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Desperate measures

Jan 26th 2006 | WASHINGTON, DC
From The Economist print edition
The world’s biggest and most expensive health-care system is beginning to fall apart. Can George Bush mend it?

GEORGE BUSH had big ideas for his second term. He promised to fix Social Security, America’s public pensions system, and revamp the tax code. Despite his best efforts, Social Security reform sank last year. Rejigging the tax code has proved so politically tricky that the White House dare not push it. With almost Read the rest of this entry »

By Jeff Minerd, MedPage Today Staff Writer
Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD; Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
January 26, 2006
Also covered by: Forbes, LA Times, San Francisco Chronicle
MedPage Today Action Points

Carefully weigh the risk suggested by this study when prescribing Trasylol (aprotinin) to reduce bleeding in patients undergoing heart surgery.

Consider less expensive, generic options such as the antifibrinolytic agents aminocaproic acid or tranexamic acid. Read the rest of this entry »

Fri Jan 20, 2006 9:19 AM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Survivors of early-stage breast cancer generally receive good health care in the first year after they finish treatment, but not all of them get the recommended check-up mammogram, according to a new report.
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By LEE BOWMAN
Scripps Howard News Service
January 19, 2006

- Heard the latest dirt?

A new study suggests that the average shovel full of soil has bacteria with the potential to make the most potent antibiotic drugs worthless. But the microbes also may be key to finding new ways to avoid the growing problem of antibiotic-resistant germs. Read the rest of this entry »

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) — U.S. health officials announced Wednesday a major overhaul of the package inserts that accompany prescription drugs.

It’s hoped that the changes, designed to be easier to read and understand, will benefit not only doctors and other health-care workers, but consumers as well, officials said at a news conference.
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LONDON (Reuters) - Exposure to pesticides in the womb or as a child can double the risk of developing acute leukaemia, French scientists said on Tuesday.

They discovered that children born to women who used insecticides in the home while pregnant and after the birth were nearly twice as likely as other youngsters to develop leukaemia.
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By Neil Osterweil, Senior Associate Editor, MedPage Today
Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
January 17, 2006

Explain to patients that this study shows that aspirin therapy provided protection against cardiovascular disease in both men and women. In women aspirin reduces the risk of ischemic stroke, and in men it reduces the risk of myocardial infarction. In neither sex does aspirin protect against cardiovascular mortality, however.
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By Julia Watson
Jan 16, 2006, 19:00 GMT

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) — Britain`s national dish is not roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. It`s chicken tikka massala. This may sound like an Indian entrée, but it isn`t really. It is about as Indian as chop suey is Chinese.

The story goes that some offensive diner in a Glasgow curry house demanded gravy with his tandoori chicken. The accommodating chef conjured up a sauce of tomato ketchup, tomato paste and lemon juice, added it to yogurt, spiced it up with various flavors including the Indian almost-holy trinity of cumin, Read the rest of this entry »

By Christine Dell`amore
Jan 14, 2006, 19:00 GMT

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) — When Vice President Dick Cheney was given a diuretic this week after a bout of shortness of breath, he joined the ranks of thousands of Americans who take these drugs for diseases such as hypertension.

But diuretics can also cause potentially severe health problems in some people by stripping the body of sodium and potassium, according to a new study in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. Read the rest of this entry »

Changes will boost scientists at colleges and small companies
By Diedtra Henderson, Globe Staff | January 13, 2006

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration yesterday issued new guidelines that make it easier for scientists working in universities and small companies to test promising therapies in humans without matching the hefty spending of large drug companies. Read the rest of this entry »

Over 70 million doses available, CDC says
By Stephen Smith, Globe Staff | October 25, 2005

Influenza vaccine supplies appear to be sufficient to meet demand this year nationally and in Massachusetts, health authorities said yesterday on the first day shots were made available to any patient who wanted one.

The chief of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Julie Gerberding, said her agency expects more than 70 million doses to be available this flu season, a year after an unprecedented shortage of shots sent patients scrambling to secure vaccine. Read the rest of this entry »

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is notifying health care providers and patients of a problem with blood glucose meters made by Abbott Diabetes Care, Alameda, Calif. The meters can unintentionally be switched from one unit of measurement to another, resulting in an inaccurate blood glucose interpretation by the user. Users in the United States should make sure that their meter reading is displayed as mg/dL because an inaccurate reading can lead to taking the wrong dose of insulin or dietary changes, resulting in higher levels of sugar in the blood or hyperglycemia. Hyperglycemia can be a serious and even life-threatening condition and several cases of hyperglycemia have been reported to FDA.
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By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Oct. 24 (HealthDay News) — Concerned about apparent confusion between traditional seasonal flu and a possible avian flu pandemic, U.S. health officials stressed Monday that avian flu is not yet affecting humans to a great degree and has not yet arrived in the country.

“Our nation has recently been focused on avian or bird flu and the threat it presents for a future worldwide pandemic,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said at a news conference. “I want to emphasize that we do not have a human flu pandemic right now.” Read the rest of this entry »

By Neil Osterweil, Senior Associate Editor, MedPage Today
October 17, 2005
Also covered by: ABC News, CNN, Fox News

ROCKVILLE, Md., Oct. 17 - The FDA has advised physicians to immediately halt the use of Boston Scientific’s Enteryx, an injectable liquid polymer intended for treatment of severe gastroesophageal reflux.

Accidental injections of the product into structures surrounding the esophagus have resulted in a death, compromised kidney function, and other serious adverse events, said the FDA. Serious late adverse events such as esophageal stenosis have been reported even when the product was applied as intended.
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By CANDICE CHOI
Associated Press Writer

October 13, 2005, 11:38 AM EDT

ALBANY, N.Y. — It’s that time of year when the elderly and others at risk for the flu are vaccinated, but a delay in shipments has left some health care providers still waiting for their doses.
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