Canadian Convulsions > 142,000 patients left B.C. ERs untreated last year

 

Nearly 142,000 patients walked out of B.C. ERs

untreated last year

B.C. Conservative Freedom of Information request uncovers troubling 6-year trend showing numbers up 86% from 2018 to 2025

Mark Page
a day ago

More people than ever are leaving B.C.'s emergency rooms without receiving care, according to documents. (File photo/Black Press Media)

The number of people entering a B.C. emergency room and leaving without being seen by a doctor rose 86 per cent from 2018 to 2025, according to documents obtained by a freedom of information request filed by the B.C. Conservatives.

"And the numbers don't seem to be plateauing at all," said Brennan Day, the Conservatives' critic for Rural Health and Seniors' Health.

In the 2018/19 fiscal year, 76,157 patients left without being seen. By 2024/25, that number had risen to 141,962. During that timeframe, the total number of patients seen in emergency rooms did rise, but by only about 13 per cent, increasing to 2,595,219 in 2024/25.

The worst performers were Island Health, where the number of patients leaving without care more than doubled, and Fraser Health, where the number nearly doubled. 

Waits of more than eight hours are not unheard of in B.C., and the median time spent in the province's ERs last year was four hours and 13 minutes, according to a recent study by MEI, a think tank.

Day pointed out that while some people may leave because their sickness has subsided, that does not mean they don't need treatment.

"Everybody's had a random pain that, if you wait eight hours, it goes away," Day said. "It's not to say that the underlying cause of that pain is not serious. So, it's pushing people away from the health care system."

Health Ministry says people will not be turned away

The Ministry of Health blamed an increasing number of people seeking care and an uptick in sicker patients. A statement from the ministry also said that people who are the least sick are the most likely to leave, and nobody will be turned away if they want care.

"When patients first arrive at the ED [emergency department], they are triaged and seen based on acuity," an emailed statement from the ministry said. "The sickest patients are always seen first. Patients are never turned away from the ED."

The statement added that certain patients, such as those experiencing chest pains, are encouraged not to leave before being seen.

The ministry is working to hire more doctors and nurses — including a highly publicized campaign to attract workers from the U.S. — and increased the number of acute care beds by 7.9 per cent in 2023. Some health authorities have also made average wait times available online this year to "help patients and their families make informed decisions about accessing care."

Doctors of BC, the advocacy organization representing the province's physicians, provided a statement to Black Press Media saying that it has been calling for an emergency department stabilization plan for some time to address broader dysfunction within hospitals.

"Emergency department overcrowding and long wait times can be symptoms of problems in other areas of the hospital, and solutions often require that these issues be addressed as well," the statement said. 

The organization contends that while the province's recent efforts to recruit U.S. doctors and fund a new medical school at Simon Fraser University are helpful, more needs to be done.

Day wants the province to pressure the federal government to speed up visa processing for international doctors. He also wants the government to do a better job of listening to its front-line workers, calling the current system in the health authorities a "bureaucratic quagmire."

"The bureaucrats are too self-absorbed in protecting their own positions to listen to the front-line doctors and nurses," he said.

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Drugs and Kids > Germany legalizes Marijuana 'even though it is dangerous'!

 

Germany needs to get ready for an increase in Emergency Room visits from children. It has happened everywhere else pot was legalized. Western governments seem more concerned with keeping potheads stoned than keeping children safe and alive. Children have no voice in governments, and so are largely ignored.

Germany legalizes cannabis consumption

with restrictions

By Patrick Hilsman

   

The German legislature Friday passed a law legalizing cannabis consumption with some restrictions. 

File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 23 (UPI) -- The German legislature has passed a measure Friday legalizing cannabis for adults but restricting its sale to specific cannabis clubs. The legislation passed the Bundestag 407-226.

The law will also allow for adults to smoke cannabis in some public spaces, but specifically bars it from places like playgrounds.

Adults will be allowed to possess up to 25g of cannabis in public and up to 50g in private residences. The cultivation of up to three cannabis plants in a private residence will also be allowed.

Even if small children are present?

An earlier version of the planned legalization would have seen commercial distribution, but the approach was scrapped in favor of a "cannabis social club," model, which will require those wishing to legally purchase cannabis to join clubs, which will be capped at 500 members.

German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach warned that while marijuana is now legal for adults, it still carries associated risks.

"Nobody should misunderstand this law: cannabis consumption is being legalized, but that doesn't mean it isn't dangerous," said Lauterbach.

Lauterbach said the objective of the legislation, for which he has been a strong advocate, is "to crack down on the black market and drugs-related crime."

Black market and drug gangs don't pay taxes. Follow the money!

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Recreational Drug Use > The Dangers and the Questions about Cannabis use by Pregnant Women

..

Cannabis use sending more pregnant Canadians to hospital, new study finds

Severe morning sickness the biggest risk factor, researcher says

Bethany Lindsay, Lauren Pelley · CBC News · 

Posted: May 23, 2023 6:29 PM PDT |

A new study suggests nearly twice as many pregnant women are being hospitalized due to cannabis use since pot was legalized in Canada. Though numbers are low, it's still raising concerns.

Researchers behind a new study suggesting an increase in hospital visits by pregnant people related to cannabis use say they're concerned about the potential risks, including premature births and low birth weights.

The research paper, published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, tracked data from close to one million pregnancies in Ontario between January 2015 and July 2021. 

A new study shows a small increase in emergency room visits and hospitalizations related to cannabis use

by pregnant people. (Serhii Bobyk/Shutterstock)

Is 80% considered a small increase? Pregnant 'People'? Good grief!

Of those, a small fraction — 540 pregnant people — visited an emergency room or were hospitalized for cannabis use, according to health administrative data compiled by the researchers. Most of those cases, 390, were emergency room visits.

But the rate of acute care hospital visits rose after cannabis was legalized for recreational use in October 2018, from 11 out of every 100,000 pregnancies to 20 per 100,000, the study says.

The lead author, family physician and public health researcher Dr. Daniel Myran, said that while these incidents are rare, they are also serious, and the rising rate is particularly worrying.

"The concern that I have is, these are very severe presentations, and does the increase in these severe presentations represent a much larger increase in general cannabis use during pregnancy?" he told CBC News.

The study notes the most common reason for needing emergency care related to cannabis was harmful substance use, according to the codes used by hospital staff. That was followed by cannabis dependence or withdrawal, and acute intoxication.

Myran, a fellow at the Bruyère Research Institute and The Ottawa Hospital, said the babies born to these patients were more likely to have lower birth weights, premature births or require admission to a neonatal intensive care unit.

"Given the unknown risks of cannabis at this time, the safest course of action is to not use cannabis during pregnancy," he said.

'We don't have the answers yet'

But other researchers caution that more evidence is needed before making any broad recommendations.

Interesting - they use the word "caution" relevant to the continued use of cannabis, rather than out of concern for pregnant women and babies.

The biggest risk factor for cannabis use during pregnancy

was severe morning sickness

The study suggests the biggest risk factor for cannabis use during pregnancy was severe morning sickness, and Myran said women might be self-medicating to relieve their nausea.

Marlena Fejzo, a researcher at the University of Southern California, pointed out that severe forms of nausea and vomiting can also lead to low birth weights and premature births, making it unclear whether cannabis use or an underlying health condition is responsible for the negative outcomes in the Ontario study.

Fejzo is also the science advisor of the Hyperemesis Education and Research Foundation, a non-profit that focuses on a condition of extreme nausea and persistent vomiting called hyperemesis gravidarum, experienced in about one per cent of pregnancies.

"We don't have the answers yet as to whether it's safer to take cannabis than to leave your hyperemesis untreated in pregnancy," she said.

The most common risk factor for pregnant people who used cannabis was severe morning sickness,

according to a new study. (David Donnelly/CBC)

She experienced the debilitating condition during pregnancy, and said she was so sick she was unable to eat or drink.

Her research, conducted in the U.S., shows that many pregnant people have reported using cannabis because other treatments aren't effective for their nausea and vomiting. They say cannabis is the only thing that allows them to eat.

"People are taking cannabis, so you can't just ignore that fact," Fejzo said. "They deserve answers as to the safety of cannabis use in pregnancy."

The Madness of Recreational Drug Use > Far-left town paying the price of 'progressive' Washington State

'Left in the lurch'

Dr. Dominique Morisano, an adjunct professor in public health at the University of Toronto, added that people dealing with mental health concerns during pregnancy may also turn to cannabis to self-medicate.

"A lot of women are left in the lurch during and after pregnancy in terms of their mental health care," she said.

Hormonal swings and the major life changes that can come with a baby can bring new psychological challenges, meanwhile some — but not all — pharmaceutical drugs are off limits during pregnancy and therapy is expensive, Morisano pointed out. 

"We should be doing better for pregnant women and postpartum care in our society," she said.

"If we don't, people are going to look for their own ways to take care of themselves."

According to Health Canada, the safest option is to stop using cannabis during pregnancy. The federal agency recommends that medicinal cannabis users speak to their doctors about safer alternatives.

The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada says there is strong evidence that cannabis use during pregnancy poses risk of lifelong harm to a developing fetus related to memory function, hyperactive behaviour, anxiety and depression.

There is strong evidence that cannabis use during pregnancy poses risk of lifelong harm to a
developing fetus related to memory function, hyperactive behaviour, anxiety and depression.

The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada

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Think Cannabis is Harmless? So Did I. But I Know Better Now

Opinion: In 2017, 567 people were treated at Vancouver-area

hospitals for cannabis overdoses or related mental issues.

I was one of them.

The emergency entrance at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver is seen in a file photo from June 24, 2009.

Ian Lindsay/Postmedia

By Jennifer Foden, National Post

Last year, shortly before cannabis was legalized, StarMetro Vancouver reported that in 2017, 567 people were admitted to emergency rooms at St. Paul’s, Vancouver General, Surrey Memorial and Kelowna General hospitals for cannabis overdoses or related mental and behavioural issues.

I was one of them.

This isn’t easy to write about. I’m well aware that this will be part of my story forever, for anyone to look up online. Still, people need to know the risks.

In mid-2017, on a typical Saturday night, two friends and I were cooking dinner. A friend offered me half a medical marijuana gummy. She took the other half. About 45 minutes later, I started to feel strange. It’s hard to explain how. I had had bad experiences with weed before. This felt similar; like I knew something very bad was about to happen.

People need to know the risks

I decided to go home. I, still, to this day, don’t know what actually happened that night and what didn’t. I was totally disconnected from reality. I was hallucinating, dreaming while awake. Welcome to a weed overdose, friends — a drug-induced psychosis.

I remember walking down the street, not being able to swallow. Falling down. Laying face-first on Robson Street in downtown Vancouver yelling at people driving and walking by that I was dying. I remember the paramedics kicking me out of the ambulance. I remember dead people being wheeled past me in the emergency room at St. Paul’s. But I’m not entirely sure if any of these things happened.

I didn’t know my name or who I was or where I was or what it even means to be human and have a body and a brain. I didn’t understand time or space, life or death. It was very metaphysical.

Recreational marijuana became legal in Canada on Oct. 17, 2018. Trevor Hagan/Bloomberg

My friend, who ate the other half of the gummy, showed up to hold my hand in the hospital. She was high, but fine. She wasn’t having an adverse reaction like I was.

I started feeling strange after that “bad trip.” Unlike before, my brain was filled with thoughts of suicide, death and existential questions. I attempted to push the thoughts out of my mind, assuming it was the after-effect of that little green drug.

Six weeks after that drug trip, I had nervous breakdown. I was sitting at my desk when suddenly, something felt different, something felt off. I felt uncomfortable in my body. My heart started racing. I began to think a lot about existence. I felt disconnected. Like my mind and my body had separated. Like I was living in an altered reality. I thought I was losing my mind, or perhaps I was dying. The worst part? I wanted to die.

The worst part? I wanted to die

   

I wound up in the emergency room and then a mental health facility. Further psychiatric assessment would tell me I was suffering from panic and residual drug-induced psychotic disorders. Later, I’d have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

It’s been almost a year and a half since the drug trip. I continue to suffer from panic attacks. And, every single day, I still feel disconnected, like my mind and my body have separated, like I’m living in an altered reality. Some days are worse than others.

For some reason, I feel compelled to clarify that up until this point — for over 30 years — I was mentally stable. I have the privilege of white skin, a middle-class upbringing, great friends, a university degree and a post-grad education, too. I’ve held staff editor jobs. I’ve freelanced successfully. There were no red flags for my mental health.

There were no red flags for my mental health

   

A recent report claimed that a bad drug trip can be a sign of mental illness — not as a cause, but as a trigger. I’ve spent a lot of the past year and a half feeling guilty. Like I caused my mental illness by eating that weed gummy. But how could I have known? I have smoked and eaten weed before, sometimes with adverse effects. But the end result has never been multiple mental illnesses: panic, post-traumatic stress and residual drug-induced psychotic disorders. Maybe it was the perfect storm: I ate the right amount of the right strain at a time when I was stressed, and therefore vulnerable to a breakdown.

This is not a pity party. I don’t want you to feel bad for me. I’m telling this story because I think it’s important for people to realize that although cannabis has a reputation as being safe and benign, that’s not always the case. As my psychiatrist likes to remind me: people’s minds and bodies are different, and have varying reactions to drugs, to alcohol, to stress.

I’m still going through the process of healing. For people who haven’t been through something similar: be careful. It’s been reported that the current endorsed guidelines to prevent mental illness risk from marijuana consumption is to use less, use lower levels of THC or abstain. But, talk to your friends. Share this story. So, I guess this article is a PSA: don’t be number 568.

— Originally from Toronto, Jennifer Foden is a freelance writer and editor living in Vancouver.

Jennifer appears to be in her 30s as she recovers from her nightmarish experience. I'm not convinced that you need a predilection toward mental illness to be triggered by cannabis. I am aware, especially of teenagers who have protracted severe schizophrenia and paranoia from using pot, and like Jennifer, had no indicators of mental illness whatsoever.

I hope Coastal and Fraser Health keep detailed records on people who end up in ERs because of cannabis related issues. We have much to learn about this insidious experiment that our Very Liberal government has hastily inflicted upon Canadian society.