Jacalyn Duffin
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Jacalyn Duffin
@drugshortage.bsky.social
110 followers 240 following 37 posts

hematologist, historian, and drug shortage activist

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Jacalyn M. Duffin is a Canadian medical historian and hematologist. She held the Hannah Chair, History of Medicine at Queen's University from 1988 until 2017. Formerly, she was president of the American Association for the History of Medicine and Canadian Society for the History of Medicine. From 1993 to 1995 she was Associate Dean Undergraduate Studies and Education at Queen's University. She is most well known for her testimony which led to the canonization of Marie-Marguerite d'Youville. As of 2010, she has published eight books on the history of medicine and has written numerous articles on various subjects relating to the history of medicine, miracles, and hematology. In 2019, Duffin was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. .. more

History 40%
Psychology 16%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Jacalyn Duffin, Elisa Freschi, Jeroen Van Bouwel

erikangner.com
Erik Angner @erikangner.com · 5h
"Runctitiononal features"? "Medical fymblal"? "1 Tol Line storee"? This gets worse the longer you look at it. But it's got to be good, because it was published in Nature Scientific Reports last week: www.nature.com/articles/s41... h/t @asa.tsbalans.se
Infographic with AI slop published in Nature Scientific Reports

Reposted by Jacalyn Duffin, Robert Wolfe

antongerashchenko.bsky.social
Anton Gerashchenko @antongerashchenko.bsky.social · 5d
‼️ Friends, this is very important. Please share to whoever this may concern, especially if you are in the United States.

Ukraine wants peace. Lasting, just, sustainable peace, and not a pause before the next bloodbath. I cannot stress this enough.

Reposted by Jacalyn Duffin

ihpst-uoft.bsky.social
IHPST | University of Toronto @ihpst-uoft.bsky.social · 5d
Meet IHPST alumna Alison Li (PhD 1992), who was awarded the Jason A. Hannah Medal by the Royal Society of Canada for Wondrous Transformations (UNC Press, 2023).
🏅 The medal honors outstanding work in the history of medicine published in the past five years.

Reposted by Jacalyn Duffin

tedhsu.bsky.social
Ted Hsu @tedhsu.bsky.social · 6d
Dr. Ammar Rashid, a Pakistani immigrant, was recognized in 2022 for his work in improving access to family medicine in Kingston.

Ontario’s plan to restrict residency matching to international grads with two years of Ontario high school would shut out talent when we need it most.
Jacalyn Duffin @drugshortage.bsky.social · 7d
www.canadiandoctorsformedicare.ca/canadian_doc...
Canadian Doctors for Medicare Warns Albertans of Premier’s Plan to Undermine Public Health Care
Seeking to strengthen and improve Canada's universal publicly-funded health care system. Evidence-based, values driven.
www.canadiandoctorsformedicare.ca

Reposted by Jacalyn Duffin

canadahealthwatch.ca
Canada Healthwatch 🍁 @canadahealthwatch.ca · 8d
Ontario's new residency rule dashes hopes of internationally trained doctor https://ottawacitizen.com/news/ontario-new-residency-rules

𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀 ⇢ CanadaHealthwatch.ca 🍁
Ashok Kumar Biswas is an internationally trained doctor with a lot of experience who has been volunteering and working toward applying to be a resident in Ontario. A recent rule change that makes it harder for international physicians to apply has dashed his hopes.

Reposted by Jacalyn Duffin

katieocean.bsky.social
Katie Matthews, PhD @katieocean.bsky.social · 8d
this is amazing - individually tagged monarch butterflies

gift link

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/s...
We Can Now Track Individual Monarch Butterflies. It’s a Revelation.
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Jacalyn Duffin, Robert Wolfe

nytimes.com
The New York Times @nytimes.com · 11d
In @nytopinion.nytimes.com

President Trump wants us to believe that stopping fentanyl “will let the wholesome, traditional American culture that he idealizes to flourish again,” David Herzberg writes. “As a historian of drugs, I can tell you that this argument is wrong in almost every way.”
Opinion | Trump Is Wrong About Fentanyl in Almost Every Way
Everything the Trump administration is doing to stop the flow of drugs is just making the problem worse.
nyti.ms

Reposted by Jacalyn Duffin

bobwolfe.bsky.social
Robert Wolfe @bobwolfe.bsky.social · 12d
this is great! If you've been there, you know. And make sure you get all the way to Bubbles

science.anu.edu.au/news-events/...
The unexpected poetry of PhD acknowledgements
After reading hundreds and hundreds of PhD theses, we accidentally discovered how to write the perfect PhD acknowledgement: it's a kind of poetry.
science.anu.edu.au

Reposted by Jacalyn Duffin

healthhistory.bsky.social
Matthew Smith @healthhistory.bsky.social · 21d
I logged in to write another blog for 'A Short History of Mental Health' (Psychology Today ) and realized that I've written 50 of these things! Here they are:
www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/shor...
A Short History of Mental Health
Looking backward to move forward
www.psychologytoday.com

Reposted by Jesse M. Shapiro, Jacalyn Duffin, E. Richard Gold , and 2 more

picardonhealth.bsky.social
André Picard @picardonhealth @picardonhealth.bsky.social · 23d
How much are MPs entitled to know about research grants? Not as much as they think. A parliamentary committee is asking for researchers' personal information in what seems like an anti-DEI crusade, by @picardonhealth.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti... via @theglobeandmail.com
Opinion: How much are MPs entitled to know about research grants? Not as much as they think
A parliamentary committee is asking for academics’ private information on a strange anti-DEI crusade
www.theglobeandmail.com

Reposted by Jacalyn Duffin

osten.bsky.social
Philipp Osten @osten.bsky.social · 23d
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/h...
Marthe Gautier, 96, Dies; Had Key Role in Down Syndrome Breakthrough
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Jacalyn Duffin, Margot C. Finn , and 2 more

benpohl.bsky.social
Prof. Ben Pohl @benpohl.bsky.social · 26d
I think it’s even worse: the lack of recognition that there even *is* such a thing as professional training in historical research!

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, Gavin A. Schmidt, Rosemary A. Joyce , and 14 more

npr.org
NPR @npr.org · 28d
The White House plans to bar hospitals that treat transgender children and youth from getting any Medicare and Medicaid payments. The move would affect trans youth who have private insurance, too. n.pr/4qFa1mY
Trump pushes an end to medical care for transgender youth nationally
The White House plans to bar hospitals that treat transgender children and youth from getting any Medicare and Medicaid payments. The move would affect trans youth who have private insurance, too.
n.pr

Jacalyn Duffin @drugshortage.bsky.social · 28d
Trump effect by historians in Switzerland
www.letemps.ch/articles/tru...
Trump «annule» les savoirs (en santé), produisons-en! - Le Temps
OPINION. Les attaques répétées de l’administration Trump sur les données et les productions scientifiques ne seront pas sans conséquences, notamment sur la santé. Elles affectent déjà nos propres rech...
www.letemps.ch

Reposted by Robert Wolfe

Jacalyn Duffin @drugshortage.bsky.social · 29d
A cruel and unnecessary cause of drug shortages: Russian bombs.
empr.media/news/war/rus...
Russia Destroys One-Fifth of Ukraine’s Monthly Medicine Supply
Russian forces destroyed Optima-Pharm’s central warehouse, wiping out 20% of Ukraine’s monthly medicine supply, causing temporary shortages but regional
empr.media

Reposted by Jacalyn Duffin

alexandreklein.bsky.social
Alexandre Klein @alexandreklein.bsky.social · Oct 27
Il est là, il existe 😍
En librairie dès la semaine prochaine !
Jacalyn Duffin @drugshortage.bsky.social · Oct 8
An obligation for storage can reduce drug shortages.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Can a national storage obligation for medicines prevent shortages? Evidence from the Finnish experience
Since 1984, Finland has used storage obligations for essential medicines, requiring manufacturers and importers to maintain storage of certain medicin…
www.sciencedirect.com

Reposted by Jacalyn Duffin, Robert Wolfe

picardonhealth.bsky.social
André Picard @picardonhealth @picardonhealth.bsky.social · Oct 2
Dr. Balfour Mount, who coined the term "palliative care" and whose profound empathy helped revolutionize health-care in North America, died peacefully at the palliative care unit that bears his name. He was 86. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... via @cbcnews.ca
Balfour Mount, who revolutionized end-of-life care, died at palliative unit named in his honour | CBC News
Mount devoted his life to caring for others and alleviating suffering. In interviews, his family and colleagues remembered him as both deeply compassionate and as a fierce advocate for the humanity of...
www.cbc.ca

Reposted by Robert Wolfe

Jacalyn Duffin @drugshortage.bsky.social · Sep 29
What causes drug shortages? Sometimes it is obvious.
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
‘Most people are just toughing it out’: shortage of drugs leaves Gaza’s wounded without pain relief
Operations are being carried out without proper anaesthetics and what painkillers there are have to be rationed, say doctors
www.theguardian.com

Jacalyn Duffin @drugshortage.bsky.social · Sep 27
Increased demand= shortage.
tribune.com.pk/story/256895...
Conjunctivitis outbreak sparks drug shortage | The Express Tribune
Nearly 3,000 patients visit major eye hospitals in just three days
tribune.com.pk

Jacalyn Duffin @drugshortage.bsky.social · Sep 25
What happens to drug use after shortages?...New study examining 2010 to 2024 in multiple countries of Europe and North America
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Reposted by Robert Wolfe

Jacalyn Duffin @drugshortage.bsky.social · Sep 24
Leucovorin...far be it from historians to predict the future, but can we not forsee yet another shortage coming that will impact cancer patients everywhere?
theconversation.com/what-is-leuc....
What is leucovorin, the drug the Trump administration says can treat autism?
Could a cancer drug really treat autism? The evidence is far from certain. Here’s what we know so far.
theconversation.com

Reposted by Robert Wolfe

Jacalyn Duffin @drugshortage.bsky.social · Sep 19
Former student (Qmeds 1995) serving in Gaza. 6 min BBC interview.
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/x8mow...
www.dropbox.com

Reposted by Jacalyn Duffin

leahmcelrath.bsky.social
Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · Sep 17
“Tests by two foreign laboratories show that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned before his death in an Arctic penal colony last year, his wife said”

www.nbcnews.com/world/russia...
Lab tests show Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned, his wife says
Russian authorities said Navalny died last year after feeling unwell following a walk around the high-security Arctic penal colony where he was serving a combined 30 ½-year jail sentence.
www.nbcnews.com

Reposted by Jacalyn Duffin, Daniel S. Goldberg

boghuma.bsky.social
BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · Sep 13
Very informative reporting on the resurgence of Typhus is Texas. All infectious diseases seem to have sensed the abandonment of science and public health measures and are seizing the moment. This is not the type of job secure I want 🫠
www.npr.org/2025/09/12/n...
Typhus, a disease once nearly eradicated in the U.S., is on the rise in Texas
Texas is seeing an explosion of cases of typhus, a disease that – if untreated – can be fatal. Typhus was almost eradicated from the United States, but now it's making a comeback.
www.npr.org

Reposted by Jacalyn Duffin, Robert Wolfe

iisd.org
International Institute for Sustainable Development @iisd.org · Sep 12
Gov'ts still pour 💵 into policies that undermine sustainable development. Can this ever be reversed?

For Mark Halle, who launched the Global Subsidies Initiative, change often feels impossible—until, suddenly, it isn’t.

🔎 https://bit.ly/4pchV6l

#20YearsGSI
A man speaks into a microphone at a podium. Overlaid text reads, "New Explainer. Mind Your Own Business: Mark Halle talks tough politics of subsidy reform."

Reposted by Jacalyn Duffin, David Murakami Wood

shawnmicallef.bsky.social
Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · Sep 9
In Ontario, criminal vigilantism works and will influence gov't policy.

Keep that in mind.
‘Get rid of the speed cameras,’ Doug Ford warns municipalities after several cut down in Toronto overnight
Premier Doug Ford says he plans to take matters into his own hands if Ontario municipalities don’t “get rid of the speed cameras” in short order.
www.ctvnews.ca

Reposted by Jacalyn Duffin, Robert Wolfe

picardonhealth.bsky.social
André Picard @picardonhealth @picardonhealth.bsky.social · Sep 2
Doug Ford is barking up the wrong tree with a ban on animal research. Nobody likes the idea of cute little puppies being killed. But populist pandering to emotion is anti-science rhetoric that serves no one, by @picardonhealth.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti... @theglobeandmail.com
Opinion: Doug Ford is barking up the wrong tree with his ban on animal research
The Ontario Premier’s populist pandering in the wake of a report over beagles used in research is knee-jerk, anti-science rhetoric
www.theglobeandmail.com

Reposted by Jacalyn Duffin, Henry Jones

kyivindependent.com
The Kyiv Independent @kyivindependent.com · Sep 2
⚡️Russian drones force Kyiv children to hide in metro as school year begins.

The air alert, triggered by Russian drones, began at 9:20 a.m. local time and lasted over three hours, catching many children on their way to school before classes could start.
Russian drones force Kyiv children to hide in metro as school year begins
The air alert, triggered by Russian drones, began at 9:20 a.m. local time and lasted over three hours, catching many children on their way to school before classes could start.
kyivindependent.com