Dr. Erika Talks About Alternatives to Synthetic Hormones Like Premarin and Prempro - FDA Approved Bio Identical Solutions

I had the opportunity to chat with Dr. Erika Schwartz recently about Bio Identical imageHormone Therapy last year and today here on Fox she’s again talking about the same issues and there Bio identical drugs can help, FDA approved drugs.  Check out the interview and you can see that what we talked about a year and a half ago is still as status quo with not many changes here. 

Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy– Interview with Dr. Erika Schwartz

She is concerned that Premarin and Prempro is still be given to women an discussed the Women’s Health Initiative and what it did do and what it has not done for hormone therapy treatment in the US. 

Premarin/Prempro Ghostwriting – The Judge Wants to Know And Orders Unsealing of the Documents

In addition, I screened and watched a very good new documentary about HRT, hormone replacement therapy, and Hof Flash Havoc in a very informative and entertaining way gets the word out with a lot of educational issues and history and helps all of us make sense out of what is and what is not happening today in this field.  My interview with the producer, Heidi Houston and my thoughts are below and there are some movie trailers at the link as well.  BD

Hot Flash Havoc–Menopause Exposed and Explained Documentary For Anyone Who Is A Woman or Knows a Woman–Interview With Heidi Houston, Executive Producer

Replacement Therapy Study Updated: Thursday, 21 Oct 2010, 9:42 AM EDT Published : Wednesday, 20 Oct 2010, 10:04 PM EDT MYFOXNY.COM - A new study that links hormone replacement therapy to a higher risk of death from breast cancer has a lot of women worried and asking tough questions. The Women's Health Initiative study was published in JAMA. Dr. Erika Schwartz from the Age Management Institute visited Good Day to talk about the study. Dr. Schwartz believes the study is scaring women and telling us what we already knew, which is that synthetic HRT drugs can cause cancer.

Dr. Erika | Balanced Hormones for Life!: FOX News: Hormone Replacement Therapy Study

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FDA Approves Teflaro–An Injectable Bacterial Treatment To Help Fight Acquired Bacterial Pneumonia to Include MRSA & Other Strains

This is certainly good news as the MRSA battle is something hospitals and us in the wild are dealing with more frequently today.  Doctors and patients have one more imageanti biotic arsenal in the fight against bacterial infections and pneumonia.  At UCI Irvine too there’s an interesting clinical trial starting with giving patients solutions to brush their teeth with and to wash as well to help prevent MRSA type infections from developing when patients are released from the hospital. 

Clinical Trial on Fighting MRSA Infections in Southern California To Begin With 10 Million Dollar Grant

The strains occur both in hospitals and the community too keep changing and mutating too so this is an area where I think we need constant R and D to stay ahead of this game for sure.  BD 

Community Strains of MRSA on the rise in Hospitals With Outpatients – Study

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Teflaro (ceftaroline fosamil), an injectable antibiotic to treat adults with community acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP) and acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI), including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).image

Teflaro is an antibacterial agent in a class of drugs known as cephalosporins, which act by interfering with the bacterial cell wall.

CABP is a bacterial infection that develops in the lungs of patients who are exposed to the bacteria in their normal environment, and not in the hospital. ABSSSI is a bacterial infection of skin and skin structures that requires antibiotic treatment and may require surgical treatment.

MRSA is a type of staph bacteria that is resistant to certain antibiotics. These antibiotics include methicillin and other more common antibiotics such as oxacillin, penicillin, and amoxicillin. In the community, most MRSA infections are skin infections. Severe or potentially life-threatening MRSA infections occur most frequently among patients in contact with health care settings, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The most commonly reported side effects in patients treated with Teflaro included diarrhea, nausea and rash. Teflaro should not be used in patients with sensitivities to cephalosporin antibiotics.

Teflaro is marketed by New York City-based Forest Laboratories.

FDA Approves Teflaro for Bacterial Infections

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Proteus ONE™* Proton Therapy System Announced at One Third the Size of Current Systems for Nuclear Cancer Treatments

This is interesting as the article states that in 4years they plan to have the first room set up and operational in Europe so it makes you wonder what else will happen in 4 years, in other words will this design by that time perhaps be portable?  This is just imagespeculation on my part obviously, but at the rapid rate things are changing today, do some of the new announced technologies get redone even before they get out there and this one seems like it could maybe be a case for that theory. 

I’m sure it’s on the mind of the companies manufacturing devices today too and sometimes too the smaller the systems become, the more affordable they are too.  BD 

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A smaller, more efficient and cost-effective Proton Therapy system from IBA Particle Therapy will soon be available for cancer treatment centers. This single-room system is roughly one-third the size of the current gantry configuration and offers a smaller cyclotron, a shorter proton-beam route from the cyclotron to the treatment room, and a more compact gantry.

“Proteus ONE extends the range of possibilities IBA systems offer to the health community, reducing the cost of Particle Therapy”

Premiering for the first time at the 52nd annual meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology held in San Diego, Proteus ONE will be a more affordable option for many cancer centers. IBA’s latest innovation offers a considerably smaller treatment room that will help reduce costs substantially, minimize the space and shorten the installation time required to build a Proton Therapy center. In addition, the Proteus ONE offers integrated 3-D Cone Beam CT imaging that rotates around a patient, capturing detailed tumor images. image

The Proteus ONE is an even smaller, more affordable Proton Therapy treatment room for cancer patients than the Proteus Nano®, a two-room treatment solution introduced by IBA Particle Therapy in the fall of 2009. A significant advantage to the Proteus ONE development is its ability to leverage existing, proven IBA technology, including the Pencil Beam Scanning proton delivery method and advanced treatment control system.

“Proteus ONE extends the range of possibilities IBA systems offer to the health community, reducing the cost of Particle Therapy,” said IBA Founder Yves Jongen. “While Proteus® 235 remains the most advanced and adaptable Proton Therapy system on the market, Proteus ONE will allow more patients to benefit from IBA technology.”

IBA engineers and designers have spent more than a year devising Proteus ONE.

The first treatment room is scheduled to open at a planned Proton Therapy center in Europe in less than four years.

IBA Introduces Proteus ONE™*, a Smaller, More Cost-Effective Proton Therapy System | Business Wire

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In India More Have Cell Phones Than Toilet Access UN States–A Case of Imbalance And A Government Playing Catch Up?

No doubt cell phones bring communications to those who live in poverty and in time hopefully will begin to improve the quality of life we hope, but not having access to a toilet goes back to the very basics of living.  The article goes on to say that imagedue to the fact that cell phone communications are so wide spread that it could in fact play a role on bringing toilets to those in poverty, and I guess time will tell.  We all know that not having access and having to defecate in the wild promotes disease as sanitation efforts are of course stressed with the potential of infecting water supplies and more.  Toilets in India are not even like we expect in the US and I found a short video at the “Toilet Museum” in India below. 

Toilet Museum

What is also interesting here too is the fact that private companies charge those in poverty more for the basics of running water, etc. than what the wealthy pay, so again a severe case of imbalance it seems when the basic needs are not being met for so many.  The government the article states is chipping in here and is working on the problem.  India as we know has some of the biggest contracts when it comes to technology and the internet, as well as some very sophisticated data systems and again it seems there’s an imbalance here with basics and technology needing to maybe mesh together in a different way.  A link from last year about the street doctors in India somewhat tells another story too on how some citizens due to poverty levels are consulting with a “man on the street” who may in fact end up being a quack. 

Roadside Street Doctors Are A Thriving Business in India

We also continue to read about work like the Gates Foundation is providing in India too with even some of the most simple education programs with pregnant women and how to take care of babies and vaccinations for polio being given. 

Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation - The Work Across the World–60 Minutes Takes a Deep Look and Talks With Melinda Gates While Touring Countries Where the Foundation Works

With a country that is building big hospitals and is so far out there with promoting medical tourism with the western world, the very basic needs of citizens are not perhaps being met here and it’s strange how the cultures survive together and maybe for economic reasons, but with all the growth that has taken place and some of the large numbers of millionaires and billionaires that have been created, perhaps philanthropy efforts could also help those in need and show the way for progress for all.  Having a phone to communicate of course is by all means important as the alternative of nothing would be worse in times of need but perhaps the toilet issue could also edge up there a bit on the priority list.  BD 

MUMBAI, India – The Mumbai slum of Rafiq Nagar has no clean water for its shacks made of ripped tarp and bamboo. No garbage pickup along the rocky, pocked earth that serves as a road. No power except from haphazard cables strung overhead illegally.

And not a single toilet or latrine for its 10,000 people.

Yet nearly every destitute family in the slum has a cell phone. Some have three.

When U.S. President Barack Obama visits India Nov. 6, he will find a country of startlingly uneven development and perplexing disparities, where more people have cell phones than access to a toilet, according to the United Nations.

And while tens of millions have benefited from India's rise, many more remain mired in some of the worst poverty in the world.

Businessman Mukesh Ambani, the world's fourth-richest person, is just finishing off a new $1 billion skyscraper-house in Mumbai with 27 floors and three helipads, touted as the most expensive home on earth. Yet farmers still live in shacks of mud and cow dung.

Yet U.N. figures show that only 366 million Indians have access to a private toilet or latrine, leaving 665 million to defecate in the open.

India: Land of many cell phones, fewer toilets - Yahoo! News

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Scientists At Wake Forest Grow a Mini Liver From Human Cells–Regenerative Medicine

Wake Forest University School of Medicine is where they grow body parts.  Both image60 Minutes and Dr. Oz have paid a few visits to the facility and I’ll include the 60 minute video from last year that talks about the human bladders they have grown and implanted in humans, some pretty miraculous stuff going on there.  You can read the prior post at the link below for more details.

Regenerative Medicine – A Visit to Wake Forest Where They Grow Body Parts With Stem Cellsimage

The Center is growing more than 22 different types of human cells to include livers of course and they have over 100 projects in the works. Now they have also grown a penis for a rabbit too, and you can read more at the link below as it worked and he produced offspring.  This is work in progress to use for humans one day too.

Regenerative Medicine News – Fully Functional Rabbit Penis Created That Works

I have also done some interviews too with Cook Medical who works with another form of regenerative medicine with building scaffolds where the body regrows cells and portions of skin and organs too.

Biologic Graft Technology Online Resources from Cook Medical – Regenerative Medicine

Here’s the coverage from 60 Minutes from 2009 below.  It’s funny in the areas I cross on this blog too with some of the comments I get as about a year or so ago I had a scientist chime in here and talk briefly in the comments section about how he/she has created the beating heart cells in a dish and made the comment that it’s not that hard, well maybe for them, but certainly not a cakewalk or task for me or any other non scientist. 

One other item of interest is to watch the lab use normal printing cartridges to produce cells and body parts, it just pops right up, fascinating video.  Right now the human liver they produced is too small and there’s more work to be done but the fact that it has been grown is a miracle and someday we can hope for less dependence on organ transplants and grow them!  Watch the video below, fascinating.  MIT is also growing rat livers and you can follow some of their progress here.  After you see the video with the printer, check this link out below as it is related and see how 3D printing can kick out a prosthetic leg by design too.  BD

Need a Prosthetic Leg–3D Printing Will be Able to Generate One for You Soon for Around $5000

(CBS) Researchers at Wake Forest University's Institute for Regenerative Medicine have grown a miniature liver using human cells.
imageIt's only an inch in diameter - not big enough to work for a human.
But the hope is to someday grow bigger livers for people who need them, or to use them for testing new drugs.
To engineer the organs, the scientists used animal livers that were treated with a mild detergent to remove all cells, leaving only the collagen "skeleton."
They then replaced the original cells with two types of human cells: immature liver cells known as progenitors, and endothelial cells that line blood vessels.

Scientists Grow Mini Liver with Human Cells - CBS News

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Rally To Restore Sanity–A Big Success With Some Real Straight Talk About The Disruption and Distraction We Live With Today

I enjoyed watching the show and the under currents and statements they made were loud and clear.  I focus on this from a healthcare point of view and so much of what he said was true.  Yes, there was a bit of an attack on the press and yes some of this is very true, I see it all the time being a blogger and looking at what I imagechoose to publish here.  There’s a lot of nonsense out there with what I believe the “ratings” are pushing so again what is something “real” and what is a story focusing on better ratings.  We need the press by all means and as a blogger I am merely an extension and a forensic dot connector of sorts.

Overreaction is what drives so much of the insanity today.  I get press releases, news stories, which I appreciate by the way, but some are those that tend to signify a reason for panic or concern which I may feel doesn’t belong here and I sort them out.  I see on Twitter every day folks retweeting the OMG stories and that’s fine as they too may be trying to develop more readers that way, but it doesn’t toot the beak of the Medical Quack. 

I did my own take on some of this a few days ago as relates to healthcare technology, collaboration available with tools for free, and nobody bit.  I try to look at the big picture as best I can but in the innovation areas I see just gluts of new software out there that’s going nowhere, but because it is new everyone jumps on it.  Keep in mind that I am a former coder and used to write stuff like this too, so I think I can say that I am more than a casual observer here as it makes me nuts too. 

Innovation Without Collaboration Is Fouling Up The US Healthcare IT System–We Need Both As We Can’t Stand on Innovation Alone

A prime example is a new cell phone application that sends text messages, we have tons of those and personally in my own opinion, that would be very disruptive to how I live and refuse to use such a system  and I have a lot more going on with my smart phone that most may.  I also look at the privacy issues with many of them too, my opinion here, but on the web every single software application is marketed like it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread, and it is not if there is no real substantial value.   Watch Jon Stewart in his final address here, pretty inspirational.

Rally to Restore Sanity

Yes I realize I’m a little more political today than normal but damn I get tired of it too with the lack of participants in Congress with consumer general digital awareness (remember some could not use a password to lock up their wireless networks at home or at least ask) and yet these folks are who we rely on to make laws that encompass this fast moving world, it scares me to death at times.  This is a good book to read and the word “Proofiness” was coined by none other than Steven Colbert. 

“Proofiness–The Dark Side of Mathematical Deception”–Created by Those Algorithms–New Book Coming Out Soon

I have said the a million times here but if one sits in denial of the fact that algorithms and mathematical formulas have changed our our whole US economy, then you are sitting in a full case of big time denial.  It is what it is. 

Lack of Consumer Health IT Literacy Is Beginning to Show - Candidate for The Senate Received Benefits From Medicaid And Now States The Program Is Unconstitutional?

Health Insurers Sending Big Dollars to the GOP–The Folks Who Largely Lack General Consumer Digital Literacy And Health IT Literacy As Relates to the Power of Algorithmic Formulas

One last post that is also of interest after looking at the titles above, see how Wall Street is sending money to the folks that live in the 70s, as they are controllable in many ways with lacking knowledge and keep bring up stuff that makes no sense today.  Here’s a party that doesn’t know how to work with common day business formats and exposes the names of the lobbyists that created the GOP mission, and this is a fact below from Rachel Maddow with names, images, etc. and if you are having an issue understanding this, go look it up on Google as pdf are standard business practice documents and when I create one for someone else it’s a piece of cake to remove all my personal data, i.e. doing a brochure for a company or something of that realm.  To have individuals who can’t pass “go” here on the basics of business consumer IT knowledge is scarier than I need to think about as how can they make laws if they don’t get the basics of writing a mission properly.  How can such individuals make intelligent decisions? 

Again it is what it is as reported in this case.  I think we are starting to see some signs here of a wake up call as we read in the news that Nancy Pelosi took time out to visit Microsoft and President Obama is talking with Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, so he gets it big time and sees the distraction and disruption and has even made that comment himself on the level of disruptions and distractions that keep people from focusing on what is important. 

The Properties of an Adobe pdf Document -Rachel Maddow Rips the GOP on Lack of General Consumer IT Knowledge And Exposes the Input and Authors of the Content–Lobbyists

They better get themselves a bunch of Algo Men as used by Wall Street and Health Insurers for years!  The GAO is good an helpful but they are accounting and not the creators of those algorithms. 

More Congressional Testimonies About Health IT–Members of Congress Could Entertain Getting an “Algo Man” on Staff As Wall Street and Health Insurers Have Them–Don’t Leave Home Without One

THE SEC HAS FOUND OUT TOO THAT THOSE ALGOS ARE NOT PERFECT.  Algorithms are created that bring about “accurate” results and then there are those formulas written to create “desired” results and the 2 of them are not the same all the time, know this.

Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert did a great job today with knocking on some doors and we all need to think about what really is important and tune out the alarms of panic and OMG type of stories you see today as many of them are just that.  Remember too that we need to get smarter and get smarter leaders who are participants so we don’t have a Congress of Magpies that just repeat without full understanding what others are saying and doing.

I use the term Magpie Healthcare here quite a bit and perhaps now it’s time to add on Magpie Congress? <grin>.

One last link here too that has some great visuals that will give some insight as to how the non participants who sit in denial and live in the 70s tend to waste a lot of time too with asking for information, which also doesn’t work well for public profiles and opinions. 

Grassley Investigating Medicare Contractor Conflicts of Interest–Some Are Owned by Subsidiaries of Health Insurance Companies- Will That Do It? Get An “Algo Man” For Help

Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert you can almost bet have an Algo Man around and they group they have probably doubles as writers too, a very smart move.   These are brilliant guys and their depth goes way beyond just being comedians.  As a matter of fact when it comes to chasing algorithms, Jon’s Home state of New Jersey is getting wise to this too, so it’s rubbing off and so please be aware and don’t focus on what really doesn’t matter and read up everywhere you can today as we are all going to need it.

This was such a good showing today and we all not only were entertained but a full packed political message was sent by a couple that had balls enough to do what needed to be done.  BD  

 

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B. Braun Recalls Seven Lots of Heparin–Potential Contamination–FDA States Not a Signification Public Health Threat

W are back again to the concern of the raw material – pig intestines – from China with a substance added to stretch heparin and this article states it is due to the changes in the Chinese pig population?  What’s going on with those Chinese imagepigs?

Scientific Protein, is the company supplying the active ingredient and was the same company in the news a couple years ago.  The full press release and lot numbers can be found here. 

FDA Plans Recall Data Base – Nice Still Need Tags on the Products So We Can Find Them Immediately

We just love as citizens to have to take time and dig through all this stuff that is imagesurmounting every week.  I even wrote to the FDA a couple times but no answer so no enthusiasm or comments, so that’s what we have here.  Private industry already has produced over 2 billion bar code tags so again imagewe have some real deaf ears and perhaps some 70s folks still hanging on.  Sure would be nice to scan the recalls with our cell phones and have the FDA set up with a process soon.  BD 

B. Braun Medical Inc., of Irvine on Wednesday announced a recall of seven lots of the anticoagulant heparin because of concerns they may be contaminated with trace amounts of oversulfated chondroitin sulfate, or OSCS, the same substance implicated in the 2008 heparin crisis that killed or seriously sickened dozens of people. The company said in a statement that based on current information, the recalled lots did not pose a significant health risk, but they're being pulled from the market "with the support of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration." "There is not a significant public health threat," FDA spokeswoman Karen Riley said.

Heparin: Irvine medical products company B. Braun recalls seven lots - latimes.com

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Merck (KGaA) Sells Women's Health Business to Teva for 285 million

Merck KGaA is a separate independent company from New Jersey Based Merck, imageso again watch and look for subsidiary actions here as ownership gets a little confusing at times.  Merck KGaA is known as EMD Chemicals in the US, and outside of the US Merck in New Jersey is known as MSD, so are your confused now?

“EMD Millipore” is a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and that acquisition was made earlier this year.  Théramex is a Monaco-based pharmaceutical company.

Merck Buying Millipore in Massachusetts for $6 billion – Life Sciences and Chemicals Acquisitionimage

Teva is one of the biggest and most aggressive generic drug companies that also has their own drugs in development too and they are headquartered in Israel.  BD

German pharmaceutical major Merck KGaA (Merck) said that the company would sell its women's health unit Theramex to Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd for €285 million ($389 million), in accordance with its strategy focused on core areas imagesuch as neurodegenerative diseases, oncology, fertility, rheumatology, endocrinology and cardiometabolic care.

Under the terms, Merck will sell its 100-per cent interest in Theramex SAM of Monaco and Theramex SpA of Italy to Teva. In addition, Merck will be eligible to receive certain performance-based milestone payments, the company said in a statement.

Teva Pharma Ad Campaign

The acquisition will provide Teva with a strong platform to expand its global women's health business and the contraceptive market.

Teva will have the distribution rights of Theramex products in certain countries including Spain and Brazil; Merck Serono will continue distributing Theramex products in certain other countries.

Merck acquired Theramex a decade ago, and since then it has developed a strong brand image, offering a large portfolio of women's health therapeutics in 50 countries, in the areas of gynecology, osteoporosis, menopause, and contraceptives. The company employs over 300 people.

domain-b.com : Merck KGaA sells women's health business to Teva for €285 million

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I Think I'm A Clone Now (I Think I’m Alone Now) Stem Cell Humor (Video)

This is great, good graphics work here too.  Love the lyrics from Weird Al imageYankovic…I can be my own best friend…another one of me is always hanging around….part of some genetic plan…born in a petri dish one night….look at the way we go out walking together…I’m a carbon copy man…for every pair of genes there’s a hand me down…I can send myself for pizza…<grin>. 

Stem cell research of course is a very innovative area and we need it by all means too, but once in a while it’s fun to stop and laugh at ourselves too.  BD

I Think I’m a Clone Now
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Bristol-Myers Gets Notice From FDA To Clean Up Puerto Rico Manufacturing Plant–Sale of Belatacept Drug On Hold For Compliance

Belatacept is an important new drug to help in the rejection process with organ transplants.  The drug is actually made in New York but packaged in Puerto Rico.  If you have ever been to Puerto Rico, there are many drug factories that have been imagethere for years, it’s like pharma manufacturing row if you will. 

Abilify and rheumatoid arthritis treatment Orencia and tablets of Coumadin blood thinner are also made at the same factory.  The company is hoping to come back into compliance by the year end.  BD

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — U.S. regulators have told drugmaker Bristol–Myers Squibb Co. they won't approve an important new drug until the company fixes multiple deficiencies at its Puerto Rico manufacturing plant, the company's CEO disclosed Tuesday.

The problems were disclosed in an Aug. 30 warning letter sent to the company by the Food and Drug Administration. Among the issues raised was a complaint that the plant did not set procedures or have workers follow procedures to prevent contamination of drug products that were meant to be sterile.

Belatacept, an injected drug, is made at a factory in Syracuse, N.Y., but packaged in vials at the Manati factory, Bristol–Myers spokeswoman Jennifer Mauer said.

The factory already makes two other injected drugs, blockbuster schizophrenia treatment Abilify and rheumatoid arthritis treatment Orencia, plus tablets of Coumadin blood thinner.

Bristol-Myers: FDA wants factory's problems fixed

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Anaheim General Hospital Regains Medicare Approval Status in the OC

In December of 2008 this longstanding hospital in Orange County lost their Medicare status and this is good to see the improvements and come back by all means as this hospital is located in a strategic area of the OC where people need the facility as they offer a lot of charity care.  BD

Anaheim General Hospital loses accreditation – Orange County, CA

In a rare turnaround, Anaheim General Hospital has regained approval to imagebill Medicare and Medi-Cal. The hospital had not collected any payment for treating patients in the past year after a series of failed safety inspections cut off government funding.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services notified the hospital Saturday that it had been recertified after two unannounced inspections in April and July.

Anaheim General regains Medicare status | hospital, salerno, patients - Life - The Orange County Register

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Governor Schwarzenegger Announces The Opening of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine at USC

The Governor speaks in a humorous but nice way on all the donations Eli and imageEdythe Broad have made and how he’s following them around as they have made big donations up north and at UCLA. 

There has been 3 billion dollars set aside for research and 1 billion in grants have been given and so much of money is from private funds.  UCLA and Stanford Regenerative Medicine Centers will be opening soon as well.  Click on the image below to see where the CIRM Grants are in and what they are doing.  I think my coverage on regenerative medicine will start growing now at the Medical Quack too.  BD

image

Here’s a video with a little history and the building of the facility in Berkeley. 

The Governor will join Eli and Edythe Broad to celebrate the opening of the Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC. Watch the live webcast at 10:30 a.m.

Watching Gov. @Schwarzenegger celebrate opening of Eli & Edythe Broad Center for Stem Cell Research - live at http://tweetcast.in/1395

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Senator Tom Coburn States Government Has Spent Over a Billion Plus on the Deceased For HealthCare and Related Supplies

Here’s definitely an area for budget cuts where nobody will complain or get hurt.  The reality here though is the fact that IT infrastructure of the imagegovernment is in sad shape but they are working on the solutions and this has a lot to do with perhaps outsourcing data and IT work when perhaps some should have been developed in house.  Some even were reported to have received stimulus money according to this article. 

Shoot people even make money selling information services on dead doctors too. As a matter of fact with companies that don’t check their data against the Social Security Death Index data base can lead to a fishing ground for crooks as they determine these records are not up to date, get that MD NPI number and start billing fraudulently. 

Dead Doctors and Inaccurate MD Listings On the Web Can Be a Real Hunting Ground of Information to Mine For Crooks Relative to Fraudulent Medical Billing

These folks were sold on the stock exchange until recently bought by a private equity firm and they can’t get it right. 

HealthGrades And Other MD Rating and Referral Sites List “Dead Doctors” on Their MD Information Pages And Even Include the Insurance Plans the “Dead Doctors” Honor

In addition on the hospital side of HealthGrades Skeptical Scalpel, a surgeon and blogger was kind enough to research and add some input here at his blog.image

Hospital Ratings Revisited

Here’s the big story from a year ago on the original findings with Medicare and the use of dead doctors NIPI numbers for fraudulent billing. 

Probe finds dead doctors used in Medicare Scam

What I also thought was interesting was the Wall Street Journal talking about making MD Medicare payments available on the web where they reference companies that could work the data and put it into a format to where the public could use, but heck if HealthGrades can’t get it right and they make millions selling their subscriptions, what kind of a nightmare would we see here as there are tons of errors and if an MD had a bad billing clerk it would make errors appear to be false positives for fraud in some instances.

Medicare Data Base–It Is Not Ready for Prime Time To Expose to the Web Due to Errors Factors and Consumer Credibility In It’s Present State Relating to Physician Records

Here’s a guy in jail for fraud and yet he still shows a 5 Star rating.  They city of Buffalo in New York paid out over 2 million with insurance premiums on their dead employees and nobody asked questions or wondered why none of those folks had gone to see a doctor for mammograms or any other preventive care, like the HMO and insurance companies say they check on.  Doctors all the time have to tell the insurance companies too that the patient has pass away, so go figure there. 

One thing for sure, we know somebody is posing as a dead person imposter through all of this and collecting big time.  We could save money in healthcare if we get our data correct and stop paying the dead, I agree on this one.  BD 

In the last 10 years, spanning two terms of George W. Bush’s administration and the first two years of Barack Obama’s presidency, the federal government has dished out more than $1 billion to the deceased, according to a new report by Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, who serves as the ranking Republican on an investigative Senate subcommittee.

The payments span the gamut, including $18 million to nearly 72,000 dead people from the economic stimulus funds from the Social Security Administration; an additional $40 million to deceased Social Security beneficiaries; nearly $4 million from the Health and Human Services Administration to pay heating and cooling costs; more than $1 billion in farming subsidies from the Agriculture Department to nearly 173,000 dead farmers (since the 1990s); $15 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to nearly 5,000 households with one dead person; and $92 million out of Medicare for medical supplies prescribed by dead doctors and $8.2 million for supplies sought by dead patients.

Oftentimes, federal agencies lack proper records to track whether a beneficiary is dead or alive, and other times the claims are being made fraudulently. And sometimes the money sits in an unused checking account for years; other times the money ends up with someone who has a pulse.

Report: Feds paid dead $1 billion-plus - Manu Raju - POLITICO.com

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Sandoz Recalls in the US of all Vials of Methotrexate Injection–Glass Flakes in the Drug- Deaf FDA & Drug Company Ears As Related to Using Bar Coding For Recalls

Well my campaign for 2D bar coding is still alive and well but the FDA and the drug and device companies still seem pretty deaf.  The drug injection are used to treat severe psoriasis, and rheumatoid arthritis and a few other conditions.  I started campaign about a year ago and it has a permanent spot on the Medical Quack as it is the right thing to do with the right technology.  We can shop and do all kinds of other things here but we can’t get into saving lives it seems. 

FDA Plans Recall Data Base – Nice Still Need Tags on the Products So We Can Find Them Immediatelyimage

We just love as citizens to have to take time and dig through all this stuff that is surmounting every week.  I even wrote to the FDA a couple times but no answer so no enthusiasm or comments, so that’s what we have here.  Private industry already has produced over 2 billion bar code tags so again we have some real deaf ears and perhaps some 70s folks still hanging on. 

Microsoft Tag Bar Codes–Who’s Been Scanning the Medical Quack–The Bing Heat Map Tells All And Could Help Find Stolen or Expired Drugs and Devices With This Methodology

A couple drug companies are looking at it though they have told me, which is great but it will need collaboration as well as innovation to get this moving but think of the value for the consumer, doctors, hospitals and anyone else.  Just picture below a bottle or box of drugs or a medical devices that could be scanned this way to find out if the product has been recalled and too whether or not it is legit.  One technology that does a lot. 

Here’s the list to go through the difficult process of finding lot numbers, etc., sure would be a lot nice to scan.  BD 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – October 27, 2010 –  Sandoz Inc. announced today it has initiated a voluntary recall in the US of all 50mg/2mL and 250mg/10mL vials of Sandoz and Parenta brand Methotrexate Injection, USP product (“methotrexate”) to the imageconsumer/user level. Consistent with its commitment to quality and patient safety, Sandoz is initiating this voluntary recall of all 24 lots of the affected product following the finding of small glass flakes by Sandoz quality control in a limited number of vials in four lots. The flakes are the result of delamination of the glass used to manufacture the vials of these two dosage presentations.
Due to particle size, there is the potential to develop adverse reactions in areas where the particles lodge. While it is unlikely, parenteral injection of drug from the affected lots could lead to serious adverse events, resulting in disability and death. Additionally, neurologic damage could result from intrathecal administration. Potential adverse events after intravenous administration include local damage to blood vessels in the lung, localized swelling, and granuloma formation. Intramuscular administration could result in foreign-body inflammatory response, with local pain, swelling and possible long term granuloma formation. Intra-arterial administration could result in damage to blood vessels in the distal extremities or organs. To date, Sandoz has not received any adverse event reports or product complaints attributable to particles from any lot of methotrexate, including the lots where flakes have been found.
Methotrexate is an antimetabolite used in the treatment of neoplastic diseases, severe psoriasis, and rheumatoid arthritis, including polyarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. The affected products are only the 50mg/2mL and 250mg/10mL presentations of methotrexate. The product lot numbers, label type and expiration dates are listed below as well as on the Sandoz US website at www.us.sandoz.com.

Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts > Sandoz initiates voluntary recall in the US of all 50mg/2mL and 250mg/10mL vials of Methotrexate Injection, USP due to the presence of glass particulates

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Hospitalist Chats With ER Physician and Cardiologist–Humor (Videos)

These are funny and the Happy Hospitalist has few more over there and we are all being entertained today with the Xtranormal video series, these guys are good.  I imagejust picked a couple here that are perhaps what would appeal to all.  Hey some of this stuff is pretty real when you think about the traveling cardiologist and the demands on a hospitalist too as he’s the admitting guy at the hospital and has to work with the other doctors so his pages and calls can be many. 

In a humorous way we are looking at the passing of the baton, oh I mean patient here with all the information they are communicating back and forth and there’s a lot of it and as patients maybe we fill like a baton sometimes.   BD 

Hospitalist and Cardiologist
Hospitalist and ER Doctor

Hospitalist vs Cardiologist Xtranormal Medical Video Production

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FDA approves Avanir To Treat Involuntary Crying and Laughing

When you first think of this you almost have to maybe chuckle a bit but the drug is real and used to treat a disorder to where those with neurological disorders can’t imagecontrol their facial expressions also known as PBA.  Anymore today though many of us may be crying more with current economic conditions. 

Zenvia is a combination of quinidine, a generic drug that prevents heart arrhythmia, and dextromethorphan, a cough suppressant.  BD

U.S. health regulators Friday approved Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc's Zenvia, a treatment for a neurological disorder in which patients cannot control outbursts of crying or laughter.

Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman Sandy Walsh said the agency had approved the long-delayed drug.

Zenvia is the first drug approved for the treatment of the little known, but not that rare, condition called pseudobulbar affect (PBA), which is also known as involuntary emotional expression disorder.

Avanir suffered a major blow four years ago, when the FDA rejected Zenvia and asked for new trials due to safety concerns. The FDA was uneasy about the heart rhythm impact of quinidine, a component of the drug used to increase the amount of the active ingredient, dextromethorphan, in the body.

U.S. FDA approves Avanir involuntary emotion drug - Health - msnbc.com

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Microsoft Buying 3D-chip Company Canesta–Natural User Interface For PC And Will Take EHRs/PHRs to a New Level Of Interactions

If you have not heard about the new technology coming out for Xbox 360 it is Kinect and we are looking at the same with computers and according to what I read here, Microsoft will now have the intellectual property and the chip to make this come to life on PCs.  The first thing that of course comes to mind here with being in Health IT is medical record programs and this is almost an MD’s dream come true, fewer clicks and a better way to interact.  Dr. Crounse over at Microsoft has also touched on this with the Natural User Interface potential in healthcare too. 

Microsoft Health Tech Today—The Future of Natural User Interface (NUI)

What is of interest here too is the fact that Microsoft has bought the competitor and their chip is used in the Xbox 360. Quanta, a Taiwanese company that manufactures laptops for many of the major brands, has also invested in Canesta and expects to build laptops this year with 3-D camera modules and this technology can be used with manufacturing to give robots eyes…interesting stuff out there.  This is kind of a change for Microsoft to have ownership of it’s own chip technology versus the dependence on companies such as Intel and NVidia.  There’s no question here on Microsoft’s commitment to 3D and imaging to continuously improve the user experience.  BD 

Canesta

Now I have been working with a Lenovo touch screen portable desktop and I love this one by all means and to have 3D available one day would be wonderful.  I use it as a computer and put a USB TV tuner in it and it does the Media Player thing quite well.  By the way stay tuned here as at some point in time there will be a contest to give one of these away here at the Quack too.

I can write on the surface with the TIP interface too so really no keyboard required for web searching and accessing information too.  BD 

Lenovo ThinkCentre M90z All In One Desktop Discussion

The New York Times reports that Microsoft is buying Canesta, a Silicon Valley company that makes chips for 3D and gesture-recognition technology.

The acquisition would give Microsoft access to chips for incorporating its motion-sensor technology, currently debuting in Kinect for Xbox 360, into other products. CEO Steve Ballmer and other executives have imagerepeatedly said they expect gesture recognition to not stop at video gaming and entertainment.

Canesta's chips enable a digital camera to determine the distance between it and an object, hence allowing devices to perceive the world in three dimensions, according to the small company's website. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based firm of about 70 employees also touts a long list of U.S. patents in which Microsoft is bound to have interest.

Microsoft's Kinect, interestingly, uses a depth-mapping chip from PrimeSense, a Canesta competitor. In 2009, the software giant also acquired 3DV, which had similar technology.

Report: Microsoft to buy 3D-chip company Canesta

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