winnipeg Remand Centre following two epileptic seizures. According to reports, after the 26-year-old man suffered the seizures, he was rushed to the Health Sciences Centre, but he did not survive. His family is now suing the province, and a provincial inquest into his death has […]
The last time I was in Israel, I went on some home visits with a palliative care physician in the town of Sfat near the Sea of Galilee. My colleague, a devout Jewish doctor, took me to several homes to offer advice on managing his most serious, terminally ill patients. One older Chassidic Rabbi was dealing with an advanced lung cancer, and having a difficult time accepting any kind of help from his young adult children.
Advance care planning is a process of reflection and communication about personal care preferences in the event that an individual becomes incapable of consenting to or refusing treatment or other care. The most important aspects of advance care planning are choosing one or more Substitute Decision Makers — someone who will speak on the individuals’ behalf and make decisions for them if they are not able to do so themselves.
