A Canadian first at The Royal
The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre unveils a new brain imaging platform. CTV's Kimberley Fowler says it could help understand mental illness, addiction.
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CBC
44 minutes ago
- CBC
Vancouver Island family heartbroken as B.C. stops funding $1M drug for girl with terminal condition
A Vancouver Island family is in shock after learning the British Columbia government will stop funding an extremely expensive medication their young daughter needs for a rare genetic condition. Nine-year-old Charleigh Pollock is the only person in B.C. with Batten disease, or neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2 (CLN2). It's a rare and terminal genetic disorder that causes multiple seizures daily, eventually causing brain damage. Pollock's mother, Jori Fales, said the family is still processing the news, announced Wednesday, that the B.C. government will pull funding for Pollock's access to Brineura, a $1-million-per-year medication which is given through an infusion of fluid to the brain to slow the progression of CLN2. "Emotions have gone from sheer heartbreak to anger to sadness; it's just been a roller-coaster the last 24 hours," Fales said. Thursday marked Pollock's last infusion of Brineura. Fales called the government's decision to pull funding with one day's notice before the last infusion "a little heartless." She said her daughter has been let down. "At the end of the day, it should have always been the decision of her medical care team, and her family and Charleigh. And none of that has happened here." On Thursday, B.C. Minister of Health Josie Osborne said it was a tough decision to end the funding. She said the cost of the medication had nothing to do with the reason the funding was pulled, but that it was determined Pollock's condition had deteriorated to the point where she met "discontinuation criteria" for Brineura. "Clinical evidence shows that once a patient has declined in their motor and language functions by a certain amount, Brineura no longer has the benefit of slowing down the progression of the disease, although patients can continue to live on into mid-adolescence," Osborne said. Fales denied that her daughter's condition has worsened. "Charleigh is not in advanced progression of her disease. This is simply not true," she said. Dr. Ineka Whiteman, the head of research and medical affairs for the Batten Disease Support and Research Association U.S. and Australia and head of the Batten Disease Global Research Initiative, called the B.C. government's decision "appalling." She expressed frustration with the provincial government's emphasis on criteria to discontinue the medicine, which she said is based on old clinical trials. She added other families around the world are becoming concerned their access to the medication may also be reconsidered. "This is not just about a single child. This is really setting a very, very dangerous precedent." Fales said she plans to share her daughter's journey and advocate for others dealing with the disease.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Water quality advisory issued for Trestle Creek Golf Resort Beach
Alberta Health Services (AHS) has issued a water quality advisory for Trestle Creek Golf Resort Beach due to high levels of fecal bacteria. At current levels, gastrointestinal illness may result from consuming the water. There is also a possibility of skin, ear and eye infection if exposed to the water. People are advised not to swim or wade at the beach area. The Trestle Creek Golf Resort is approximately 92 kilometres west of Edmonton.
Globe and Mail
2 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Victoria city council endorses plan to address homelessness, addiction and mental illness
The City of Victoria has endorsed a community safety and well-being plan aimed at tackling the complex and 'entangled challenges' of homelessness, addiction and mental illness playing out on city streets. The report contains dozens of recommendations aimed at all levels of government across eight sectors, including housing, health care, service delivery, and policing and justice. 'Collectively, we are feeling the consequences of compassion fatigue, and a growing 'scarcity mindset,'' the report said. 'This plan recognizes these tensions, and the anger, frustration and vulnerability that exists on all sides, and seeks the balance among them.' Two years ago, Mayor Marianne Alto initiated the process of creating the 79-page document, which is aimed at responding to increased social disorder and a public perception of diminished safety. Its recommendations are the product of an 11-member expert panel. A survey by the Downtown Victoria Business Association published earlier this month found downtown businesses had reached a "tipping point‚" saying many of them won't survive without meaningful efforts to reduce street disorder such as open drug use, camping in doorways and on sidewalks, and repeat criminal activity. The Globe and Mail spent months speaking with Victoria residents, business owners, police officers, local politicians and drug users in an effort to chronicle the impact of the decline of Pandora Avenue, the epicentre of the city's fentanyl crisis. The story, published last month, put Premier David Eby on the defensive in the legislature as he highlighted his government's efforts to create more supportive housing. Poisoned: How fentanyl transformed Victoria's Pandora Avenue from downtown hub to open-air drug market During discussions about the report with city council Thursday, Ms. Alto said the process involved 'extraordinarily challenging conversations' and thanked those involved. 'The most important thing for us to say is it's time now for us to act,' she said. City staff will now assess the plan's budget implications, and examine the policy changes it requires with an aim to report back to council in the fall, before 2026 draft budget deliberations. The city manager will also implement preliminary actions within the existing budget. The report's recommendations included urging the city to explore the feasibility of small-scale tiny homes for the unhoused, increasing funding to maintain the cleanliness of public spaces, supporting local businesses with graffiti removal and creating more public amenities, such as micro-plazas and benches. But the report noted that many levers to improve the downtown situation are the provincial government's responsibility. Its recommendations to the province include expanded supportive and complex care housing and reforming police budget rules to recognize a municipality's ability to pay. It also requests the province allocate resources directly to municipalities if they 'are expected to continue to respond to local homelessness and its impacts.' Victoria is spending millions to tackle its homelessness crisis, stressing taxpayers From Ottawa, the report calls for the adoption of bail reform policies that would see repeat and violent offenders held within institutions for longer, while increasing emphasis on rehabilitation and community-based intervention programs. It also recommends the creation of a national encampment and homelessness response plan. The panel, supported by city staff, included experts in social-service provision, law enforcement, fire and emergency response, public health, business leadership, local neighbourhoods and local Indigenous knowledge. Jonny Morris, chief executive of the Canadian Mental Health Association's British Columbia division and a member of the panel, likened the existing health care response to the current crisis to focusing cancer care on its final stages. 'Right now, it can absolutely be argued that our health care system – nationally, provincially – does spend the majority of its mental-health resources on Stage 4 interventions: emergency psychiatric hospitalizations, involuntary care, intensive crisis responses,' he told council Thursday. 'Meanwhile, Victoria is a municipality spending significant resources on the community impacts of those health care gaps, police responding to mental-health crises, bylaw, people discharged with nowhere to go, services, court processing. The health care recommendations in this plan rebalance the system.' Marg Gardiner, the lone councillor not to endorse the plan, said the root cause of disorder on the streets is drug addiction and the failure to provide rehabilitation. She blamed decisions by the province and city for anchoring a drug subculture, and said the plan cannot be realized as is. 'I cannot give false hope to the general public that [a] solution will be found if this plan is fully endorsed,' she said.
