榴莲视频

Public Health & Policy

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.

Lab Notes: Meth May Worsen Fungal Infection

Mice injected with methamphetamine and exposed to Cryptococcus fungi showed more extensive and hard-to-eradicate infections. Also this week: an organic pesticide fights parasitic worms.

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.

New Version of Fibromyalgia Drug OK'd for Depression

The FDA has approved levomilnacipran (Fetzima), a single-enantiomer version of the fibromyalgia drug milnacipran (Savella), for treating major depression, its developers said.

Oncology Clinics Caught in Financial Vise

Community oncology clinics continue to feel the squeeze of a changing reimbursement structure that has forced 288 clinics to close in the past 6 years.

FDA Goes After Fake Diabetes Therapies

The FDA has sent letters to 15 companies warning them to stop marketing products that falsely claim to treat diabetes, the agency announced.

FDA Panel Nixes Humira for Spinal Arthritis

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- An independent panel of FDA advisers overwhelmingly rejected AbbVie's bid to gain approval of Humira (adalimumab) for treatment of spinal arthritis.

Itching: No Big Deal in Most Cases But ...

Summer usually brings with it plenty of causes for itching, most of which are annoying but not indicative of serious health problems.

Sun Damage: Darker Not Better for Sunglasses

Seeking some new shades? There is whole lot more than style at stake, experts say.

FDA Adds GI Warning to Benicar Label

WASHINGTON -- The FDA ordered the maker of the blood pressure drug olmesartan (Benicar) to add a warning about risk of the intestinal condition known as sprue-like enteropathy to the drug's label.

Xarelto Gets a No for Stent Thrombosis

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- The FDA has rejected an application for a new indication allowing rivaroxaban (Xarelto) to be used to reduce the risk of stent thrombosis in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Honey, Cola May Disrupt Heart

A detailed history of patients with arrhythmia or syncope might need to include their cola intake or the origin of the honey they consume, two case studies suggest.

Health Insurers Improve Claims Processing

CHICAGO -- The percentage of claims incorrectly processed by health plans fell for the third straight year to 7.1% in 2013, according to the American Medical Association.

AMA House Votes Against Council, Calls Obesity a Disease

CHICAGO -- Obesity should be called a disease and not simply a condition, the American Medical Association's policy-making House of Delegates voted on Tuesday, ignoring a recommendation by one of its own councils.

Obesity Not a Disease, AMA Council Says

CHICAGO -- Obesity is hard to define and diagnose, and partly because of that is not a disease, an American Medical Association council said in a report issued here Monday.

Public Citizen's Wolfe Still Needling FDA

Sidney Wolfe, MD, founder of Public Citizen's Health Research Group, sat down this week with 榴莲视频 in his Washington office to discuss his 40 years of work as a leading voice in consumer health advocacy.

CDC: Cut Back on Doxycycline Use

A continuing shortage of doxycycline means the drug should be used only for conditions that have no alternative treatments, the CDC advised this week.

Medicare to Pay for More FDG-PET Scans

WASHINGTON -- Up to three scans using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-enhanced positron emission tomography technology can be covered by Medicare for oncology treatment planning, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said.

Face Up to Front Office Challenges

Your front office staff are the face of your practice -- an expression of your practice's philosophy, attitude, and values. Here practice management consultant Rosemarie Nelson shares tips for helping them put the best face forward.

Zilver Stent Recalled, System May Break

Cook Medical's Zilver PTX drug-eluting stent for peripheral artery disease has been recalled because of a defect in its associated delivery system, the company and the FDA said.

APA Leaders Defend New Diagnostic Guide

SAN FRANCISCO -- The fifth edition of the "psychiatrist's bible" was officially released here in all its 947-page glory, with its developers offering a spirited rebuttal to their critics.

Cystic Fibrosis: Charity and Industry Partner for Profit

When a disease-related charity becomes a venture capitalist, count the pharmaceutical industry among the winners, but the charity is not far behind as John Fauber explains in this Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/榴莲视频 investigation.

Withdrawal Not a Problem with Phentermine

Patients taking phentermine long-term to treat obesity don't have to worry about withdrawal when they come off it, researchers found.

FDA Allows Opana Generics

The original formulation of extended-release oxymorphone (Opana ER) that lacked abuse-resistant mechanisms was not pulled from the market for safety reasons, and therefore generics based on that recipe are permissible, the FDA said.

Is Protein the Key to Fountain of Youth?

The cardiac clocks of aging mice were turned back to a more youthful time when they received a protein taken from the blood of younger mice, researchers found.

CHIP Faces Uncertain Future

锘縒ASHINGTON -- The final implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could be bad news for re-authorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), a congressional staffer said.

Gun Control: Docs Told to Speak Up

WASHINGTON -- Physicians need to do a better job at promoting the data that supports stronger gun-control laws, experts here said.

On-Call Pay Varies Widely by Specialty

Surgeons commanded more than $1,000 a day for being on-call at the hospital, while primary care physicians reported compensation rates of around $150 a day, according to annually compiled data.

FDA Lowers Age for OTC Plan B

WASHINGTON -- The FDA has approved over-the-counter sale of the emergency contraceptive Plan B One-Step to women and girls as young as 15.

Lyme Disease, Autism Link Debunked

A new study has found no evidence of an association between Lyme disease and autism.

How Much Exercise to Burn Off a Burger?

Menus displaying the amount of exercise required to burn off calories in a meal had some impact on food choice, researchers found.

FDA Splits on Safety of Endo's Aveed for Low-T

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- An FDA advisory committee was split Thursday on the safety of an injectable form of testosterone replacement, but voted overwhelmingly against a proposed risk mitigation plan.

Ricin Deadly, but Not an Effective WMD

It may have been a preferred tool of Soviet hit men, but ricin generally flops as a weapon of mass destruction, several bioterrorism experts told 榴莲视频.

More Docs Joining Forces in ACOs

SAN FRANCISCO -- The number of physician-led accountable care organizations (ACOs) has recently surpassed the number led by hospitals, becoming the largest backers of the payment and delivery model, an analysis showed.

Docs May See Pay Delay Under ACA Exchanges

SAN FRANCISCO -- A provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) states that insurance companies will not process claims on patients who haven't paid their premiums in 3 months, leaving doctors on the hook to recoup payment directly from the patients.

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