Top health news of 2017

The health unit at CBCNewshas chosen these health stories as the ones with the biggest impact on Canadians this past year and that are likely tocontinue to affect usinto 2018 and beyond.

Opioidcrisis

The risingnumber of overdose deaths in Canada dominated health news headlines in 2017, and there's little indication that fatalities will decline anytime soon.

Dr. Theresa Tam, chief public health officer of Canada, said once all the data are in from all the provinces and territories, she expects the number of overdose deaths to surpass 4,000 by year end outpacing last year's total of 2,861 opioid-related fatalities."This is a national health public health crisis," she said recently in an interview.

• Opioid deaths in Canada expected to hit 4,000 by end of 2017

The increase in deaths is likely the result of fentanyl's continued infiltration of street narcotics. "There is a very toxic drug supply," Tam said.

While the situation was acute in British Columbia and Alberta, no region has been left untouched by the crisis. Recently released court documents revealed the daughter of Newfoundland and Labrador premierDwight Ball abused opioids while he was running for the province's top job.

• Residents fear opioid overdoses will be 'our new normal'

Health officials are hopeful that new harm-reduction initiatives, including widening access to the overdose treatment naloxone, will help reduce the number of deaths in 2018.

Pot legalization

While Bill C-45, the Cannabis Act, has yet to be sworn into law, 2017 witnessed developments on the road to marijuana legalization that would've seemed surreal just five years ago.

Finance ministers from all the provinces and territories, the de factopot merchants, descended on Ottawa looking to set a price for dope and for a bigger cut of the take.

• Ottawa reaches deal with provinces, territories on pot tax

Meanwhile, legal weed created some strange bedfellows of all political stripes. Nova Scotia's former NDPpremier Darrell Dexter lobbied for the cannabis industry;ex-B.C. Liberal health minister Terry Lake became a vice-president at a medical marijuana company;and former Conservative veterans affair ministerJulian Fantino, who once compared legalizing weed to legalizing murder, defendedhis decision to open a company that connects patients with medical marijuana.

• Former B.C. health minister joins medical marijuana industry

While advocates for recreational pot might be celebrating the prospect of legalized recreational weed, thousands of prescription cannabis patients might end up paying more for their medicine, which will be subject to an additional excise. In 2018, questions about workplace pot policies, retail sales, impaired driving and medicaluse should become less hazy.

Artificial trans fats ban

This should've been the top health story of 2004, when a majority of members of Parliament heeded the advice of the World Health Organization and followed the lead of Denmark by voting to ban artificial transfats.

But then politics happened. Four elections and five health ministers later, partially hydrogenated oils, the main source of artificial trans fats, werequietly added to Health Canada'sList of Contaminants and Other Adulterating Substances in Foodsin September.

These oils elevate levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad"cholesterol, and lower "good" cholesterol, which raises the risk of cardiovascular disease.

• Health Canada bans artificialtransfats
• From buns to bans: A timeline of artificialtransfats

Canadian researchers estimatea ban could prevent 12,000 heart attacks in Canada over 20 years. Partially hydrogenated oilswill be prohibited in September 2018.

CRISPR

The powerful gene-editingtechnology known as CRISPR/Cas9continued to take on bold new applications in 2017. The ability to cut-and-paste DNA means scientists can edit out genes associated with specific genetic diseases.

• Scientists using CRISPR discover hundreds of unintended mutations

It has already been used to make moremuscular livestock animals and highly drought-resistant crops. Although work on humans is still in its early stages, U.S. scientists have succeeded in editing the genes of ahuman embryo to correct a disease-causing mutation. Continued research could lead to potential cures for genetic diseases like Huntington's and sickle cell anemia.

But the pace of change bordered on alarming after revelations that U.S. military researchers are using CRISPRto develop technologiesto wipe out disease-carrying insects and eradicate invasive mammals like rodents andrabbits. Understandably, not all scientists are cool with that.

• Unicorns to designer babies: New gene editing tech could change course of evolution

In 2018 therewill likely be even more experimental advances, as well as overdue ethics conversations.And maybe Jennifer Lopez's NBC bio-terror drama CRISPRwill finally debut on TV.

Assisted dying

2017 was the first full year in which medically assisted dying was legalin Canada. CBC Newsconfirmed 2,500 patients opted to exercise therightto end their lives.The youngest was 27 and the oldest was 101. In most cases they were cancer patients, and approximately half of those assisted deaths took place in hospitals.

Despite the amendments to the Criminal Code, there's still some debate surrounding a patient's right to die, which under the current language is legally permitted only when a competent adult's death is "reasonably foreseeable."

• WATCH |What happens when doctors disagree on what the law says?

The case of a Toronto woman who wanted to end her suffering from Parkinson's disease highlighted the limits of the legislation. Nancy Vickers, 64, who struggled to walk, breathe and go to the bathroom unassisted, said she wanted to end her life before she became "the drooling vegetable mass that I do sometimes become." But because her death was not imminent, her doctor was advised by his malpractice insurer not to perform the procedure. She finally found a physician willing to help her.

The advocacy group Dying with Dignity saidinterpreting the law puts the burden on patients who are already overwhelmed by deteriorating health and are not equipped tonavigate the medical and legal systems.