CBC Health News

Nearly 700 people in B.C. have been reported to have a vitamin C deficiency in the past decade, according to data obtained by CBC News, prompting doctors to raise questions about the prevalence of scurvy — a life-threatening disease thought to be a thing of the past — in the province.

Alberta Children's Hospital has added extra beds amid a surge of children sick with respiratory viruses, which doctors say has once again pushed the Calgary hospital over capacity.

Eastern Townships public health authorities have launched an investigation into Lou Gehrig's disease cases in the region after a woman from Windsor, Que., alerted them to nearly 20 residents having the disorder.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says a patient has been hospitalized with a severe case of H5N1 infection in Louisiana, making it the first instance of a severe illness linked to the virus in the United States.

The family of a B.C. man with bipolar disorder and chronic back pain is suing the federal and provincial governments after he allegedly used a day pass from hospital to end his life with medical assistance.

Rep. Jennifer Wexton, a Democrat retiring from Congress after being diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, said farewell to her colleagues using an AI-generated voice trained on recordings of her natural speech. 'I see reasons for hope every day,' she said, calling for change through public service.

While most of his classmates enjoy basketball, field trips, and time to relax, 13-year-old Aadien Vansickle often finds himself alone in a classroom unable to take part in activities that make school fun.

The jury in an Ontario coroner's inquest has declared the death of Abdirahman Abdi, a Black man who died a day after his violent arrest by two Ottawa police officers, a homicide. It's also made recommendations aimed at preventing similar deaths. 

Ottawa is resuming funding for bottled water in Marten Falls First Nation — which has been under a boil-water advisory for 19 years and declared a state of emergency this week — as the remote community in northwestern Ontario continues to deal with his contaminated water supply.

Democratic Republic of Congo's health ministry said on Tuesday that a previously unidentified disease circulating in the southwestern Kwango province is a severe form of malaria.

A recruitment drive to deal with Manitoba's doctor shortage is taking aim at the United States and physicians who might be concerned about Donald Trump's incoming presidency.

The federal government is promising a suite of measures to disrupt the flow of fentanyl and strengthen 24/7 surveillance of the Canada-U.S. border — including outfitting the RCMP with helicopters, drones and mobile surveillance towers and creating a new "strike force."

A proposed solution, offered about one month after resident physicians stopped providing on-call support at an Edmonton hospital, was turned down because it wasn't 'cost neutral,' documents say.

A Manitoba woman had her right leg amputated after complications following a knee replacement surgery two months earlier.

In over 30 years of practice, Dr. Errol Billinkoff rarely saw a man without kids come into his Winnipeg clinic to get a vasectomy. But since the pandemic began, he says it’s become an almost daily occurrence. And he’s not alone.

When Joy Akinkunmi signed up for a science fair two years ago, she had no idea that something she was seeing at home would serve as the inspiration for her project. She recently received an award for her work.

Jordan Kawchuk struggles with alcoholism. Repeated time in treatment centres and sober houses has taught him to connect with others — and himself. He’s determined to make his current stay his last.

The rapid-fire spread of bird flu, an evolving toxic drug supply and the political response to it, plus the rise and expanding use of medications like Ozempic. These are some of the top medical stories we plan to cover in 2025.

At the annual Camp Widow event, individuals who have lost their partners gather to navigate the overwhelming grief of their loss. In the absence of a national bereavement strategy, grief-support charities are stepping in to provide frontline assistance.

Caregivers are widely criticizing the scaling back of Quebec's home-care services, which support vulnerable people in accomplishing daily tasks.