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Proposed Federal budget cuts will put seniors at risk

The Health Facilities Association of Maryland (HFAM) today brought together U.S. Representative Frank Kratovil (MD-1) and residents, workers and leaders from the Salisbury Rehabilitation and Nursing Center to personalize the pending effects of a proposed $32 billion federal cut to Medicare.

20 Aug 2009

Gentium reports results from phase 3 trial of defibrotide for severe veno-occlusive disease

Gentium S.p.A. has announced top-line results from a historically controlled, multicenter, open label, Phase III trial designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of 25 mg/kg/day of Defibrotide for the treatment of severe veno-occlusive disease (sVOD) in hematopoietic stem cell transplant (SCT) patients.

19 Aug 2009

Integrated Medical Systems receives U.S. Army order for "suitcase" intensive care unit

Integrated Medical Systems, Inc., a medical technology systems integrator transforming critical care, announced that it has received a commitment for approximately $3.25 million in funding from the U.S. Army's Medical Research Material Command for acquisition and ongoing development of the company's MedEx 1000(TM) "suitcase" intensive care unit (ICU).

11 Aug 2009

Doctors' opinions not always welcome in end-of-life medical choices

Some caregivers of critical care patients prefer doctors to keep their opinions on life support decisions to themselves, according to new research that challenges long-held beliefs in the critical care community.

10 Aug 2009

New online tool to help nurses prevent the 10 "Never Events"

Elsevier, a world leader in healthcare and medical publishing and online solutions, today announced the availability of a new online tool within Mosby's Nursing Consult designed to help nurses prevent the 10 "Never Events" identified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in an October 2008 fact sheet.

10 Aug 2009

Covidien receives FDA clearance for new ventilator leak compensation software

Covidien has announced it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its Leak Compensation software feature for the Puritan Bennett 840 ventilator system. This option provides continuous levels of mechanical ventilation to patients requiring respiratory support, regardless of the level of gas leakage that might occur in the circuit or past a patient interface device in the clinical setting.

6 Aug 2009

New system may allow use of xenon to protect newborn brain

Breathing xenon gas can help protect the infant brain from damage caused by oxygen deprivation, but the xenon's high cost and scarcity has precluded its widespread use.

27 Jul 2009

Swine flu pandemic could overwhelm critical care beds in England, especially children’s units

Experts in intensive care and anaesthesia have predicted that the current swine flu pandemic could overwhelm critical care beds and ventilators in England, with hospitals on the South East Coast, and in the South West, East of England and East Midlands, being worst hit.

24 Jul 2009

Medical staff cut down on hospital-acquired infections

CNN reports on Alfonso Torress-Cook and his efforts to eliminate fatal infections at Pacific Hospital of Long Beach, California: "Torress-Cook is part of a growing movement in medicine that no longer accepts hospital-acquired infections as inevitable complications. Every year, such infections sicken 1.7 million and kill 99,000 people in the United States."

12 Jul 2009

Severe obesity brings greater risks of health problems during medical procedures

Healthcare providers must carefully consider the unique risk factors related to severe obesity in patients undergoing all types of surgery, according to an American Heart Association scientific advisory published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

15 Jun 2009

Boy born with half a heart survives and thrives

Rhonda Ellison was six months pregnant when she and her husband, James Gaines, got the kind of news all parents dread going into an ultrasound: something was wrong with their baby. They needed to go to the Children's Heart Center at Golisano Children's Hospital.

27 May 2009

Nervous system may be culprit in Pompe disease

Brain may win out over brawn as the primary cause of breathing problems in children with a severe form of muscular dystrophy known as Pompe disease.

25 May 2009

Risk factors identified for ventilator-associated pneumonia

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the main cause of nosocomial infection in patients undergoing major heart surgery.

29 Apr 2009

Exercise therapy benefits ICU patients

An exercise program developed at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center aimed at helping patients in the medical Intensive Care Unit (ICU) maintain physical conditioning is a featured 'Innovation Profile' on the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Web site.

23 Mar 2009

Link between religious coping and aggressive treatment in terminally ill cancer patients

In a new study of terminally ill cancer patients, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute found that those who draw on religion to cope with their illness are more likely to receive intensive, life-prolonging medical care as death approaches –– treatment that often entails a lower quality of life in patients' final days.

17 Mar 2009

University at Buffalo designed ventilator can safely sedate ICU patients for less

A new, recently licensed medical device developed by University at Buffalo researchers would introduce into intensive care settings the powerful and effective method of anesthetizing patients that works so well in the operating room.

25 Feb 2009

Sedative dexmedetomidine may offer advantages over agents often used for sedation in ICU

Use of the sedative dexmedetomidine for critically ill patients resulted in less time on a ventilator and less delirium compared to patients administered a more commonly used drug, according to a study in the February 4 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

2 Feb 2009

Repeat cesarean deliveries before 39 weeks raises risk of neonatal illness

Women choosing repeat cesarean deliveries and having them at term but before completing 39 weeks gestation are up to two times more likely to have a baby with serious complications including respiratory distress resulting in mechanical ventilation and NICU admission.

7 Jan 2009

Fewer deaths with preventive antibiotic use

Administering antibiotics as a preventive measure to patients in intensive care units (ICUs) increases their chances of survival.

1 Jan 2009

World-first technique used to repair an injured donor lung

For the first time in the world, transplant surgeons at Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network used a new technique to repair an injured donor lung that was unsuitable for transplant, and then successfully transplanted it into a patient.

21 Dec 2008