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Antibiotic-resistant bacteria moving from South Asia to US The New York Times Share     A dangerous new mutation that makes some bacteria resistant to almost all antibiotics has become increasingly common in India and Pakistan and is being found in patients in Britain and the United States who got medical care in those countries, according to new studies. Experts in antibiotic resistance called the gene mutation, named NDM-1, "worrying" and "ominous," and they said they feared it would spread globally. More
As drug marketers embrace social media, FDA mulls new rules NPR Share
Would you look for prescription drug advice on Facebook? Apparently quite a few people do, and the Food and Drug Administration is starting to take notice. The agency has sent its first warning letter about Facebook to drugmaker Novartis for the way it's been using the popular social networking site to promote a cancer drug. But Novartis isn't alone. Drug companies have embraced social networking, and industry critics say the FDA is responding too slowly. More After Avandia: Does the FDA have a drug problem? TIME Share
Five days before a 2007 article in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that the diabetes drug Avandia was linked to a 43 percent increase in heart attacks compared with other medications or placebos, a group of scientists and executives from the drug's maker, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), gathered in a conference room at the offices of the Food and Drug Administration in White Oak, Md. The GSK goal: to convince regulators that the evidence that the company's $3 billion-a-year blockbuster drug caused heart problems was inconclusive. More
Rating your doctor Kaiser Health News Share
For most people, picking a doctor is hardly a scientific process. They ask friends or family members to pass along names of doctors they like and trust, or rely on another doctor's referral. More Consumer advocates ask for White House/HHS probe of health insurers' reduced medical care spending, even as premiums spike PR Newswire via Reuters Share
Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Media and Democracy asked the Obama administration to investigate how the major for-profit health insurance companies are reducing their proportion of spending on health care in advance of health reform, even as premiums spike upward. In a letter to Health and Human Services chief Kathleen Sebelius, the groups compared insurers' actions to those of credit card companies, which spiked annual interest rates last year in advance of new federal regulations that would curb corporate abuses. More
Newly insured expected to crowd emergency rooms The Columbus Dispatch Share
The new health-reform law means more Americans will have health insurance in four years, but it doesn't ensure that they'll have a doctor to see when they have a medical problem. Emergency-room physicians predict that many of the newly insured will end up in already overcrowded ERs because they won't have easy access to family doctors, whose numbers are dwindling. The prediction is based in part on what's happening in Massachusetts, which has had a similar reform law since 2006. More US works to shut down fake health care plans Reuters via MSNBC Share
U.S. regulators are cracking down on the growing number of companies that fraudulently sell so-called medical discount plans by telling consumers they work like health insurance and cover medical costs. The Federal Trade Commission said on Wednesday it is working with 24 states to crack down on sellers of medical discount plans that market them as health insurance that covers doctors, hospitals and other services. More
With many still in dark, groups shed light on health care law USA TODAY Share
True or false: The new health care law will cut Medicare benefits for seniors. It will slash Medicare payments to doctors. It will ration health care. In three polls conducted last month, large percentages of Americans answered "true" to each statement. All three are false. Six weeks before the nation's health care delivery system begins a huge transformation, confusion reigns. More Lax hand washing helps drive many foodborne illnesses HealthDay News Share
Poor hand washing habits by food handlers and the contamination of food by animal feces are among the prime reasons Americans get sickened by foodborne germs, according to a new government report. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pored over data on the nearly 1,100 reported foodborne disease outbreaks in the United States in 2007. These outbreaks resulted in more than 21,000 illnesses and 18 deaths, according to the report recently released in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. More
Organized medicine should take leadership role in quality, study says American Medical News Share
Physician organizations such as the American Medical Association and state medical societies should take the lead in defining health care quality and helping physicians implement improvement initiatives, according to an AMA report issued in July. The report, "Advancing Ambulatory Quality Improvement: Results of Focus Groups With Medical Societies," was based on analysis of discussions of nearly 100 physicians and medical society executives in 13 states participating in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Aligning Forces for Quality initiative. More New way to classify rheumatoid arthritis WebMD Health News Share
A new way of classifying rheumatoid arthritis should lead to earlier identification of the disease, which, in turn, should help investigators explore new therapies to prevent its ravages, researchers say. The revised classification, announced this week by the American College of Rheumatology and the European League Against Rheumatism, will allow researchers to recruit patients for clinical trials earlier in the disease process, says Boston University associate professor of medicine and epidemiology Tuhina Neogi, MD, PhD. More |
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