News
First Human Robotic Endoscopic Aortic Valve Replacement Performed
November 4, 2009 5:47 am | CommentsPRNewswire The first human robot-assisted endoscopic aortic valve replacement using the daVinci® Surgical System from Intuitive Surgical to implant the ATS 3f® Aortic Bioprosthesis was recently performed by Allen Raczkowski, M.D., at Banner Baywood Health Hospital in Phoenix, AZ. “The ATS 3f Aortic Bioprosthesis is the only valve that has the flexibility necessary for small access robotic ports, and it provides hemodynamic characteristics which are important for the patient's quality of life,” said Dr.
Report Shows Shift In Salaries
November 4, 2009 5:30 am | CommentsIn the case of some specialties, starting salaries for doctors who join physician-owned medical group practices are catching up to those offered by hospital and integrated delivery system-owned (IDS) practices, according to a recent survey from the Medical Group Management Association. The “Physician Placement Starting Salary Survey: 2007 Report Based on 2006 Data,” conducted in collaboration with the National Association of Physician Recruiters, found that physician-owned practices offered comparable salaries to hospital/IDS salaries for family practice without obstetrics ($130,000 vs.
New Approach To Lung Cancer Favors Radiosurgery
November 4, 2009 5:19 am | CommentsRecent studies suggest that patients with early stage, non-small cell lung cancer who are not able to undergo surgery now have another option. Physicians say that option, radical stereotactic radiosurgery performed with CyberKnife, leads to a 100 percent overall survival after three years in patients with good lung function before the treatment.
Acquisition Makes Merck #2 Drugmaker
November 4, 2009 4:59 am | CommentsThe new Merck & Co. becomes the world's second-biggest drugmaker overnight, and it's boasting a fat wallet to fund future deals. That's after the maker of vaccines and cholesterol and diabetes drugs bought Schering-Plough Corp. for $41.1 billion yesterday, leapfrogging from number eight to number two in the industry by revenue.
RI Hospital Looks To OR Cameras To Address Wrong-Site Surgery Problems
November 3, 2009 6:21 am | CommentsMichelle R. Smith, AP Rhode Island's largest hospital was fined $150,000 and ordered to take the extraordinary step of installing video cameras in all its operating rooms after it had its fifth wrong-site surgery since 2007, state health officials said Monday. Rhode Island Hospital, the teaching hospital for Brown University's Alpert Medical School, was fined a second time for wrong-site surgeries.
Problems Continue Even After Surgeries Halted At Illinois Hospital
November 3, 2009 6:21 am | CommentsSophia Tareen, AP Serious safety issues continued to plague a southern Illinois Veterans Affairs hospital even after major surgeries were suspended two years ago because of a spike in patient deaths. Surgeons at the medical center performed procedures without proper authorization, patient deaths were not assessed adequately and miscommunication between staff members persisted, the Veterans Affairs Department's inspector general said in the report, which covers the fiscal year that recently ended.
Beyond Grey’s Anatomy - Doctors and Nurses Behaving Badly
November 3, 2009 6:20 am | CommentsScreaming matches in front of bewildered patients. Angry surgeons hurling instruments across the operating room. Treachery and backstabbing as physicians and nurses try to undermine one another. It may sound like a script from a television medical drama, but these kinds of scenarios are occurring frequently in hospitals across the country, according to a new survey conducted by the American College of Physician Executives.
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.
