Health

CALGARY — There's no such thing as an easy coffee run or a quick bathroom break for the dozen or so staffers at a new laboratory opening in Calgary on Thursday.

TORONTO — Two Ontario court cases involving people deemed brain dead are raising questions about whether what constitutes death should be clearly spelled out under Canadian laws.

INDIANAPOLIS — Alison Wrenne was making waffles for her two young children one morning when abdominal pain forced her to the floor. A neighbour who is a physician assistant urged her to go to the emergency room.

TORONTO — Many patients, their families and caregivers worry filing a complaint about their health care could lead to reprisal, says Ontario's Patient Ombudsman, and there is still work to do to combat that perception.

CALGARY — A loud whir is followed by a deep rumbling roar as the engine of a decommissioned Canadian Forces armoured recovery vehicle comes to life. A big cloud of black smoke belches out of the rear exhaust port.

TORONTO — A group of four McMaster University students has won a $50,000 prize to develop their idea for a handheld device that detects skin cancer.

TORONTO — Hospital professionals across Ontario have ratified a three-year contract extension.

LONDON — Doctors treating a critically ill boy with a devastating skin disease used experimental gene therapy to create an entirely new skin for most of his body in a desperate attempt to save his life.

MONTREAL — Three Quebecers have lost an appeal of their conviction in connection with the extreme-sweating death of a woman who was wrapped in mud and cellophane at a personal-growth seminar.

EDMONTON — A new report says the rising number of opioid overdoses in Alberta is disproportionately affecting Indigenous people, including more deaths and visits to emergency rooms.