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Alberta to release medical mistakes report

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:56:42 EST

Alberta's health minister has directed the province's health agency to release a full report on medical errors at Calgary's children's hospital within 10 days.

TB rate 185 times higher for Inuit than others

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:39:38 EST

Tuberculosis remains a serious health problem in Canada's North, with the infection rate among Inuit 185 times greater than for others born in the country, a national analysis shows.

2 listeriosis cases investigated in Ont.

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:07:03 EST

Health officials in Ontario are investigating two cases of listeriosis that appear to be linked to salami recalled from stores in Ontario and Quebec about three months ago.

ZenBio Licenses An Important Cell Line From Harvard To Drive Metabolic Disease Research

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:00:00 PST

ZenBio announce that they will be a commercial source for the popular murine 3T3-L1 cell line, which has been fundamental in metabolic disease research for 30 years. Originally derived from Swiss mouse embryo tissue by Dr. Howard Green of the Department of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School, the 3T3-L1 system has been pivotal in advancing the understanding of basic cellular mechanisms associated with diabetes, obesity and other related disorders...

NHL GMs develop blindside hit rule

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:54:40 EST

NHL general managers have developed the framework for a new rule punishing hits to the head.

Kids need ATV safety lessons: surgeon

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:03:24 EST

Children who ride all-terrain vehicles are suffering amputations, spinal injuries and deaths, according to U.S. research, prompting calls for mandatory training.

White House Expands Program to Fight Fraud and Waste

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:48:56 -0400

WASHINGTON (MedPage Today) -- President Barack Obama has announced new measures aimed at cracking down on fraud and waste in government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid.

Virginia Bans Mandatory Health Insurance

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:34:36 -0400

WASHINGTON (MedPage Today) -- Virginia has become the first state in the country to ban any requirement that its residents carry health insurance policies.

Obstructive Disease Not Found on Most Angiograms (CME/CE, with audio)

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:04:54 -0400

For patients without known heart disease, the diagnostic yield of coronary angiography appears to be low, researchers found.

Diamyd Medical: Diamyd US Phase III Study Well Under Way

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:00:00 PST

Diamyd Medical (STO:DIAMB)(Pink Sheets:DMYDY) announces today that one hundred study participants have been included in the ongoing US Phase III study, DiaPrevent. The global Phase III program with the company's lead drug candidate Diamyd® has thereby enrolled more than 430 children newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in Europe and the USA. One hundred patients are now enrolled in the company's US Phase III study called DiaPrevent at 33 diabetes centers throughout the USA and more sites will be added...

Mother of OD baby asked to try methadone

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:38:31 EST

A Calgary couple argued about how their baby daughter got a hold of methadone rather than focusing on her health after she ingested the drug, a former friend testified in court.

N.L. lab head quits after drug error fiasco

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:31:57 EST

Dr. Nash Denic has resigned as head of laboratory services at Newfoundland and Labrador's largest health authority after a drug-testing fiasco in which lab officials are accused of reacting to the problem too slowly.

WHO Releases New Malaria Guidelines For Treatment And Procurement Of Medicines

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:00:00 PST

The World Health Organization (WHO) is releasing new guidelines for the treatment of malaria, and the first ever guidance on procuring safe and efficacious anti-malarial medicines. In recent years a new type of treatment called artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACTs) has transformed the treatment of malaria, but if not used properly the medicine could become ineffective. Guidelines emphasize testing The Guidelines for the Treatment of Malaria (second edition) provide evidence-based and current recommendations for countries on malaria diagnosis and treatment...

Drug-Resistant Lice Respond Better to Ivermectin (CME/CE)

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:00:00 -0400

The antiparasitic drug ivermectin (Stromectol) is more effective than malathion lotion for treating infections of drug-resistant lice, a new study found.

Whole Genome Sequencing Nears Clinic (CME/CE)

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:00:00 -0400

Two reports this week suggested that whole-genome sequencing may soon become clinically useful, not just a research tool.

FDA Reassures on Osteoporosis Drugs

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:34:48 -0400

Bisphosphonate drugs for osteoporosis do not seem to increase the risk of femoral fractures, the FDA announced, though the agency will continue to evaluate the possibility.

Senate Approves SGR Delay

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:03:10 -0400

WASHINGTON (MedPage Today) -- The Senate has voted 62-36 to approve a $138 billion bill that would, among other things, stave off planned cuts to Medicare reimbursements until Oct 1.

Ag Groups Weigh-in On Supreme Court Case For Biotech Alfalfa

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:00:00 PST

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether a lower court acted hastily and incorrectly by banning the cultivation of biotech alfalfa despite extensive scientific evidence documenting the safety of the crop. A coalition of agricultural organizations filed on March 8 a joint friend-of-the-court brief to the Supreme Court in support of the petitioners in "Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms...

Baby slings not risk-free, U.S. agency warns

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:45:41 EST

The U.S. government is preparing a safety warning about baby slings after concern that infants being carried in them could suffocate if they curl into certain positions.

Base VBAC Decision on Evidence, NIH Panel Urges

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:06:32 -0400

BETHESDA, Md. (MedPage Today) -- A National Institutes of Health consensus panel has recommended that pregnant women and their care providers use evidence-based decision-making to determine whether a trial of labor and possible vaginal birth after cesarean section (VBAC) would be appropriate.

ACF Announces The Availability Of $42 Million In Competitive Grant Funding For Native American Communities And Organizations

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:00:00 PST

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Administration for Native Americans (ANA) announces the availability of $42 million in competitive grant funding for fiscal year 2010 for community-based projects that promote economic and social self-sufficiency and cultural preservation for American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and other Native American Pacific Islanders from American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The fiscal year 2010 funding includes $27 million for continuing multi-year projects...

Physical Therapists Unite To Support The Uninsured

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:00:00 PST

The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) is urging residents across the country to contact their local elected officials and members of the media to draw attention to the problem of the nation's uninsured during "Cover the Uninsured Week," March 14-20. APTA is a supporting organization of the observance, designed to raise awareness of the plight of 46 million uninsured Americans, including 9 million children, and the effect it is having on the country's health care system...

Doctor in mastectomy furor wants to operate

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:36:05 EST

Dr. Barbara Heartwell, the Windsor, Ont., surgeon at the heart of a controversy over unnecessary mastectomies, has asked to have her hospital privileges reinstated.

Virgin Plans To Coordinate GP Care Across Country, UK

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:00:00 PST

Sir Richard Branson's Virgin empire plans to use its newly acquired network of polyclinics to co-ordinate GP services across the country, Pulse can reveal. Virgin Healthcare told Pulse its acquisition of Assura Medical Ltd last week had given it control of 15 'GP-led health centres' and a total of 30 GP companies - believed to make it the biggest private provider of GP services in the country...

Meat And Colorectal Cancer Risk: Scientists Suggest Potential Mechanisms

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:00:00 PST

Scientists in the US who undertook a large study to investigate what biological mechanisms might be behind the already established link between colorectal cancer and consumption of red and processed meat, confirmed that such a link exists and suggested the main players are three compounds: heme iron, nitrate/nitrite, and heterocyclic amines. You can read a paper on the research behind these findings in the published online first 9 March issue of Cancer Research...

AAOS: Bone Graft Substitute Used Mostly Off-Label (CME/CE)

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:50:25 -0400

NEW ORLEANS (MedPage Today) -- The vast majority of spinal procedures using bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) involve off-label uses, researchers found.

Superbug MRSA on rise in Canada

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:19:14 EST

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of cases of Canadians becoming infected or colonized by the superbug MRSA since 1995, both in hospitals and within the community, a study has found.

Botulinum Toxin Okayed for Arm Spasms

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:15:17 -0400

WASHINGTON (MedPage Today) -- The FDA has approved a new indication for botulinum toxin type A (Botox) as a flexor muscle spasm treatment for the elbow, wrist, and fingers in adult patients.

2010 Recipient Of Minority Scholar Award Will Conduct Clinical Research On Leukemia

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:00:00 PST

Alison Walker, MD, has been selected to receive the ASH-AMFDP Award, and will begin her research in acute myeloid leukemia in July of this year. The award, designed to help increase the number of underrepresented minority scholars in the field of hematology, is the result of a partnership between the American Society of Hematology (ASH) and the Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program (AMFDP) of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It provides four years of support, including an annual stipend of up to $75,000 and an annual grant of $30,000 to support research activities...

AAD: Signal Inhibitor Active in Basal Cell Carcinoma (CME/CE)

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:03:26 -0400

MIAMI BEACH (MedPage Today) -- More than half of patients with locally advanced or metastatic basal cell carcinoma responded to an investigational signal transduction inhibitor, data from a phase I clinical trial showed.

Visit Your Pharmacy This No Smoking Day

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:00:00 PST

Helping a man to stop smoking after 43 years and supporting a woman to quit cigarettes following 15 previous relapses are just two examples where a local pharmacy made the difference of a life time. This No Smoking Day on Wednesday 10 March the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) is advising the public to make a trip to their community pharmacy as the first step towards quitting for good. Every year thousands of people across the UK give up smoking on the national day and this year's campaign theme, Break free, we can help, has come from smokers themselves...

Advocates Seek Increased Federal Funding To Bridge The Gaps In Lupus Research, Awareness, And Education

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:00:00 PST

On March 16, 2010, an anticipated 1,000 advocates will band together for lupus in person and virtually by phone, email, and through social media networks, to share their personal stories with Members of Congress during the Lupus Foundation of America's, (LFA) Twelfth Annual Advocacy Day. Advocates' personal stories will demonstrate how the gaps in lupus research and understanding have a profound effect on the estimated 1.5 million people in the United States who are living with the disease. It has been more than 50 years since the U.S...

Kids' Flu Shots Stop Community Transmission (CME/CE, with audio)

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:00:00 -0400

Vaccinating healthy kids effectively protects the entire community against flu, a prospective randomized trial affirmed.

Anti-TNF Therapy Improves Life with Psoriatic Arthritis (CME/CE)

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:30:00 -0400

Treatment with anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) agents can significantly improve physical disability and quality of life for patients with psoriatic arthritis, data from an observational study showed

Los Angeles Times Profiles Antiabortion Pastor Who Travels Southern Calif. In Mobile Pregnancy Clinic

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:00:00 PST

The Los Angeles Times on Monday profiled Dave Wilkinson, an evangelical pastor who runs three Ventura County, Calif., pregnancy clinics that try to urge women not to have abortions. Once weekly, Wilkinson and other antiabortion-rights advocates drive to Los Angeles in a donated motor home to offer ultrasounds to pregnant women and urge them not to have abortions through "prayer-filled counseling sessions," according to the Times. Wilkinson said that many of the women promise to carry their fetuses to term...

Study Shows Need To 'Speak Plainly' When Discussing Sex, Columnist Writes

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:00:00 PST

"A new study suggests that what people mean when they say they've had sex -- or haven't -- depends on whom you ask," St. Petersburg Times columnist Colette Bancroft writes in an opinion piece about new research from the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction and the Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention. The study, published in the journal Sexual Health, examined how men and women in various age groups classify whether various physical acts constitute "having sex...

Health Overhaul Policy Tidbits

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:00:00 PST

NPR: For those who have forgotten what the Senate's bill would actually do as the debate has turned to politics and procedure, "a short refresher" may come in handy. The legislation's main concepts include the requirement that individuals buy health insurance, a plan that would help eliminate pre-existing condition exclusions and spread risk more widely, and subsidies to help people buy coverage to meet the new requirement (Rovner, 3/9)...

Senate Test Vote Today On Bill To Extend COBRA Subsidy, Doc Fix And State Medicaid Funding

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:00:00 PST

The Senate is poised to consider a measure today that would include extending subsidies for COBRA benefits and unemployment insurance, prevent the Medicare payment cut for doctors and provide additional funding to state Medicaid programs. The legislation "faces a key test vote in the Senate, its momentum helped by about 60 popular tax breaks for individuals and businesses that expired at the end of last year," The Associated Press reports. "All told, the measure would add $107 billion to the deficit over the coming decade...

Questioning The Benefits Of Elective Removal Of Ovaries During Hysterectomy: Evidence Suggests Procedure May Do More Harm Than Good

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:00:00 PST

Removal of the ovaries (bilateral oophorectomy) while performing a hysterectomy is common practice to prevent the subsequent development of ovarian cancer. This prophylactic procedure is performed in 55 percent of all US women having a hysterectomy, or approximately 300,000 times each year. An article in the March/April issue of the Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology suggests that this procedure may do more harm than good.. William H...

Brain Activity Predicts Emotional Resiliency Following A Fight With A Partner

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:00:00 PST

Common wisdom tells us that for a successful relationship partners shouldn't go to bed angry. But new research from a psychologist at Harvard University suggests that brain activity - specifically in the region called the lateral prefrontal cortex - is a far better indicator of how someone will feel in the days following a fight with his or her partner. Individuals who show more neural activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex are less likely to be upset the day after fighting with partners, according to a study in this month's Biological Psychiatry...

Fashion And IT

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:00:00 PST

Consider this T-shirt: It can monitor your heart rate and breathing, analyze your sweat and even cool you off on a hot summer's day. What about a pillow that monitors your brain waves, or a solar-powered dress that can charge your ipod or MP4 player? This is not science fiction - this is cotton in 2010. Now, the laboratory of Juan Hinestroza, assistant professor of Fiber Science and Apparel Design, has developed cotton threads that can conduct electric current as well as a metal wire can, yet remain light and comfortable enough to give a whole new meaning to multi-use garments...

Male Batterers Consistently Overestimate General Rates Of Violence Toward Partners

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:00:00 PST

Men who engaged in domestic violence consistently overestimated how common such behavior is, and the more they overestimated it the more they engaged in abusing their partner in the previous 90 days, according to new research conducted at the University of Washington. Those men overestimated by two to three times the actual rates of seven behaviors ranging from throwing something at a partner to rape, according Clayton Neighbors, lead author of a paper to be published in a spring issue of the journal Violence Against Women...

New Research Looks At Beliefs About God's Influence In Everyday Life

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:00:00 PST

Most Americans believe God is concerned with their personal well-being and is directly involved in their personal affairs, according to new research out of the University of Toronto. Using data from two recent national surveys of Americans, UofT Sociology Professor Scott Schieman examined peoples' beliefs about God's involvement and influence in everyday life. His research discovers new patterns about these beliefs and the ways they differ across education and income levels...

AAD: HIFU Shows Promise for Body Sculpting (CME/CE)

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0400

MIAMI BEACH (MedPage Today) -- High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) showed potential as a noninvasive way to remove excess subcutaneous fat, according to results of a small, preliminary clinical study.

Virus can attack prostate cancer

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:15:01 EST

Researchers in Alberta have successfully tested a new viral approach to treating prostate cancer in a small number of men.

B.C. to market health tourism

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:58:17 EST

B.C. Health Minister Kevin Falcon says he has a plan to market health-care services to rich, offshore patients similar to the way the province sells higher education to foreign students.

Avastin fight now moves to P.E.I.

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:49:26 EST

A cancer patient who successfully helped lobby the New Brunswick government to fund an expensive cancer drug is now shifting his focus to P.E.I. in an effort to have Avastin funded by that province.

Flu shots for children protect adults: study

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:57:36 EST

Vaccinating children against seasonal flu helps protect others in their community, a new Canadian study suggests.

Labor Groups Protest Insurance Companies

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:52:54 -0400

WASHINGTON (MedPage Today) -- Supporters of healthcare reform rallied against health insurers Tuesday, further casting the industry as the villain in the often theatrical healthcare reform debate.

N.L. health staff slow on drug errors

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:11:50 EST

A review of drug testing errors in Newfoundland and Labrador finds that Eastern Health Authority staff didn't react quickly enough when problems administering cyclosporine were first identified.