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East Van doc

@eastvandoc.bsky.social
377 followers 547 following 184 posts

#dtes #medicine #substanceuse #canucks #harmreduction #science

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East Van doc @eastvandoc.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
I've personally caught the "New West Progressives" in blatant social media lies about local issues -- Fontaine isn't fit to lead anything.
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East Van doc @eastvandoc.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
#newwest dropped off my mail-in ballot for @pjnewwest.bsky.social and the @communityfirstnw.bsky.social team yesterday!
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East Van doc @eastvandoc.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Docs: your friendly reminder to never go to pharma dinners/lunches
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East Van doc @eastvandoc.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
eurekalert.org
Pharmaceutical company marketing negatively influences prescribing
Doctors’ prescribing habits are heavily influenced by payments, gifts, and free meals from pharmaceutical companies, leading to more expensive, less appropriate and more drugs being prescribed, ...
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East Van doc @eastvandoc.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Very cool
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Brad Cavanagh @canspice.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Absolutely brutal. #NewWest #WheresDaniel
Screenshot from the New Westminster Climate Action Hub's 2026 Municipal Election Climate Report Card, which asked questions of all municipal candidates regarding climate change. Daniel Fontaine and his New West Progressives declined to answer.
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Bruce Arthur @brucearthur.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
On Tuesday the BC Supreme Court vacated the convictions of the co-founders of DULF, which bought and sold clean illegal drugs on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, and struck down a part of Canada's drug laws. None of it was ideal, but in this crisis, it was to the good. www.thestar.com/opinion/star...
thestar.com
Bruce Arthur: B.C. court right to absolve founders of Drug User Liberation Front
The B.C. Supreme Court concluded that DULF kept people alive and did no public harm, Bruce Arthur writes.
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East Van doc @eastvandoc.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
🤔
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Patrick Johnstone @pjnewwest.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Every two years #NewWest does a poll of the public, run by a professional polling firm, in this case accurate within 1.5% 19/20. A biennial pulse-check on how we are doing delivering for the community. Here's some results: 🧵
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East Van doc @eastvandoc.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
www.openevidence.com/feed/detail/...
openevidence.com
Portable Air Purifiers Show Cardiovascular Benefits, Backed by New Clinical Evidence
HEPA cleaners reduce indoor PM2.5 by 50-60% and lower systolic blood pressure by ~4 mmHg.
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East Van doc @eastvandoc.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Joe H. was one of my first teachers of inner city medicine; the epitome of warmth, kindness and open minded humility that we all (especially physicians) should aspire to enact cheknews.ca/cool-aid-ope...
cheknews.ca
Cool Aid opening new permanent community health centre in Victoria
After a decade in the making, the new The Joe Haegert Community Health Centre aims to give vulnerable Victorians a permanent place to access care.
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The Province @theprovince.com · 07/08/2026
Canucks fan view: A Britannia practice facility could be great, but here's how theprovince.com/sports/hocke...
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Brad Cavanagh @canspice.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
New West Neighbourhood House is accepting donations of cash, gift cards ($25 denominations preferred) and clothing at Lord Kelvin Elementary in #NewWest today from 1 to 5. You can also e-transfer donations to admin@newwestnh.ca
QR code for 'admin@newwestnh.ca', the email address to send etransfers to for donations towards the residents of the Pinecrest Manor fire in New Westminster.
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Charles Rusnell @charlesrusnell.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Great reporting here by The National Post's Tom Blackwell on the rise and scourge of online gambling, including now in Alberta. nationalpost.com/feature/onli...
nationalpost.com
Ontarians spent $100B betting online, triggering suicides and bankruptcies. Now it’s Alberta’s turn
Sports betting used to involve a trip to a casino, racetrack or bookmaker. Now it's as easy as scrolling on TikTok or checking the weather.
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Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 28/06/2026
Congrats DR Congo! They had to quarantine in Belgium before the World Cup due to the devastating Ebola outbreak, yet still made it to the knockout stage for the first time in history!
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Chise @sailorrooscout.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Vaccines save lives. This is the FIRST time that ZERO cervical-cancer deaths have been recorded for this age group, and it’s thanks to the introduction of a vaccine against the human papillomavirus (HPV). Yes, you read that correctly. ZERO.
ctvnews.ca
Cervical cancer deaths for vaccinated young women fall to zero in England: study
The HPV vaccine for cervical cancer has reduced the risk of dying from the disease before the age of 30 in England to almost zero, the first study of its kind showed Thursday.
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East Van doc @eastvandoc.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
#juneteenth and currently reading "Warmth of Other Suns" by @isabelwilkerson.bsky.social ; anyone who thinks the horrific injustice of slavery ended with emancipation needs to read!
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Pivot Legal Society @pivotlegalsociety.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Know your rights before you head out: www.pivotlegal.org/fifa_and_you... 2/3
pivotlegal.org
FIFA & Your Rights
Starting May 13, 2026, the City of Vancouver’s FIFA World Cup 2026 Bylaw is in effect. Before and during FIFA, you can expect intensified surveillance, increased enforcement of both new and existing b...
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Guy Felicella @guyfelicella.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim proclaimed May 29, 2024 as “Guy Felicella Day” in honour of my work advocating for “BOTH HARM REDUCTION AND RECOVERY.” Tomorrow, I’m returning it. I won’t be used as part of a disingenuous display of fake compassion. My full statement is below 👇
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Shematologist, MD @shematologist.medsky.social · 04/05/2026
In honor of mental health awareness month I’d like to remind you that iron is a REQUIRED cofactor to make serotonin and dopamine. And most pregnant women are deficient tinyurl.com/Ironpreg As well as a huge number of people who menstruate. Tinyurl.com/JAMAFe
tinyurl.com
Prevalence of Iron Deficiency and Iron Deficiency Anemia in US Pregnant Individuals, 2003–2023
Click on the article title to read more.
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East Van doc @eastvandoc.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
Wild Geese
Screenshot of the poem "wild geese" by Mary Oliver
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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
"I have empathy for people struggling with drug use" AND SIMULTANEOUSLY "I believe decriminalizing drugs would make my community less safe" is the result of contradictions between policy, implementation, communications, and advocacy.

Figure 3: Attitudes towards people who use drugs and decriminalization

Strongly/somewhat agree (%)	Neither agree nor disagree (%)	Strongly/somewhat disagree (%)
I would like my friends or family members who use drugs to feel comfortable talking to me about it	84%	4%	7%
I have empathy for people struggling with drug use	78%	6%	14%
I believe decriminalization would make it easier to access health and social services such as drug treatment centers and recovery programs	50%	10%	35%
I believe decriminalization would increase harms associated with drug use such as overdoses	53%	10%	33%
I believe decriminalization would reduce the stigma towards people who use drugs	43%	11%	42%
I believe decriminalizing drugs would make my community less safe	48%	11%	37%
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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
there's 28 stories here about Tuesday, from all over the province. this is a great thing that only CBC could do. it might shift your thinking about what's happening if you read and listen to all this together. read everything you can find about April 14. all of it www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
cbc.ca
Loved ones rally across B.C. to mark 10 years since toxic drug crisis was declared an emergency | CBC
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East Van doc @eastvandoc.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
This is a shocking statement from someone apparently directing government policy #bcpoli
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East Van doc @eastvandoc.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
I just need to stop going to meetings for the rest of my life
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Amina @ayasinvan.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
In the case of Paris, that city will be staying the course steered by former Mayor Anne Hidalgo. I hope we see the same here in #newwest this fall, under current leadership which we can push for more gains and improvements in the city rather than taking the centrist-right austere path in a 1/
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Guy Felicella @guyfelicella.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
I’m alive because I was brought back to life at a supervised consumption site. Without them: No recovery. No kids. No life. The drug supply today is even more toxic. Closing these sites doesn’t stop drug use, it stops people from surviving it. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
cbc.ca
Public drug use will spike when consumption sites close, advocates warn | CBC News
Public drug use is set to spike in Ottawa, representatives from the city's two last supervised drug consumption sites are warning after the province cut their funding and told them to end their servic...
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Amina @ayasinvan.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
Last night I went to the B.C. Housing led meeting on the “Tiny Home Village” proposed on 20th Street in New West. The meeting was filled with coordinated attendees who came to spread misinformation drilled into them by the bigoted chaos agents known as NWP in #newwest. Some of the misinfo incl: 1/
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Kent Clark @comicbooksuperhero.ca · 21/02/2026
This is such an important point: the toxic drug crisis is not an issue of the DTES or of Vancouver, the plurality of deaths occur in towns across BC. It's easy to ignore when you assume it's just some group of "others" dying on the street. But it's not. It's your neighbours. Dying in their homes.
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Andrea Woo @andreawoo.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
The BC Centre for Disease Control is warning of an increase in drug poisonings across B.C. due to changes in drug supply. My story from Dec on veterinary sedative medetomidine, detected in 38% opioid samples tested by BCCSU in Nov (gift link) www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/1ce6625...
BC warns of increase in drug poisonings, shifts in unregulated supply

 

Vancouver - The BC Centre for Disease Control’s (BCCDC) Harm Reduction and Substance Use Services Team is warning the public of a recent increase in drug poisonings across BC. Novel substances in the unregulated drug supply are putting people who use substances at greater risk province-wide.

 

Opioids like fentanyl are now often mixed with medetomidine, a potent sedative used primarily by veterinarians, that can cause low heart rate (bradycardia), changes to blood pressure and prolonged sedation. It can also potentially make people feel very sleepy or go unconscious, increasing the risk of drug poisoning. As a response, BCCDC has issued a province-wide drug alert

 

BC has experienced high and increasing paramedic-attended overdoses in recent months. At the same time, detections of medetomidine have increased in drug checking samples and law enforcement seizures. Medetomidine was detected in 38 per cent of opioid samples tested by the BC Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU) in November 2025.

 

Non-fatal drug poisoning can cause brain injury from lack of oxygen and other harms. Even though the BC Coroners Service data shows that deaths are not increasing, the increase in non-fatal drug poisoning is a cause for serious concern.Responding to a drug poisoning

If you are responding to a drug poisoning or overdose event:

Call 9-1-1
A drug poisoning or overdose is a medical emergency.
Stay with the person and follow instructions from the 9-1-1 call-taker.
Follow the SAVE ME steps to respond to an opioid poisoning (overdose).
Check for breathing and give breaths if the person is not breathing normally.
Brain injury can happen within minutes without oxygen. Giving breaths provides oxygen until the person can breathe on their own.
Use naloxone
Naloxone only works on opioids but is safe to give even if the overdose is caused by other substances like medetomidine, which is a non-opioid depressant. Since medetomidine is usually found with opioids, giving naloxone can restore breathing and will not cause harm.
If at any time there is no pulse, start CPR with rescue breathing and compressions.
Use an automated external defibrillator (AED) if available.
 

Safer substance use

If you use substances, there are things you can do to be safer:

The safest option is to avoid unregulated opioids, as they may contain medetomidine. Ask a health care provider about opioid agonist therapy (OAT) and use  drug checking services.
Don’t use alone. Visit an overdose prevention site or take turns with a buddy so there is someone who can respond in the event of an emergency.
If you do use alone, consider using the Connect app by Lifeguard. It prompts you to turn off an alarm and sends a notification to BCEHS dispatch if you don’t.
Carry naloxone and know how to use it.
Sign up for drug alerts by texting the word JOIN to 253787 (ALERTS).
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East Van doc @eastvandoc.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
#newwest
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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
The Shingles vaccine and reduction of dementia: a new natural experiment from Canada replicated 3 others and adds to this week's link to slowing of biological aging. erictopol.substack.com/p/spotlight-...
erictopol.substack.com
Spotlight on the Shingles Vaccine—Again!
Two new studies add to a remarkable body of evidence for benefit
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Andrea Woo @andreawoo.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
B.C. health authorities tried for four years to create a heroin compassion club whose members could purchase a regulated version of the drug without a prescription, an effort to reduce toxic-drug deaths that was ultimately derailed by political blowback www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/e0c398c...
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East Van doc @eastvandoc.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
#dtes #bcpoli #vancouver Something I think has been under reported and under appreciated recently is the horrific rise in severe and chronic wounds in inner-city areas...
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Freshet News @freshetnews.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
Here’s where you can pick up the first Freshet newspaper in New West: Zesty Lemon Clothing Yum Donuts New West City Hall Queensborough CC təməsew̓txʷ CC Moody Park Arena New West Public Library Tourism New West Goodway’s Specialty Foods Groove Cat Books and Records Greens and Beans Deli #newwest
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Freshet News @freshetnews.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
A hometown newspaper returns for New Westminster, Burnaby and the Tri-Cities, BC #coquitlam #portcoquitlam #portmoody #anmore #belcarra #burnaby #newwest #newwestminster #localnews #newspaper #saveourlocalnews #journalism #reporters #democracy
freshetnews.ca
Are you ready for it? Freshet News print edition coming Dec. 18 - Freshet News
Freshet News - a new print newspaper - is coming to New Westminster, Burnaby and TriCities in December 2025
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Doctors for Safer Drug Policy @dsdp.ca · 06/12/2025
Long-acting buprenorphine injections (brand name Sublocade) are not “like a vaccine for overdose.”
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East Van doc @eastvandoc.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
What kind of guidelines have no listed authors and no references? 🤔
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East Van doc @eastvandoc.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
Another clinical practice that I have to learn about (let alone provide feedback on) from the newspaper as opposed to any health agency
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
Anderson Cooper: So it's more expensive to have a chronically homeless person living on the streets than it is to actually subsidize an apartment for them? Answer: Yes, we’re paying more as taxpayers to walk past that person on the street and do nothing… #HousingFirst
cbsnews.com
100,000 Homes: Housing the homeless saves money?
Giving apartments to the chronically homeless can save taxpayer dollars, advocates say
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Stephen Murray, MPH, NRP @stephen-murray.com · 26/11/2025
My first byline in @latimes.com op-ed! www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
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East Van doc @eastvandoc.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
@risingaction.bsky.social looks like sold out immediately, I was in the queue right at ten am
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East Van doc @eastvandoc.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
Just because this seems to be a thing that won't die--there is no difference between a #fractured and #broken bone #medsky
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Jen St. Denis @jenstden.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
What I am gathering through listening in is that other fees will increase to support the freeze on property tax, such as community centre fees. The park board's general manager noted that they hope to keep the fee increase minimal, considering they're already on the high side for Canadian cities.
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Jen St. Denis @jenstden.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
Kathryn Harrison, a UBC prof focused on environmental issues, talked about the death toll of the 2021 heat dome and raised concerns about cuts to climate change work that is ongoing at the city.
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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
a spectacular and necessary read
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Lindsay Brown @lidsville.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
This is a great point. There's so much resistance to increasing ventilation/air purification in classrooms to lower levels of Covid & other illnesses for kids & staff, & so much resistance to masking in healthcare BUT they'll get busy ventilating chicken barns against avian flu because profit
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Ian Bushfield @bushfield.ca · 03/11/2025
This plus a zero percent property tax increase means DEEP cuts to Vancouver services
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East Van doc @eastvandoc.bsky.social · 02/11/2025
@freshetnews.bsky.social @theresamc.bsky.social any update on the timeline for memorial park at old NWSS site? Thought it was supposed to be in progress now...?
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