Doctor News and Research

RSS

Roundup: HIPAA enforcement; Brownback blasted for rejecting federal grant; nurses strike in Calif.

Only two state attorneys general have pursued the authority Congress gave them two years ago to prosecute privacy and security breaches of health information - despite training from federal agencies and a consensus among privacy groups that enforcement needs to improve. The expansion of jurisdiction to state attorneys general was awarded in concert with a $27 billion stimulus program initiated in 2009 to reward health care providers for switching from print to computerized health records.

21 Sep 2011

The obese can’t help but eat: Study

A new study suggests that brains of people who are obese may be wired differently for impulse control, such as resisting a doughnut when their blood sugar levels drop, compared with people who are not obese.

20 Sep 2011

UBC Graduate School of Journalism launches 'The Pain Project' site

In advance of a United Nations conference today on the global challenges of treating cancer and other diseases, the UBC Graduate School of Journalism has launched an ambitious multimedia site, The Pain Project, which documents one of the greatest challenges to treating chronic illnesses: severely constrained access to morphine.

20 Sep 2011

Children with false-positive screening results do not have more health care visits

There has been longstanding concern among physicians and policymakers that false-positive results may cause parents to believe that their children are vulnerable to illness, leading them to overuse health care services as their children grow older.

20 Sep 2011

NYU Langone creates new Joan H. Tisch Center for Women's Health in New York City

NYU Langone Medical Center announced the establishment of its new Joan H. Tisch Center for Women's Health on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City.

20 Sep 2011

Many parents turn their child's car seat to face forward before the age of two

The American Academy of Pediatrics updated their guidelines for child passenger safety in April 2011, recommending children stay in rear-facing car seats until the age of two. But a new report from the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health shows that many parents turn their child's seat to face forward before their second birthday.

20 Sep 2011

LA BioMed andrologist leads new male contraceptive Phase I clinical study

Christina Wang, M.D., lead investigator at Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) - one of the leading biomedical research institutes in the country - is currently working on a Phase I single dose and multiple dose study that tests the safety and tolerability of a new androgen dimethandrolone undecanoate that is being developed as a potential male contraceptive agent.

20 Sep 2011

Cosmetic Surgery Code of practice aids informed consent

According to the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery, a just-released study of medical negligence claims between 2002 and 2008 published in the Medical Journal of Australia underlines the importance that codes of practice can play in ensuring that a proper process is observed to obtain informed consent for cosmetic surgical procedures.

19 Sep 2011

No room for Medicare patients

When I went into solo practice of internal medicine in 1981, it was very easy to get a doctor to see a Medicare patient. All I had to do was make a phone call. A courteous receptionist answered. If the doctor couldn't come to the phone right away, I could count on a prompt callback.

19 Sep 2011

Drug overdose deaths surpass road traffic accident deaths in U.S.

According to newly released figures, drug-related deaths now outnumber traffic fatalities in the U.S., with the rise driven by an increase in prescription narcotic overdoses.

19 Sep 2011

Republican candidates are unabashed in opposition to 'Obamacare' but stay quiet on Medicare's drug plan

The Associated Press reports that, even with their emphasis on deficit reduction, most of the GOP presidential candidates don't seem to be talking about the Medicare drug program, a massive entitlement with future unfunded costs of about $7 trillion, as much as the 2010 health law.

19 Sep 2011

Intelligent t-shirt patient biomonitoring platform

Using this garment-based patient biomonitoring platform allows us to register a number of the patient's physiological parameters in a non-intrusive manner. "The information gathered by an intelligent t-shirt using e-textile technology is sent, without using wires, to an information management system, which then shows the patient's location and vital signs in real time", explain the UC3M researchers.

19 Sep 2011

Patients allege doctors fail to properly explain risks of complications

In more than 70 per cent of legal disputes over informed consent, patients allege the doctor failed to properly explain the risks of complications, a University of Melbourne study published in the latest Medical Journal of Australia has found.

19 Sep 2011

NTNU genetic research shows best recipe to limit risk of lifestyle-related diseases

What should we eat? Answers abound in the international media, all of which rely on their interpretation of recent medical literature to come up with recommendations for the healthiest diet. But what if you could answer this question at a molecular level - what if you could find out how our genes respond to the foods we eat, and what this does to the cellular processes that make us healthy - or not? That's precisely what biologists at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology have done.

19 Sep 2011

Bioethicists up the ante in Bachmann's HPV brouhaha

Since Monday's GOP presidential primary debate, Michele Bachmann, a Republican candidate, has been under the microscope for criticizing fellow GOP hopeful Rick Perry for his policy in Texas requiring girls to get the Gardisil vaccine against HPV. Now, two bioethicists have offered cash prizes if she can prove a claim she made about the vaccine's link to mental retardation.

17 Sep 2011

ZocDoc launches in Boston region

Today ZocDoc, a free online service for patients to find a doctor and instantly book appointments, launches in the Boston region. In Massachusetts, where patients experience the longest wait times in the country for doctor appointments, ZocDoc is able to reduce wait times to mere hours.

17 Sep 2011

Georgia reminds adults to get vaccinated

Vaccines aren't just for kids, adults need protection too! September 18 kick starts National Adult Immunization Awareness Week and the Georgia Department of Public Health reminds Georgians that you never outgrow the need for vaccines.

16 Sep 2011

Karolinska Institutet professor earns 2011 ECNP Neuropsychopharmacology Award

This year's ECNP Neuropsychopharmacology Award in Basic Science Research has been conferred upon Bertil Fredholm at the 24th Congress of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) on 3-7 September 2011 in Paris, France.

16 Sep 2011

Positive thoughts improve mental health in men with testicular cancer

Men who channeled positive thoughts into a five-week writing assignment about their testicular cancer showed signs of improved mental health afterward, in contrast to men who wrote negatively or neutrally about their condition, according to results of a Baylor University pilot study.

16 Sep 2011

Experts urge women to recognize warning signs of ovarian cancer, receive appropriate screenings

Ovarian cancer is a rare but often deadly disease that can strike at any time in a woman's life. It affects one in 70 women and in the past was referred to as a silent killer, but researchers have found there are symptoms associated with ovarian cancer that can assist in early detection. Experts at Northwestern Memorial say the best defense is to make use of preventive methods, understand the risks and recognize potential warning signs of ovarian cancer.

16 Sep 2011