Health

MONTREAL — Anyone has the right to refuse a blood transfusion, even if it means certain death, says a Quebec coroner who studied the circumstances surrounding the deaths of two Jehovah's Witnesses who had recently given birth.

MONTREAL — A siren system that was tested on Tuesday and designed to alert Montrealers about any major industrial accident was too weak and not distinctive enough, according to some citizens.

CHICAGO — An increase in suicide rates among U.S. teens occurred at the same time social media use surged and a new analysis suggests there may be a link.

WASHINGTON — Federal health authorities are warning about reports of injury, addiction and death with a herbal supplement that has been promoted as an alternative to opioid painkillers and other prescription drugs.

TORONTO — Shoppers Drug Mart is looking to hire a medical marijuana brand manager as it tries to position itself in the burgeoning cannabis market, even though it is not currently legal to distribute the drug through pharmacies.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — New guidelines lower the threshold for high blood pressure, adding 30 million Americans to those who have the condition, which now plagues nearly half of U.S. adults.

CALGARY — An interim report released at a pain management conference suggests the best way to cut down on opioid addiction is to not prescribe the drugs in the first place.

MONTREAL — Environment Canada says a smog alert it issued for southern Quebec late Sunday is expected to continue through Tuesday and possibly into Wednesday morning.

Quebec's international relations minister says she is optimistic the World Anti-Doping Agency will accept Canada's offer on Thursday to keep the organization's headquarters in Montreal until at least 2031.

CHICAGO — The old-fashioned, family doctor style of medicine could be lifesaving for elderly hospitalized patients, a big study suggests, showing benefits over a rapidly expanding alternative that has hospital-based doctors overseeing care instead.