Moving Forward While Standing Still: A Case of Mental Health Advocacy Evolving in the Time of COVID-19.

There have been shifts over time in the value placed on long-term psychotherapeutic modalities even though they can be life-saving. For example, the province of Ontario in Canada has been dealing with a government proposal put forward in 2019 to limit the length of psychotherapy treatment. In response, stakeholders from numerous groups came together to advocate for the importance of continuing unrestricted access to long-term psychotherapy.

Psychotherapy in Psychiatry: Fighting Alternative Facts.

In the Canadian province of Ontario, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care is proposing to impose arbitrary limits on access to psychotherapy provided by physicians. This column presents and debunks 3 myths associated with this ill-conceived proposal: (1) that long-term psychotherapy costs the health care system too much money, making it necessary for the government to curb this spending; (2) that long-term psychotherapy is a non-evidence-based treatment being needlessly spent on the worried well; and (3) that we need to focus on quick treatments, not long ones.

Medical students' attitudes about cosmetic pesticides before and after an ecosystem health seminar: a pilot study.

The University of Western Ontario has incorporated ecosystem health as an integral component of its Community Health course for medical students. There is increasing concern regarding the negative health effects of pesticides. The issue of pesticides is, therefore, an obvious topic for the Community Health course.

Assessment of unmet needs and the lack of generalizability in the design of randomized controlled trials for scleroderma treatment.

Objective: To determine the generalizability of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in the treatment of systemic sclerosis (SSc) using the Canadian Scleroderma Research Group (CSRG) database.

Methods: We identified articles related to SSc published from 1958 to 2006. Key points on trial design were recorded.

Association of trough serum infliximab to clinical outcome after scheduled maintenance treatment for Crohn's disease.

Background & Aims: The effect of infliximab infused at scheduled intervals on antibody formation, preinfusion trough serum concentrations of infliximab, and their clinical significance was evaluated in patients with Crohn's disease.

Methods: Antibodies to infliximab and trough serum infliximab were measured in 105 patients with Crohn's disease treated with 5 mg/kg infliximab for induction followed by maintenance episodic re-treatment (n = 23) or scheduled therapy at 6- to 8-week intervals (n = 82).

Results: After a median of 14 infusions (range, 2-45), 21% of patients had detectable antibodies, 25% were antibody negative, and 54% were antibody inconclusive.