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Carmichael: Health Guaranteed- New Book Addressing Healthcare in the US...
" Read it twice and call your congressman in the morning."...maybe what we have been waiting for...someone from the medical side of the realm to create an answer to the broken health care system in the US...an Oncologist...BD This Monday a modest little paperback will show up in bookstores offe…
Duke University -Learning Science with Team-Based Learning and a Tablet PC
Great story on using Tablet PCs in the biology teaching and learning environment..this instructor get's it...and on top of this, the university has an entire section devoted to explain what a Tablet PC is....and it can be used to provide feedback on student electronic documents...experienced users…
US cancer researchers attack federal budget cuts
"However, the NCI director did not hold out much hope in the upcoming presidential elections, saying the slate of available candidates was "a disappointment." ....and yes I can agree with this statement...nothing personal against any candidate or their staff....but as long as we continue to elect "…
Five of the World's Most Technologically Advanced Hospitals
Nice article and very informative about the technology being used in these 5 hospitals, but somewhat surprised that El Camino hospital didn't make the list, anyway, in the Los Angeles area the Helford Clinical Research Hospital at the City of Hope was right up there on the list..."Today, approxima…
Can a new blood test enable personalized chemotherapy?
We have all heard of personalized medicine, but now the potential of personalized chemotherapy for some forms of cancer...the clinical studies showed that 58 percent were found to to be under-dosed...17 percent over-dosed...a new way to monitor instead of the standard BSA, based on height and weigh…
Company that makes medical devices for kids enjoys its own growth spurt
One other growing area, medical devices for kids...this company creates orthopaedic devices for children and works closely with the Cleveland Clinic...and is exploring the development of biologic products created with the patient's own cells to help rejuvenate growth plates...help for children with…
Hospital agrees to $1-million settlement for Patient Dumping
Over the last 2 years, there have been more than 50 cases of alleged patient dumping...the last being a hospital in Orange County, CA...also the van company hired will also pay a civil penalty....Kaiser settled their case last year....BD Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center on Friday settled al…
We have all seen the Robo Doctors either at the hospital or on the web, but here's a new twist that I couldn't help but posting...Robots conducting an orchestra! Watch the video it's a delight....and who knows will the robot be playing the cello next? BD Stand down oh gentle readers and def…
Taking computer chat to a whole new level - Wheelchairs
We have already seen cars that allow us to talk, and the next level is wheelchairs for the disabled that one will be able to speak commands to...nice and this will no doubt be a success and offer mobility and options to those who are confined to a wheelchair....BD Natural spoken dialogue technol…
A New Clinical Trial To Examine TORISEL Plus Avastin For First-Line Treatment Of Advanced Kidney Cancer
Big pharma continues to move in the direction of biotech investments and clinical research in cancer research...here with Wyeth, Roche and Genentech working together...BD Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth (NYSE: WYE), announced the initiation of the INTORACT (INvestigation of TORISEL an…
Chocolate - Good for Diabetic Health - Study
More studies on healthy chocolate...more research is needed, but this looks to be promising...it's all about Cocoa Flavonols...and they are also found in tea, red wine, and some fruits and vegetables...related story here...and the study does not mean to start drinking a lot of hot chocolate as it c…
Blogging--It's Good for You and your Health...
Not only does it have the potential to make one feel better, but think of the knowledge one gains in the process as well...according to the report blogging might also trigger dopamine release, just like music and and other stimulants do for us...it can certainly offer some comfort in discussing co…
One Note 2007 EMR Suite Updated - The Ablet Factory
From the Ablet Factory, and I feature the updates on the blog as changes are made...The Ablet Factory is great for the small practice on a budget but wants to begin using a tablet and some type of electronic medical records for charts in the office...you will need One Note from Microsoft Office to…
Pharmacopeia Advances Strategic Plan to Focus Resources - Decreasing workforce by 15%
PRINCETON, N.J., May 30 -- Pharmacopeia (Nasdaq: PCOP - News), an innovator in the discovery and development of novel small molecule therapeutics, announced today that it is implementing the next step in its ongoing effort to focus its resources on the company's clinical and later-stage discovery pr…
Bikini-clad women make men impatient
And now for one of the strange studies of the day...I guess it states that men should go buy a a bra...not to wear, but carry it around with you...that is if the pursuit is looking for immediate gratification...be aware of the bikini effect when it comes to bank accounts and waistlines the study sa…
Schering-Plough and Merck have managed to fool an estimated 75% of U.S. physicians.
The stories and concerns over Vitorin and Zetia continue...but the number of prescriptions are beginning to dwindle...BD Today in an SEC filing, Schering-Plough revealed that total prescriptions for disaster meds Vytorin and Zetia have dropped by more than 20% from January to April 2008.Total nu…
Microsoft linking Silverlight, Ruby on Rails
Hard Hat Area: Ruby on Rails, Iron Ruby, Light Ruby...Iron Ruby to work with Silverlight and Windows Presentation Foundation....if you are a developer, check out this latest offering, Ruby in the Clouds...net yet with Diamonds, but getting there...and for those working with Linux, there's the open …
Governor's Proposed Cuts May Hurt Entire System, Not Just Medi-Cal
Would the impending Medi-Cal cuts lead to an entire meltdown of the health care system in California...the CMA feels this could very well happen...it is already difficult to find a physician who will take Medi-Cal...will this create another rush to the ER rooms of hospitals, some of which in Califo…
Flip-Flops, High Heels, or Bare Foot....
What's on our feet today...interesting studies showing that some of today's footwear can cause discomfort and issues...still love my flip flops though...BD People who favor flip-flops as their primary footwear option during warm summer months may experience lower leg pain and a change in their s…
The Efficient MD -Eavesdrop on Doctors and Medical Students on Twitter
One MD discusses using Twitter....several others are beginning to use the platform and I have signed up but have not added the Medical Quack yet...perhaps soon...John Mack in the pharma area has moved on to Twitter as well, but as of this morning the network was experiencing some issues...Twitter s…
Ten Dumb Things About Medicare
Here's the first 2...visit the site and read the rest...some good points made here..BD Reimbursement - At least in my field, it is nearly impossible to run a practice off of what it pays. Most physicians who are on Medicare offset its bad reimbursement with private insurance or procedures that a…
Zynx Offers Decision Support for Chemo
Real Time Peer to Peer information...allows the clinician to drill down quickly to study and read the desired results...used by 1400 hospitals currently...other areas enable evidence based order sets to be incorporated into EHR programs as well...and for those still on paper, there's a print soluti…
UK Drops NHS Contractor Fujitsu - Cerner Continues
Cerner, as a subcontractor will continue with other areas inclduing the Choose and Book portion of the network, the national scheduling information part of the system. BD The National Health Service in England has terminated the contract of Japan-based Fujitsu Services as the prime contractor f…
Scripps gets $20M to speed research to patients - San Diego
The focus to to bring biomedical research benefits and information to patients...and of course working more with understanding genomics...BD In a statement announcing the award, Scripps said Thursday that STSI is the only Southern California winner of the grant to date in Southern California.The…
US soldiers in high-tuberculosis areas face new epidemic: false positives
Retesting is occurring as up to 30 to 100 percent of the tests show negative...we experience the same thing with some virus detection software on computers, is looks and acts like a problem, but in essence when further diagnosed...it is not..so it appears overall this is good news for many who were …
Body's baking soda used to catch cancer early - MRI
New technique in the works from GE with clinical trials, measuring levels of baking soda that live naturally in the body...MRI can pick up on the abnormal PH levels and this could pinpoint where the disease is present...BD A chemical commonly called baking soda which is found naturally in the bo…
GE Healthcare IT Announces Kryptiq E-Prescribing
This is already offered under the GE portal for secure messaging and document management...now GE will exclusively sell Script Messenger, integrated with GE Centricity software and Kryptiiq will no longer sell E-prescribing services to other ambulatory EHR companies...Kryptiq is also a Microsoft He…
Fox News worker sues over bedbugs in NY office
Bed Bugs go to work too...someone else using the workstation is the culprit it appears from the article...now there are bigger issues with a lawsuit....BD NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Fox News employee who says she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after being bitten by bedbugs at work filed…
Surgeons Oppose Plan to Pay More for Primary Care
Surgeons have a mind set of their own and is somewhat of a "poke" inside health care, but this time they don't want to be on the losing end of compensation...money has to come from somewhere...so thus the letter to not "rob Peter to pay Paul"...once more the system needs a fix...nothing new has bee…
Online sites pump up organ donor registrations
This is good news all the way around...BD The number of Americans registering to be organ donors is on the rise, thanks in part to a surge in states establishing online registration sites to augment donor designation on driver's licenses. Donor registration has increased 10% from 63 million to …
Grassley's War on Cancer Patients
Good insight and commentary here from the "inside" track...are members of Congress helping or stalling the progression of the FDA...will the Biotechs be able to develop and withstand some of the stringencies and additional methodologies to bring new products to market to save lives? Nice to hear f…
Market Grows for Surgical Robots
The DaVinci system and other robotics slated to grow at more than 25% in the upcoming years...I post many articles here as they become available and announced...stay tuned....BD The U.S. market for image-guided and robot-assisted surgery systems reached $813 million in 2007, according to a new r…
FDA's foot dragging hurts Canada's biotech firms
The entire world somewhat looks to the US FDA approval process...which is one of the best accredited, but again due to lack of technology, it's catch up time...companies are waiting in the ranks to release products that are stated to be hung up in the process...and how long will the biotech compani…
Wacky World of Generics...Timing is Everything...
Who's on first, the story of the generic pipeline...sometimes generic drugs also get a "stay" of time like the big pharma folks, but of course it's only for 6 months or so and not years...so the race begins to be the first...but sometimes second can pay off as well...before the rest of the generic m…
Ear Scope GXL - High-End Endoscope
Now you can see what is in your ears while cleaning too....interesting device as it can go beyond just use for the ears...BD The Ear Scope GXL is the high-end EarScope model from Coden, designed to let you see inside your ears as you clean them with bright (dimmable) LED lighting. Using the re…
Prison for Man With H.I.V. Who Spit on a Police Officer
Luckily none of the officers contracted HIV, but it shows how society has changed and how we look at the science behind the virus...BD DALLAS — A homeless man who spit in the mouth and eye of a police officer and then taunted him, saying he was H.I.V. positive, was sentenced to 35 years in priso…
Pfizer Counterattacks on Smoking-Cessation Drug Chantix
Pfizer to combat the bad press from the FAA...and more...BD A week after Pfizer’s smoking-cessation drug Chantix got knocked around for side effects, the company is coming back with a PR blitz backing the drug. Full-page ads in five major newspapers lay out Pfizer’s take on the drug’s upside — “…
Electronic records improve the quality of health care but high cost still a barrier
One hospital allocates a portion of their computer servers memory to another hospital or to a private practice MD...the cost of renting space is much less than a full on investment...this is becoming more available today for physicians and how it works varies from hospital to hospital...BD Large…
Human Genome Project Head to Step Down
Geneticist Francis Collins moves on after mapping the human genome and seeing a pet project legislation barring genetic discrimination become law. Collins, a geneticist, criticized federal funding shortfalls, which he said were "cumbersome" and must be addressed if the U.S. wants to continue to b…
Hospital replaces Microsoft Exchange for Linux-based clone
PostPath Server, which is Linux and is pretty much a clone of Exchange..licensing had to be in the picture for savings here..and it works pretty much like Exchange according to the article...for the computers, they still use Microsoft Outlook clients...so there was no training required from the use…
Centinela Hospital's cuts create anxiety in South L.A.
Hospitals owned by Prime are not bound to the normal contracts, thus they have the option of billing higher rates and charges...some services have also been suspended...chemotherapy for one...it does have the most active emergency room in Southern California...13 operating rooms have been closed..b…
Favrille Closes upon Drug Trial Failure...
As a small Bio Tech company, they may only get one chance to make it as this story tells...and the creditors will soon be a the doors...the San Diego company announced that its trials for a non Hodgkin's Lymphoma treatment failed to work...BD It's tough to see all of your company's work go down…
From Blockbuster Medicine to Personalized Medicine
This is a good article from Medscape and well worth reading...you will need to set up a log on account to read the entire article...basically it explains the changes that are taking place today and what is in store for the future..it will be a big change for big pharma not only in R and D, but mark…
Connecticut Sues McKesson on Racketeering Charges
Charges include violating anti-trust laws as well as racketeering....BD BOSTON (Reuters) May 28 - The state of Connecticut sued McKesson Corp on Wednesday on charges that the drug wholesaler violated anti-racketeering laws by conspiring to artificially inflate the wholesale prices used to determ…
HMO must pay for child's cancer treatment
This time it took the state's supreme court to make a ruling..BD MADISON, Wis. - A health maintenance organization was wrong to refuse to pay for specialized chemotherapy treatment for a cancer-stricken child, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. In a 3-2 decision, the court ordered Touc…
Sneaky Attempt to Impose Medicaid Regulation
UPDATE: A couple other sites have also picked up on the attempt made by Leavitt...judge found ample reason to overturn the rushed through rule...violation of Congressional intent...when I see something like this at the high level of the administration I have to ask "why"....is this being treated l…
Bill would let pharmacies sell patient medical records - CA
From another standpoint...more paper to throw away...right now I have a garbage can right next to my mail box to get rid of all the other crap that I get...so this would just add more to the task...and kill of a few more trees...back to the other side of the coin, it is a law to fight marketing...a…
Microsoft Increases Grant Funding for HealthVault
As I posted earlier last month, the HealthVault Solutions meeting is coming up next month...Microsoft is dolling out grant money for development of programs to work with the HealthVault...upping the amount to 4.5 million...thus far there are over 200 proposals on the table for the grants...good time…
"Specialty" Pharma Companies Band Together
When small companies can't be heard, they band together like this group of Specialty drug companies so they can be heard in Washington...BD What do these seven companies have in common? Celgene, Cephalon, Cubist, Endo, Millennium, Purdue and Sepracor.A: Enough to form their own Washington, DC lob…
How the new Stark rules affect you - Medical Economics
I have had some questions lately about the Stark laws, so this is a good article form Medical Economics that will present quite a few answers...check it out if you have any questions regarding the Stark regulations...BD An update to the regulations prohibiting physician self-referrals—the so-cal…
Facebook, Twitter, new marketing tools for Pharma
Interesting article...I don't think blogs are dead news yet by any means, but John Mack makes some very interesting points about how it is expanding...I use Facebook to expand upon my blog...and myself have not explored Twitter enough to really evaluate and make any substantial statements...but Fac…
New And Improved Drugs? Pharma and the "Me Too" Concept
At Kaiser Permanente they do not include Invega on the list of drugs, as the active ingredient of Invega is derived from that of Risperdal...which is soon to go off patent protection and also manufactured by J and J, so they have 2 drugs...same active ingredient...so what is the catch...try to mov…
