Daryl has performed over 200 surgeries since September 2022 in the surgical subspecialties of first urology and then gynecologic oncology. Daryl, the da Vinci surgical robot at St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon, has also added another Saskatchewan first with thoracic surgeries.
But Daryl can’t do this alone. It needs the team from surgeons to operating room nurses to administrators who all work together to build a successful robotics program, and more importantly improve patient outcomes and experiences.
“We are the first program in Western Canada to offer robotic thoracic surgery and our outcomes have been excellent,” said Dr. Dimitri Coutsinos, one of two thoracic surgeons trained in the robotic surgical program. “Using the robot is incredible. It’s like setting foot into the future. Very Jetsons-esque.”
Today, Daryl is nearing capacity with eight fully-trained surgeons and two additional thoracic surgeons completing training this summer.
“It’s a complete game changer… and without a doubt superior,” added Dr. Richard Bigsby, provincial head of thoracic surgery and the other surgeon trained. “It’s not actually the way of the future, it’s the way it is now – you either join the train or you stay behind.”
Gary Guran, who underwent thoracic surgery in February, was surprised at the speed of the procedure.
“I got the record I think… four hours (in surgery) and then recovery!” said Guran. “I would recommend it… with the old method they may have had to break my ribs.”
The ‘old’ method would have also seen Guran recovering in hospital for several days up to a week or more. Using the da Vinci surgical system, he was in and out of hospital in 13 hours.
“We have an opportunity to be leaders in the transition to robotic surgery in our country. We are certainly paving the way for that,” said Dr. Coutsinos.
The SHA’s da Vinci Surgical system has become one of the most successful robotic surgery launches in Canada, with the Government of Saskatchewan support of $1 million in funding to purchase of the da Vinci Surgical System.
Daryl would not be here today without the tremendous support of St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation capital campaign of $1.5 million. Daryl was named in honour of Merlis Belsher’s late son, after the family generously supported the purchase with a $1.1 million gift through the foundation.
Missed learning about the robotics launch in 2022? Watch this video from November 2022 (YouTube) to hear about the experience of one of our first patients, and see our surgical team in action with ‘Daryl’. Please note this video contains graphic surgical images.
As part of an overall strategy for stabilizing emergency services, the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) is pleased to launch the new Virtual Physician (VP) program at the Galloway Health Centre in Oxbow beginning August 1.
The VP program provides nursing staff remote access to a physician using the existing infrastructure of HealthLine 811 when no local physician is available to provide emergency department coverage in Oxbow. This will help maintain emergency services while recruitment continues to achieve a full complement of physician resources in the community.
“The SHA is committed to building health-care provider capacity in order to stabilize emergency services and minimize service disruptions,” said Brenda Schwann, Vice President, Integrated Rural Health, Saskatchewan Health Authority. “Innovative initiatives such as the VP program bridge staffing or physician coverage gaps while adequate resources are recruited to maintain safe, sustainable, and accessible emergency care.”
Oxbow is the second location selected to pilot the VP program. Porcupine Plain launched its program in late June and has since fully resumed its emergency department services.
The SHA is working closely with Oxbow community leaders to mitigate any short-term disruptions due to staffing challenges over the summer months, in addition to the launch of the VP program. A new physician is expected to arrive in the community this fall. Local updates will be provided as more information becomes available.
Recruiting and retaining health professionals is a top priority for the SHA and the Government of Saskatchewan. Recently, the provincial government announced enhancements to the Rural Physician Incentive Program (RPIP) to help attract more family physicians to rural and northern communities across Saskatchewan. Oxbow is included in this list of targeted communities. The enhanced incentive provides up to $200,000 over five years and the length of the program is increasing from four years to five years.
More information on the enhanced RPIP program, including program eligibility, may be found at saskatchewan.ca/rural-physician-incentive. Expanding the Rural Physician Incentive Program is part of the Government of Saskatchewan’s nearly $100 million investment in 2023-24 to support the Health Human Resources Action Plan, which includes several initiatives to recruit, train, incentivize, and retain doctors and other health care professions.
Individuals requiring emergency services should call 9-1-1. Non-urgent health-related questions may be directed to the provincial HealthLine 24/7 by calling 8-1-1. Residents are encouraged to seek routine health-care services during regular clinic hours. The Oxbow Family Medicine Clinic is open Monday to Friday – 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and can be reached at (306) 483-5244.
Many Saskatchewan nurses and supporters gathered to rally at Regina’s Wascana Park to voice concerns about the health care system.
Such concerns include staffing shortages that lead to indicators of increased patient safety and risks.
In a release, the president of the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) said that registered nurses need to see urgency and a clear political will to solve this crisis.
“We cannot wait to act when so many patients are needlessly suffering,” said Tracy Zambory. “There’s an irrefutable link between registered nurse burnout and poorer patient outcomes, and right now, we risk worsening shortages as faith in workplace support and commitment to fix the problem dwindles.”
Results from an October 2023 survey shows the health care system riddled with patient safety concerns.
“Long waits, missed treatments, cancelled procedures, avoidable hospital admissions; these and many other indicators of increased patient safety and risk are occurring across the system every day because of registered nursing shortages,” said Zambory.
Story continues below advertisement
The survey shows that 81 per cent of registered nurses report knowing of a time when patients were at risk due to short staffing, Of those who are aware of risk due to short staffing, over 51 per cent report the risk is frequent.
“Over nine in ten note there have been times when short staffing has led to longer wait times and delayed or missed assessment or treatment,” the release read.
“Similar proportions indicate experiencing times when short staffing has led to poor patient experience, service reductions or disruptions, reduced standards of care, and delayed or cancelled procedures. While almost three quarters say that short staffing has led to unplanned or unnecessary admissions and avoidable deterioration in patients.”
SUN filed for a Freedom of Information request shows that in the 2.5 years prior to June 30, 2023, the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) has spent $78.5 million on contract nursing services, with expenditures exceeding $45 million in 2022 alone.
“The misplaced focus on private agencies is costly to taxpayers, averaging $120 per hour, and it is not sustainable,” Zambory said. “We should be talking directly with registered nurses on the ground to build homegrown solutions; something I’ve repeatedly spoken to the SHA, the Ministry of Health, and Premier Moe about.”
SUN continues to advocate for a nursing task force that includes unions, regulatory bodies, educational institutions, government, and employers to jointly develop a Saskatchewan-made plan to address the crisis.
Story continues below advertisement
Regina residents upset after learning long-term care home plans to end services
Regina hospital emergency rooms introduce parking fees
Saskatchewan Health Minister Everett Hindley said the move aligns with practices at the other SHA hospitals in Saskatoon, but he doesn’t want it to be a burden on families.
Horace Ratt drives along the gravel roads of Pelican Narrows, Sask., where hand waves and head nods take the place of traffic lights. The doors and windows of some homes are shuttered with plywood, either under construction or graffiti-marked and vandalized.
Ratt retired a 23-year veteran of the Prince Albert Police Service. He lives in Prince Albert, but has taken up the role of chief administrator for the reserve’s proposed community officer program.
He says he wants to be part of the solution to a problem that residents say is pervasive in the community — violence fuelled by drugs, alcohol and gangs.
“I still have family that lives here. They are impacted by the violence as well, so for me it’s like I want to do my part,” he said.
Horace Ratt, who is overseeing the Community Safety Officer program in Pelican Narrows, drives around the gravel roads of the community. (Chanss Lagaden/CBC)
Pelican Narrows is both a northern village, about 415 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon, and a reserve in the surrounding area. The most recent census counted about 2,300 people there, most in the reserve, but the community says about 3,800 total live there.
Like others in Saskatchewan’s northern region, people in Pelican Narrows blame gangs, alcohol and drug addiction, particularly crystal meth, for its deepening disorder.
Saskatchewan’s rural north has a police-reported crime rate more than six times higher than the province’s rural south, and more than seven times higher than the urban south.
Many, including the RCMP, also blame the COVID-19 pandemic and the federal money that flowed into people’s hands for a rise in substance abuse, an issue that’s been linked to intergenerational trauma and colonial institutions like residential schools.
Ratt would like to see community officers on the ground to address those issues, a program that’s already been set in place elsewhere in the north. Those officers have more authority than a citizen but less than an RCMP officer. They would concentrate on smaller crime — freeing up police to focus on more serious cases. Ratt also wants them to engage with the community.
WATCH| How northern Sask. communities plagued by high crime rates are trying to stifle the violence:
How northern Sask. communities plagued by high crime rates are trying to stifle the violence
Featured VideoCrime rates in northern Saskatchewan are among the highest in Canada. Some communities have even declared a state of emergency this fall because of escalating violence and while RCMP respond to crimes in the north, some First Nations are banking on community policing to make a difference.
Paid officers would be trained in a six-week program that covers aspects like self defence and use of force — including using batons, handcuffs and pepper spray as part of their arsenal.
“The main thing is de-escalating any volatile situations,” Ratt said.
There are 21 safety officers across seven northern communities, according to Saskatchewan.
Pelican Narrows launched a similar program in 2018 and locals say it helped, but band revenue funding the program dried up leading into the pandemic. It’s among the communities looking for provincial and federal financial support to fund their policing program and suspects that without it, internal funding won’t last long before the program needs government money.
Violent crime leads to states of emergency
Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation’s chief and council, which oversees Pelican Narrows and seven other northern communities, held a public meeting in Pelican Narrows in late October to hear from residents after declaring a state of emergency earlier in the month in response to escalating crime and a recent murder.
Local council officials say Pelican Narrows already had its own separate state of emergency in place for about a year.
Residents at the meeting told stories about machete stabbings and people being hit with bear mace, and called for detox and wellness centres to stunt a growing addictions crisis. A nurse told CBC that in the past two months she heard gunshots in the community almost daily.
LISTEN | A Pelican Narrows nurse details the crime that’s caused the health clinic to temporarily close at times:
The Morning Edition – Sask11:01A northern Saskatchewan community is calling for help amid unrelenting violence
Featured VideoPelican Narrows has been dealing with increasing violence this year – leading that northern community to declare a state of emergency for most of the past year. Now the problem is spreading. We’ll hear from an elder about what she’s seeing – and a registered nurse about the challenges she and other healthcare workers are facing in trying to deliver care in the community.
A tragic collage adorned the wall at the meeting — more than 20 photos taped to the wall framed by about a dozen names captured in laminated hearts each identified as someone from the community who is dead or missing.
Elizabeth Michel pointed to a picture of a boy wearing a low-hanging sleeveless shirt, a flat-beaked hat and a smile with a gap in his two front teeth. Below the photo of her 16-year-old son are two dates: birth and death.
Elizabeth Michel says every one in the community is connected to at least one person whose face or name was on the wall. (Dayne Patterson/CBC)
Michel said her son, Mark Clarence Gabriel Michel Jr., was killed on a street known for its violence. After his death, she left her 30-year career as a librarian to join Pelican Narrows’s band council, intent on making change. She is among the people who have called for the return of the community police force, which is set to begin in Pelican Narrows and branch out to other Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation communities.
“You don’t realize it can happen to anybody. Nobody’s prepared to lose a child,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes.
At night, Michel and her granddaughter — Mark’s daughter, who was born after his death — still pray for him.
WATCH | Public meeting held in Pelican Narrows following a Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation declaration of a state of emergency:
Pelican Narrows, Sask., calls for help amid violence
Featured VideoResidents of Pelican Narrows described the fear of growing violence in their small northern Saskatchewan community.
Northern communities combating crime
Communities all around Saskatchewan’s northern half are facing their own versions of Pelican Narrows’s violence crisis. Each has unique aspects, but there are common threads: drugs, gangs, mental health and a severe need for more funding.
Buffalo River Dene Nation, about 385 kilometres northwest of Pelican Narrows, declared its own state of emergency in June 2022, then another several months later in October.
The First Nation’s chief, Norma Catarat, said the “staggering” effects of crystal meth and gangs have ranged from exceptionally high rates of suicide attempts to shootings, stabbings and domestic violence.
Catarat said Buffalo River started a security team, but its enforcement is restricted by its non-police status. There is also no RCMP detachment in Buffalo River. She hopes to replace the security team with the same community safety officer program as Pelican Narrows, but says there isn’t money to fund it.
Catarat said Buffalo River is also working toward a youth centre, a mental health facility, a transition house, a detox centre and a treatment centre. Again, money is the roadblock.
Chief Norma Catarat of Buffalo River Dene Nation asking for the provincial and federal governments’ help in October. She had said multiple gangs were roaming the region and spreading fear. (Albert Couillard/Radio-Canada)
Flying Dust First Nation, just south of what Statistics Canada considers northern Saskatchewan, has had its own community safety officer program, with one officer, since around the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program is funded with a mix of provincial funding, revenue from First Nation-owned businesses and a hefty portion of the money from traffic tickets.
Jon Mirasty, a Flying Dust band councillor in charge of the local justice portfolio, is taking a similar approach to what he did in his past career as a former professional hockey enforcer: establish a presence.
“As an elected leader, I want to go to the houses and show the people that I care and say that I’m here to help you, but if you don’t want the help, you’ve got to go,” he said.
Flying Dust First Nation councillor and justice portfolio holder Jon Mirasty said that while the community safety officer program is useful, it doesn’t address the root issues. (Dayne Patterson/CBC)
Mirasty said Flying Dust still needs more funds for a full-time second officer.
Having the first present in the community has helped, he said, “But, again, a CSO can only do so much. When it gets to our real crime, they’re just eyes to give a heads-up to RCMP,” he said.
Mirasty admitted policing is only one part of what the community needs. He said solutions need to focus on people at the heart of the issue — substance users, people with mental health issues — and pulling youth out of a criminal lifestyle early.
RCMP Saskatchewan north district commander Murray Chamberlin agreed.
While Saskatchewan introduced Crime Reduction teams in 2018 to target high risk offenders, including in communities like Pelican Narrows, Chamberlin said the solution needs to expand.
“As long as there is a demand for drugs and a profit to be made, there will always be new gangs, new drug dealers, new issues,” Chamberlin said.
A community safety officer program is in development to aid this RCMP detachment in Pelican Narrows, to allow Mounties to focus on violent and severe calls while safety officers manage less severe calls. (Dayne Patterson/CBC)
Addressing deep-seated issues is tough in the north, where detox centres can be hours away.
Mirasty said he’s driven seven hours to bring a person from Flying Dust First Nation to Regina.
Focusing on their youth
First Nations are also trying to reconnect youth with Indigenous culture, something that leadership believes could prevent young people from being recruited by gangs.
Grandmother’s Bay, part of Lac La Ronge Indian Band about 120 kilometres northwest of Pelican Narrows, runs cultural camps six times a year for people aged five to 25. For example, in the spring, youth draw sap from birch trees, boil it down to molasses and make it into a jam. In the fall, they learn to cut, dry and preserve meat, like moose or beaver.
He’s not sure if the camp has led to reduced crime rates, but said it teaches youth respect.
“We try to teach them the way we used to live back in the old days,” Gerald McKenzie, a councillor for Grandmother’s Bay, said. “We have to keep continuing the traditional way of life.”
Grandmother’s Bay also developed a safety committee to discuss crime, including youth crime, in the community.
“We don’t want them to go to jail or youth detention centres, where they come back trained as criminals,” McKenzie said.
In an email, Saskatchewan’s justice ministry said the province doles out about $650,000 to restorative justice programs in the province’s north and also funds a youth reintegration program in La Ronge to reduce the risk of reoffending.
Davut Akca, who studies policing, crime and corrections at Lakehead University in Ontario and is a former professor at the University of Saskatchewan, was one of two researchers studying the Northeast Youth Violence Reduction Partnership, a federally-funded pilot project that ran from 2015 to 2020 in Deschambault Lake, Sandy Bay and Pelican Narrows.
The $4.5-million pilot project directed police officers to be less adversarial with youth, and more friendly, focusing on those who were at risk of gang involvement and violent crime.
The dozens of youth involved, aged from 12 to 24, were offered mental health support virtually from University of Saskatchewan counsellors, Akca said.
Community-based social workers worked alongside elders to mentor the youth and check in on how their schooling was going, setting up tutorship where it was needed.
The study found youth crime would spike when there were fewer interactions between youth and the workers, like over the Christmas season, when the program was not running.
“To be able to better fight against this violence and gang problems and substance use problems in the area, we need a more comprehensive approach,” Akca said.
Akca said more funding needs to be set aside to keep programs like the violence reduction partnership going. Each community will need its own tailored approach, he said.
Researchers interviewed parents and other residents, and concluded the program had worked well in the communities, but the province said the federal government stopped funding it at the end of March 2020.
Public Safety Canada, which funded the project, said in an email that discussions are ongoing with respect to the future of the program and that communities would be informed as that work progresses.
Pelican Narrows was among three communities involved in a pilot project using a friendly policing model to try to reduce youth involvement in crime. (Chanss Lagaden/CBC)
Back in Pelican Narrows, in an area known locally as “North of 60,” Ratt stops his vehicle to speak in Cree with locals.
“Locals will know what the challenges are,” he said.
To Ratt, the job of a community officer needs to extend beyond policing.
“Be engaged with the children. If you see them play street hockey, why not play street hockey or basketball? You see garbage, why not pick up garbage?” he said.
“Sometimes you set a better example by doing and not just saying.”
The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) is advising residents of the Preeceville area that an outbreak of pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, has been declared in the Preeceville area.
Pertussis is a serious and highly contagious infection of the lungs and throat caused by Bordetella Pertussisbacteria. Anyone can get pertussis, but the disease is most severe in children less than one year, where it can be fatal.
Young children who have not been immunized get sicker than older children and adults. This disease can also be severe in pregnant women during the last trimester of pregnancy. During that time, it can be passed to the newborn with the potential to cause severe complications, including infant death.
Symptoms of early stage pertussis are common cold-like symptoms such as sneezing, runny nose, mild fever, and a mild cough. As the illness develops, the cough gets worse leading to severe coughing spells that often end with a “whooping” sound before the next breath, especially in young children. Teenagers and adults may not make the whooping sound. The cough can last one to two months and occurs more often at night. The illness also produces mucus which is expelled through coughing. Mucus makes it difficult to take a breath, preventing enough oxygen from getting to the brain. Contracting pertussis does not produce life-long protection so sick individuals may contract the disease again.
If you or your child experience these symptoms, please see your family physician or nurse practitioner as soon as possible.
Early diagnosis and treatment is important to stop the spread of the pertussis. A person with pertussis who does not get treatment can spread the germ to others for up to three weeks after the cough starts. The pertussis bacteria is spread very easily by infected people when they cough, sneeze or have close contact with others, and can easily spread among people of the same household, school or daycare. Saskatchewan had three pertussis-related deaths between 2010 and 2015.
“The risk of serious illness can be reduced with vaccination. It is important to ensure that you and your children are up-to-date on your vaccinations,” said Medical Health Officer Dr. Ashok Chhetri. “Please consult your local Public Health Nurse for more information on how to protect your family from pertussis”
Pertussis can be prevented by a vaccine given in childhood and in grade eight. As a way of protecting infants, especially those below the age of six months, the vaccine is provided to caregivers of infants, if they have not previously received the vaccine as an adult. The vaccine is also recommended for pregnant women in each pregnancy. Receiving the TdaP (Tetanus, Diptheria, acellular Pertussis) vaccine between 27-32 weeks gestation will provide passive, temporary protection to the infant. Other adults can receive one dose of this vaccine (in their lifetime) when they get their next tetanus booster (recommended every 10 years).
A community event on July 25, 2023 in La Ronge celebrated the start of construction on the new 80-bed long-term care centre. In attendance were leaders from Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), Government of Saskatchewan, the tri-communities. The event was also attended by design build teams, Colliers Project Management and Ledcor Construction.
This will be the largest long-term care centre in northern Saskatchewan, serving residents throughout the northeast. In addition to the 80 long-term care beds, this new facility will provide space for additional health services, including an added satellite dialysis unit.
“Being a physician who calls La Ronge home, as well as being a part of the SHA’s Executive Leadership team, has allowed me to view this project from a unique perspective. I am beyond happy that our community will have this new facility and bring more health services closer to home for so many,” said SHA Physician Executive, Integrated Northern Health, Dr. Stephanie Young.
A heartfelt appreciation goes out to the Tri-Community Partners, Lac La Ronge Indian Band, Town of La Ronge and town of Air Ronge, as they take on the task of fundraising for the new long-term care centre. Without their dedication, this project would not be possible. The SHA looks forward to the opening of this new facility in 2026.
Site in La Ronge where the long-term care facility will be built.
One of the things Sheryl Rasband learned as part of her recovery from anorexia was that she shouldn’t actively try to lose weight. That’s why she was a little taken aback when her psychiatrist suggested she might want to try Ozempic.
“I want to give him the benefit of the doubt because I was expressing my anxiety about my weight…. However, he knows my history,” she said.
The 40-year-old nurse and mother who lives in Utah County, Utah, has struggled with an eating disorder since she was 16, and said her weight has gone up and down since then.
When she was at her lowest point she had to be hospitalized and even temporarily lost custody of her children as a result, she said.
Now, after going through extensive treatment, Rasband said she feels much better mentally, even though she is technically obese according to her Body Mass Index. (BMI is a measurement that some doctors use to determine healthy weight, though it has been challenged as an indicator of health.)
Sheryl Rasband’s psychiatrist prescribed her a number of weight loss drugs including Ozempic which she didn’t take out of fear it would trigger her anorexia. (Shelby Winterton)
“I feel like I am more healthy, more functional, more everything at this weight versus when I’m at a lower weight and I’m in and out of treatment and I am suicidal.”
People who work in the field of eating disorder treatment in Canada say what Rasband has experienced is happening in this country, too, and they are raising the alarm that their patients are being prescribed weight loss drugs without proper screening or counselling.
Risks for people with eating disorders
Anita Federici, a clinical psychologist adjunct professor at York University, has noticed this trend.
“My grave concern is a movement that I’m seeing where physicians are prescribing drugs like Ozempic to people with eating disorders, and … providing false education, that these are front-line treatments for things like binge-eating disorder or bulimia nervosa, which they are absolutely not,” said Federici, who has a PhD in psychology and is also a fellow of the Academy for Eating Disorders.
Clinical psychologist Anita Federici says doctors in Canada are prescribing Ozempic to people with eating disorders. (Paul Howard)
While there are no data to show how many of the 3.5 million Ozempic prescriptions written in Canada last year went to people who have history of eating disorders, Federici said that a number of her patients are on Ozempic and that she’s worried, not just about their mental well-being, but also their physical health.
Of particular concern are patients who have what is sometimes called “atypical anorexia,” she said, because although they might have a BMI that puts them in the category of overweight or obese, they are in fact starving themselves a lot of the time and are at risk of becoming malnourished if they use a weight loss drug.
“You’re medically compromised. And now the danger is that the person with, quote unquote, atypical anorexia or binge-eating disorder walks into the physician’s office and is increasingly being prescribed Ozempic,” said Federici.
An Ozempic billboard, seen in London, Ont., outside a skincare clinic in the city’s northwest end. (Kate Dubinski/CBC News)
‘Doctor-supervised starvation’
This is something that concerns clinical psychologist Jennifer Mills as well.
She’s a professor who studies eating disorders in the Department of Psychology at York University.
Mills said that a drug like Ozempic could even trigger an eating disorder in someone “who is predisposed to having that kind of reaction,” and that patients need to be carefully monitored during what is “almost like doctor-supervised starvation.”
She said there have been some documented cases where people who have had weight-loss surgery or taken weight loss drugs, where it’s triggered “an anorexia nervosa-like reaction.”
“Sometimes when people lose weight drastically, they can develop a distorted sense of what their bodies look like. It’s almost as if their brain has a hard time catching up to the physical weight loss, and … perhaps an excessive fear of gaining the weight back or not being thin enough,” said Mills, who has a PhD in psychology.
Jennifer Mills, a professor who studies eating disorders in the Department of Psychology at York University, says Ozempic could induce an anorexia-like reaction in some patients. (Horst Herget Photography)
One issue, she said, is that doctors and psychologists don’t always agree on the best approach to weight loss.
For example, Mills says she believes that people can be healthy at any size and encourages her clients to adopt that perspective, too.
“I preach that to my patients and yet it is at odds with this kind of buzz and hysteria around a drug that makes it really easy to lose weight.”
A ‘valuable’ drug for some
But for doctors of patients with diabetes, weight loss can be a desired byproduct of using Ozempic.
“We have an obesity epidemic…. That’s why we have a diabetes epidemic,” said Dr. Stewart Harris.
He’s a professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, and medical director of the primary care diabetes support program at Saint Joseph’s Health Care in London, Ont.
“From a purely clinical diabetes perspective [Ozempic] is a very valuable drug in … our toolbox.”
Dr. Stewart Harris says drugs like Ozempic are extremely important in the treatment of diabetes and can be prescribed safely to someone with an eating disorder if done with proper precautions. (Western University)
And, he said, Ozempic can even be safely prescribed to someone with an eating disorder if the proper precautions are taken.
“If I know … somebody has a binge-eating history or has mental health issues, I’m going to be much more judicious and careful as to whether I even initiate this therapeutic option, or how I’m going to do it or how I’m going to monitor them,” said Harris.
“I’m very selective and careful in all people that I put this therapy on, but especially in people that I’m concerned about where there may be more adverse outcomes associated with people’s eating disorders.”
He said he doesn’t want to point fingers but he knows not every doctor does this.
“You [can] just pop into a health promotion clinic that’s selling diets and other lifestyle and things … and they just off-the-cuff give you a prescription without knowing who you are and what your clinical history is…. Then I think that’s where people are running into trouble,” he said.
LISTEN | The impact of weight loss drugs on the body positivity movement:
Columnists from CBC Radio6:31Body positivity and Ozempic
Sad and scared
Sheryl Rasband said she still isn’t sure whether she’s going to try Ozempic like her psychiatrist suggested.
Although she’s much happier living without an eating disorder, she’s not certain it won’t return with the pressure she feels to take weight-loss medication.
“It’s just so sad that it’s catching me after all of these things that my eating disorder has done, and it’s bringing it back.”
She’s also afraid that she is not the only one struggling with this difficult decision.
“If it has me questioning, and it has all these other people who are like me questioning what their values are and what their priorities are for this publicly pushed weight loss medication, I feel scared for the population at large.”
