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FDA Needs More Inspectors, Updated Databases, According To FDA Official
I keep reading these stories about the FDA....last time there were top workers without computers and I thought even the low cost Intel Classmates could benefit, now data bases are corrupted due to similarities....perhaps SharePoint could be in order here for collaboration with SSL connections? If t…
Hospital in Orange probed for medical mix-up
3 Wrong Knee surgeries in 2 years....BD St. Joseph Hospital in Orange is under state investigation for mistakenly doing knee-repair surgery on a patient's good knee, the third "wrong-site" procedure to occur at Orange County's largest hospital since January 2006.The Feb. 15 operation was intende…
Now this is interesting and has some merit...will be interesting to follow this story and see how it works with the folks at the nursing home...GPS has come to the walker...BD We've already seen GPS used to track elderly patients, but some student researchers now look to be taking the idea one s…
Veridex, LLC announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted an expanded clearance for the CellSearch™ System to be used as an aid in the monitoring of metastatic prostate cancer (MPC) patients. The CellSearch™ System currently is cleared for monitoring metastatic breast and …
EClinicalWorks will also offer the product for purchase for those who do not qualify to meet the elegibility requirements...30% of the patients must be uninsured or on Medicaid...there's a $4000.00 contribution to the Fund for Public Health in New York and BYOC (bring your own computers)..BD New…
Saturday Night Live: Annuale
For women on the go...this is funny....BD Saturday Night Live: Annuale Hat Tip: Kevin, MD …
Quest to Team up With Google on Medical Records
One partner has been announced...BD CHICAGO (Reuters) Feb 28 - Quest Diagnostics Inc said on Thursday it will team up with Google Inc to provide patients with electronic access to medical test results. Quest's proprietary Care360 patient-centric physician portal will serve as the platform for secu…
After 3 procedures his condition was gone...clinical trial in place and the last step before FDA approval...BD PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- One moment you feel fine. The next, your heart is racing at almost double the pace. Atrial fibrillation affects more than two million Americans. Al…
Microsoft Office 2007 -Rabbits to the Rescue
Being that Microsoft Office now is it's own platform, this entertaining video shows how Office can help you manage your small business...cute...BD http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vC9taroEsI …
Late night television may not be the same in the UK...although the ads will not be exactly the same as what we see here in the US...but there have been other means of advertising used already such as Pfizer beer mats...BD LONDON (Reuters) Feb 25 - Europe is preparing to loosen the gags stopping …
I felt this article needed posting as a warning to all when it comes to botox and who does the procedure...make sure it is a physician, ask for credentials so something like this does not happen..as the article states, it is a procedure and not a spa treatment....BD Doctors warn that could be da…
FDA Approves Wyeth’s Pristiq For Depression
This is a relief for the drugmaker, which faced repeated setbacks in gaining agency approval and needs to replace revenue that will be lost when patents on Effexor XR - a $3.8 billion moneymaker - start to expire this year. The next big hurdle for the drugmaker is winning FDA approval to market Pr…
Clinic Reuses Needles, Sparks Hepatitis C Scare
Another story on re-used syringes...not needles just the syringe...a similar story was long unfolding in New York, relative to the same scenario....40,000 patients during the time frame to be testws for Hepatitis C as there is no way to know who was and who was not treated with a re-used syringe...…
Great project, great outcomes at the nursing home....myself I am not ready for a digital dog...yet...but when they have one I can program to bite....ok enough of that silly thought! BD Dogs may have a hard time wrapping their paws around this one: Robotic competition is nipping at their heels i…
MDs Cleared of Wrongdoing in Ledger Death
This article brings up some very good points...every physician you see needs to know what medications you are taking...did he divulge this information to both MDs? BD A California doctor and a doctor in Houston, Tex. have been cleared of any wrongdoing in connection with their prescription of …
Bush to tie in CCHIT-certified EHR to the Rollback of the 2008 Medicare Fee Cuts
I also post threads at EMR update and one of the members, Dr. Al Borges created a post that I also felt was newsworthy for readers here....he makes some very good points about privacy and the omission of the AMA in the latest government rounds in Washington...is the AMA supposed to be the official …
Hospitals be ready for a surprise audit...this comes right on the heals of another post today about the breach with Health Net publishing personal information on several physicians on the web...is this a problem...YES...see the comments from Dr. Halamka below (and use the link to read more from his…
Good news...now the upgrade to Vista becomes a bit more affordable...2 of the features I have found with Vista that were not included with XP are "tablet inking" and "voice recognition"...2 good reasons to think about moving up....BD In the United States, Microsoft will reduce prices for Window…
Security breach of the week...major insurer this time...at the rate we are going here perhaps all of us will have a one year free subscription to a year's worth of credit monitoring service...which is not the ultimate solution of course, time to take notice and implement some better security....why…
Update on the mystery and some real intense forensic investigations to solve the mystery the fumes inhaled were the cause...BD AUSTIN, Minnesota (CNN) -- A mysterious nerve disorder that hit some slaughterhouse employees with debilitating symptoms apparently was caused by inhaling a fine mist of…
This potential merger has been hanging for a few months in Nevada, so big that the Department of Justice was involved...but still subject to approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services in Nevada...it gets a bit complicated as well with Humana agreeing to buy the Medicare Advantage …
California health insurers boost doctor bonus payments by $10M to $65M
Critics are stating the current amounts have not been sufficient enough to adequately encourage participating levels....and the financial investments required with technology to drive the process...BD Williams said IHA data shows significant regional variations statewide, which may help explain why…
HIMSS 2008 Exhibition and Annual Conference and Blogging Break....
I will be taking a break from my normal blogging for a few days to attend the HIMMS Conference in Orlando, Florida. If any readers of this blog are attending, please come by the TabletKiosk booth and say hello. I may or may not be there, but feel free to send me an email to ducknetservices(at)hot…
The Disruptive Physician....If you haven't seen his listing on You Tube...well worth checking out and we have several of his past videos on this site...just do a search for placebo and you'll find him...he is one funny physician...BD Doug Farrago, MD talks about his blog The Placebo Journal and …
No official HIPAA compliance...check and read what is and what is not policy...read the fine print...BD For Google, the pilot is a good test. If these Web-based PHR systems are going to work they are going to have to play nice with existing systems already in place. Interoperability has been an …
Not even sex can help...not related to raging hormones...men have a similar problem called Priapism...could add to RLS, (restless leg syndrome?)..some say the older you get, the worse it gets...new experimental drug on the market, anti depressants do and do not help...read the Wiki here...BD If …
Sad story on the struggle to live with this condition...nobody really wants to be a mermaid...Medical Mysteries will also feature the story...check the link for additional details below...BD Eight-year-old Shiloh Pepin is a force of nature. With a husky voice she can barely contain, and a level…
Baxter Heparin Shortage
It's official now...Heparin shortage exists...BD February 21, 2008 (Rockville, MD) – There is now an official shortage of Baxter's heparin in the US, following the problems with adverse reactions associated with the product. The FDA added Baxter's 1000 units/mL 10-mL and 30-mL multidose vials to…
Ontario man featured in U.S. health-care debate
A story on the health care wait in Canada...now suing for his cost in the US as he had a cancerous brain tumor.....as reported in the past, the city of Pittsburgh has more MRIs than the entire country of Canada...there are good things about both systems, however, the US just having a large number o…
Good article that gives the full story....so there is some good to trans fats after all...BD We've just come off several years of hearing that trans fat is bad for us -- worse than lard, worse than butter, worse than eating pork rinds and bacon grease. And now they're telling us there's good tr…
I am guessing we might just see something like this on CSI-NY?.....would be nice to the the process run on a Tablet PC too....watch for the Sahara Tablet on the show...it is used on almost every show! BD With the introduction of the Quantifiler® Duo kit, forensic laboratories can obtain more c…
It is only $149.00 to find out if you will be bald...otherwise you can save your money and wait to see what nature has in mind for you...BD Having knowledge of your genetic risk for early onset Androgenetic Alopecia (Pattern Baldness) will help you make the right decisions to preserve your hair…
"The flu shots given across the country are, for many, proving to be a bust -- only effective against about 40 percent of the flu strains now in the United States."....a reformulation for the vaccine is in the works, first time in 20 years....BD Federal health officials who met in Maryland today…
The list includes drugs that contain the risk of inducing serious heart arrhythmias and death....and the list contains links to educational material...BD The QTdrugs.org website currently lists over 100 drugs in four categories based on relative risk, including a comprehensive list of drugs to be a…
This will certainly change the events of current and potential lawsuits...who do you trust...can the FDA do the job? BD The Supreme Court’s decision Wednesday protecting many types of medical device makers from personal injury lawsuits began rippling through the courts and law offices almost im…
Paying Patients Test British Health Care System
Everything is not free for those who chose seeing a private physician...some pay for an MRI as the wait it considered too long...and the decision to have NHS or private care...as you can't have both for the same aliment...and this article states is has a tendency to confuse treatment issues...BD …
Pfizer Has Its Heart On Its Sleeve
Purchasing a drug that has not been FDA approved...but used in Europe, Encysive, used for hypertension...developed by Pfizer researchers....BD Its latest leap of faith is with Encysive (nasdaq: ENCY - news - people ), the maker of thelin. Thelin treats pulmonary arterial hypertension or high blo…
Website has been set up by the City Attorney for those to respond to any unfair acts by insurers..."If you have information regarding what you believe are unlawful, fraudulent or unfair business practices of a health plan or health insurer, we request your assistance in this investigation." BD LAW…
Update...DARPA continues to work for the bionic prosthetics...BD February 22, 2008 A team led by the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) at Johns Hopkins University has received a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to complete development of a prosthetic arm that will…
GREAT-WEST, the insurer that pays less than Medicaid for an office visit...?
Health care provider paying less than Medicaid? How could that happen? This astute healthcare individual did a comparison and this is what was found...BD GREAT-WEST Healthcare has recently been processing our claims under an "OPEN ACCESS" network plan. For a 99213 intermediate office visit, Gr…
The deep cold can bring a life back to a normal beat through new technology for treating heart mummers...BD LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- More than two million people live with heart arrhythmias, or an irregular heart beat. It can leave people exhausted and cause strokes and even hea…
Study information on the use of the drug used for cardiac bypass surgery, which is now off the market...BD The largest study to date of a controversial cardiac surgery drug shows it increases death rates and damages kidney function, according Duke University Medical Center researchers. Aprotini…
Hamsters could be the best friend of a hemophiliac....BD WASHINGTON (Reuters) Feb 21 - U.S. regulators on Thursday cleared a new drug to treat the blood-clotting disorder hemophilia made by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it licensed Wyeth's Xyntha anti-hemophi…
Good news here and I have a mother that is standing proof...keeping the mind active and using her computer is a big part of it...BD Although it's too soon to sound the death knell for the "senior moment," it appears that memory loss and thinking problems are becoming less common among older Ame…
Testing to begin in Cleveland...being transferred from another software, MyChart..BD SAN FRANCISCO - Google Inc. will begin storing the medical records of a few thousand people as it tests a long-awaited health service that's likely to raise more concerns about the volume of sensitive informatio…
This was a survey of 1000 residents....more are siding with a national health plan it appears...BD Seventy percent of U.S. voters said they would be more likely to vote for a presidential candidate who supports the creation of a Nationwide Health Information Network, according to a recent surve…
Well this could make aerobics a thing of the past and has to be much easier on the body than running on the ground...D Alter-G looks to have been boasting about its G-Trainer "anti-gravity" treadmill for some time now, but it seems that it's now a whole lot closer to finding itself under your fe…
Beef Recall Largest in U.S. History
Where's the beef...well this may not the beef we want...BD February 19, 2008 — It's the largest beef recall in U.S. history: 143 million pounds of beef "voluntarily" recalled by Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company of Chino, Calif. The beef, produced from February 2006 until the U.S. Department…
This is the original Vista EHR from the VA, reworked and revamped to work outside a government facility...BD ALISO VIEJO, Calif. - (Business Wire) Medsphere Systems Corporation today announced the successful phase one deployment of its Open Source-based OpenVista® electronic health record (EHR) …
E-MDs EHR recognized by the Academy of Family Physicians..
Family practice voted in favor over other EHRs in survey...BD AUSTIN, TX th Today e-MDs, an industry leader in the development and implementation of electronic health records (EHRs) announced distinguished recognition in "User Satisfaction with EHRs", a survey recently conducted by Family Practi…
FDA Looks at Wrong Plant in China
Update in the latest heparin investigation...FDA went to the wrong place...BD U.S. health officials evaluated the wrong factory when assessing the safety of a Chinese-made drug ingredient that may be a source of problems with a blood thinner, the Food and Drug Administration said Monday. Baxter I…
Integration software....works with many of the major EMR systems and translates HL7 information...BD Capsule, the leading independent medical device connectivity solution used by hundreds of healthcare institutions worldwide, announced it received the 2008 Frost & Sullivan Global Technology Lead…
This might mean less catheters for patients in the future as they can trigger infections....as a result of the new Medicare law that will not pay hospitals for preventable errors...BD And patients' first sign that something is changing may involve lessening of a big indignity: Today, one in fou…
Medi-Cal cuts will affect everybody - California
Many physicians do not take Medi-Cal already, so does this tend to even lower the rank and file of physicians who will take Medi-Cal patients? BD .....there is now a proposal to cut a whopping 10 percent from Medi-Cal payments to health care providers in California. This poses an enormous threa…
FDA-Approved TRC105 Anti-Cancer Agent Developed For Clinical Trials
A novel anti-angiogenic agent, TRC105 (also known as c-SN6j), developed in the laboratory of Ben K. Seon, PhD, Department of Immunology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) has the potential to be an effective agent for the treatment of solid tumors. The United States Food and Drug Administration (…
This is a story that make me sad if not outright angry....read on.... Many hospitals offer a wonderful service for seniors who live alone to call and check in every morning, staffed by volunteers...great and my own mother participates through this sort of a plan...wonderful and great that it exists;…
Bush Proposes Linking the Medicare Drug Premium to Beneficiaries’ Income
One more "feeble" attempt...and more data mining...fewer than 5% would pay increased premiums...but what about the overpayments to private insurers that provide managed care? BD WASHINGTON — President Bush proposed legislation on Friday to increase prescription drug premiums for higher-income M…
Wal Mart stated the company had to look out for the overall members of the plan..in other words nothing in view of a tragic accident even matters at all...they just want their money...is the health plan in reality a "loan" and not full insurance? Health plan administered by United Health Care.....…
San Francisco still struggling with how to implement the law...various concerns for different industries...one restaurant adds it to the tab...cab drivers are independent contractors so the burden is back on the individual in that case...BD But not every business can raise its rates. Cab fares, …
New Jersey Senator Indicted for Fraud...the Christmas tree budget
Personal gain with consulting services for a hospital in New Jersey...hospital relations appeared to cross a few borders here..was there a split between his personal and business life? BD A federal grand jury on Friday indicted State Senator Joseph Coniglio of New Jersey on nine counts of mail …
One person's story of a liver transplant...complicated...no problem with the surgery being approved, all the action takes place after the fact with getting the drugs needed post surgery...and the hospital has someone on staff to help patients with the battle getting the meds they need...more expens…
