A film photo of Betsy Ladzyhets. She is a white woman in her 20s with short brown hair. She stands beside a green door and wears a light blue button up shirt and an N-95 mask.

A screenshot from the INN award nominees reads: Emerging Leader of the Year Honors an individual with less than five years in executive leadership who is an emerging luminary in the field. Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm, The Maine Monitor Khadijah Bland, The Kansas City Defender Betsy Ladyzhets, The Sick Times Tonya Hart, Cardinal News Join INN for the 2026 Nonprofit News Awards in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on June 16: Join the waitlist (finalists will be prioritized for attendance).

Let's give @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social her flowers 💐!

She's been nominated as an emerging leader by @inn.org as a luminary in non-profit news. Beyond her incredible reporting/editing on #LongCOVID, Betsy does so much unsung work that makes The Sick Times the force that it is. #INNYs2026

Goober sniffing out stories for me to report

Hmm sounds like the vortioxetine trial

Wow that's not something that's supposed to happen in legitimate trials. Sorry that happened to you - any chance you could pass along the details so I could look into it?

Whenever I'm reporting on trials, that's definitely an issue I bring up and ask researchers about COVID precautions at the facility and masking. So many folks have told me they don't want to put their health af risk participating.

Thank you!

Canadian Health Sentinel Accurate, patient-centered reporting on Long COVID, ME/CFS, and disability in Canada.

Read my full story here:: simonspichak.beehiiv.com/p/no-trials-...

Funding for Long COVID in kids is nonexistent but funders have given grants looking at COVID and mental health. I spoke with Rebecca Lewkowicz who organized the event at Queen's Park about her son's Long COVID and challenges accessing drugs through compassionate use pathways.

Experts call new Canadian Long COVID guidelines “contradictory” and “deeply concerning” - The Sick Times Guidelines recommend exercise and therapy as treatments, following attempted influence from Paul Garner.

In Canada, there's only been about $37M in funding for Long COVID projects, including $20M to Long COVID Web. Another $9 million from PHAC went to develop Canada's Long COVID guidelines which experts called "contradictory" and "extremely concerning." thesicktimes.org/2025/07/08/e...

Less than 20% of Long COVID trials involving exercise even mention post-exertional malaise - The Sick Times An analysis by The Sick Times find that less than 15% of Long COVID clinical trials testing the benefits of exercise or cardiopulmonary rehabilitation measured post-exertional malaise, according to…

As I reported previously, most exdrcise trials - including some of the ones listed here - do not even mention post-exertional malaise in the trial registration and if they do, they don't measure it properly. My reporting: thesicktimes.org/2025/11/21/l...

Between 5-7 new clinical trials were started between 2023 to 2026 after an uptick in exercise and rehab trials in 2022.

The number of new trials started each year remains low and steady. This underscores the need for more Canadian trials testing plausible treatments, including some that are inclusive of those in the severe stages.

One of the trials is represented trwice on the table, since its testing stellate ganglion block for olfactory training. Not all of the participants in the trials are Canadians - some are recruiting participants in other countries as well.

Participants by type of trial intervention. Drug - 8 trials - 1715 participants Procedure - 3 trials - 184 participants Rehab and exercise - 14 trials - 678 participants Olfactory training - 3 trials - 114 participants Hyperbaric/oxygen therapy - 5 trials - 338 participants Nutrition/supplements - 5 trials - 1073 participants Mind-body - 1 trial - 200 participants

Of the 38 trials - only 11 are testing drugs or procedures like stellate ganglion block. 15 test exercise, rehab, and mind-body interventions under the incorrect assumption the disease is caused by deconditioning.

Prevalence estimates in a bar chart beside number of participants in Long COVID trials in Canada. PHAC eestimates 1.4M StatCan estimates 3.5M ever had it with 2.1M still having symptoms. They estimate 600K missed work or school. Only 4.2k participants in Long COVID trials enrolling in Canada

An estimated that 2.1M Canadians are living with #LongCOVID and 600k are missing work or school as a result. Most have no access to trials. Only 38 are enrolling in Canada with less than 4.5k total participants.

For #LongCOVIDAwarenessDay, I looked at funding and trials.

Canadian Health Sentinel Accurate, patient-centered reporting on Long COVID, ME/CFS, and disability in Canada.

With Long COVID Day on March 15th, I'm compiling data and charts on Canadian funding and trials using public data.

In the process of putting together some tables and charts. Will be publishing a piece about this on my blog soon.

Stay tuned!

simonspichak.beehiiv.com

For a story in @thesicktimes.org, seeking organizers in any left movement work who’ve taken a break or fully stepped away from organizing sometime since 2020 due to Long COVID. They can be anonymous in the piece and may reach out directly at longdefeat.08 on Signal #LongCOVID #NEISvoid

I'll be following along closely using access to info requests to learn more about these closed-door meetings. Unfortunately, ministries often request extra time for these requests and can take several months to get these documents.

/END

There will be a tentative roundtable at the end of February which hasn't been announced anywhere. It is set to include charities and disability orgs which
@mssinenomine.bsky.social argues aren't representative to the views of disabled people.

6/n

The report wasn't tabled in June as they initially wanted because because it overlapped with the annual Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

5/n

Canada doesn't need to formally respond to the report. There is an internal mechanism for reviewing the report and its recommendations. But the report itself wasn't tabled into Parliament until November.

4/n

The UN report and its recommendations weren’t “surprising to anyone listening to the disabled community,” said @mssinenomine.bsky.social

Anyone listening would know that these issues have been discussed for years so the UN report should not have come as a surprise.

3/n

Hi Annik, Thanks for your quick response and info. | usually wouldn't anticipate much attention on this at all ether but we currently have a very engaged community that is extremely disappointed and vocal about not having a Minister for disability. Our senior management just wants to ensure we're prepared for all possibilities as the community may very well note and bring attention to the tabling. I'll advise we're awaiting confirmation on the tabling date. Thanks MJ

Emails obtained via an access to info request revealed that people within the government knew there would be backlash from disabled Canadians.

Full emails we obtained here (this one in March 2025): www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

2/n

Canada sidesteps UN scrutiny over assisted dying ⋆ The Breach Calls by disability advocates and the UN to halt an expansion of medically assisted death have gone largely unacknowledged by the federal government

The UN released a scathing report on Canada’s treatment of disabled people last spring—calling out inadequate support & urging a halt to MAiD expansion + Track Two.

I document the government's silence about the report.

My piece in
@breachmedia.ca

1/n

breachmedia.ca/canada-sides...

For my first story in @breachmedia.ca, I wanted to know what Canada was doing about a scathing UN disability report that criticized the disability benefit and the expansion of assisted suicide.

I'll be writing a longer thread soon.

breachmedia.ca/canada-sides...

Canada sidesteps UN scrutiny over assisted dying ⋆ The Breach Calls by disability advocates and the UN to halt an expansion of medically assisted death have gone largely unacknowledged by the federal government

"Almost a year after the report’s release, there is no plan to substantially act on any of the UN’s recommendations. Government officials guessed right: mainstream news outlets have largely ignored the report’s criticisms of MAiD. " @spichaksimon.bsky.social

breachmedia.ca/canada-sides...

Canada sidesteps UN scrutiny over assisted dying ⋆ The Breach Calls by disability advocates and the UN to halt an expansion of medically assisted death have gone largely unacknowledged by the federal government

For nearly a year, the feds have been quiet about a scathing UN report on Canada's treatment of disabled people, including MAiD expansion and paltry financial supports

@spichaksimon.bsky.social presses the government for answers in our latest for @breachmedia.ca

breachmedia.ca/canada-sides...

Collage graphic. The center of the image is a black and white photo of a child lying in bed receiving care from their mother. Behind that is a second photo showing a child’s hand, pens, and drawings, including one that appears to show two cartoonish version of pathogens. The text reads, “The Sick Times. Collage graphic. The center of the image is a black and white photo of a child lying in bed receiving care from their mother. Behind that is a second photo showing a child’s hand, pens, and drawings, including one that appears to show two cartoonish version of pathogens. By Simon Spichak

Key points you should know: Millions of children with Long COVID face denial, gaslighting, and a lack of medical treatments and drug trials. In 2026, RECOVER-TLC will launch a 1300-person pediatric trial testing low-dose naltrexone for fatigue. Though patient advocates criticized some aspects of a draft protocol shared in late 2025, they were positive on the overall design. Another trial including children with Long COVID will test the drug larazotide, which helps tighten the gaps between gut cells, as a potential treatment.

Key points you should know: Calgary, Canada–based researchers will include kids in a third trial testing taurine but haven’t yet published the protocol. Parents emphasize the need to make trials accessible, including implementing mandatory COVID-19 precautions to reduce risk of reinfection.

Pediatric research into #LongCOVID is several years behind that of adults. In 2026, RECOVER-TLC will launch a 1300-person pediatric trial testing low-dose naltrexone for fatigue. @spichaksimon.bsky.social examines that trial, and two other pediatric trials in progress. bit.ly/3Oosi9a

Long COVID affects millions of children. The largest pediatric trial so far launches this year. - The Sick Times One NIH study will test low-dose naltrexone, while other upcoming trials will test larozitide and taurine.

Despite Long COVID's toll on millions of children, there are only a handful of clinical trials that include them. @spichaksimon.bsky.social reported on three upcoming pediatric trials.

Co-published with @19thnews.org!

thesicktimes.org/2026/02/03/l...

Long COVID affects millions of children. The largest pediatric trial so far launches this year. - The Sick Times One NIH study will test low-dose naltrexone, while other upcoming trials will test larozitide and taurine.

Today @thesicktimes.org: RECOVER-TLC is launching the biggest Long COVID pediatric trial so far. @spichaksimon.bsky.social examines that trial, and two other pediatric trials in progress. thesicktimes.org/2026/02/03/l...

My latest for @thesicktimes.org covers RECOVER-TLC and two other pediatric Long COVID trials.