UK Doctors to Face Regular Tests of Competence
Britain's 150,000 doctors will have to show they are fit to practice once every five years in the nation's biggest change to medical regulation for 150 years.
U.S. Flu Pandemic Vaccination Plan Puts Health Care Workers First
Essential health care workers would be immunized first if a flu pandemic broke out in the United States, the government said on Wednesday.
Strontium Reduces Postmenopausal Nonvertebral and Vertebral Fracture Risk
Long-term strontium ranelate treatment reduces the risk of nonvertebral and vertebral fractures in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis, according to a report in the June issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.
Vancomycin Underdosing Very Common in the Obese
More than 70% of obese patients do not receive adequate doses of vancomycin, possibly resulting in subtherapeutic concentrations, according to Dallas-based researchers. Criteria that are more stringent suggest that this may also be true of a much wider group of patients. In the June issue of the American Journal of Medicine, Dr. Ronald G. Hall […]
WellPoint Profit Beats Estimates, Shares Rise
Health insurer WellPoint Inc said on Wednesday profit fell 10 percent, as medical costs ate further into premiums, but its shares rose more than 6 percent as results beat projections, helped by strength in its pharmacy and behavioral health businesses. Although the largest U.S. health insurer by membership tempered its full-year profit and enrollment forecasts, […]
Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension More Severe in Carriers of BMPR2 Mutation
Among patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), those with germline mutations in the gene encoding bone morphogenetic protein receptor 2 (BMPR2) present at an earlier age and with more severe hemodynamic compromise, according to findings from a French study. Dr. Marc Humbert of Universite Paris-Sud 11 and colleagues screened 223 consecutive patients with PAH for […]
Growth Hormone Therapy May Decrease Diabetes Risk in Girls With Turner Syndrome
Growth hormone (GH) treatment has beneficial effects on body composition, regional fat deposition and glucose tolerance in girls with Turner syndrome, a study suggests. "We found that GH-treated girls were leaner, with less abdominal fat and normal glucose tolerance compared with never-treated girls in the current study and compared with Turner syndrome girls in studies […]
Drug Misuse Partially Accounts for Excess Mortality in Scotland
Mortality rates in Scotland are substantially higher than in England and Wales – the so-called "Scottish effect." New research suggests that loss of life related to problem drug use accounts for a significant portion of the excess death rate.
FDA Approvals: KINRIX and Metvixia
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a combination vaccine that offers protection against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, and polio in a single shot; and the use of methyl aminolevulinate 16.8% cream with a narrow-band, red-light device equipped with light-emitting diodes for the treatment of actinic keratoses.
VICTORY: Medicare bill becomes law!
H.R. 6331 includes SGR fix, Teaching Rule reform In a historic triumph for ASA, a law has been enacted that will reverse Medicare payment cuts for 2008, provide a 1.1% positive update for 2009, and permanently restore full Medicare payment to anesthesiology teaching programs beginning in 2010! Earlier today President Bush vetoed H.R. 6331. This […]
