For the CBC on June 12, 2018 Many of us experience a heaviness in the early morning hours; a feeling that the Swedish word vargtimmen perfectly encapsulates. Robert Macfarlane, author of The Lost Words, writes that this term translates to “wolf-time; the menacing transitional hours of night into dawn.” How fitting that during
Continue readingTag: Health / Mental Health
A. Picazo: On loneliness and the winter low
For Maclean’s on December 24, 2017 “Lonely people have a natural affinity for the internet,” wrote the late film critic Roger Ebert in a 2010 entry on his online journal. “It’s always there waiting, patient, flexible, suitable for every mood. But there are times when the net reminds me of the definition
Continue readingA. Picazo: On Charlie Gard, medical harm, and fate
For Maclean’s on July 18, 2017 It’s the most commonly cited phrase from the Hippocratic Oath, the binding document—one of the oldest in history—upon which physicians swear: “First, do no harm.” However, that four-word axiom doesn’t itself appear in the classical text of the pledge. Instead, there’s a promise to “apply dietetic
Continue readingA. Picazo: On assisted death and psychological suffering
This column was published at Maclean’s on March 28, 2017 In 2015, a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the federal ban on physician-assisted suicide, solidifying the charter right of competent, consenting adults who are “suffering intolerably as a result of a grievous and irremediable medical
Continue readingA. Picazo: Carleton’s unbalanced approach to wellness
This op-ed appeared in the Ottawa Citizen on March 14, 2017. It’s hard to overstate the naïveté at the heart of Carleton University’s initial decision to remove the scale from its fitness room at the athletic centre. The move, ostensibly “keeping with current fitness and social trends,” sought to promote a “more holistic” approach
Continue readingA. Picazo: On Homeopathy, Health Canada Must End The Double Standard
This column appeared on the CBC on December 11, 2016. Until recently, homeopathic remedies sold in the United States enjoyed many of the same privileges — including the freedom to claim they could treat or cure specific ailments or diseases — as real, science-based medicine. The difference? Peddlers of homeopathy
Continue readingA. Picazo: Re: Death By Pseudoscience – The Misinformation Campaign
First, a quick review of the facts: David and Collet Stephan are on trial for failing to provide the necessaries of life — for failing to seek medical care for their son in a reasonably prudent time/manner. They are NOT on trial for murder or manslau…
Continue readingA. Picazo: Legitimizing Pseudoscience: What’s The Harm?
This column ran in The National Post on March 24, 2016. After weeks of trying “natural” extracts and homemade remedies like smoothies cut with ginger root and horseradish to cure a suspected case of meningitis, 19-month-old Ezekiel Stephan’s …
Continue readingA. Picazo: Undignified Death
This column ran in The National Post on January 20, 2016. The Supreme Court hearing that granted the Liberals a four-month extension to review assisted-dying legislation last week brought out the usual coterie of critics, many of them religious. We are…
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