White Coat, Black Art on CBC Radio

Could your hip replacement hurt you? Journalist Jeanne Lenzer explores the medical device industry in her book, The Danger Within Us.

Sharron Cooke and Devora Greenspon speak frankly about life in long-term residential care, from the loss of freedom to advocating for those who can't do it themselves.

Dr Paige Church, developmental paediatrician talks about her life as a doctor with spina bifida.

This week: A follow to our #metoo in medicine show - A senior MD goes on the record about her experience being sexually harassed by a mentor, and details what she and others are doing to change the culture that allows for abuse. Reaction to our our Crisis of Care town hall event and we follow up on our first story of the season, about a woman who got treated for 'food addiction' alongside people who are addicted to alcohol and cocaine.

On June 12, White Coat, Black Art hosted a town hall meeting on 'aging out' at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. Parents, caregivers gathered to talk about the crisis of care they face when children with disabilities and complex needs 'age out' of the pediatric system that has supported them for their entire lives.

Dr. Goldman spends a day with Gilly, a teen with autism and developmental delay. Gily is on the cusp of aging out of the programs that support her, and her parents are struggling to figure out how the family will manage when that happens.

Greg Price, a 31-year-old Alberta man fatally fell through the cracks of the health-care system after being diagnosed with testicular cancer. After his 2012 death, his family advocated for change by continually telling his story. This week, we explore how Greg's story became a film to teach med students, and why some of the best in Canada's TV industry helped bring the film to life.

Professor Michael Thaut, explores how music can be used to treat cognitive ailments from dementia and Alzheimer's disease to brain injuries. Dr. Michael Ehrenreich, a dermatologist based in New Jersey, wrote Medicine: The Musical opens off-Broadway this fall.

Dr. Lori Regenstrief took a job as the doctor on a luxury cruise liner and ended up having to treat herself. Astronaut Dr. Bob Thirsk tells Brian about practising in zero gravity. And Brian has his own tale of intrigue about visiting Russia and helping out a Soviet dissident. ** Note: This episode originally aired in January***

When antidepressants first came on the market in the late 1980s it was recommended patients take them for six to nine months to relieve symptoms. But in 2018, in the US alone, 15.5 million people have been on anti-depressants for five years or more. And when they do try to stop, they face a raft of unexpected and debilitating withdrawal symptoms.

Host Brian Goldman travels to Ottawa to meet two extraordinary women who share a common bond. Kim McLeod and Julie Drury were both mothers to children who doctors call “medically fragile”: two kids with rare diseases so complicated they need nearly round the clock care just to stay alive. Because of their medical conditions, both children died prematurely. With great strength, the two women share their stories of their children's last days. They impart their wisdom about how the medical system could better help families cope with the painful final moments of a child's life. They both question why the medical system doesn't include death in their conversations with families, particularly those with "medically fragile" children. Is it not part of life?

Each year Toronto’s Central Ambulance Communications Centre responds to more than 400,000 calls for 9-1-1 emergency care, but not everyone calling in has a critical emergency. After taking a closer look, one paramedic discovered that some buildings in the city are "hotspots" for 9-1-1 calls, meaning the residents made more than 100 9-1-1 calls a year -- three times the average. Jessie Lee, a community paramedic and systems engineer developed a "frequent caller" algorithm that pinpointed those buildings. Residents were often elderly, socially isolated and had few outside supports, and relied on emergency care for their regular health care. The discovery led to an innovative solution: Paramedics have started "pop-up clinics' in several Toronto Community Housing buildings where they check patients' blood pressure and general health. The result is an 18 per cent reduction in calls from the buildings. And as Dr. Goldman discovered when he visited, there's also another significant health benefit -- residents feel less isolated and lonely. Professor Verna Menec, the Canada Research Chair in Healthy Aging says that may go a long way to improving their health, since a recent study found loneliness was as unhealthy as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

The new movie Peter Rabbit didn't get great reviews from critics - but it got a unanimous thumbs down from kids who have anaphylaxis and their parents. The movie features a scene in which the animated rabbits pelt a character with blackberries - knowing he has a deadly allergy to them. It's just one of a raft of gags and insensitive jokes, which parents and experts say amounts to "allergy bullying." This week we talk to Vancouver mum Lisa Buckley, and her 8-year old daughter River, who has a severe peanut allergy about the movie and the message it sends, and what it's like to be dubbed "the humourless allergy mum." Arianne Kirkey of Ottawa talks about how she negotiated her way through grade school, high school and early adulthood with a peanut allergy. Canadian allergist Dr. Edmond Chan tells us about his study in which 20 percent of participants reported being bullied.

There's a surprising intersection between the world of medicine and zombies. Yes, the flesh-eating undead of The Walking Dead, George Romero's Night of the Living Dead, and of course Shaun of the Dead. The iconic re-animated creature pops up in some unexpected places in medicine.

We asked listeners to tell us about the seeming "stupid rules" that frustrate them when it comes to our health-care system. We got a barrage of emails, tweets and posts ranging from gripes about getting kicked off a GP's roster for being "too healthy," being forced to jump through hoops to get a referral to a specialist; being unable to access to your own medical records and being restricted from seeing your own child as they go under general anaesthetic in the ICU and when they wake up post-surgery. It all adds up to White Coat, Black Art: The Stupid Rule Edition. We put some responses to experts who explain why the rules exists, we talk about workarounds some patients came up with and we shout out to the broader healthcare community for answers.