Medical Quack: 12/01/2007

New Course Provides Refresher And Certification For Surgeons Performing Laparoscopic Surgery at Beth Israel in Boston

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox and will now require certification for laparoscopic surgeries raising the bar to a new level. The CEO also blogs to keep all updated and you can find a link to the site in the right hand reference side of this page. BD

Attending general surgeons at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) will be required to prove basic motor skills outside an operating room before performing laparoscopic surgery on patients.
CRICO/RMF, the Harvard medical community's professional liability insurer, will offer "Fundamentals in Laparoscopic Surgery" (FLS) as a refresher course in January 2008. As an incentive for this voluntary program, CRICO/RMF is providing a one-time patient safety incentive to attending general surgeons who demonstrate successful completion of the FLS exam.
In an unprecedented requirement, all BIDMC general surgeons will need FLS certification to obtain privileges in laparoscopy. This requirement for certification for privileging at BIDMC is the first time surgeons in the United States will be required to demonstrate motor skills, according to Daniel B. Jones, MD, FACS, BIDMC's Chief of Minimally Invasive Surgery.

New Course Provides Refresher And Certification For Surgeons Performing Laparoscopic Surgery

FDA Approves Voluven To Treat Serious Blood Volume Loss During And After Surgery

Not for patients on dialysis....BD

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Voluven, an intravenous solution that prevents and treats a dangerous loss of blood volume, a condition that sometimes occurs during and after surgery.
Significant blood losses can cause a rapid drop in the volume of red blood cells and plasma circulating through the body. This can lead to shock, which is potentially fatal. Blood volume expanders are commonly administered to quickly restore some of the lost volume so that remaining red blood cells can continue to deliver needed oxygen to the body's tissues.
During orthopedic surgery, Voluven was as safe and effective in expanding blood volume as Hespan, an approved starch solution.

FDA Approves Voluven To Treat Serious Blood Volume Loss During And After Surgery

Thrifty patients pay price with botched surgery

Something to think about before traveling over the border...especially if one has any chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, etc. as these conditions may require special monitoring and sometimes at a reduced cost and availability of medical equipment as facilities, something could be missed or eliminated in the process...BD

In the border city of Tijuana, most patients in some hospitals are American. Most come from California for dental work and plastic surgery that isn’t covered by insurance. This month, Tijuana’s medical community announced an initiative to encourage even more patients to cross the border.
The U.S. Embassy warns that while elective surgery may be cheaper in Mexico, “facilities may lack access to sufficient emergency support.”
And when things go wrong, seeking redress can be next to impossible. Class-action lawsuits — a foundation of consumer protection in the United States — don’t exist in Mexico, and the judicial system remains plagued by corruption and bureaucratic inertia. Operating on a patient with diabetes and hypertension requires careful testing and monitoring, even when the most qualified plastic surgeons are involved, according to Dr. James Wells of Long Beach, Calif., former president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Thrifty patients pay price with botched surgery - Health care- msnbc.com

Niacin Products Improve Aging Skin

More good news on the fight against aging skin...BD

Cosmecueticals, beauty aids that reportedly work like prescription drugs, are providing new ways to treat aging skin. A study recently published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology explores a variety of new ingredients in cosmeceuticals that provide a visibly noticeable improvement in maturing skin.
The most dramatic and apparent signs of aging include the lack of skin surface regularity, formation of wrinkles, and increased presence of abnormal pigmentation. Zoe Diana Draelos, MD, of Dermatology Consulting Services, High Point, North Carolina, assessed the ingredient efficacy in a variety of cosmeceuticals on each of these areas of aging skin.
Draelos found that skin surface irregularity can be improved through the topical application of niacin, while the appearance of fine lines can be diminished through the application of moisturizers containing engineered peptides and over-the-counter retinoids. Skin pigmentation can become more regular with the use of photoprotective ingredients. Furthermore, combining cosmeceutical ingredients in a moisturizing agent can magnify benefits and improve skin appearance.

New Ingredients In Drug-Like Anti-Aging Products Improve Skin

Family sues over man left for dead

Now this is scary....he is still alive but was placed in a body bag! Was someone in a hurry to do their job? BD

THE family of a man mistakenly declared dead after being hit by a car has sued over the mistake, claiming it led to injuries from which he might not recover.
Larry Green was struck by a car as he crossed a road in 2005. He was put into a body bag and sent to the mortuary, where the medical examiner did not notice he was still alive until about two and a half hours after. Mr Green, who now lives in a nursing home in North Carolina, was in hospital for two months with a severe head injury, broken leg and other injuries. He began some limited speaking five months after the accident.
In the lawsuit filed this month, the family claims that medical officials inadequately checked his vital signs after the accident.

Family sues over man left for dead - Scotsman.com News

2 die from listeriosis in Massachusetts

Bacteria in the Milk..BD

BOSTON - State health officials warned consumers not to drink milk produced by a Massachusetts dairy, saying it was the likely source of a bacterial illness that killed two men and sickened two others.
Listeriosis is a kind of food poisoning that can be dangerous to the elderly, newborns, pregnant women and people with chronic medical conditions. Symptoms include fever, headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea.

2 die from listeriosis in Massachusetts - Yahoo! News

Nasal Spray Might Replace Sleep

Help for those who don't get enough sleep...new concept and may help with irritable feelings of fatigue...when we are tired..BD

In what sounds like a dream for millions of tired coffee drinkers, Darpa-funded scientists might have found a drug that will eliminate sleepiness.

A nasal spray containing a naturally occurring brain hormone called orexin A reversed the effects of sleep deprivation in monkeys, allowing them to perform like well-rested monkeys on cognitive tests. The discovery's first application will probably be in treatment of the severe sleep disorder narcolepsy.
The study, published in the Dec. 26 edition of The Journal of Neuroscience, found orexin A not only restored monkeys' cognitive abilities but made their brains look "awake" in PET scans.

ABC News: Nasal Spray Might Replace Sleep

Doctor and robot a life-saving team - Orange County, CA

Da Vinci robotic surgery helps designate this physician as one of the world's top urologists...BD

Two hundred times a year Dr. Thomas Ahlering peers into a cavernous opening, grabs hold of his rescue tool, and reaches out to save a man's life.
The opening looks like a cave, but it's actually the interior of a patient's lower abdomen seen through the eyepieces of the Da Vinci surgical robot, which is the tool that Ahlering uses to remove cancerous prostate glands.
Ahlering, 54, was trained in traditional open surgery, but in the past few years has turned himself into one of the world's leading urologists specializing in robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery.

News: Doctor and robot a life-saving team | ahlering, surgery, robot, vinci, one - OCRegister.com

Autistic Triplets Struggle Through Childhood

Moving story, not one, but all 3...sure wish there was a cure on the horizon...BD

When you have no children for so long and all of a sudden you have three, its just like, great -- this is what you wanted," says Randy.
As the triplets, now 6 years old, started to grow the Gastons slowly started to realize their boys were having trouble. Two years ago, each of the triplets was diagnosed with autism, a condition that affects an estimated one in every 150 children in the United States.
"I noticed that the boys weren't playing together. I noticed they weren't playing appropriately with toys. I noticed Hunter started toe walking. Zachary, he would start covering his ears when any kind of sounds were around. Nicholas started to get withdrawn and go sit in a corner and just stare out the door, where before he was engaging and smiling," says Lynn.
When the boys were diagnosed, the Gastons had already suspected the all three shared the condition.

ABC News: Autistic Triplets Struggle Through Childhood

10 IT 'Facts' That Are Really Fiction

For the CIOs and IT folks...a few amusing items from the slideshow...all can relate to..especially in Health Care...take a look at all the myths..none more important than # 10, control the CEO's connection to the Internet...humorous but somewhat true...BD

http://www.eweek.com/slideshow_viewer/0,1205,l=&s=25942&a=222190&po=7,00.asp

When Insurers Play Doctor

One doctor's story about having to work with insurers to get the tests and procedures he feels due in one case here...this can end up being a huge amount of time spent not only by the physician, but also the staff as well...something the patient may not always see or be aware of...BD

This doctor will go unnamed but is a practicing cardiologist. “ Once my office received the call that the test was refused, I was again summoned for a “peer-to-peer” review. In actuality, I’m certain that this is a cost-saving measure, and I doubt very much that Aetna or Medsolutions has any regard for patient safety or well-being.”
“ Today I had a very disconcerting experience involving an insurance company. For the first time, I feel truly helpless at the hands of an insurance company. My fears have come true: we physicians are quickly becoming pawns in the game of healthcare, with an ever decreasing capability to dictate appropriate care for our patients.”
The doctor says most of the time he/she and office colleagues have been successful in overturning the refusals. But remember each phone call takes 15-30 minutes of productive office time that would be better spent with patients. Today, the doctor says, “..despite my best efforts, I failed my patient.”
Because the test I ordered did not fit Aetna’s or Medsolution’s “protocol”, quite possibly created by businessmen without much medical background, my patient must suffer. I should not need to provide justification for preferring to perform one study over another as long as each is appropriately ordered.”
Unfortunately insurers pay the bills, so doctors have to pay attention. But that doesn’t mean they like it or agree with the type of health care they are sometimes forced to provide. “ In conclusion, I and many physicians have trained for many years to make independent, clinically-directed decisions. Our practices are now being dictated by insurance companies with little or no medical education or experience. Due to anti-trust laws, we cannot band together to advocate for ourselves. Our medical lobbyists in Congress are outnumbered by the more financially-backed insurance companies. We need someone to step up and represent our voices and concerns to the people of our nation.”

When Insurers Play Doctor (Part 2)

North Jersey requiring HIV tests for pregnant women..

Unless a mother opts out...BD

New Jersey will require doctors to test pregnant women for the AIDS virus, except those who opt out, under a bill signed Wednesday by acting Gov. Richard Codey.
HIV tests will automatically join other blood tests as part of routine prenatal care in New Jersey. They must be performed as early as possible in a pregnancy and again during the third trimester, under the new law.
According to the Kaiser Foundation, a non-profit research organization focusing on U.S. health care, New Jersey will be the first state to seek HIV testing for both pregnant women and newborns.
Arkansas, Michigan, Tennessee and Texas require health care providers to test mothers for HIV, unless a mother asks not to be tested, while Connecticut, Illinois and New York test all newborns for HIV, according to the foundation.

North Jersey Media Group providing local news, sports & classifieds for Northern New Jersey!

Physicians sue Texas Medical Board over anonymous complaints

This is pretty amazing that a complaint can be anonymous..the suit contends this was allowing physicians to file complaints about other physicians...competitors....BD

AUSTIN — The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons has asked a federal judge to stop the Texas Medical Board from accepting anonymous complaints.
The group claims the regulatory board has used anonymous complaints to intimidate and retaliate against doctors. During the legislative hearing, physicians complained that an abundance of anonymous complaints over minor issues have unfairly cost them time and money.
"The situation has reached the crisis point for patients and doctors," said Jane Orient, the national group's executive director. "Our members are too afraid of retaliation to sue the board as individuals."
The lawsuit, which was filed Friday in federal court in Texarkana, claims the board and its physician members have manipulated anonymous complaints. It also alleges conflicts of interest and privacy breaches by board members and expert witnesses hired by the board.

Physicians sue Texas Medical Board over anonymous complaints | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

Bone-Lengthening for Disfiguring Disease

The actual process takes months, doctors stretching the bone by one millimeter a day with a motorized device..slow process but it doesn't hurt...BD

A pioneering new surgery technique is a dream come true for a 9-year-old Arkansas girl with a rare bone disease. Lauren McCabe was born with a left arm nearly two inches shorter than her right, a condition that has kept her from being able to lead a normal life.
Her disability and disfigurement was getting progressively worse every year. "The condition is a condition where instead of growing long and straight, the bones grow bent and short and branches," explained Dr. Aronson, chief of pediatrics at Arkansas Children's Hospital, who is one of the pioneers of the bone surgery that Lauren had.
"What we're doing is a bone lengthening, which means that we have to gently crack a bone so that its blood supply is preserved, stabilize the bone with pins that connect to the outside, a frame, and through that frame we stretch the bone very slowly," said Dr. Aronson. At two and a half hours, the surgery is relatively quick.

ABC News: Bone-Lengthening for Disfiguring Disease

Doctors Now Do It Though The Eyelid

The technique required no contact with the cornea...checks for early signals of blindness...and can also measure other eye diseases such as conjunctivitis and progress after surgery on the eyes...portable and simple to use...BD

About a year ago no doctor would believe that it was possible, but today it is becoming a mainstream procedure. Inpatient & Outpatient Clinics such as Hospitals, Emergency Rooms, Nursing & Elderly Homes, General & Specialty Practitioners are joining Ophthalmologists and Optometrists with "Provocative Test for Glaucoma".
BiCOM Inc. and its unique, FDA approved Tonometer Diaton now make it possible to safely and easily screen for Glaucoma through the Eyelid with no contact with the Cornea using a small hand-held device and without the use of Anesthetic drops.
diaton tonometer provides high reliability of measuring results and makes it possible to diagnose glaucoma on the early stage and appoint necessary treatment and medicines.
The unique methodology of intraocular pressure measuring through the eyelid applied in the device provides new resources in ophthalmotonometry, simplicity and safety of tests.

Doctors Now Do It Though The Eyelid

Web Site: http://www.tonometerdiaton.com/index.php?do=home.description

The Bucket List - Jack Nicholson as a Hospital CEO and owner

Great movie and recommended...normally this blog is not for movie reviews but this one relates not only to health care, but also about living with reality...illnesses and feelings we all have...and gets down the the real basics....what really matters...what is important in life...oh yes, loved the way both actors used humor...the movie definitely has a message to send...good time to "listen up" and think about things in their proper perspective...Mr. Freeman starts out being the good listener and towards the end, has some meaningful conversations going on with "Big Jack"...as we all grow older things take on a whole new perspective on what has value and what is important...BD

For the politically outspoken Reiner, it was also a chance to take some digs at the health care system. Neither character is treated well as a patient, and one even runs the hospital. "Yes, there are digs because ultimately at the end of the day our healthcare system is not what it needs to be. There is a different set of standards for people who have money and for people who don't. Jack's character in the movie tries to make it more egalitarian, the whole idea that you have two beds to a room and no exceptions.

The reality is that if he hadn't made that statement publicly he probably would've said, 'Screw this. I want my own private room.' The point is that out healthcare system does leave a lot to be desired. That's not that main thing. That's in there, but it's certainly not a main thing that we're trying to focus on.

Nicholson lives this dual existence off the set as well. He says he has no problem living as Big Jack in public, but reality tends to set in once the spotlight is turned off. What wasn't fun was a recent health problem (an infected saliva gland) that required surgery and forced Nicholson to accept eight weeks of bed rest.

Interview: Rob Reiner on The Bucket List - CanMag

Cast your vote - 50 Most Powerful Physician Executives in Health Care Modern Physician Online

Cast your vote for one of the nominees for this year. The first link provides a brief summary of the nominees and the 2nd link below will take you to the actual page to vote. BD

Modern Physician Online - The List

Cast Your Vote Here

Wii bowler beats real bowler in senior videogame tourney

Great article from Engadget...and a nice way to get seniors involved in a little friendly exercise...only problem right now is finding a WII....but something to consider for senior groups anywhere...BD

Proving once again that athleticism and real-world experience have little bearing on the outcome of Wii Sports matches, a 79-year-old bowler was defeated by an 84-year-old who'd only recently picked up the game -- virtually -- in their retirement community's latest Nintendo tournament. Obviously a popular pastime among the senior crowd, playing Wii has gotten so big at the 3000-resident Riderwood complex in Montgomery County, Maryland that semi-regular tournies are held in the various events, with underdog Nancy Davies (not pictured) upsetting previous champ Hal Winters (also not pictured) in the most recent excitement-filled Bowling final. When asked to comment on the 202 to 182 stunner, the few other residents who were both awake at the time and able to remember the action agreed that the match was surely one for the record books.

Wii bowler beats real bowler in senior videogame tourney - Engadget

The next Nuclear Race -Hospitals

Expensive therapy...but working...fewer side effects for the patient...the facilities can handle up to 150 patients a day..one patient at Loma Linda states he goes in for his treatment and then leaves to go play golf afterwards...prostate cancer appears to be at the top of list for patients who could potentially benefit from the treatment...Medicare pays about $50,000 to treat prostate cancer with protons...twice as much as with X-Rays...studies are also ongoing for the use of protons with breast cancer as well...BD

Medical centers are rushing to turn nuclear particle accelerators, formerly used only for exotic physics research, into the latest weapons against cancer. Some experts say there is a vast need for more proton centers. But others contend that an arms race mentality has taken hold, as medical centers try to be first to take advantage of the prestige — and the profits — a proton site could provide.
Proton therapy can help avoid the worst side effects, like impotence, by exposing the bladder and rectum of a prostate patient to less radiation than X-rays. The stray radiation, though, from the newest form of X-rays, called intensity-modulated radiation therapy, is already low, diminishing any advantages from proton therapy.
Until 2000, the United States had only one hospital-based proton therapy center. Now there are five, with more than a dozen others announced. Still more are under consideration. Loma Linda built the nation’s first hospital-based proton center in 1990 and has treated about 13,000 patients. Its success has inspired others.
Proton therapy can help avoid the worst side effects, like impotence, by exposing the bladder and rectum of a prostate patient to less radiation than X-rays. The stray radiation, though, from the newest form of X-rays, called intensity-modulated radiation therapy, is already low, diminishing any advantages from proton therapy.
Interactive Display

Hospitals Look to Nuclear Tool to Fight Cancer - New York Times

CDC Launching Investigation Of Morgellons Disease - the mysterious illness

Has not been officially recognized as a disease...but important enough that CDC wants an urgent investigation from Kaiser...stating this has the potential of being an epidemic...out of the Twilight Zone...sores and then a mysterious fiber is produced....green, black and visible without a microscope...video below of an MD who has the disease...one has the feelings of bugs crawling all over...people in all states are coming down with Morgellons...patients frustrated as physicians do not have the research information to diagnose...so hopefully Kaiser may be able to offer some answers..BD

- Imagine your body pocked by erupting sores. The sensation of little bugs crawling all over you. And worst of all, mysterious red and blue fibers sprouting from your skin. It may sound like a macabre science fiction movie, but a growing legion of Americans say they suffer from this condition. And now the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating.
Morgellons disease is a poorly understood condition which a growing number of physicians believe to be a chronic infectious disease. The disease can be both disabling and disfiguring. The symptoms include itching, biting and crawling sensations, “filaments” or fibers which emerge from the skin, skin lesions which range from minor to disfiguring, joint pain, debilitating fatigue, changes in cognition, memory loss, mood disturbance and serious neurological manifestations
"Sometimes the government doesn't want to panic people until they can figure out a definitive cause," said Pat Boddie, a 62-year-old Alabama woman who said she's had Morgellons for 14 years. "They're trying to figure out if this is going to be an epidemic. I hate to tell them, but it already is," she said.
Federal doctors now want Kaiser Permanente to conduct an urgent epidemiologic investigation with results due by next May "...to better characterize the clinical and epidemiologic features of this condition; to generate hypotheses about factors that may cause or contribute to sufferers' symptoms; and to estimate the prevalence of the condition in the population; and to provide information to guide public health recommendations."

CDC Launching Investigation Of Morgellons Disease - News Story - KTVU San Francisco

Little Blue Egg Helps Surgeons Save Lives

A new way to help surgeons reconstruct the heart...takes the guesswork out of free handing the shape..suture done...egg removed...BD

Lavery suffered a heart attack a dozen years ago, and doctors performed a quintuple bypass, restoring some blood flow to his damaged heart muscle. A little more than a year ago, Lavery's doctor said he needed surgery because progressing end-stage congestive heart failure gave him a 50-50 chance of dying in a year. "It was like you couldn't catch your breath again, and it really did hurt," Lavery said.
Lavery's heart surgeon is Dr. Neil J. Thomas of Methodist Hospitals in Merrillville, Ind. He said medicines were no longer helping, and he wanted to reshape Lavery's heart to make it work better. "It's a procedure that's been done for decades, but it has been very variable," and often imprecise, said Thomas.
Thomas said the egg takes the guesswork out of heart reconstruction. "We know the ventricle should be shaped like this cone. It should not be round like a ball," a shape he says is inefficient as a pump and can sometimes result from freehand surgical stitching. Bioventrix, a San Ramon medical device company, came up with what the company calls the "incredible, inedible egg" made of blue silicone.
The egg is FDA-approved, and Bioventrix is now conducting a post-marketing clinical trial. But Bertolero said a recent study of about 50 patients shows that "surgeons that have used the blue egg are getting basically twice the improvement over the freehand method."

Little Blue Egg Helps Surgeons Save Lives - Health News Story - KTVU San Francisco

Web Site: http://www.bioventrix.com/products/lvrwithblueegg.aspx

Patients See How New Records Work - UK

Now if they just keep the records within the system and on secured servers...not burned on discs...but patients can still opt out by not replying to the letters sent....the system maybe secure, but how about the people that handle and work with the records...BD

Patients who will be the among the first in the district to have their health records transferred to a new computer system have seen at first hand how the technology works.
Bradford and Airedale Teaching Primary Care Trust is adopting the NHS Care Records Service and 40,000 patients in Bradford and Keighley have received letters about how the system works.
Instead of records being held by just one health organization, the new summary care record will be available to any authorized NHS worker at the click of a mouse.
It will give health professionals up-to-date information about a patient so they get the right treatment in the quickest time. Patients can opt out of the system, but consent is implied if they do not respond to a letter informing them about the summary care record. Mrs Green said: "I do not think that there is anything to be afraid of. It is a secure system.

Patients See How New Records Work (from Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Can you Sue your HMO?

Looks like some things are changing out there...a lawsuit not for denial of care, but rather phrased for fraud, misrepresenting the promise of benefits to the consumers...potential class action suit in the works as this article states...patients have been able to sue physicians but have not had much of a leg to stand on as far as responsibility of denying a life saving treatment to be shared by the insurers who hand down the decisions... BD

Lawsuits against managed care companies are beginning to happen now. The Illinois Supreme Court recently ruled that individuals can sue their health maintenance organizations (HMOs) for malpractice, according to court documents. This follows a landmark case where an Ohio jury awarded $51.5 million to a woman whose HMO would not pay for cancer chemotherapy. The woman died of the cancer.

Many of the most recent lawsuits are not for the denial of needed care - they are for fraud. The suits assert that many managed care companies misrepresent themselves to consumers. The companies are said to promise consumers a range of benefits, then to deny these same benefits to the consumers when they need them.

A new lawsuit appears to be around the corner. This one has already affected the stock prices of some HMOs, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. The article quotes Joseph Sellers, an attorney with Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll in Washington, said he was "in the process of developing a class-action lawsuit against one of the nation's largest HMOs alleging fraud." The company has not been named, but Sellers said the lawsuit would claim that the HMO "is willfully misrepresenting the benefits it provides patients in an effort to maximize profits." After this story appeared Reuters reported that Aetna and Humana were both facing class action lawsuits.

Can you Sue your HMO?

Dean Martin & John Wayne - A time to remember

Merry Christmas from The Medical Quack....and a time to remember, 2 of my favorites from years past....BD

Bill Gates....likes his hamburgers too...

With all the focus today on eating habits, how many of us are perfect...well probably not many...me included...interesting clip from 60 minutes showing Mr. Gates enjoying a good old hamburger...just like the rest of us..more stories on the Titans of Tech from Yahoo at the link below...BD

http://60minutes.yahoo.com/segment/117/titans_of_tech

Airborne Internet might bring turbulence and stress....

Stress in flying is already at an all time high and how will this affect travelers? Not a good scenario if you have a child in a seat next to someone surfing porn sites for a simple example...and how about the guy or gal next to you chatting away on Skype when you want to sleep...jury is still out on these issues...but on the other hand you might be logged on inputting some personal health data during otherwise normally non productive time...or you could be having a chat with an online physician while flying the friendly skies on some health issues you have not had the time to follow up with or perhaps your are just logged on sending cardio or cholesterol information to your physician via an online server....so there could be some real good potential here, but I think filtering content somewhere along the line will come in to play...BD

NEW YORK - Seat 17D is yapping endlessly on an Internet phone call. Seat 16F is flaming Seat 16D with expletive-laden chats. Seat 16E is too busy surfing porn sites to care. Seat 17C just wants to sleep.
Welcome to the promise of the Internet at 33,000 feet — and the questions of etiquette, openness and free speech that airlines and service providers will have to grapple with as they bring Internet access to the skies in the coming months.
With possible exceptions for crew and federal air marshals, flights on AMR Corp.'s American Airlines and Alaska Air Group Inc.'s Alaska Airlines won't have access to Internet-based phone services like eBay Inc.'s Skype. Meanwhile, American, Alaska and Virgin have no plans to filter sites based on their content. At most, an airline may manage traffic and delay large downloads, or in Virgin's case give passengers the option of enabling controls for their kids.

Airborne Internet might bring turbulence - Yahoo! News

ICU patients get online visits

Nice story and probably one of the best reasons for using online conferencing...this is a real positive...BD

Tonight, on the eve of one of her favorite days of the year, Michelle Babineau will be lying in a Toronto hospital, hooked up to the myriad machines that keep her alive. For family members, even those who live close to the hospital, virtual visits mean they can see patients outside normal visiting hours. And bad weather, office meetings and long commutes don't prevent them from checking in.
Nearly 2,000 kilometres away, in Lower Sackville, N.S., most of her family – her sisters, her favorite brother-in-law, her nieces and nephews, her aunts and uncles – will be kicking up their heels at the Babineau annual Christmas Eve party.
Nusdorfer hopes the program will attract donations of new laptops and web cameras so that all the ICU patients can re-connect with their families.

TheStar.com | living | ICU patients get online visits

Slimming Down by Taxing Soda

Taxing carbonated beverages...the "food police"...one step too far...would we have to pay a tax on a 1 pound box of sugar next? BD

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom wants the city to slim down and he's going after stores that sell sugary soft drinks to finance the effort. The mayor is proposing that grocery chains pay a fee if they sell sodas such as Coca-Cola or any other drinks that are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup.
The American Beverage Association calls it a "soda tax" and points out, among other things, that the government does not tax computer and video game manufacturers that are keeping people on the couch and out of shape. Opponents say personal freedom is under attack across the country.

ABC News: Slimming Down by Taxing Soda

Church collections go online - Why not Hospitals with Hi Tech Donations....

Is this an area perhaps not yet explored by hospitals, especially those who rely on grants and those in the "not for profit" category? Can hospitals learn something here? When you stop and think about it, retailers use "shopping carts" that automate the entire process for a purchase, so why not the same for a hospital? Donations could be Pay Pay, credit cards, etc. and the entire process could generate a receipt, along with an email confirming the donation, and donations could be of any size. This may not be a bad route to go as the software would provide transactions and allow the hospital a simple accounting system to total and evaluate all donations made. Why not!

Limitations could be placed on the size if needed for larger donations to have an administrative helping hand, but I would think this could be a great way to generate even a small $5.00 donation, as when you get many of those, they all add up! Even having an ATM located in a hospital is not a bad idea either, especially in the ER Room. Again, for accounting to the IRS, this would make the process easier and with automation, limited or very little human resource time would be required. The party making the donation would also have their receipt for their tax purposes as well. Something to think about....technology and automation in the charitable area of donations...I have seen some efforts in this area, but not much that would automate the entire process and make it simple for the hospital and donators...BD

CINCINNATI - No cash for the collection basket at church? No problem. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati has made online giving an option for its 230 parishes and 110 parochial and diocesan schools in its 19-county region.
"It's a way to make things a little easier for people and for them to be a little more regular in their giving to the church," Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk said. The new way, he said, won't replace the old: the collection basket during Mass.
With the online donation option, the diocese joined a growing group of churches nationwide that are using technology and the Internet to make weekly giving easier. Churches say high-tech donations are a response to changes in society, with fewer people carrying cash and using credit and ATM cards and the Internet to make transactions. Churches in St. Louis enlisted online charity firms, and others, including in Georgia and California, have used ATMs placed inside the church.

Church collections go online in Ohio - Yahoo! News

On-Call Specialists At Emergency Rooms Harder to Find, Keep

This affects everyone, insured and uninsured patients...there's just not enough to go around...telemedicine can help with some of the issues...that is if the volume where they are physically located are not at the point of being exhausted at the same time...and a unit like the Robo Doc can be used...but over all this issue is not going away and hopefully not coming to a hospital close to you...BD

Hospital emergency departments across the United States, already struggling with overcrowding and growing patient loads, are increasingly unable to find specialists to help treat seriously injured and ill patients, according to medical experts.
Crucial minutes, hours and even days can go by as patients suffering from trauma, strokes, broken bones and other maladies await evaluations by neurologists, orthopedic surgeons and other specialists because hospitals are having difficulty getting them to serve 24-hour emergency "on-call" shifts.
"Patients have died in transport, or waiting to find a neurosurgeon, or getting to a heart center for a cardiologist." The shortage of specialists is the result of a fear of malpractice lawsuits, a reluctance to go without pay when seeing uninsured patients, and a growing intolerance for the disruption in their personal lives and private practices, the experts say. Many specialists are also decreasing their work for general hospitals.
Retiree Mary Jo McClure, 74, experienced the problem firsthand one Friday afternoon in January when she fell down some concrete steps, tearing large chunks of flesh from one leg. The plastic surgeon on call for Tucson Medical Center refused to leave her private-practice patients to come to the emergency department to treat McClure, who has health insurance. The doctor said instead she would see the injured woman in her office the next Monday. Judy Rich, the hospital's executive vice president and administrator, said the plastic surgeon later acknowledged that she should have seen McClure.
"I can understand nationally why this is becoming a bigger issue, because the system is being pressured," he said. "More volume is getting through a pipe that's getting smaller in diameter. And then what you actually do while you're on call gets to be more and more painful." "Something people don't understand is that even if you have insurance, if I don't have an on-call orthopedic surgeon, I can't help you," Lawrence said. "It's an issue that affects everybody, insured and uninsured. If there's no bed available, there's no bed available."

On-Call Specialists At Emergency Rooms Harder to Find, Keep - washingtonpost.com

School That Mistakenly Used Shock Treatments gets OK to Continue - Massachusetts

This had been in the news lately with a prank caller leading to unsubstantiated skin shocks not in order with the normal route of business at the school...the state of Massachusetts has tried to close the school on a couple occasions based on the use of electrical shocks. The State of New York, has also been in the news taking on the institution, but parents rally to support the actions to keep their children in the institution....and it appears there are various levels of students there from severe autism to those with less critical behavioral issues...BD

A special education school where two emotionally disturbed students were wrongly given dozens of shocks after a prank call, will be allowed to use electric shock treatments on students for another year.
But the state's Office of Health and Human Services said the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center must prove it uses shock treatments only for the most dangerous and self-destructive behaviors, and also show that the treatments reduce those behaviors.

Links provided by the school below:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4trgwdo4hIg
http://youtube.com/watch?v=XXEbWkZPUvI&feature=related

ABC News: School That Mistakenly Used Shock Treatments gets OK to Continue

Hospital beds closed for holidays - Canada

One way to give staff members time off for the holidays...although this is said it will not affect normal ER services and is projected to basically move non urgent surgeries to after the holiday...BD

Staffing shortages have forced the Island’s two big hospitals to close more beds than ever before during the Christmas holidays.
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown is closing 41 beds, seven more than last year, between now and Jan. 4.
The situation is much the same at the Prince County Hospital in Summerside. It is closing 16 beds this year, up from 10 beds last year.
Brenda Worth, executive director of the Prince County Hospital, says the bed closures are necessary to allow staff to have some time off over the holidays.

Worth stresses that the 104-bed hospital will continue to function, even with the 16 beds closed, and the emergency room will remain open throughout the holidays.
The additional bed closures are necessary because of staffing shortages, particularly nurses, Worth added.

Charlottetown, The Guardian: News | Hospital beds closed for holidays

VA Hospital Draws Curtain on Innovation That Could Help Reduce Spiraling Cost of Hospital Maintenance Nationwide

Privacy curtain call at the VA....efficiencies in changing soiled curtains...BD

PALM BEACH, Fla., Dec. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Veterans Affairs Medical Center is about to draw the curtain on an innovation that could help reduce the spiraling cost of healthcare nationwide.
The local VA hospital is the first in the area to adopt a privacy curtain for hospital beds that is literally a snap to remove and requires far less maintenance than conventional hospital bed curtains. The innovation called Simply 66 could save maintenance personnel many hours it takes to remove and clean conventional privacy curtains.
"With Simply 66, hospital personnel can go through the facility with a cart loaded with clean panels and replace soiled 66-inch panels only as needed, one at a time, affording savings to hospitals in labor and laundry costs," said Karen Serio, VP of Government Sales of Cubicle Curtain Factory.

VA Hospital Draws Curtain on Innovation That Could Help Reduce Spiraling Cost of Hospital Maintenance Nationwide - Press Release

Web Site: http://www.cubiclecurtainfactory.com/index.php/index.html

St. Joseph's to pay $26M in nurse whistle blower suit - Atlanta

If you are a whistle blower, you can be entitled to up to 25% of the recovered funds...although you will lose friends and business associates in the process...and be prepared to find another job...BD

Taxpayers have Tami Ramsey to thank for St. Joseph's Hospital's agreement to pay $26 million to settle a lawsuit alleging the hospital fraudulently overbilled Medicare.

For her trouble — and it caused the former Atlanta hospital employee plenty of trouble — Ramsey will receive $4.9 million, according to the settlement announced Friday.
The Atlanta wife and mother led a one-woman crusade to change what she saw as the hospital's bogus billing to the federal program, risking her livelihood and career security.
The hospital was regularly filing claims for inpatient services that should have been billed as outpatient or observation services, Ramsey said. The hospital netted millions of extra dollars by billing for the more expensive services.
Under the federal False Claims Act, the whistle-blower is entitled to up to 25 percent of the recovered amount. "It's comforting for me to know that had I not come forward, St. Joseph's and possibly many other hospitals would continue to defraud the American taxpayers."

St. Joseph's to pay $26M in nurse whistleblower suit | ajc.com

Crackdown on boutique hospitals?

More on this debate...do some of these hospitals in fact "cherry pick" patients...and do they have all the equipment and staff required to response to various emergencies? The debate continues...BD

Traditional hospitals have long complained that so-called boutique hospitals, which generally offer specialty services such as cardiac care or orthopedic surgery, cherry-pick the best patients and skimp on charity care. Supporters, meanwhile, contend they offer patients a choice and beef up competition, thereby improving the quality of care all around.
Congress has been debating the tricky question for years: Should doctors be allowed to have ownership in the hospitals they send their patients to? Regardless, the issue is likely to come up again in six months when Congress revisits Medicare payments to physicians.

Medicare cuts threaten hospital serving poor

“I feel great. I’m feeling fine thanks to the hospital,” says Rudy Giuliani

Running for office...does this create headaches? The UK doesn't care for his comparison to prostate cancer survival and stated he had his numbers wrong....how informed is Mr. Giuliani on healthcare? BD

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani is still facing question about his hospital stay. After returning campaign trail following an illness, Rudy Giuliani, 63 spoke to the reporters. Giuliani said, “I feel great. Take care. Merry Christmas, I’m feeling fine thanks to the hospital. They did a great job.
The former New York City mayor, scheduled campaign events this weekend, was admitted to a hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. He underwent battery of tests during his overnight hospital stay.
The former New York mayor said, “I had prostate cancer five, six years ago. My chance of surviving prostate cancer – and, thank God, I was cured of it – in the United States? 82 per cent. My chance of surviving prostate cancer in England? Only 44 per cent under socialized medicine.”Alan Johnson, Britain Health Secretary said that Giuliani’s statistics were wrong and the survival rate under Britain’s National Health Service was in fact much higher.

“I feel great. I’m feeling fine thanks to the hospital,” says Rudy Giuliani | Top News

Texting Tenosynovitisn - 'text messager's thumb'

Texting Tenosynovitisn - new diagnosis...bring on the ICD9 and CPT codes soon please....BD

A medical student in New Zealand has been diagnosed with ‘text-messager’s thumb’ as a result of her excessive use of SMS.
Fleur de Vere Beavis is said to be suffering from the condition of Texting Tenosynovitis, which has seen her tendons swell up and her thumb become inflamed.
Sending up to 100 messages every day has caused her physical pain, says the New Zealand Herald, with the problem one of only a few cases in the world.
Reported in the New Zealand Medical Journal, Ms Beavis follows the case of a Singapore school child and an Australian teenager who found themselves in a similar position.

Student suffers from 'text messager's thumb'

Welcome to my Home Theater - Controlled with an EO UMPC

I just had to post this article...who would not die for a home theater like this one! The movies can be selected by using an EO UMPC tablet PC from Tablet Kiosk...I think we can see it sitting right there on the table in the picture...makes me think about a PACS imaging system...using a device as such to control the viewing and selection items....BD

Third time's a charm. This is the remake of my second room which was a remake of my first room for our second new house in North Carolina. This time, I've gone with more of a traditional to match our new house which is a farm house style. If you'd like to see a pictorial description of the construction of the theater, check out the Construction Thread over on AVS Forums.

On a little custom table attached to the arm of my main seat is my newest toy – a TabletKiosk i7209 which acts as a visual controller for the currently playing movie and can also select movies with its own DVD Lobby interface.

Welcome to my Home Theater

Pfizer Receives Approvable Letter from FDA for Dalbavancin

Hopefully some additional help in the war with MRSA...BD

Pfizer Inc today announced that it has received an approvable letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued for dalbavancin HCl, Pfizer's once-weekly two-dose antibiotic under FDA review for the treatment of adult patients with complicated skin and skin structure infections, including those caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
The FDA recently published a draft guidance on studies designed to show non-inferiority as a basis for approval of antibacterial drug products and has requested that Pfizer provide additional data with regard to dalbavancin. Pfizer is working with the FDA to respond to these new requirements.

Pfizer Receives Approvable Letter from FDA for Dalbavancin

Unborn Babies on Our iPod

Amazing they can get this correct and have patient chart issues...how safe is that "secure" site ...I guess down the road parents can show the pictures to their children to show how they looked even before they got here...strange..BD

This is just weird, even for the giddy parents-to-be types who like to run around showing off copies of their ultrasound at work. A hospital in England is one (two?)-upping old-school 2D ultrasounds with 4D scans of your in utero spawn.
The scanner (which is apparently not so new itself, per the comments) produces a moving 3D image, which is why we guess they're calling it 4D—not 'cause it's like tesseract, which I would much rather look at. What is new (and unsettling) is that the hospital's uploading the images to a secure site for bug-eyed mommies-to-be to download to their MP3 player or cellphone.
The article is kind of trend-fishing with the iPod headline, since the hospital also gives you the file on a CD or DVD, which you can load up on anything—like grossest of grossness, a 50-inch TV.
Babies R Weird: Unborn Babies on Our iPod