October 2012 Archives

TUESDAY, Oct. 30 (HealthDay News) -- As compounding pharmacies at the heart of the ongoing meningitis outbreak are inspected and closed, the death toll rose to 28 on Tuesday, with 363 illnesses reported across 19 states.

CASES WITH FUNGAL INFECTIONS LINKED TO STEROID INJECTIONS

When a brand-name drug to help prevent premature births was approved last year, its $1,500-a-dose-price alarmed state and private sector insurance officials.

A sister company of the compounding pharmacy at the heart of the fungal meningitis outbreak that has now claimed 29 lives is voluntarily recalling all its products.

Criminal investigators from the Food and Drug Administration were at the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass., on Tuesday, officials said, in the first public indication that the federal government was preparing a case against the company linked to a deadly meningitis outbreak.

October 17, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - October 31, 2012 - Ameridose today announced it will commence a voluntary recall of any unexpired products remaining in circulation. This action is voluntary, and represents an expansion of our cooperation with the U.S.Food and Drug Administration and the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Pharmacy.

Highly positive studies published in peer-reviewed medical journals depicted Medtronic's spine fusion product as a major breakthrough in back surgery, but those studies were drafted and edited with direct input from company employees, while the doctors listed as authors were paid millions, according to a U.S. Senate investigation.

The parents of a 14-year-old Maryland girl say Monster Energy drinks killed their daughter.

PHILADELPHIA  -  Providing patients with pharmacy consults prior to hospital discharge resulted in valuable medication recommendations without adding significant time, researchers found in a pilot study.

LAS VEGAS  -  The prevalence of fecal incontinence rose modestly but steadily over a 5-year period ending in 2010, according to a survey of U.S. households.

WASHINGTON -- Tens of thousands of people with chronic conditions and disabilities may find it easier to qualify for Medicare coverage of potentially costly home health care, skilled nursing home stays and outpatient therapy under policy changes planned by the Obama administration.

A study  conducted at 43 HCA-affiliated community hospitals saw bloodstream infections,  including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus  aureus (MRSA), drop by  44% when all ICU patients were subjected to daily "universal decolonization"  using antimicrobial soap and nasal swabs.
"The magnitude of this trial is  such that it will create a standard of care for most ICUs in the U.S.,"  study coauthor Ed Septimus, MD, told HealthLeaders Media. "Obviously once  this study results are well known we do expect a rapid adoption across most  hospitals in the United States."
The study, Randomized  Evaluation of Decolonization Versus Universal Clearance to Eliminate MRSA, was conducted with investigators from  Harvard and other academic institutions, the Agency for Healthcare Research and  Quality and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nearly 75,000 patients and more than 280,000 patient days in 74 adult ICUs in  16 states were involved. Investigators compared three infection control approaches  in ICUs:

Hospitals and  other healthcare organizations have done a good job in the last 20 years  building mechanisms to monitor and report preventable errors. However, those  efforts are hobbled by clinicians' reluctance to report colleagues' mistakes for  fear of retaliation, according to a new report from the National Association  for Healthcare Quality.
"In fact, as attention to creating a culture of safety in  healthcare organizations has increased, so have concomitant reports of  retaliation and intimidation targeting staff who voice concern about safety and  quality deficiencies," according to the report, Call  to Action: Safeguarding the Integrity of Healthcare Quality and Safety Systems.
Peter Angood, MD, CEO of the  American College of Physician Executives, which helped compile the report, says  the fear of retaliation is "very distinct and quite palpable in many organizations  to the point that there is even a fear of making comment" about the existence  of the threat.
"It is multi-factorial," Angood tells HealthLeaders  Media. "Some of it comes from historical orientation of hospitals and  healthcare systems towards the physicians and making sure they are happy and as  long as they are happy there is good patient flow and everybody wins.
As we transition off of that entire focus toward physicians and more towards  patients there are the lingering cultural habits of not wanting to cross the  physician's path if things aren't going right."

The most common reason older individuals fall  -  at least among those living in long-term care facilities  -  is the incorrect shifting of body weight, researchers found.

The disadvantages of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) persist well into adulthood, according to a long-running cohort study.

A first-of-its kind federal pilot project designed  to make it easier for patients to directly complain about medical errors,  safety issues, and harm may prompt some doctors and hospitals to blanch.
Might it unleash a gripefest about relatively unimportant aspects of care, like  the yucky taste of hospital food, the lack of parking, or meandering laments  that one got sick in the first place? A rage against the night?
Are most patients even sophisticated enough about the healthcare system to know  a medical error or an unsafe condition when they see one, or how to distinguish  it from the natural course of their disease?
With the Office of Inspector General's estimate that one in four Medicare patients  suffers harm at the hands of healthcare providers, could this new information  really give providers any more information than by now, they must already know?
We may soon find out.
The pilot project proposed by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and  Quality (AHRQ) intends to give such a harm complaint system a trial run  sometime next year, probably in the mid-Atlantic region near Philadelphia. Many  say the information it will produce will be a goldmine for quality improvement.

Flu season is here and health experts are recommending people get the vaccine. MSU family medicine physician Dr. Edward Rosick says having the flu, a contagious respiratory illness, can lead to some nasty symptoms.

PHILADELPHIA  -  As the population ages, more patients are concerned about memory impairment, but only about 1% will have a progressive cognitive problem, a researcher said here.

Healthy People 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' most  recent 10-year agenda for improving the nation's health, set a target that 90%  of healthcare personnel (HCP) be vaccinated against influenza by the year 2020.  Its interim goal is targeting that by 2015, 70% of HCP get the flu vaccine.

A suction system for collecting surgical waste apparently killed one patient and seriously injured another, prompting its maker to recall it and several related devices, the FDA said.

Syracuse, N.Y. -- Repeat customers, prized by most businesses, are becoming costly headaches for Central New York hospitals.

Records reveal that many Jackson Memorial doctors say there are huge problems in the ER that are slowing patient care

WHEN Jeff Sell's twin sons were found to have autism 13 years ago, he, like so many other parents in the same situation, found himself with a million questions: Will my children be able to function? What are the best treatments and where do I find them? How will this affect the rest of my family?

SAN FRANCISCO -- Dr. Alvin Rajkomar was doing rounds with his team at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center when he came upon a puzzling case: a frail, elderly patient with a dangerously low sodium level.

The case for electronic medical records is compelling: They can make health care more efficient and less expensive, and improve the quality of care by making patients' medical history easily accessible to all who treat them.

Nasty microorganisms lurking on bed rails, tables, doorknobs and other surfaces in hospitals are causing a more than $30-billion problem for the U.S. healthcare system. Now, a new device is one of many trying to hunt down these microorganisms in an effort to reduce healthcare-associated infections such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile.