CARP welcomes Stiffer Sentencing for Elder Abuse; Bill Introduced by Minister of Justice

TORONTO, Ontario March 15, 2012 - CARP welcomes the introduction of a Bill changing the Criminal Code to increase sentencing for elder abuse convictions and calls on the provinces to follow the federal lead to increase resources for detection, investigation, prosecution and victim services.

CARP members will welcome the proposal to increase sentencing for elder abuse especially in light of yet another high profile case of victimization. The case also highlights the need for more resources to detect, investigate and prosecute elder abuse cases – actions that are within provincial jurisdiction.

"Older Canadians will take heart from this opening salvo on ending elder abuse. Public awareness initiatives are always welcome but nothing beats a Minister of Justice standing up in Parliament to back up our collective opprobrium with legislative action. More is needed, of course, to detect, investigate, prosecute and ultimately end elder abuse", said Susan Eng, VP Advocacy, CARP.

This legislation can’t have come soon enough. Just this month, there was another media report of elder abuse at the hands of a care giver which illustrates the extent to which people will go to victimize an older person, even one who has all her wits about her and access to lawyers.

In March 2011, CARP called on the then Minister for Seniors, Julian Fantino to do more to address the scourge of elder abuse following media reports of a grandmother forced to live in the family’s garage through a Toronto winter..

This was followed by CARP’s open letter to the Justice Minister and then Seniors Minister: stressing the importance of legislative action:

"… the law has an important role to play in embodying societal values and in the wake of this case and too many others like it, must be examined to determine whether the law and the administration of justice have adequately reflected our abhorrence of such behaviour or has had the desired deterrent effect." [CARP letter to Minister Nicholson and Fantino, March 3, 2011]

A former Toronto Chief of Police and OPP Commissioner, Minister Fantino did not need much convincing that exacerbated sentencing plays an important role in deterring crime provided it is combined with enhanced investigation and prosecution.

Stiffer sentencing for elder abuse became an election promise, repeated in the June Throne Speech, and is now poised to become law with the introduction of this Bill.



...read more story at CARP

HOLD STEADY. Let's Prevent Falls Among Seniors: Ontario's Doctors

TORONTO, March 15, 2012 /Canada NewsWire/ - Every 10 minutes in Ontario, at least one person over the age of 65 visits an emergency room because of a fall and the impacts can be devastating. That's why Ontario's doctors are launching an information campaign for patients to raise awareness about the risks of falling and how to take steps to prevent falls in the first place.

"We are facing a growing population of people over the age of 65 and no matter how sure-footed they feel, if seniors take a few simple precautions, they could significantly reduce their risk of taking a serious fall." Stewart Kennedy, MD President, Ontario Medical Association

Unintentional falls are the leading cause of injury among those over 65, making up 59% of emergency department visits and 79% of all hospitalisations for this age group in Ontario. Surprisingly, the most common type of fall among Ontarians over 65 is caused by slipping or tripping on level ground and not falling on stairs or off of furniture.

A fall can carry serious consequences including damage to muscles, broken bones, and damage to a person's confidence about living independently. Recognizing that the number of people over the age of 65 is expected to double over the next 20 years, Ontario's doctors want to ensure that patients have the information they need to potentially avoid a dangerous fall.

"We want our patients to live healthy and independent lives. Falling can take a person from fully able and independent, to disabled and relying on others in just a split second." said Dr. Kennedy

Since most falls are preventable, there are a few easy steps to take to lessen the chances of falling. These include:

...Eliminating tripping hazards inside the home;

...Wearing appropriate footwear, especially on slippery or uneven surfaces;

...Talking to your family doctor about the side effects of all medications that could increase your chances of falling, especially if you take more than one; and

...Staying physically active to keep muscles strong.

Brochures are available in doctors' offices and more information can be found at: www.oma.org/falls

Quick Facts:

...Fall-related emergency department visits most frequently involve hip fractures, open wounds to the head or face, and wrist or forearm fractures.

...Among hospitalisations, 38% of patients are discharged home, 26% are transferred to another facility (such as a rehabilitation centre), and 26% are transferred to a long-term care facility. For approximately 7% of seniors, a fall will be fatal.

...Almost 1/4 of all the fall-related emergency department visits and over 3/5 of fall-related hospitalisations occurred among the over-65 group;

...In Ontario, data from 2004 reveals that falls on level ground cost a total of $610 million to the health care system. Falls from furniture and on stairs accounted for another $137 million and $241 million respectively.

What Would Health Care Be Like Without Labs?

National Medical Laboratory Week Raises Awareness of Vital Health Care Professionals

HAMILTON, Ontario, March 13, 2012 /Canada NewsWire/ - The Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science (CSMLS) has launched a national public awareness campaign which asks us to consider what would happen to our health care system if lab professionals were not there for one day. The impact on this hypothetical day is wider than you may think.

"Surgeries, trauma care, cancer diagnoses and treatment, newborn care, and heart attack diagnoses are just a few of the examples of patient care dependent on the lab," says Christine Nielsen, CSMLS's Executive Director. "The sheer number of procedures and patient treatments that are affected by the lab on any given day are staggering."

The Our Focus Is You campaign ( www.OurFocusIsYou.ca), which is part of the lead-up to National Medical Laboratory Week, serves to illustrate and quantify the vital contributions medical laboratory professionals make to Canada's health care system each and every day. The website includes a one-minute video and eye-opening statistics.

Every day in Canada, life-saving diagnoses and treatments are dependent on work done in laboratories. The dedicated professionals who work in the lab often go unnoticed by the public because they are rarely seen by patients.

"Despite their vital role, our members are often over looked by the public as key contributors to patient care," states CSMLS president, Tricia VanDenakker. "As National Medical Laboratory Week draws nearer, our campaign will help shed some light on these hard working and dedicated professionals."

National Medical Laboratory Week will be taking place from April 22 - 28, 2012. Since 1985, CSMLS has sponsored this special week to educate the public about the important role that laboratory testing plays in the health and well-being of Canadians.

Joining in the celebration will be Medical Laboratory Technologists, Diagnostic Cytotechnologists, Clinical Genetics Technologists and Medical Laboratory Assistants from coast-to-coast.

Please visit www.OurFocusIsYou.ca, to learn more about medical laboratory professionals and to share the video.

The Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science is the national certifying body for medical laboratory technologists and medical laboratory assistants, and the national professional society for Canada's medical laboratory professionals. Incorporated in 1937 as the Canadian Society of Laboratory Technologists, the society has over 14,500 members in Canada and in countries around the world.

Heart-Powered Pacemakers to Eliminate Battery Replacement Surgery

photo credit: Eric Schmuttenmaer/CC BY-SA 2.0

from TreeHugger.com
by Sami Grover - Technology / Clean Technology

Cardiac pacemakers save countless lives, but their batteries only last so long. That's why researchers have been looking for ways to avoid costly and invasive battery replacement surgery which is currently performed on a patient every 5 to 10 years. We've already heard about a rubber film that could harvest energy from walking and even breathing to power pacemakers, and now another group of researchers is pinning its hopes on an even more obvious source of power—the heart itself.

EurekAlert reports that engineering researchers at the University of Michigan have developed blueprints for heart-powered pacemakers using a ceramic layer that expands and contracts to generate enough energy that it might one day eliminate battery replacement surgery:

Karami and his colleague Daniel Inman, chair of Aerospace Engineering at U-M, have precisely engineered the ceramic layer to a shape that can harvest vibrations across a broad range of frequencies. They also incorporated magnets, whose additional force field can drastically boost the electric signal that results from the vibrations.

The new device could generate 10 microwatts of power, which is about eight times the amount a pacemaker needs to operate, Karami said. It always generates more energy than the pacemaker requires, and it performs at heart rates from 7 to 700 beats per minute. That's well below and above the normal range.

From electricity-generating sneakers to piezoelectric backpacks, the idea of harnessing human motion to generate electricity has been much hyped. But there can be fewer more elegant, and more important, uses than to harness the bodies own rhythms in order to help keep those rhythms going.

Spider Silk Violin Strings Make Amazing Sound

photo credit: goatfarm5237/CC BY 2.0

from TreeHugger.com
by Melissa Breyer - Living / Culture


For years researchers have been drawing inspiration from spider silks to produce innovative, protein-based, eco-friendly materials for use in medical, cosmetic, electronic, textile, and industrial applications. Now a researcher in Japan has the used the dragline silk of 300 female Nephila maculata spiders to spin a set of violin strings.

Using between 3,000 and 5,000 individual strands of silk per string, Shigeyoshi Osaki of Japan's Nara Medical University, spun the strands in one direction to form a bundle, then twisted together three of the bundles in the opposite direction to complete each string.

According to the BBC (which also has a video of the sound), the spider-silk strings weren't as strong as traditional (but seldom-used) strings made from gut, but they were able to withstand more tension than aluminium-coated, nylon-core strings.

But it's their sound that has been noticed.

"Several professional violinists reported that spider strings...generated a preferable timbre, being able to create a new music," he wrote. "The violin strings are a novel practical use for spider silk as a kind of high value-added product, and offer a distinctive type of timbre for both violin players and music lovers worldwide."

Upon inspection using an electron microscope, the strings were shown to be perfectly round. In cross-section the strands were seen to be compressed in a unique polygonal packing structure--a range of different shapes that all fit together very tightly with no space between them.

Dr. Osaki believes that it is this feature of the strings that gives them their strength and unique tone--and that this unusual packing structure can provide important details for developing new type of materials in the future.

The work will appear the journal Physical Review Letters.

Failure of metal welds on recalled BIOS Rollator brand walkers sold at Wal-Mart stores pose fall and injury hazards

from Health & Safety Watch.com

Health Canada reports that Thermor Ltd. Canada is conducting a voluntary recall of their walker, the BIOS Rollator 56001, sold at Wal-Mart stores across Canada.

Due to a manufacturer's defect, the fracturing of metal welds on the walker could cause the user to fall and possibly suffer serious injury. The fracturing of the metal welds can occur near the front legs of the walker above the area of the support bar.

Health Canada is aware of one report from a customer who experienced a fall but suffered only minor injuries. However, customers may experience falls leading to more serious injuries.

Corrective Action:

The company is advising consumer to stop using this product. Consumers may contact Thermor Ltd. Canada directly at 1-800-387-8520 or BIOS exactly for information, including how to receive a replacement.

Health Canada has also been advised that Wal-Mart Canada has posted a recall notice in all Wal-Mart Canada stores to alert customers.

Best Before and Expiration Dates on Foods ... What do they mean?

from Health & Safety Watch.com

Everyone has seen a "best before" date or "expiry date" on foods, but do you really know what it means? Health Canada is advising Canadians of what they should know about this kind of label.

What is the "best before" date?

The best before date tells you about the freshness and shelf life of the unopened food you are buying. It must appear on almost all pre-packaged foods that will keep fresh for 90 days or less. Some foods show a best before date even if they are not required to do so. It is important to know that a best before date is only meant to indicate how long a food will retain its normal wholesomeness, flavour, and nutritional value when stored under normal conditions. Health Canada recommends that you not consume unopened food products that have passed their best before date. They may have lost some of their flavour or their texture may have changed. Do not rely on your sight, smell or taste to judge the safety of food. Use your judgement. When in doubt, throw it out.

If the product has been opened, does the "best before" date still stand?

The best before date only applies to unopened products stored under normal conditions. Once opened, the best before date is no longer valid. Handling or transporting food can also affect the shelf life of a food. For opened packages, manufacturers are required to provide storage instructions on the label when they differ from normal room temperature. Some examples are "refrigerate after opening" or "keep refrigerated," which are important to follow.

Advice on how long food can be safely refrigerated can be found on the Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety's website.

Does the "best before" date still stand if you freeze foods?

Some foods can be frozen to keep beyond their best before date. If you freeze food, the best before date is no longer valid. The length of time you can freeze items depends on the type of food you are freezing and its ingredients. Advice on how long food can be frozen can be found on the Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety's website. Consumers can also contact manufacturers for information about freezing and storing their products.

Where can I find the best before date?

Best before dates must be in both official languages, using the words "best before" and "meilleur avant" with a date in the year-month-day format. The month may be expressed as a numeral or by one of the bilingual abbreviations below. The year is optional, unless it is needed for clarity (i.e., if the shelf life extends into a new calendar year).

Best before 11 JA 22 Meilleur avant

January: JA; February: FE; March: MR; April: AL; May: MA; June: JN; July: JL; August: AU; September: SE; October: OC; November: NO; December: DE

What is an "expiration date" and how is it different?

Some foods--such as meal replacements, nutritional supplements, infant formulas and formulated liquid diets--must carry an expiration date. The expiration date is the date up to which the food maintains its microbiological and physical stability and the nutrient content declared on the label. Foods with an expiration date should not be consumed after the date on the label has passed. When an expiration date has passed, there is no doubt, throw it out.

More information about food date labels is available from:

...Healthy Canadians - How to Read Food Date Labels and Packaging

...Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education's Be Food Safe Canada Campaign

The Weather Network's Spring Outlook: Meteorologists Share what to Expect this Spring

Despite a warmer than normal winter, near-normal conditions expected

OAKVILLE, Ontario, March 5, 2012 /Canada NewsWire/ - The Weather Network has just released its outlook for the months of March, April and May. Following an exceptionally warm and generally dry winter, Canadians can expect a normal and gradual warm-up this spring.

The unusually warm winter can be attributed to several factors, one of which is the jet stream, which stayed further north than usual during the winter months in Canada, keeping the coldest air bottled up over the Arctic. The deeper cold and heavier snow normally attributed to a Canadian winter has instead been felt over parts of Europe and Asia.

"While winter in Canada was relatively dry and warm for most of the country due to the jet stream pattern, it doesn't necessarily mean the same for the spring months," said Chris Scott, Director of Meteorology for The Weather Network. "March tends to be a winter month in most of Canada, and the potential is still there for significant snow. Overall though, we are expecting a fairly typical warm up through the spring months."

The Western Canada Spring

While we can expect a near-normal spring in most of the region, cold temperatures are expected for the northern Prairie Provinces, Yukon and Northwest Territories, with above normal temperatures for southern Manitoba. Precipitation is expected to be near-normal for most of Western Canada, with the exception of Southern Alberta, where below-normal precipitation is forecast.

The Eastern Canada Spring

From the Ontario/Manitoba border east to Atlantic Canada, near-normal temperatures and precipitation are expected for most regions. Above-normal temperatures are expected for Northwestern Ontario, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Central Ontario through to Montreal can expect above-normal precipitation as the storm track is expected to reside across the region.

The Weather Network's Spring Outlook is now available online. To learn even more about the expected conditions this spring, tune into The Weather Network on March 5.

About The Weather Network and MétéoMédia

The Weather Network and its French counterpart, MétéoMédia, are among the most popular media brands in Canada. They are the undisputed leader of weather information services in Canada across all mediums including cable, satellite, online, mobile and newspapers. The specialty television networks are among the most widely distributed and frequently consulted television networks in Canada. The websites, theweathernetwork.com and meteomedia.com, are among Canada's leading web services. All mobile carriers now distribute The Weather Network and MétéoMédia on their services. As the leading source of weather services in the commercial market, energy companies, municipalities, road services and numerous other commercial clients have their weather information needs met by The Weather Network and MétéoMédia. The growth of The Weather Network and MétéoMédia can be attributed to the continued focus and commitment put into providing the very best weather information to Canadians whose activities are dependent on weather.

Education Can Keep You From Being an On-Line Fraud Victim

March is Fraud Prevention Month

ORILLIA, Ontario, March 1, 2012 /Canada NewsWire/ - As the online world continues to evolve daily, so have the scams criminals use to defraud unwitting consumers, according to members of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Anti-Rackets Branch.

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC; formerly Phonebusters) reports on-line fraud scams are increasingly impacting Canadian consumers, taking millions of dollars out of the pockets of victims every year.

"Perpetrators of fraud prey upon the most vulnerable people in society and the impact of their fraudulent activities is staggering. The money taken is used to fuel other illegal activities, further victimizing the unsuspecting public." - Deputy Commissioner Scott TOD, OPP Investigations and Organized Crime

During online anti-virus repair schemes, representatives 'cold call' individuals and state that, for example, "your computer is running slow" or "has viruses". The fraudsters then offer to repair the computer over the Internet, which can involve the installation of software or the customers allowing the representatives remote access to their computer. Payment for the software or repair service is handled via credit card. In 2011, the CAFC received 9,349 complaints from Canadians. The 2,119 people who were identified as victims lost a total of just under $447,000.

Other variations of the scam involve consumers responding to pop-up ads online. These pop-ups are often referred to as 'Scareware' as the message in the pop-up is commonly crafted to make you feel a sense of alarm and anxiety and that there is a threat to your computer if you don't click on the link.

Allowing a third party to download software or remotely access a computer carries inherent risks. 'Keyloggers' or other malicious software could be installed to capture sensitive data, such as online banking user names and passwords, bank account information, and your identity information.

Police advise you to invest in and install reputable security software and keep it up to date.

"The OPP officer who started Phonebusters in the 1990's -- Barry Elliott -- realized quickly that police cannot catch all of the fraudsters. An educated consumer is still the best defence against online fraud." -- Detective Inspector Paul Beesley, OPP Anti-Rackets Branch

If you suspect you or someone you know has been a victim of on-line fraud, contact your local police service or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).

FRAUD…Recognize it…Report it…Stop it.

LEARN MORE

OPP - March is Fraud Prevention Month

Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre - Online Fraud

Glossary of Pitch Types from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre

Phishing: Any e-mail falsely claiming to be an established legitimate organization such as a financial institution, business or government agency in an attempt to have the consumer surrender private and personal information. The e-mail may request or direct the consumer to visit a web site where they are asked to update or provide personal and/or financial information.

Modem-Hijacking: Any victim who unknowingly downloads a virus or program that uses the phone line to make long distance calls.

Personal Information: Any solicitation where an individual is asked for or to verify private and personal information.

Innovative Guelph researcher tackles treatment challenges for colon cancer with new Canadian Cancer Society funding

GUELPH, Ontario, February 29, 2012 /Canada NewsWire/ - Dr Brenda Coomber, a Guelph researcher investigating an innovative way to improve treatment for colon cancer, is one of 10 Ontario-based scientists receiving new funding, the Canadian Cancer Society announced today.

"This funding helps us work towards solving a problem for cancer patients in an unconventional way," says Dr Coomber, who is leading the project at the University of Guelph.

The drug Avastin works by starving cancer cells of their blood supply, but unfortunately the therapy doesn't work for everyone and there is no way of telling which patients will benefit.

Dr Coomber and her team have proposed a way to tackle this problem and will be using the new funding to study how to identify which patients will respond and how to make the drug more effective. This is important because it may lead to more patients surviving colon cancer.

Being able to identify the patients who would benefit from this drug while improving a tumour's sensitivity to Avastin through Dr Coomber's innovative approach landed her top scores in the Society's first Innovation Grants competition.

An estimated 3,250 Ontarians died of colorectal cancer in 2011 and 8,100 were diagnosed with the disease. Colon cancer is the second biggest cancer killer of Canadians.

"We are funding unique and creative research projects to stimulate new approaches in cancer research, the kind that have the potential to turn cancer on its head," says Lorraine Skarratt, manager of the Society's Wellington County Unit. "In this way and with the support of our donors and volunteers, we lead the way in the fight against cancer."

The Society's new Innovation Grants were developed to support innovative and creative problem-solving in cancer research. The goal is to support unconventional concepts, approaches or methodologies to address problems in cancer research.

Dr Coomber is receiving nearly $200,000 over two years for this project. Including this new grant, she has received more than $1.1 million in funding from the Canadian Cancer Society since 2000. In total, researchers at the University of Guelph have been awarded more than $1.5 million since 2008.

A total of 23 grants representing a $4.5 million investment were announced today across the country. For more information about the Society's research funding, visit www.cancer.ca.

The Canadian Cancer Society is a national community-based organization of volunteers whose mission is the eradication of cancer and the enhancement of the quality of life of people living with cancer. When you want to know more about cancer, visit their website www.cancer.ca or call our toll-free, bilingual Cancer Information Service at 1 888 939-3333.