IN OUR OPINION: It’s time we treat the climate like our health | Canada's National Observer: Climate News

Fifteen years ago a national survey named Tommy Douglas, the father of universal, single-payer healthcare in Canada, the greatest Canadian of all time. Today, we Canadians continue to hold up our high-quality, publicly funded healthcare system as a point of national pride. Among other ethical priorities, our system values the principle of non-maleficence, or avoiding needless harm. Physicians order tests even when the chances are slim that they might diagnose a dangerous disease, because one missed cancer in one hundred is too many. Prescription medications are similarly vetted. Researched extensively in laboratory and animal models, they must pass three phases of human trials before going to market. 9.3 per cent of prescription medications are subsequently withdrawn during a minimum two-year surveillance period, when dangerous side effects become evident during wider population use. In fact, after $2.1 billion of sales, the diabetes medication troglitazone was pulled from the market i

Fifteen years ago a national survey named Tommy Douglas, the father of universal, single-payer healthcare in Canada, the greatest Canadian of all time. Today, we Canadians continue to hold up our high-quality, publicly funded healthcare system as a point of national pride. Among other ethical priorities, our system values the principle of non-maleficence, or avoiding needless harm. Physicians order tests even when the chances are slim that they might diagnose a dangerous disease, because one missed cancer in one hundred is too many. Prescription medications are similarly vetted. Researched ext