News
J&J Makes $900 Million Cuts
November 3, 2009 6:19 am | CommentsAP - Johnson & Johnson has announced that it will trim layers of management, cut jobs, and set other restructuring moves in motion to save up to $900 million next year. The company said the job cuts will affect six to seven percent of its global work force of roughly 118,700 workers, prompting a restructuring charge of up to $1.
Pre-Surgery Beta Blockers Key For High-Risk Patients
November 3, 2009 6:19 am | CommentsHigh-risk patients who are not taking beta-blockers should have an escalated beta-blocker therapy started before scheduled cardiovascular surgery, state recently updated guidelines from the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association. Standard practices had called for initiating beta-blocker therapy on the day of the procedure, or to pump up the dose right before it in order to minimize cardiovascular surgery risks.
Med, Nursing Schools Teaching Alternative Remedies
November 3, 2009 6:18 am | by Source: The Associated Press article, by Marilynn Marchione, AP Medical Writer | CommentsFuture doctors and nurses are learning about acupuncture and herbs along with anatomy and physiology at a growing number of medical schools. It's another example of how alternative medicine has become mainstream. And it's often done with Uncle Sam's help, a recent article published by the Associated Press reports.
1 Bite, 13 Surgeries & 20 Months Later
November 2, 2009 5:42 am | CommentsText attributed to Richard Johnson, Outdoor Life Abnormally wet fall weather in many parts of the U.S. has resulted in an unanticipated increase in snake bites. Venomous snakebites are sometimes erroneously viewed as not all that serious, because most victims survive. Rarely reported is the physical devastation that some survivors endure after envenomation.
Post-Surgical Radiation Offers Benefits
November 2, 2009 5:02 am | CommentsAccording to a new study presented at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), high-risk melanoma patients who are treated with radiation after surgery have a significantly lower risk of their cancer returning to the lymph nodes (19 percent), as those who do not (31 percent).
New Guidelines On N95 vs Surgical Masks
November 2, 2009 4:50 am | CommentsAccording to a recent release from the Infectious Diseases Society of America, authors of a study that found N95 respirators were better than surgical masks at preventing the flu have retracted many of their findings. After a re-analysis prompted by questions from reviewers, the findings were no longer significant, said Holly Seale, PhD, of the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
Castro Fears U.S. InFLUence
November 2, 2009 4:35 am | CommentsWill Weissert, AP The 83-year-old ex-president wrote in state-controlled newspapers on Saturday that many of Cuba's early cases of the virus were visitors from the United States. “We had the strange case where the United States, on one hand, authorized more trips for a large number of people carrying the virus, and on the other prohibited us from obtaining equipment and medicine to combat the virus,” Castro said.
House Dems Unveil Health Bill
October 30, 2009 6:54 am | CommentsCheered by President Barack Obama, House Democrats rolled out landmark legislation Thursday to extend health care to tens of millions who lack coverage, impose sweeping new restrictions on the insurance industry and create a government-run option to compete with private insurers David Espo, AP Special Correspondent October 30, 2009 WASHINGTON (AP) — Cheered by President Barack Obama, House Democrats rolled out landmark legislation Thursday to extend health care to tens of millions who lack coverage, impose sweeping new restrictions on the insurance industry and create a government-run option to compete with private insurers.
Lack Of Insurance May Have Figured In Nearly 17,000 Childhood Deaths
October 30, 2009 6:53 am | CommentsA recent study shows lack of health insurance may have led or contributed to nearly 17,000 deaths among hospitalized children in the U.S. in less than two decades October 30, 2009 BALTIMORE, Oct. 30 (AScribe Newswire) -- Lack of health insurance might have led or contributed to nearly 17,000 deaths among hospitalized children in the United States in the span of less than two decades, according to research led by the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.
How To Meet New JCAHO Survey Criteria For Flash Sterilization
October 30, 2009 6:51 am | Millenium Surgical Corp. | CommentsA company helps to provide solutions to meet new criteria with closed flash containers October 30, 2009 In response to recent updates to the Joint Commission’s policy regarding use of flash sterilization, Millennium Surgical Corp., a surgical instrument supplier, has been fielding hundreds of inquiries from hospitals and surgical centers as to what is needed and how to comply.
Blogging To Prevent Decubitus Ulcers
October 30, 2009 6:48 am | CommentsA company expands its commitment to education with new blog format to discuss prevention of decubitus ulcers October 30, 2009 Hagerstown, MD, USA, October 30, 2009: Action Products, Inc. has created blog.actionproducts.com, a social media forum to discuss the prevention of decubitus ulcers.
Technology Provides Most Accurate View Inside Human Body
October 28, 2009 6:57 am | CommentsDoctors at the annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine got a glimpse into the future of women's health with the presentation of endoscopic gynecologic surgery performed for the first time using "4K" technology, a recent article reported. Steven F. Palter, MD, an obstetrician, gynecologist, reproductive endocrinologist and fertility specialist performed the world's first 4K super high-definition (HD) laparoscopy at Syosset Hospital, part of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, and presented images from that surgery on October 20 at the 65th annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.
Get With The Guidelines Quality Program Improves Care
October 28, 2009 6:55 am | CommentsAccording to a recent report, participation in the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines® quality improvement program can significantly improve a hospitals’ adherence to evidence-based therapies and reduce gender and age-related disparities in the care of coronary artery disease patients.
Orthopedic Surgeon Uses New Technique To Save Three-Year-Old's Arm
October 28, 2009 6:54 am | CommentsWhen Mark Blinder was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer, doctors at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital gave his parents three agonizing options: amputate the affected arm at the shoulder, irradiate the tumor and risk a second malignancy, or try a limb-preserving surgery that had never been attempted in a toddler.
Medtronic's Transcatheter Offers Encouraging Results
October 28, 2009 6:53 am | Medtronic | CommentsClinical trial results published in this week’s Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) describe six-month outcomes for patients using the Melody® Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve from Medtronic, Inc. The valve is implanted through a catheter procedure instead of open-heart surgery in patients with congenital heart disease affecting the function of their pulmonary valve.
