麻豆传媒

Washington Watch

How To Tell Fake Neck Pain From Real: The Pain Medicine News Report

A regular update on what鈥檚 new in surgery from our friends at Pain Medicine News.

Calif. Docs Among Top Billers for Complex Visits

Three California doctors are among the top five nationally in billing for the most complex office visits, according to data released by Medicare and analyzed by ProPublica and KQED.

Medtronic's Infuse Moves From Operating Room to Courtroom

An investigative series by 麻豆传媒/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has been tracking the spinal fusion device called Infuse in a 4-year-long series and now reports how a flawed FDA system for device approval may have led to a long string of adverse events culminating in thousands of liability suits.

FDA Slashes Starting Dose for Lunesta

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- Patients starting on the sleep drug eszopiclone (Lunesta) should take no more than 1 mg at bedtime -- one-third the current label-recommended dose -- because of the risk of next-day impairment, the FDA said Thursday.

FDA Panel Nixes OTC Singulair

Montelukast (Singulair) should not be allowed over-the-counter use for hay fever and other upper respiratory allergy symptoms, an FDA advisory panel recommended Friday.

Top 5 Reasons Why Internists Are Sued

Not properly diagnosing a condition and nonmedical errors such as equipment failure accounted for more than half of the malpractice lawsuits against internists, a study found.

FDA Warns of Cancer Risk With Laparoscopic Device

WASHINGTON -- Hysterectomy and procedures to remove uterine fibroids should avoid use of laparoscopic power morcellation, according to a safety advisory from the Food and Drug Administration.

FDA Panel Says Yes to Inhaled Insulin Device

HYATTSVILLE, Md. -- An FDA advisory panel has voted in favor of approving a new inhaled insulin device, Afrezza, as a short-acting treatment to improve glycemic control in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Cologuard Cancer Test Aces FDA Panel Review

WASHINGTON -- An FDA advisory committee unanimously affirmed the safety and efficacy of a DNA stool test for colorectal cancer screening.

Culture Shock: Homeopathic Recall is No Joke

Did you hear about the homeopathic physician who was treating himself and one day forgot to take his pills?

ICD-10 Follies: Watch Where You're Walking

Yes, there's a code for that. To mark the forthcoming move to the ICD-10 coding system, 麻豆传媒 is spotlighting some of those thousands of new codes that might just be getting a bit too granular.

5 Ways Doctors Can Use Data Analytics

Data analytics takes claims data, a providers' electronic health record, and any of piece of information available to help physicians become more aware of the patients they're treating. Here are five ways the technology can help meet payers' demands for higher-quality, higher-value care.

CT Appears Safe in Patients With Pacemakers, ICDs

Patients with cardiac rhythm management devices showed no clinically significant major or minor events related to computed tomography imaging over a 10-year period at two large-volume care centers, researchers reported.

ICD-10 Follies: Struck by an Orca

Yes, there's a code for that. To mark the forthcoming move to the ICD-10 coding system, 麻豆传媒 is spotlighting some of those thousands of new codes that might just be getting a bit too granular.

ICD-10 Follies: The Birds

Yes, there's a code for that. To mark the forthcoming move to the ICD-10 coding system, 麻豆传媒 is spotlighting some of those thousands of new codes that might just be getting a bit too granular.

FDA OKs Northera for Hypotension

The FDA has approved droxidopa (Northera) for the treatment of neurogenic orthostatic hypotension, a rare disease that results in a drop in blood pressure when patients try to stand up.

5 Problems With Mobile Health App Security

No federal agency has the power to properly regulate the fast-growing world of mobile health applications and telehealth systems, researchers noted while outlining several security risks and privacy threats.

Pay and Practice: Are Neurologists Primary Care Docs?

WASHINGTON -- Neurology isn't often mentioned in the same breath as primary care, but the American Academy of Neurology is again lobbying to gain that sobriquet -- this time to take advantage of a recent policy change that benefits primary care providers.

Droxidopa for OH Slammed by FDA Reviewers

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- Droxidopa (Northera) is getting a second look by an FDA advisory committee for the treatment of orthostatic hypotension stemming from neurological disorders like Parkinson's disease, but an agency review doesn't look promising for approval.

10 Questions: Rep. Phil Gingrey, MD (R-Ga.)

If you could change one thing about the healthcare system, what would it be? Eliminate Obamacare, says Rep. Phil Gingrey, MD (R-Ga.). That's his answer to just one of the 10 Questions the 麻豆传媒 staff is asking leading clinicians, researchers, and leaders in their community to get their personal views on their chosen profession. In this series we share their uncensored responses.

'Out of Network': More Money but Some Problems

Whether they plan to or not, a growing number of physicians no longer have contracts with some of the nation's largest health insurance carriers, but being "out of network" has both benefits and drawbacks.

Killing Pain: Tramadol the 'Safe' Drug of Abuse

Almost 2 decades have passed since the FDA approved tramadol as a 'safe' opioid, but the intervening years provide evidence to question that 'safe' claim, as this latest investigation by John Fauber for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel-麻豆传媒 revealed.

FDA: Nipple Test No Substitute for Mammogram

A nipple aspirate test shouldn't take the place of mammography or otherwise be used on its own to screen for breast disease, the FDA warned.

Use of Expired Auto-Injectors OK'd by FDA

WASHINGTON -- The FDA cautioned emergency medical staff to retain recently expired auto-injectors by Meridian Medical Technologies and to use them in emergencies if no other product is available.

AMA President Discusses SGR Repeal Efforts

Shortly after the American Medical Association's interim meeting adjourned, Ardis Hoven, MD, president of the American Medical Association, sat down for a one-on-one interview with 麻豆传媒 to discuss the AMA's SGR repeal strategy.

FDA Flags Risk of Nuclear Stress Test Drugs

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- Two agents used in cardiac nuclear stress tests may carry a greater risk of heart attack and death than previously believed, the FDA said Wednesday.

Docs Need Info on 'Grace Period,' AMA Says

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- The American Medical Association wants health plans to notify doctors when patients haven't paid their premiums, a situation that could leave physicians on the hook for unpaid services.

SGR Repeal Still Gets AMA Support

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- The AMA's policymaking House of Delegates voted nearly unanimously to continue its support of congressional efforts to repeal Medicare's payment formula despite its opposition to a 10-year pay freeze that's part of a draft proposal.

ACA: When Is a Screening Not a Screening?

A provision in the Affordable Care Act that waives patients' payments for colonoscopies is an example of how good intentions in the law can lead to a tangle of unforeseen consequences.

Morning Break: Addictive Oreos and Sperm-Slaying Bacon

Health news and commentary from around the Web, gathered by the 麻豆传媒 staff.

Concierge Medicine Gains Ground

SAN DIEGO -- Concierge doctors are spreading the word that it's possible to operate a direct primary care practice, make a living, and avoid one of the biggest headaches for family medicine physicians -- dealing with health insurance companies.

ACP Hedges in Debate on Scope of Practice

The American College of Physicians took a nuanced position on the role advanced nurse practitioners play in clinical care teams in a position paper published Monday.

FDA Approves Device to Treat Enlarged Prostate

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- An implanted suture-based system to help men with enlarged prostates urinate more freely has been approved by the FDA, the agency said Friday.

Congress Probing VA Bonuses to Doctors

WASHINGTON -- A congressional committee is using a recent report questioning performance bonuses for Department of Veterans Affairs physicians as reason to examine a range of pay-for-performance issues at the VA.

Medicare's DME Bidding Program Criticized

Despite complaints from multiple parties, Medicare's bidding program for durable medical equipment -- including diabetes supplies -- now includes suppliers to half of all program beneficiaries.

FDA Beefs Up Fluoroquinolone Warning

The risk of nerve damage that fluoroquinolone antibiotics carry may come on rapidly and perhaps be permanent, the FDA warned Thursday.

FDA Panel Vetoes New Tolvaptan Indication

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- An FDA advisory committee has declined to endorse an expanded indication for tolvaptan (Samsca) to treat autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

FDA Warns of Fatal Skin Reactions with Acetaminophen

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- Acetaminophen is associated with rare but severe and sometimes fatal skin reactions at usual doses, the FDA said Thursday.

FDA Panel Favors Nasacort OTC Switch

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- An FDA advisory committee voted Wednesday to make allergy nasal spray triamcinolone acetonide (Nasacort AQ) available without a prescription -- but some expressed concern about its use in children.

Wyeth Settles Rapamune Marketing Charge

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Pfizer's Wyeth Pharmaceuticals unit will pay $490.9 million to resolve state and federal allegations that it marketed rapamycin (sirolimus, Rapamune) for unapproved indications.

鈥�

52