Us Has No Good System to Track Medical Implants
Not everyone got the message.
Last October, a surgeon in Brooklyn used one of the clips to tie off Michael Kings renal artery when he donated a kidney to his ailing wife. Twelve hours later, the clip popped off. King bled to death internally in the hospital as his wife lay helplessly nearby. He was 29.
Experts say such deaths are the result of a major weakness in the nations system for recalling thousands of medical devices routinely implanted in peoples bodies, ranging from screws and plates to artificial knees and hips.
“There is no system for being informed of what the problems [...]
Med Students Crossing The Line On The Internet
A new study finds most medical school deans surveyed said they were aware of students posting unprofessional content online, including photos of drug paraphernalia and violations of patient privacy. Some infractions resulted in warnings, others in being expelled.
The survey cited a handful of examples. In one, a student posted identifying patient details on Facebook. Another requested an inappropriate friendship with a patient on the site. Others used profanity, according to the deans.
“The number we found was higher than we expected,” said Dr. Katherine Chretien of the Washington, D.C., VA Medical Center, the studys lead author. “And these are the incidents [...]
Obesity Surgery Fatality Rates Are Low, Study Finds
The study looked at safety results for gastric bands and stomach stapling at 10 U.S. hospitals specializing in these procedures from 2005 through 2007. For every 1,000 patients, three died during or within a month of their surgery, and 43 had a major complication.
That is much better than the 20 or so deaths per 1,000 patients that studies found just a few years earlier. And its surely lower than the longer term risk of dying of heart disease, diabetes and other consequences of lugging around more pounds than an obese persons organs can handle, experts say.
Many studies have compared those [...]
Japan Policies to Lure Asias Rich to Foster Medical Industry
The nation should target rich visitors from Asia and the Russian Far East to turn its health-care industry “from a cost center to a profitable one,” the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a report compiled this month that was seen by Bloomberg News.
Japan plans to start the project in September with 10 of the nations biggest hospitals, including the National Cancer Center and Keio University Hospital in Tokyo, while travel and translation companies will help coordinate tour packages, the report said. The nation [...]
Saying Sorry Pays Off For U. Of Michigan Doctors
Thats not the way it works at the University of Michigan Health System, where lawyers and doctors say admitting mistakes up front and offering compensation before being sued have brought about remarkable savings in money, time and feelings.
“What we are doing is common decency,” said Richard Boothman, a veteran malpractice defense lawyer and chief risk officer for a health system with 18,000 employees and a $1.5 billion annual budget.
The estimated $5.8 billion annual cost of malpractice claims nationwide has drawn scrutiny as President Barack Obama and Congress plot an overhaul of the nations $2.4 trillion health care system. So far, [...]
Abortion Pill Used In A Quarter Of Us Abortions
Some experts predict the percentage of such “medical abortions,” which offer more privacy than surgical termination at an abortion clinic or hospital, will rise even more due to the new study.
The research, done at Planned Parenthood clinics across the country, shows that a new way of giving pills to induce abortion virtually eliminated the risk for a rare but dangerous infection.
“This is the first really huge documentation of how safe and effective medical abortion is,” said Dr. Beverly Winikoff, a professor of family health and population at Columbia University. “The technology is very good and very well used in this [...]
Docs Often Fail to Give Patients Bad Test Results, Study Finds; Electronic No Better
The failure rate was higher at some doctors offices, as high as 26 percent at one office. Few medical practices had explicit methods for how to tell patients, leaving each doctor to come up with a system. In some offices, patients were told if they didnt hear anything, they could assume their test results were normal.
“It really does happen all too often,” said lead author Dr. Lawrence Casalino of Weill Cornell Medical College. The findings are published in Mondays Archives of Internal Medicine.
“If youve had a test, whether it be blood test or some kind of X-ray or ultrasound, dont [...]
Apple Should Disclose Transplant When Jobs Stays Ceo, Experts Say
Jobs, a cancer survivor, went on medical leave in January after saying he wanted to take himself out of the limelight and focus on his health. He had a liver transplant about two months ago, according to a person familiar with the matter.
While Apples directors dont need to give updates on Jobss health while he is on leave, that could change if he comes back as CEO, said Charles Elson, director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. [...]
Immune System Researchers Win $500k Medical Prize
The $500,000 Albany Medical Center Prize is being shared by Dr. Ralph Steinman of Rockefeller University, Dr. Charles Dinarello, of the University of Colorado, and Dr. Bruce Beutler, of The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif.
Its the largest medicine or science award in the United States, and ranks second only to the $1.4 million Nobel Prize among medical prizes.
The Albany prize was established in 2000 with a $50 million gift from the late Morris “Marty” Silverman, a New York City businessman who wanted to encourage health and biomedical research.
Their progress in the study of immunity started with Steinman in [...]
Policy Seeks to Slash Industry Influence On Doctors
That means big medical groups would need to find other ways to pay for things like doctors continuing education classes, or gatherings where treatment guidelines are written. Guideline writers also should have no industry ties, the proposal recommends.
Some “sacrifice” likely would result - fewer events or higher membership dues, the proposal suggests.
“It has not always been flattering to see how physicians relationships to industry appear to have colored their judgment in matters of public health,” said Dr. Steven Nissen, a proposal co-author and former president of the American College of Cardiology.
Examples include disease treatment guidelines recommending certain drugs, written by [...]