By Anna Mehler Paperny – Investigative Journalism Bureau
Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare’s two cottage-country hospitals are not built for mental health care.
mental health
Behind the reporting: How, and why, we dug into medical coercion
By Anna Mehler Paperny – Investigative Journalism Bureau
We’ve all gotten medical advice we didn’t follow.
Get more exercise? With what free time?
Eat less meat? No, thank you.
Eight hours of sleep a night? Lol, I’ll get right on that.
But sometimes you’re deemed too sick – too crazy – to ignore medical advice.
Tens of thousands of times a year, Ontarians are deemed too crazy to decide to leave hospital, too crazy to consent – or withhold consent – to treatment.
And thousands of times a year, they challenge those medical designations at the arms-length body that adjudicates such challenges – the Consent and Capacity Board.
Ontarians contesting involuntary care face low likelihood of success, IJB analysis shows
By Anna Mehler Paperny and Dori Seeman – Investigative Journalism Bureau
Heather Lafleur sought to convince a trio of strangers she shouldn’t be injected with powerful drugs against her will.
Canada prisons fail to follow solitary confinement rules, report finds
Canadian provinces seek to treat more drug users against their will
By Anna Mehler Paperny and Nia Williams – Reuters
With illicit drug use, homelessness and untreated mental illness reaching a crisis in parts of Canada, the governments of at least three provinces want to treat more people against their will, even as some health experts warn involuntary care for drug use can be ineffective and harmful.
Attawapiskat’s suicide emergency is no surprise to anyone paying attention
April 11, 2016 – Anna Mehler Paperny, Patrick Cain and Katie Scott, Global News
Perhaps the most gutting thing about Attawapiskat’s suicide emergency is how unsurprising it is to those closest to the crisis.
Psychiatrist’s explosive testimony could derail Via terror trial
July 21, 2015 – Anna Mehler Paperny, Global News
A man accused of conspiring to commit an act of terror may be found unfit to stand trial after being found guilty, calling into question whether he was capable of committing the offense in the first place.
Inmates with mental illness subject to ‘cruel and unusual punishment,’ suit alleges
July 17, 2015 – Anna Mehler Paperny, Global News
A Toronto law firm has launched a class action suit against the federal government over the treatment of prison inmates with mental illness.
‘Psychiatrists in blue’: How do you train cops to be better social workers?
July 7, 2015 – Anna Mehler Paperny, Global News
It was just another 911 call to an apartment building where a tenant was causing a ruckus.
Taser Files: What happens to you when you’re Tasered?
July 7, 2015 – Anna Mehler Paperny, Global News
The problem with assessing the effects of Tasers on the human body is that the kind of human bodies most likely to be tasered — people who are sick, stressed, drunk, high on drugs, experiencing a psychotic episode or emotional crisis or strenuous exertion — are both most likely to experience exacerbated health complications and impossible to ethically test for them.
