In his riveting tale of how psychiatrists “medicalize” human suffering, Gary Greenberg recounts that, in 1850, a physician called Samuel Cartwright reported a new disease in the highly respected New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal. Cartwright named it drapetomania, from the ancient Greek drapetes for a runaway slave; in other words, here was a disease that “caused Negroes to run away.” It had one primary diagnostic symptom — “absconding from service” — and a few secondary ones, including “sulkiness and dissatisfaction just prior to flight.”
Author Archives: Admin2
‘Dozens of mental disorders don’t exist’ and DSM-5 is ‘a fiction’ of ideology, U.S. therapist claims
Clinics bogged down by disability support applications
A deluge of disability appeal work rooted in flawed Ontario Disability Support Program application and medical review processes may eat up a big chunk of newly available funds for expanded legal aid services, according to legal clinics.
Don’t hire lawyers just by ads
Anyone with a personal injury from a motor vehicle accident will soon discover the complex world of no-fault benefits and tort litigation. No-fault accident benefits, intended to be a simple, easy-to-administer regime, have turned into a complex field frequently inhabited by delay, deny and defend insurers and “independent” medical experts retained to minimize or eliminate claims.
Focus: Colleges ready to disclose more information
The more than two dozen colleges that regulate health professions in Ontario are in the process of making more information about their practitioners available on their public registries within the next few months.
Subtle Brain Injury
Far too much of the focus in the study of what the researchers always call “mild” brain injury or subtle brain injury, is trying to predict how serious a brain injury will become, based upon the way in which the patient interacts with medical professionals in the acute stage. This misses the point.
The telematics debate: are lower prices worth the privacy sacrifice?
Although users saw a 12% average price decrease on their premiums, critics are voicing concerns over whether the savings justify the loss of privacy needed to determine discounts.
Dale: Distracted driving is the new impaired
Bad as distracted driving once was in Canada, it was tame old-school stuff compared to the gadgets competing now for drivers’ attention and, increasingly, killing them and others.
A minor crash? It could be fraud …
You’re waiting to make a left-hand turn, but a driver stops and waves you through. As you turn in front of him, he rams into you – and later tells the police he did no such thing.
http://www.ilstv.com/a-minor-crash-it-could-be-fraud/#.VSLrXI5qRqE
Ontario bill providing for license suspensions for drug-impaired drivers ready for third reading
The Ontario legislature has adopted a committee report on a bill that, if passed into law, would increase the maximum fine for distracted driving to $1,000, introduce licence suspensions for drug impairment and change the branding program for vehicles written off due to a collision for flood
$100,000 Non-Pecuniary Assessment for Chronic Soft Tissue Injuries With Psychological Component
In today’s case (Karim v. Li) the Plaintiff was injured in a 2011 collision. The defendant accepted fault for the crash. The Plaintiff suffered various soft tissue injuries which, coupled with psychological consequences, resulted in an ongoing chronic pain condition. In assessing non-pecuniary damages at $100,000 Mr. Justice Abrioux provided the following reasons: