OB GYN News articles from January 2001

OB GYN News archives from January 2001

Prevent Missed Breast Ca Diagnoses.
January 1, 2001... CHICAGO -- Abiopsy should always be considered when a breast lump is detected, even if the woman is young, pregnant, or lactating according to Dr. John Knaus. Breast cancer is the leading diagnosis that ob.gyns. are sued for missing. ...

Estrogen Halts Atherosclerosis in Low-Risk Women.
January 1, 2001... After 2 years of estrogen therapy, carotid wall thickness had not increased. NEW ORLEANS -- Hormone replacement therapy halted atherosclerosis in a study of postmenopausal women who had no evidence of preexisting cardiovascular disease....

Membership Woes Weigh Heavily on AMA Delegates.
January 1, 2001... Overhaul of organized medicine planned. ORLANDO, FLA. -- The American Medical Association is in the throes of some serious soul searching. Few issues occupied the leaders more at this year's interim meeting of the House of Delegates...

EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION.
January 1, 2001... Ongoing efforts to improve patient access to emergency contraception options should be intensified, and physicians should be encouraged to educate patients about these options as long as such activities don't violate personally held moral...

PRENATAL HIV SCREENING.
January 1, 2001... Despite existing AMA policy supporting routine HIV screening in pregnant women, a resolution calling for the AMA to push for federal legislation mandating such screening was struck down following overwhelming oppositional testimony. Rather than...

GENDER-BASED HEALTH DIFFERENCES.
January 1, 2001... Stepped-up efforts to study women's health and include more women in clinical trials is a recent trend that was lauded by the delegates, who asked the AMA to provide educational resources on sex-based differences in health and disease. The AMA...

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
January 1, 2001... Physicians need better training to care for victims of domestic violence, and they need to be reimbursed fairly for all aspects of this care, the delegates said. They asked the AMA to establish a committee to determine the skills needed to care...

FLU VACCINE.
January 1, 2001... Don't let it happen again--that was the message delegates sent to the AMA regarding the 2000 flu vaccine crisis. To prevent such a crisis in the future, distribution channels should be prioritized based on who will provide the vaccine to the...

STREAMLINING DRUG APPROVAL.
January 1, 2001... Promising drugs for cancer and other serious conditions must be made more readily available for compassionate use, the delegates agreed. They asked the AMA to urge the Food and Drug Administration to find new ways to expand access to such...

AUTOMATIC DRUG SUBSTITUTIONS.
January 1, 2001... The delegates dug in their heels against automatic therapeutic substitution of medications and reaffirmed existing AMA policy that supports prohibition of substitutions without specific approval by the prescribing physician. In a related...

PREVENTIVE CARE.
January 1, 2001... Delegates asked the AMA to push for Medicare reimbursement of evidence-based preventive services and to investigate how such coverage could be extended without having to change federal law for each service to be covered.

PHYSICIAN PRESCRIBING DATA.
January 1, 2001... The AMA will study legal means for stopping drug companies from gaining access to data on individual physician prescribing patterns and for preventing pharmacies and third-party payers from releasing this type of information. These practices,...

Government Gobbledygook.
January 1, 2001... I stopped using the expression "It's not rocket science" a couple of years ago after a Mars probe failed because engineers forgot to convert from English units to metric, costing us untold millions of dollars. Officials at the Health Care...

Correction.
January 1, 2001... In the article "Hospitals Restrict Misoprostol Use" (Nov. 15, 2000, p. 1), Dr. George Huggins was misidentified. He is chairman of the department of gynecology and obstetrics at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore.

LETTERS.
January 1, 2001... Physician Physical Fitness I just could not let the letter by Dr. David A. Rivera go unanswered ("Obesity Revisited," Nov. 1, 2000, p. 7). Why do obese people act as if they are innocent victims of a condition that randomly afflicted...

Be on the Lookout for Factitious Preterm Labor.
January 1, 2001... KAMUELA, HAWAII -- It is worth considering a diagnosis of factitious disorder in a pregnant woman who presents three or more times for uterine contractions in the absence of cervical changes, especially if her complaints begin early in...

Early Testing Can Miss Asymptomatic Bacteriuria in Pregnancy.
January 1, 2001... AMELIA ISLAND, FLA. -- Doing a urine culture for asymptomatic bacteriuria during the first trimester only is no guarantee of perinatal safety Dr. June Carroll reported at the annual meeting of the North American Primary Care Research Group. ...

High TSH in Second Trimester Tied to Miscarriage.
January 1, 2001... Elevated levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone in the second trimester are associated with a fourfold increase in the rate of late fetal death, according to results of a large population-based study. The rate of late fetal death was 3.8% among...

Vitamin [B.sub.6] Can Reduce Nausea in Pregnancy.
January 1, 2001... SARASOTA, FLA. -- Severe nausea and vomiting in pregnancy can be significantly reduced with a simple vitamin [B.sub.6] supplement, according to one expert. In fact, nonpharmacologic remedies are the best first-line treatment for this...

Reevaluate Necessity of Anticonvulsants in Pregnancy.
January 1, 2001... SARASOTA, FLA. - Epileptics who are on anticonvulsant therapy during pregnancy have a 5% risk of fetal malformations, which is double the risk seen in the general population, Dr. Jennifer R. Niebyl said at a perinatal symposium sponsored by...

DRUGS, PREGNANCY, AND LOCATION.
January 1, 2001... Common Misperceptions About Drug Safety OB.GYN. NEWS is pleased to welcome a new contributor to Drugs, Pregnancy and Lactation, Dr. Gideon Koren, who is professor of pediatrics, pharmacology pharmacy, medicine, and medical genetics at the...

Advocates Push for OTC Access To Emergency Contraceptive Pills.
January 1, 2001... NEW YORK -- The debate over whether women or their physicians should control access to oral contraceptives is moving into the territory of emergency contraception. While a quiet debate has persisted for decades as to whether oral...

BV Rates High in Lesbian and Bisexual Women.
January 1, 2001... High rates of bacterial vaginosis and hepatitis were noted in women who have sex with women, but these women also had more male and female sexual partners and reported more risk-raking behaviors, reported Dr. Katherine Fethers of Sydney...

Alendronate Not Tied to Serious Upper GI Events.
January 1, 2001... NEW YORK -- Reassuring news regarding the gastrointestinal toxicity of oral alendronate was provided by multiple studies presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology. Two large Merck-sponsored studies...

Device Removal Not Needed Before Voiding.
January 1, 2001... HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. - An experimental female continence control device that is placed inside the urethra can help control stress urinary incontinence without having to be removed before voiding, according to results of a pilot study...

ABORTION 'GAG RULE' LIFTED.
January 1, 2001... The Clinton administration has repealed a "gag rule" that prevented U.S. family planning funds from being distributed to overseas clinics that provide abortions or engage in abortion advocacy using their own funds. The restriction has been in...

PRACTITIONER DATA BANK FLAWED.
January 1, 2001... The management of the National Practitioner Data Bank "needs improvement," according to a report from the U.S. General Accounting Office. The Health Resources and Services Administration has long suspected that information goes underreported to...

HEALTH CARE FRAUD TOPS LIST.
January 1, 2001... Health care fraud cases once again topped the list of civil fraud recoveries, bringing in more than $840 million this year, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a recent statement. This amount included the largest civil fraud recovery ever--a...

SUING FOR SEX BIAS CRIMES.
January 1, 2001... In a measure unprecedented elsewhere in the nation, New York City will likely become the first jurisdiction to allow women to sue their attackers for gender bias crimes such as rape and domestic assault. The bill, which was passed by the New...

DUTCH LEGALIZE EUTHANASIA.
January 1, 2001... In a final step that legitimized a practice that has been going on in the country for more than 20 years, the Dutch Parliament has voted to legalize doctor-assisted suicide. Derek Humphry, president of the Euthanasia Research and Guidance...

Diabetes.
January 1, 2001... Fiberus Maximus Recommendations on dietary fiber intake in patients with type 2 diabetes may need to be revised in light of new evidence of impressive benefit with a high-fiber diet. Dr. Manisha Chandalia of the University of Texas in...

GI Disorders.
January 1, 2001... Reflux Precedes Coughing Half of all coughing and wheezing episodes in asthma patients are temporally associated with esophageal acid reflux, Dr. Amnon Sonnenberg said at the annual meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology in...

Dermatology.
January 1, 2001... Dermatitis in a Jar? Women who routinely use night cream, moisturizer, and foundation makeup have a 13-fold higher risk of developing perioral dermatitis than those who don't use such cosmetics, said Dr. Rita Malik and Dr. Christopher...

Mental Health.
January 1, 2001... BMI's Emotional Risks Underweight and obese individuals have an increased risk of depression and anxiety, according to an analysis of more than 80,000 responses to a national population-based survey of health and functioning. The...

Menopause Guidelines.
January 1, 2001... "Guidelines for Counseling Women on the Management of Menopause" includes basic principles of patient counseling, topics to cover in counseling, information on methods for managing symptoms and diseases of advancing age, and resources for...

Irritable Bowel Brochure.
January 1, 2001... The American Digestive Heath Foundation has published a patient education brochure on irritable bowel syndrome. To order the brochure call 800-668-5237 or visit www.adhf.org and link to the Functional GI Disorders Education Campaign.

Heart Failure Support Site.
January 1, 2001... Part of the American Heart Association's Web site is now devoted to congestive heart failure and related issues. Located at wwwamericanheart.org/chf, the site includes a caregiver's guide; information about the condition, treatments, diet, and...

Colon Cancer Booklet.
January 1, 2001... The Stop Colon/Rectal Cancer Foundation is offering a booklet, "The Cancer Nobody Has to Have and How to Stop It," with facts about the disease and its symptoms and advice on screening. For a free copy, send a business-size, self-addressed,...

Guideline Tutorial CD.
January 1, 2001... The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has created a tutorial on CD-ROM to help users navigate the National Guideline Clearinghouse. The NGC is a database of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines located online at...

Handwashing Campaign.
January 1, 2001... Kimberly-Clark Corp.'s "Handwashing Campaign" is designed to remind people about the importance of proper handwashing. The corporation will provide, free of charge, a poster, how-to signs, static-cling signs for use on mirrors, a button, and...

STD, AIDS Hotline.
January 1, 2001... The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has merged its national STD and AIDS hot lines. The new CDC hotline provides callers with confidential answers to questions about STDs and HIV/AIDS, referrals, and free printed materials.

Lupus Research Alliance.
January 1, 2001... The Alliance for Lupus Research will award $12 million worth of grants over a 3-year period to research projects that expedite improved treatments for systemic lupus erythematosus and lead to its prevention and cure within the next 10 years....

VITAL SIGNS.
January 1, 2001... VITAL SIGNS Top 10 Drugs Prescribed by Ob.Gyns. From July 1999 to June 2000 Prescriptions % of All Ob.Gyn. (in...

Self-Exam Shower Cards.
January 15, 2001... New shower cards illustrating how to perform breast and testicular self-exams are offered by the American Institute for Preventive Medicine. The cards feature a chart of common health tests and 12 monthly punch-out reminders. They are available...

CLINICAL PEARLS PHYSICIAN, HEAL THYSELF.
January 15, 2001... I know many physicians, but few seem really happy. I'm no philosopher, but 2 decades of practice have taught me a thing or two about the meaning of life. Here are some pearls that have helped me enormously. Happy New Year! * Play the dying...

Booklet on Oral Contraceptives.
January 15, 2001... Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical now offers its patient information booklet "Questions & Answers on Ortho Tri-Cyclen (norgestimate/ethinyl estradiol) Tablets and OrthoCyclen (norgestimate/ethinyl estradiol) Tablets" on its Web site in 20 languages....

Large-Surface Laser.
January 15, 2001... The UltraPulse Encore is a compact [CO.sub.2] laser that delivers 60 W of continuous wave energy and 60 W of pulsed energy, and is strong enough to ablate large surface areas such as vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia. Accessories include...

Night Sweats Sleepwear.
January 15, 2001... HotMama sleep apparel is made with DuPont CoolMax fabric that wicks moisture away from the skin. Designed for women with night sweats or hot flashes, the garments come in various colors and sizes from small to extra-extra large. They are...

Breast-Shaped Bottle.
January 15, 2001... The Adiri Breastbottle imitates the shape, feel, and function of a real breast. The nipple can be sucked far back into the baby's mouth like a real nipple, and it is designed to minimize air ingestion. The wide design of the 7-ounce,...

Anesthesia for Surgery.
January 15, 2001... Naropin (ropivacaine HCl) Injection, indicated for the production of local or regional anesthesia for surgery, postoperative pain management, and obstetric procedures, is now approved for a dose increase from 5.0 mg/mL to 7.5 mg/mL. The...

Triple-Whammy Weight Loss.
January 15, 2001... More seems to be, well, more when it comes to getting patients to lose weight. Weight loss programs that make aggressive use of behavioral modification therapy, diet, and drug therapy significantly improve patient outcomes at 1 year,...

Waterproof Doppler Probe.
January 15, 2001... The 2-MHz waterproof probe for Elite hand-held Dopplers is designed for use in late-stage pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Elite Dopplers can be customized with an optional digital display, standard or rechargeable batteries, and 2-, 3-, 5-, or...

Talking Medication Reminder.
January 15, 2001... MEDGlider, a pocket-sized combination pill case and reminder device, can be programmed for four alerts each day Users are notified via recorded voice message, beeping alarm, or blinking light. Missed dosages are indicated on the device's liquid...

Long-Term Treatment of Obesity.
January 15, 2001... The maintenance of weight loss requires the long-term treatment of obesity. Unfortunately most physicians stop treating obesity once patients have reached their weight loss goals. The result is that the patients gain back the weight they lost...

New Hypertension Advisory.
January 15, 2001... A new advisory statement from the National High Blood Pressure Education Program is urging physicians to manage middle-aged hypertensive patients with a KISS: Keep It Simply Systolic. The new recommendations insist that control of systolic...

Hypertension in Women.
January 15, 2001... In women only, higher systolic pressure confers an increased risk for hypertension, according to data obtained from 55,000 physicians and other health professionals. Diastolic blood pressure doesn't predict cardiovascular risk in women...

REPORT ON MEDICATION ERRORS.
January 15, 2001... Most medication errors do not result in patient harm, according to a new report from the United States Pharmacopeia. The report focuses only on medication errors, unlike the widely discussed Institute of Medicine report, which focused on all...

Medical School Applications Continue to Decline.
January 15, 2001... WASHINGTON -- The number of medical school applicants has dipped sharply over the past 4 years, from a record of 46,968 applicants in 1996 to only 37,137 applicants in 2000, Association of American Medical Colleges President Jordan J. Cohen...

Tamiflu.
January 15, 2001... (oseltamivir phosphate, Hociae and Gilead Sciences) An oral antiviral for preventing influenza A and B in adults and children 13 years and older. Previously approved for treating tancomplicated influenza. The first neuraminidase inhibitor...

Protopic.
January 15, 2001... (tacrolimus ointment 0.1%, 0.03%, Fujisawa Healthcare) A topical formulation of an immunosuppressant drug for treating moderate to severe atopic dermatitis patients aged 2 years and older for whom the use of alternative, conventional...

Biofeedback Fights Constipation.
January 15, 2001... Biofeedback is an effective long-term therapy for the most common cause of chronic constipation, Dr. Satish S.C. Rao reported at the annual meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology in New York. Roughly 50% of all cases of chronic...

PPI Secrets.
January 15, 2001... Nearly half of patients on proton pump inhibitor therapy experience acid-breakthrough symptoms for which they take over-the-counter remedies--and most of them don't ever tell about it. This was a key finding in a national telephone survey...

MAMMOGRAPHY ACCESS PROBLEM?
January 15, 2001... A recent article in the Wall Street Journal contended that low reimbursement for mammograms has caused some mammography centers nationwide to shut down, creating an access problem for women seeking mammograms. The article cited the New York...

ABORTION TRAINING.
January 15, 2001... The number of ob.gyn. residency programs offering abortion training is increasing. A study published in the November/December issue of Family Planning Perspectives details a 1998 National Abortion Federation survey of 179 ob.gyn. residency...

No Hepatitis B DNA Found in Amniotic Fluid.
January 15, 2001... KAMUELA, HAWAII -- It is unlikely that fetuses acquire hepatitis B infection from their mothers during amniocentesis, even though maternal blood enters the intrauterine cavity during 38%-90% of procedures, according to Dr. Craig V. Towers. ...

Intrathecal Narcotics Relieve Pain for 120 Minutes.
January 15, 2001... AMELIA ISLAND, FLA. -- Intrathecal narcotics are easier to use than epidurals, but patients need to be informed that the analgesic effect during labor is not long lasting, Dr. Patricia Fontaine said at the annual meeting of the North American...

Postpartum Depression Tied To Social Isolation.
January 15, 2001... Screening women in late pregnancy for psychological distress and social isolation may identify those at risk for postpartum depression, according to Dr. D. Nielsen Forman of Aarhus (Denmark) University and associates. They enrolled more...

New Ultrasound Imagers Offer Fast Fetal ECHO.
January 15, 2001... NEW ORLEANS -- A new generation of portable hand-held ultrasound imagers no bigger than a laptop shows great promise for point-of-care fetal echocardiographic screening, Dr. Margarete Olivier said at the annual scientific sessions of the...

Forceps Linked to Stress Urinary Incontinence.
January 15, 2001... KAMUELA, HAWAII -- When Dr. Katherine Van Kessel decided to look back at the obstetric records of women who developed severe stress urinary incontinence, her hunch was that she would find a link to a prolonged second stage of labor. What...

DISCRIMINATION AND CONTRACEPTION.
January 15, 2001... The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has upheld charges of sex discrimination that two women filed against their employers for not covering the cost of prescription contraception drugs. The employers violated federal...

New IUD Can Be Used Up to 5 Years.
January 15, 2001... WASHINGTON --A highly effective, easily reversible intrauterine device that releases a low level of levonorgestrel and can be kept in place for up to 5 years will be available in the United States early this year. The IUD, which will be...

U.S. Breast Cancer Mortality Drops 20% in the 1990s.
January 15, 2001... Credit given to improvements in public awareness, chemotherapy, tamoxifen. SAN ANTONIO -- The unprecedented 20% national declines in breast cancer mortality during the 1990s were due to a series of modest additive improvements in therapy...

Abnormal Fetal Heart Rate Is Important Rupture Clue.
January 15, 2001... Uterine rupture rate of 1.7% in VBAC study. KAMUELA, HAWAII -- A non-reassuring fetal heart rate tracing was the predominant sign of impending or actual uterine rupture in a community hospital study of women attempting a trial of labor...

Nonsurgical Approach to Permanent Contraception Investigated.
January 15, 2001... ORLANDO, FLA. -- Permanent contraception may one day be available without surgery. A new technique known as the selective tubal occlusion procedure (STOP) involves the use of an experimental device that is implanted within the fallopian...

Smoking Cessation: What Works?
January 15, 2001... It is no longer appropriate for physicians to wonder if it is their job to address patients' tobacco use or if they will be directly reimbursed for such work. It is time for them to turn to this question instead: What works? New prevention...

PRO & CON.
January 15, 2001... Should mild hypertension be treated routinely with drug therapy? Dr. Stevo Julius is professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and is the Heutwell Professor of Hypertension. YES Hypertension is a slowly...

Dietary Flaxseed May Relieve Cyclic Mastalgia.
January 15, 2001... SAN ANTONIO -- Dietary flaxseed proved to be an effective nonpharmacologic therapy for cyclic breast pain in a double-blind, randomized clinical trial. Eating a single daily muffin containing 25 g of ground flaxseed resulted in a...

Wristband Uses Acupressure to Prevent Nausea.
January 15, 2001... SAN DIEGO -- Acupressure applied by a specially designed wristband is significantly more effective than placebo in preventing postle paoscopy nausea and vomiting, Dr. Robert Harrison said at the annual meeting of the American Society for...

Endometriosis Tied to Laparoscopic Complications.
January 15, 2001... ORLANDO, FLA. -- The complication rate associated with laparoscopic entry devices appears high in women with endometriosis, and trocar-related injuries are a particular problem, according to presentations made at the annual meeting of the...

Uterus Removal Aided by Electric Morcellation.
January 15, 2001... ORLANDO, FLA. - Laparoscopic removal of a large uterus can be safely accomplished if the uterus is electrically morcellated, Dr. Marlan Schwartz reported at the annual meeting of the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists. ...

Residents' Skills on Par With Senior Surgeons'.
January 15, 2001... CHICAGO - Residents performed pelvic reconstructive surgery as well as more senior physicians did in a study conducted at a single institution, Dr. Kim W. Coates said at the annual meeting of the Central Association of Obstetricians and...