Louise Gagnon

2 days ago | medscape.com | Louise Gagnon

Five years after the legalization of cannabis in Canada, cannabis use frequency has risen slightly, and cannabis misuse has decreased, new data suggested. A prospective cohort study of 1428 adults indicated that the mean proportion of days using cannabis increased by 0.35% annually and by 1.75% over 5 years. Cannabis misuse decreased annually (β = −0.08) and over 5 years (β = −0.4). Prelegalization use frequency influenced the use and misuse of cannabis after legalization.

1 month ago | medscape.com | Louise Gagnon

Despite evidence of their effectiveness in reducing overdose-related deaths, supervised consumption sites (SCS) are being targeted in Canada because of concerns that they cause public disorder, attract criminal activity, and threaten community safety. Last August, Ontario announced that it would ban SCS within 200 m of schools and daycare centers, citing concerns over public safety. The decision was to affect 10 SCS in the province, which were scheduled to close on March 31.

2 months ago | auntminnieeurope.com | Amerigo Allegretto |Will Morton |Louise Gagnon |Brian Casey

Public hospitals in Hong Kong may begin charging patients for CT and MRI scans in the coming weeks under new policy that is in contrast to the region's long-standing public health services model, the Standard reported on 14 March. The change is expected to come out of a Special Administrative Region (SAR) plan, according to the Standard.

Dec 2, 2024 | mdedge.com | Louise Gagnon

FROM FMF 2024 — Canadian women aged 40-49 years at no or moderate risk for breast cancer who participated in organized mammography screening programs had a significantly greater breast cancer 10-year net survival than that of similar women who did not participate in such programs, according to data presented here at the Family Medicine Forum 2024.

Nov 25, 2024 | mdedge.com | Louise Gagnon

FROM FMF 2024 — Family physicians should familiarize themselves with doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (doxy PEP) as a prescription for patients who frequently have unprotected sex (including oral, anal, and vaginal) with multiple partners, according to a presentation at the Family Medicine Forum (FMF) 2024. Doxy PEP decreases the risk for bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs).