Family Practice News articles from February 2007

Family Practice News archives from February 2007

Coalition kickstarts free ePrescribing.(Practice Trends)
February 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Doctors who have yet to get on the health information technology bandwagon no longer have any excuses, according to members of the National ePrescribing Patient Safety Initiative, a coalition of health insurers and software...

Average physician fee for the five most popular minimally invasive cosmetic procedures.(VITAL SIGNS)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... VITAL SIGNS Average Physician Fee for the Five Most Popular Minimally Invasive Cosmetic Procedures Chemical peel $628 Laser hair removal $406 Botox $363 Sclerotherapy $311 Microdermabrasion ...

Cancer Society backs HPV shot for middle school girls: no hard advice given for ages 19-26 years.(News)
February 1, 2007... The American Cancer Society advocated routine vaccination against human papillomavirus for 11- and 12-year-old girls but cautioned that the potential impact of universal vaccination on cervical cancer rates can be realized only if those...

Energy drink trends alarm some; no data back safety.(Clinical Rounds)
February 1, 2007... Energy drinks are all the rage, and the media--along with the millions of people who use the drinks--are buzzing. At the same time, there has been surprisingly little research into the potential health hazards of the caffeine- and...

Caution urged on state HPV vaccine mandates.(News)
February 1, 2007... Despite reservations from some prominent medical organizations, state lawmakers are wasting no time in introducing legislation mandating that all middle school girls be vaccinated with the quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine. At...

Offer all pregnant women down syndrome screen.(News)
February 1, 2007... A new practice bulletin from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists endorses routinely offering first-trimester screening for fetal chromosomal abnormalities to all pregnant women, not just those over 35 years of age. The...

Agency seeks increased fees from drugmakers.(NEWS FROM THE FDA)
February 1, 2007... The Food and Drug Administration has proposed greatly increasing the fees its drug division collects from pharmaceutical manufacturers, saying current fees collected under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act have not kept pace with inflation or...

Refrigerated FluMist wins approval; cost still an issue.(News)
February 1, 2007... A new formulation of intranasal influenza live virus vaccine that can be stored in a standard refrigerator, rather than kept frozen, was approved last month by the Food and Drug Administration. The new formulation of the trivalent vaccine,...

Ketek's label may be stripped of sinusitis, bronchitis indications.(News)
February 1, 2007... SILVER SPRING, MD. -- The antibiotic Ketek (telithromycin) is neither safe nor effective for treating acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis or acute sinusitis, according to a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee that recommended...

Talking with patients about CFS.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2007... Your article, "CDC Campaign Takes Aim at Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" (Dec. 1, 2006, p. 46), summarized the most effective medical approaches to treatment. I find that a long conversation reviewing the physiologic changes involved in CFS is...

Should the extreme elderly be screened for colorectal cancer? Healthy elderly patients benefit from screening.(Point/Counterpoint)
February 1, 2007... Imagine that a healthy, vigorous woman in her 80s desires screening for colon cancer. She is asymptomatic and has never been screened before. Her request leaves us in a conundrum, since we have few data to guide us. Randomized trials of...

Should the extreme elderly be screened for colorectal cancer? Risks outweigh benefits in the extreme elderly.(Point/Counterpoint)
February 1, 2007... Screening colonoscopy is not a wise choice in the extreme elderly, even for a strong, otherwise healthy 88-year-old. Proponents of screening this age group base their argument on one major premise, the apparent yield of screening. ...

Fluvastatin XL least likely to cause myalgias.(Cardiovascular Medicine)
February 1, 2007... CHICAGO -- Fluvastatin XL, either alone or in combination with ezetimibe, is an effective, well-tolerated, and safe option for lowering LDL cholesterol in patients who can't tolerate other statins because of muscle-related side effects, Dr....

In young patients with chest pain, suspect cocaine.(Cardiovascular Medicine)(Disease/Disorder overview)
February 1, 2007... SAN FRANCISCO -- Consider cocaine use as a cause of chest pain, especially in young patients, Dr. Priscilla Hsue said at a meeting sponsored by the California chapter of the American College of Cardiology. In 2004, 2 million Americans were...

Low-carb better than low-fat diet for lipids.(Cardiovascular Medicine)
February 1, 2007... SAN DIEGO -- People on very-low-carbohydrate diets who consumed three times as much daily saturated fat as people on high-carbohydrate, low-fat diets, lost more weight and had twice the reduction in saturated fat levels compared with the...

Lifestyle changes in middle age help stave off disease.(Cardiovascular Medicine)
February 1, 2007... TUCSON, ARIZ . -- The benefits of adopting healthy lifestyle habits later in life are significant, Dr. Dana King and colleagues reported at the annual meeting of the North American Primary Care Research Group. He presented a secondary...

Chest pain trumps other risk factors if calcium score is low.(Cardiovascular Medicine)
February 1, 2007... MONTREAL -- Chest pain in patients with low coronary calcium scores may serve as a red flag for the presence of obstructive soft or uncalcified coronary atherosclerosis, Dr. John S. Ho said during a poster presentation at the annual meeting of...

Treat atherosclerosis risks in lupus patients: many risk factors were present within 1 year of diagnosis and increased in prevalence over 3 years.(Cardiovascular Medicine)
February 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Awareness of the increased risk of atherosclerosis in patients who have lupus may be rising, but even experts in lupus treatment are not adequately treating patients who have known risk factors for the condition, Dr. Murray B....

Etoricoxib, diclofenac pose similar cardiovascular risks.(Cardiovascular Medicine)
February 1, 2007... CHICAGO -- Prolonged treatment with the COX-2 inhibitor etoricoxib carried no increased cardiovascular risk, compared with the traditional NSAID didofenac in a pooled analysis of nearly 35,000 arthritis patients, reported Dr. Christopher Cannon...

Monitoring foot temperature cuts ulceration risk.(Metabolic Disorders)
February 1, 2007... Patients with diabetic neuropathy who monitor their foot temperature daily can reduce their risk of ulceration more than fourfold, according to an article by Lawrence A. Lavery, D.P.M., of Texas A&M University, College Station, and colleagues....

Protocol reduces rate of hypoglycemia events.(Metabolic Disorders)
February 1, 2007... A treatment protocol used at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has nearly cut in half the number of severe hypoglycemic events experienced by inpatients with diabetes. "There was a lack of a standardized approach to the treatment...

High dietary iron is linked to CHD risk in type 2 women.(Metabolic Disorders)
February 1, 2007... The risk of coronary heart disease among women with type 2 diabetes appears to be elevated for those who consume high levels of heme iron and red meat, according to a large, long-term analysis from the ongoing Nurses' Health Study. ...

Celiac disease prevalent in 12% of type 1 children.(Metabolic Disorders)
February 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- Diagnosis and treatment of symptomatic celiac disease in children with type 1 diabetes can result in significant improvement in growth parameters and symptom relief, according to a study from Denmark. "The data lend support to...

Waist size linked to kidney disease in diabetics.(Metabolic Disorders)(Clinical report)
February 1, 2007... Patients with type 1 diabetes and central obesity had a significantly increased risk of developing microalbuminuria in a study of 1,105 patients. Investigators found that each 10-cm (4-inch) increase in waist circumference increased the...

Radioiodine overused in low-risk thyroid cancer.(Metabolic Disorders)
February 1, 2007... VERONA, ITALY -- Radioactive iodine-131 therapy is appropriate for patients with high-risk thyroid cancer, but unjustified in low-risk patients, Dr. Bryan McIver said at a joint meeting of the Italian Association of Clinical Endocrinologists...

Consensus a must for managing thyroid nodules.(Metabolic Disorders)
February 1, 2007... CHICAGO -- As the prevalence of thyroid nodules diagnosed on ultrasound increases, clinicians trying to decide whether to biopsy a particular nodule should consider adding a serum TSH test to their work-up, Dr. R. Brooke Jeffrey Jr. said at the...

Most benign thyroid nodules can be followed.(Metabolic Disorders)(Disease/Disorder overview)
February 1, 2007... SAN FRANCISCO -- Routine thyroxine therapy for benign thyroid nodules is no longer recommended, Dr. Hossein Gharib said at Perspectives in Women's Health sponsored by Ob.Gyn. News. Thyroxine does not shrink most benign thyroid nodules. In...

Alendronate benefits linger.(Clinical Capsules)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Postmenopausal women who discontinue alendronate after 5 years of treatment may experience a moderate decline in bone mineral density but are not at a significantly higher risk for fracture compared with those who continue alendronate for an...

Foot ulcers court comorbidity.(Clinical Capsules)(Disease/Disorder overview)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Many diabetic patients with foot ulcers have peripheral arterial disease, infection, and disabling comorbidities, according to a large European study. Of 1,229 consecutive patients presenting with new foot ulcers at 14 hospitals in 10...

Hb[A.sub.1c] levels predict sepsis outcomes.(Clinical Capsules)
February 1, 2007... Hemoglobin Ale levels at hospital admission are predictive for hospital mortality and length of stay in diabetic patients with sepsis, reported Dr. Ivan Gornik of Rebro University Hospital in Zagreb, Croatia, and associates. The...

Specific changes mark atypical Kawasaki disease.(Infectious Diseases)(Disease/Disorder overview)
February 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Atypical and incomplete Kawasaki disease may be distinguished from other common childhood febrile illnesses by characteristic changes to the extremities, mucosa, conjunctiva, and blood laboratory values, Dr. Fernanda Falcini...

Lyme borreliosis can rest on clinical findings.(Infectious Diseases)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... LAS VEGAS -- Patients who present with localized erythema near the site of a tick bite should not necessarily be referred for laboratory tests, Dr. Jana Hercogova said at a dermatology seminar sponsored by Skin Disease Education Foundation. ...

Integrase inhibitors show promise in HIV therapy: these agents block reproduction by preventing retroviral DNA from incorporating into host cell DNA.(Infectious Diseases)(Clinical report)
February 1, 2007... SAN FRANCISCO -- The expected introduction of the integrase inhibitors will usher in the most exciting time in HIV treatment since the advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy, Dr. George Beatty predicted at a meeting on HIV management...

Effect of nonadherence to HIV therapy varies by individual.(Infectious Diseases)
February 1, 2007... SAN FRANCISCO -- Adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy remains important, even though treatment may be more forgiving of nonadherence than some have suggested, Dr. Kristen M. Ries said at a meeting on HIV management sponsored by the...

Treating recently HIV-infected patients is advised, despite inconclusive data.(Infectious Diseases)
February 1, 2007... SAN FRANCISCO -- Treating a recently infected HIV patient may provide some benefit, particularly if that treatment begins before or within a few weeks of antibody seroconversion, Dr. Frederick Hecht said at a meeting on HIV management sponsored...

Quicker, simpler tests sought for MRSA screening.(Infectious Diseases)
February 1, 2007... Researchers at the Mayo Clinic and elsewhere are racing to develop rapid-detection tests for Staphylococcus aureus, both to better tailor appropriate antibiotic prescribing and to halt the galloping spread of methicillin-resistant strains of...

Ankle-brachial index gauges arterial ulcer risk, outcomes.(Skin Disorders)
February 1, 2007... OTTAWA -- The ankle-brachial index, which indicates the arterial supply to the legs, can help confirm an arterial wound in suspected cases of arterial leg ulcers, Dr. Rob Miller said at the annual conference of the Canadian Association of Wound...

Lab tests, vaccinations key in biologic therapy.(Skin Disorders)
February 1, 2007... NEW YORK -- Psoriasis patients taking biologic therapies require careful monitoring, including a number of lab tests and vaccinations, Dr. Mark Lebwohl said at a meeting on medical and surgical dermatology sponsored by the Mount Sinai School of...

Methotrexate trumped by adalimumab for psoriasis.(Skin Disorders)
February 1, 2007... WHISTLER, B.C. -- Adalimumab was significantly more effective against psoriasis than both methotrexate and placebo were in a double-blind, double-dummy, randomized, controlled phase III trial, Dr. Richard Langley reported at a dermatology...

Consider PHACES syndrome in patients with facial hemangiomas.(Skin Disorders)
February 1, 2007... WILLIAMSBURG, VA. -- A segmental plaquelike facial hemangioma should be a tip-off to evaluate an infant for PHACES syndrome (posterior fossa malformations, hemangiomas, arterial anomalies, coarctation of the aorta and other cardiac defects, eye...

Research elucidates alcohol's effect on the brain.(Mental Health)
February 1, 2007... ORLANDO -- Two neurologic systems reinforce alcohol dependence--both dopamine and serotonin pathways--and make it more difficult for people to stop drinking, according to a presentation at a psychopharmacology congress sponsored by the...

Routine AUDIT identifies problem drinkers early.(Mental Health)(alcohol use disorders identification test)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... BOSTON -- Screening for alcohol problems at primary care visits and in the emergency room could help in the early identification of heavy drinkers who would otherwise not seek treatment, according to a poster presented at the annual meeting of...

Girls with ADHD deserve attention.(Expert Commentary)
February 1, 2007... Too often, girls with attention--deficit hyperactivity disorder are overlooked. As health care professionals, we must not allow this lack of attention to continue. Certainly, boys are diagnosed with ADHD far more often than are girls. Just...

Monitor response to tweak ADHD management.(Mental Health)
February 1, 2007... ORLANDO -- Start with a long-acting stimulant for treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity, disorder for most patients, increase the dose before adding a short-acting drug, and monitor response with a rating scale, Dr. Peter S. Jensen...

Methylphenidate steadies ADHD drivers.(Mental Health)(Drug overview)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... PARIS -- Methylphenidate really can keep people with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder on the straight and narrow, according to a study that was conducted in the Netherlands. Dr. Joris C. Verster and his colleagues at the University...

CDC develops autism education materials.(Mental Health)(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
February 1, 2007... The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in conjunction with its "Learn the Signs. Act Early" campaign, has developed a free resource kit for child care providers and educators about child development and autism. It is hoped that the...

Figure family structure into BRCA screening.(Women's Health)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... SAN ANTONIO -- Consider lowering the threshold for BRCA mutation testing in patients with early-onset breast cancer who have fewer than two first- or second-degree female relatives older than age 45, Dr. Jeffrey N. Weitzel advised at a breast...

Breast cancer prognosis tied tightly to genes.(Women's Health)(Disease/Disorder overview)
February 1, 2007... SAN ANTONIO -- Breast cancer prognosis appears to have a strong and previously unrecognized inherited component, Dr. Mikael Hartman said at a breast cancer symposium sponsored by the Cancer Therapy and Research Center. His study of 2,787...

Suspect ovarian cancer with persistent distention.(Women's Health)
February 1, 2007... SANTA MONICA, CALIF. -- Persistent abdominal distention, but not transient bloating, is associated with ovarian cancer, and clinicians should listen to their patients carefully to distinguish between the symptoms, according to a poster...

Hysteroscopy OK with endometrial cancer history.(Women's Health)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... SANTA MONICA, CALIF. -- While hysteroscopy is the most accurate tool for evaluating abnormal uterine bleeding, the technique can cause the intraperitoneal spread of malignant endometrial cells. This has raised concerns that hysteroscopy might...

Screen pregnant women for depression risk.(Women's Health)
February 1, 2007... SAN FRANCISCO -- Screen pregnant women to identify those who are at increased risk for postpartum depression, and plan home visits by a nurse with the at-risk group 10-14 days after delivery, Dr. Andrea J. Singer said at Perspectives in Women's...

Breast-feeding's benefits outweigh risk of antidepressant exposure.(Women's Health)
February 1, 2007... SAN FRANCISCO -- All psychotropic medications are excreted into breast milk, but the benefits of breast-feeding generally outweigh the relatively small risks to the baby from antidepressants, Dr. Andrea J. Singer said. The nutritional...

ACOG's view on SSRIs.(Drugs, Pregnancy, and Lactation)(selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors)(Clinical report)
February 1, 2007... The multiple recent reports regarding the reproductive safety of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have raised concerns about a spectrum of potentially adverse outcomes associated with SSRI use during pregnancy. But these reports have...

Focus on high-yield tests for running injuries.(Musculoskeletal Disorders)
February 1, 2007... SAN FRANCISCO -- When a patient with a running injury arrives in a busy primary-care office, there's usually not enough time for the provider to do a full orthopedic examination, but several high-yield static assessments can help the provider...

Give OTC orthotic soles a test run before going custom.(Musculoskeletal Disorders)
February 1, 2007... SAN FRANCISCO -- There's no truth in the belief that a person can become dependent on orthotic soles--in fact, orthotics can be very useful in correcting certain foot problems, according to Dr. Anthony Luke, at a conference on sports medicine...

PPI therapy; fracture risk link raises concerns.(Musculoskeletal Disorders)(proton pump inhibitor)
February 1, 2007... Hip fracture risk was increased with long-term use of proton pump inhibitors in a study published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association, and the findings have led to concerns and questions among both gastroenterologists...

Recurrent C. difficile on the rise, no silver bullet.(Digestive Disorders)
February 1, 2007... LAS VEGAS -- When Clostridium difficile disease recurs, look out. It's likely to recur again and again in a cycle that can go on for "months or years," Dr. Christina Surawicz said at the annual meeting of the American College of...

'Throw everything' at refractory C. difficile disease.(Digestive Disorders)(clostridium difficile)
February 1, 2007... LAS VEGAS -- When confronted with severe or refractory Clostridium difficile--associated disease, act fast, act aggressively, and don't be afraid to try unorthodox methods if standard therapies don't work, Dr. Christina Surawicz stressed during...

Crohn's perianal fistulas respond to therapy.(Digestive Disorders)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... ORLANDO -- About 25% of children newly diagnosed with Crohn's disease will develop perianal fistulas within 2 years, but the majority of these fistulas will resolve in response to medical management alone, Dr. David J. Keljo reported at a...

Obesity drugs' benefits may not outweigh risks: the impact on morbidity and mortality is unknown as trial attrition rates were high.(Obesity)
February 1, 2007... Clinical testing on current weight-loss drugs has been inadequate to determine whether their benefits outweigh the risks of long-term use, according to a literature review by Canadian researchers. The review, by Dr. Raj S. Padwal and Dr....

Providers' time, commitment can improve diet adherence.(Obesity)
February 1, 2007... RENO, NEV. -- Improving patient adherence to a diet program requires an investment of time that must include providing specific weight loss goals and asking patients about their progress at every visit, Lora E. Burke, Ph.D., said at the annual...

Urinary potassium sheds light on quality of one's diet.(Obesity)
February 1, 2007... RENO, NEV. -- Twenty-four-hour urinary potassium excretion is an effective clinical marker for diet quality and can be used to identify patients with poor diets, Dr. Alexander G. Logan said at the annual meeting of the American College of...

Pseudoephedrine linked to three infant deaths.(Clinical Rounds)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Three infants died in 2005 after ingesting cough or cold medications containing pseudoephedrine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. The CDC and the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) conducted a joint...

Let frequency, pain guide restless legs treatment.(Clinical Rounds)
February 1, 2007... BALTIMORE -- In the decision of which drug to prescribe a patient with restless legs syndrome, the frequency and painfulness of symptoms are crucial to making the correct choice, Dr. Christopher J. Earley said at a neurology meeting sponsored...

High-altitude seizure rare but real, study finds.(Clinical Rounds)
February 1, 2007... SAN DIEGO -- Patients who visit mountain resort towns in Colorado and other moderately high elevation vacation spots in the United States may face a slight but real increased risk of high-altitude seizures, Dr. Edward H. Maa reported during a...

Misconceptions compound social stigma of epilepsy among youths.(Clinical Rounds)
February 1, 2007... SAN DIEGO -- Studies have suggested that the social environment can be a rocky place for children with epilepsy, Joan K. Austin, D.N.S., said at the annual meetings of the American Epilepsy Society and the Canadian League Against Epilepsy. ...

Children with epilepsy, other disabilities can swallow pills.(Clinical Rounds)
February 1, 2007... SAN DIEGO -- Pediatric epilepsy patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities were able to learn how to swallow divalproex sodium extended-release tablets, results from a small study showed. "What is really important and...

Contrast agents may pose danger in renal disease.(Clinical Rounds)(Disease/Disorder overview)
February 1, 2007... Gadolinium-based contrast agents, when given to patients with renal disease, have been associated with a rare, potentially fatal, sclerodermalike skin disease called nephrogenic systemic fibrosis or nephrogenic fibrosing dermopathy. The...

Byetta, Elestrin.(New & Approved)(Drug overview)
February 1, 2007... Byetta (exenatide injection, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Eli Lilly & Co.) An incretin mimetic approved as adjunctive therapy for people with type 2 diabetes who are using a thiazolidinedione (TZD) alone or with metformin but have not achieved...

Folate intake, AD risk may be linked.(Clinical Capsules)(alzheimer's disease)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... High intake of folate decreased the risk of Alzheimer's disease in a predominantly Hispanic and African American cohort of elderly people, according to Dr. Jose A. Luchsinger of Columbia University, New York, and his associates. There was...

Postpartum depression detailed.(Clinical Capsules)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... New mothers are at increased risk for severe mental disorders from the birth of a first child through 3 months post partum. Fathers are at no such risk, a finding that challenges the proposal that severe postpartum mental disorders also affect...

Waist to hips predicts heart risk.(Clinical Capsules)(Brief article)(Clinical report)
February 1, 2007... Waist-to-hip ratio is an independent predictor of cardiovascular risk in elderly women, but waist circumference is not, according to Dr. Marcos A. S. Cabrera of the State University of Londrina (Brazil) and his associates. Abdominal...

Slower growth behind dip in health spending.(Practice Trends)
February 1, 2007... Overall health spending growth for 2005 hit the lowest level since 1999, largely because of a continuing slowdown in retail prescription drug sales and an increased use of generic drugs, according to a report issued by the Centers for Medicare...

Part D battle begins.(Policy & Practice)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... As promised during the midterm elections, House Democrats began work immediately on tweaking Medicare's Part D drug coverage. Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) along with 189 colleagues, introduced H.R. 4, the Medicare Prescription Drug Price...

Unique new drugs on decline.(Policy & Practice)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... The Food and Drug Administration only approved 18 new molecular entities last year, on par with the previous year, but close to a historic low. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the agency approved at least 20-30 NMEs annually. Among the 18 were...

FDA panels held less often.(Policy & Practice)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... An advocacy group is charging that the FDA is holding outside advisory panel meetings less often than it did a decade ago. Public Citizen's Health Research Group analyzed the 275 advisory committee meetings held from 1997 to 2006. In 1998 and...

2007 advocacy agenda.(Policy & Practice)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Finding a permanent solution to the way Medicare pays physicians is at the top of the agenda for both the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians this year. Congress acted at the end of last year to stop a 5%...

Cancer care time costs add up.(Policy & Practice)
February 1, 2007... The cost of the time spent by cancer patients in fighting their illness amounted to approximately $2.3 billion in 2005, according to a study published in the January issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The researchers...

IOM's four-city series tackles emergency care.(Practice Trends)
February 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Although the federal government should play a key role in repairing the nation's emergency health care system, much of the job of reform may fall on the emergency care community itself, according to health experts, lawmakers, and...

Medicare urged to help reduce health disparities.(Practice Trends)
February 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- As one of the biggest and most influential payers in medicine, Medicare should use its clout to help reduce and eliminate the disparities in care for racial and ethnic minorities, according to a report from an independent panel of...

Hospitals slow to make gainsharing arrangements due to legal fears.(Practice Trends)
February 1, 2007... Hospitals are reluctant to offer physicians a portion of the savings generated by reducing clinical costs a concept known as gainsharing--because of legal fears, D. McCarty Thornton, said during an audioconference on gainsharing sponsored by...

Agency initiates stricter medical glove standards.(Practice Trends)
February 1, 2007... The Food and Drug Administration has issued a final rule that would require medical glove makers to improve their products' ability to serve as a barrier against pathogens. Manufacturers are being given 2 years to comply with the new...

AAFP, coalition seek coverage for the uninsured.(Practice Trends)
February 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The American Academy of Family Physicians, along with a coalition of organizations, is seeking an immediate expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program. SCHIP is up for reauthorization this year. The Health...

Low confidence in spinal fusion not likely to affect coverage.(Practice Trends)
February 1, 2007... A Medicare advisory panel has concluded that it has low confidence in spinal fusion as a treatment for lower-back pain, but for now, the federal insurance program has no plans to deny coverage for the procedure. The Medicare Coverage...