Learning that someone boarded a flight visibly ill during a suspected Andes hantavirus investigation is a reminder that airplanes are essentially Petri dishes of the sky. Wear a respirator on airplanes

🔎Looking for East/South Vancouver residents for a story! Have you/someone you know had to surrender a pet in order to find housing? Or have you experienced housing precarity due to a pet? I'd like to speak with you. Message me here or at maddi[at]vancitylookout[dot]com Cat photo as appreciation

IT'S ALIVE! I'm grateful to be a co-founder of De Facto @defacto-ca.bsky.social, a project born out of how difficult it is to make a living in journalism. Follow us for investigations into law enforcement, prisons, immigration and more. I've got one with @godfrey.bsky.social dropping on Monday!

Ignore longevity industry wellness woo BS. Genes = 50% lifespan wapo.st/4c6Q7L3 Key: "Healthy habits can add years, but the upside is less pronounced than bad habits, which can shear decades off a lifespan." #Longevity = luck (genes) + basic healthy lifestyle + luck (socioeconomics)

"First Nations have had other projects where they get into trouble with big developers, then we’re left holding the bag...That’s why we’re very careful in making sure that we pulled back." Financial struggles put proposed Indigenous medical hotel in jeopardy www.vancitylookout.com/p/financial-...

For my latest with Vancity Lookout, I dig into the financial issues plaguing a new Indigenous medical hotel and what repeated setbacks could mean for the future of the project. www.vancitylookout.com/p/financial-...

Great story by @maddidellplain.bsky.social in the Vancity Lookout: The Dunna’eh House of Healing, a medical travel hotel for rural #Indigenous patients seeking care in Vancouver faces ongoing delays and significant financial setbacks. www.vancitylookout.com/p/financial-...

Six years after the start of the pandemic, there are few clear answers for would-be parents with #LongCOVID. But amid the layers of uncertainty, there is some guidance that can be gleaned from ME, and potentially valuable research on the way. bit.ly/4uMFdCR

Pregnancy can be unpredictable in the best of circumstances. For those with Long COVID, the risks & uncertainties can feel insurmountable. In my first piece with @thesicktimes.org, I dig into everything we know (and don't know) about pregnancy and Long COVID. thesicktimes.org/2026/03/24/i...

Today @thesicktimes.org: @maddidellplain.bsky.social dives into how people with Long COVID experience pregnancy. There's relatively limited research on this so far, but we can learn from ME and more studies are underway. thesicktimes.org/2026/03/24/i...

And these aren’t “potential” conflicts of interest. The study authors: •donated > $7,000 to UCP •make money from private AB government contracts •all work for the AB govt, except one •have taken ‘speaking fees’ from govt-sponsored conferences •failed to report even one of these ☝️in the disclosures

On Mar 11, AB government celebrated its ‘study’ it claimed found nobody was harmed by its closure of Red Deer’s supervised consumption site. On Mar 13, ON govt surprise-announced closure of all remaining sites. This is a manufactured disinformation crisis. 1/ drugdatadecoded.ca/centre-of-re...

Bill S228 once passed, will criminalize forced and coerced sterilization. I spoke with several experts about what the bill might mean for victims, physicians, reproductive justice and the various marginalized groups historically targeted by the practice. healthydebate.ca/2026/03/topi...

Join me and @friendsofmedicare.bsky.social tonight for this important webinar!

Bill to criminalize forced sterilization sparks debate over reproductive justice and medical practice By @maddidellplain.bsky.social healthydebate.ca/2026/03/topi...

“Canada supports the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent its regime from further threatening international peace and security.” Well. For those of us wondering if he’d walk the walk of the Davos speech, this is a pretty big answer. Nope.

A few takeaways from the BC budget Real spending cuts in health care are here: Regional health authorities will only see a 0.7% increase in 2025-26 and a 2.5% increase in 2026-26—far below the 5-6% needed to maintain service levels, account for inflation, population growth and aging 1/ #bcpoli

Primary care access is declining in BC. With a new provincial budget on the way, how has spending on a new physician payment model affected it? #bcpoli #cdnpoli www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

Manitoba slashes private nursing agencies: The path forward or a policy stumble? By @maddidellplain.bsky.social healthydebate.ca/2026/02/topi...

Our research ethics boards aren’t the problem – the system wasn’t built to protect participants healthydebate.ca/2026/01/topi...

Dreaming of a bold and courageous health-care system for all By @maddidellplain.bsky.social healthydebate.ca/2025/12/topi...

‘A lot of work to do, one conversation at a time’: New Year’s resolutions for 2026; By @maddidellplain.bsky.social "With changes reverberating throughout our health-care system, we wanted to know what health-care experts planned to focus on in the year ahead." healthydebate.ca/2025/12/topi...

The DULF constitutional challenge will continue tomorrow at 10am and a member of the compassion club will be testifying. You can drop in and support/witness at any time. It goes until 4pm with a break from 12:30-2pm. 800 Smithe, floor 5, room 54.

1/3. The December 2025 @megaphonemagazine.com has hit the streets! 🎄🎅 Don't miss this month's cover story looking back at a year of storytelling to find out who's been naughty + who's been nice in the #DTES! Cover photo of Nic + Julie in their holiday onesies by the amazing Tanya Goehring! Also...

“The fact is that this toxic drug crisis won’t be solved without an approach that focuses on safer supply and harm reduction.” For my latest with @filtermag.bsky.social, I spoke with BC Human Rights Commissioner, Kasari Govender, about her position statement on the toxic drug supply crisis.

Regulation saves lives. When drug regulations aren't strict people die. They don't have to die. Alcohol, opioids, stimulants: regulations save lives. In Canada we only strictly regulate alcohol and thankfully a tainted supply doesn't exist. We could regulate more. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Scoop: The CDC is moving to end telework agreements for employees with disabilities — again www.statnews.com/2025/11/21/c...

Apparently 1 in 6 people who get Botox experience adverse effects from the procedure?? Excellent (and troubling) new @healthydebate.bsky.social story by Miranda Schreiber

NEW Two federal expert reviews provided unanimous support in 2023 for rapidly scaling up safe supply, including compassion clubs. Instead of informing the public, the government silenced the reports, and DULF got closed & arrested. Who killed the expert reviews? drugdatadecoded.ca/who-killed-t...

Donate to support Press Progress' legal fund! JournalismDefence.ca

UPDATE: Canada has announced that it has lost its measles elimination status. This is a direct result of the increase in anti-vax disinformation, which has caused large, sustained outbreaks in the country over the last year.

Founders of groundbreaking Vancouver compassion club found guilty of drug trafficking Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum, who sold club members drugs they had tested for safety, plan to launch a constitutional challenge against Canada's drug laws on November 24. pressprogress.ca/founders-of-...

DULF co-founders Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum were found guilty of possession with the intent to traffic this morning for meth, heroin and cocaine. My full story on @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/News/2025/11...

Drug User Liberation Front founders Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum have been found guilty of all charges. A lot people upset in this courtroom right now. Defence going to be mounting a constitutional challenge.

“People who are getting clicks and likes online and [we have] a reactive government that is responding to the moral panic to avoid getting voted out … so we have policymakers with extremely liberal backgrounds doing extremely conservative things to retain their position of power,” Ranger said.

Finally got to cover some good drug policy news for a change! My latest with @filtermag.bsky.social :

AI and the mental health crisis: Can chatbots fill the gap? By @maddidellplain.bsky.social healthydebate.ca/2025/10/topi...

Great takedown of harmful #misinformation about cancer & autism by CBC Marketplace They analyzed "200 of TikTok’s most popular health videos & uncovers a troubling trend: misinformation is not only widespread, it’s thriving." Honoured to help. Investigating Dr. TikTok www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

No amount of alcohol is safe, at least for dementia risk, study finds wapo.st/42DbNdR "...even light alcohol consumption can increase dementia risk."

Rodney Taylor was days away from receiving new prosthetic legs when ICE grabbed him. He’s been detained for more than 8 months. They won’t allow him to get his new legs & put him in solitary confinement. He needs the disability community’s help! His petition just hit 3,000… keep it going!

Gives me the fucking creeps how these people are making fake women using AI and choose to give them extremely child-like faces. 🚩

My latest with @healthydebate.bsky.social

87 people died of drug poisoning in #yeg in March 2025. The highest monthly total recorded. Although we saw a early spike in EMS calls at the end of February there were no efforts to warn the public or put in place any additional preventative measures. #ableg

Climate change is expanding mosquito habitat in Hawaiʻi, threatening endangered birds with avian malaria. So Hawaiʻi is releasing male mosquitoes with a strain of Wolbachia bacteria that make them incompatible with the females so their eggs don’t hatch. 🪶🧪

For my latest with @healthydebate.bsky.social I spoke with several ER docs to find out how they cope with the (increasing) pressures of the job

Managing the Pitt. Experts discuss how to cope with the stresses of emergency medicine, by @maddidellplain.bsky.social healthydebate.ca/2025/06/topi... via @healthydebate.bsky.social

#SaferSupply an effective treatment tool despite political backlash. New study shows safe opioid supply more effective than opioid agonist therapies, by @maddidellplain.bsky.social healthydebate.ca/2025/06/topi... via @healthydebate.bsky.social

Some helpful tips for following the awful news out of Minnesota today.

"A recent study shows safe supply may be a more effective treatment option than methadone for those most at risk." By @maddidellplain.bsky.social healthydebate.ca/2025/06/topi...