U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is pressing the international community to urgently respond to a shortage of doctors, nurses and equipment to stem the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Ban said at a news conference Tuesday that a coordinated global response is essential. Ban announced that he has appointed U.N. public health expert David Nabarro to coordinate the world body's effort to fight Ebola after consulting with U.N. health chief Margaret Chan. Nabarro has led earlier U.N. efforts to combat infectious diseases, including SARS.
Regulators need to provide a clearer direction for the 22-year-old federal program that provides drug discounts to safety net hospitals, researchers argued in a new paper. The RAND Corp. said the so-called 340B program faces uncertainty when it comes to eligibility and transparency that pose challenges to healthcare providers and drug companies. "Policymakers need a clear, objective description of the 340B program and the challenges it faces on the road ahead," said Andrew Mulcahy, the report's lead author, in a statement. "There are increasingly divergent views on the program's purpose and the role it should play in supporting safety net providers."
The risk of a major complication of childbirth can be up to five times higher at one hospital versus another, a new study finds. But there's no way expectant mothers can tell the high-risk hospitals from the low — at least, not yet. A study in this month's Health Affairs is the first ever to examine hospitals' childbirth complication rates on a national basis. Authors looked at a representative sample of more than 750,000 deliveries that took place in 2010 at hospitals large and small, urban and rural, including both teaching and community institutions. Major complications include hemorrhaging, infections, vaginal lacerations and blood clots. Unlike major complications from, say, cardiac surgery, these obstetrical glitches are not generally life-threatening.
The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved the first screening test for colon cancer that uses patients' DNA to help spot potentially deadly tumors and growths. The Cologuard test from Exact Sciences detects irregular mutations in stool samples that can be an early warning sign of cancer. Patients who test positive for the mutations should undergo a colonoscopy to confirm the results. Doctors have long used stool tests to look for hidden blood that can be a warning sign of tumors and precancerous polyps. But company studies of Cologuard showed that it was more accurate at detecting cancerous tumors and worrisome polyps than traditional stool blood tests.
The recall of a medical device commonly used in hysterectomies means as many as 50,000 women who get the procedures each year will face more invasive options. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned that power morcellators, used to shave uterine tissue into tiny pieces that can be extracted through tiny abdominal incisions, may also spread hidden cancer into other parts of the body. Johnson & Johnson, the largest maker of the devices, withdrew them from the market two weeks ago. In addition, Highmark Inc., one of the country's largest Blue Cross Blue Shield plan insurers with 5.2 million customers across Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Delaware, said it will stop coverage of laparoscopic power morcellation, effective Sept. 1, according to several news reports.
It is depressing how often people laugh when I mention that I am trying to teach doctors about nutrition. The scant amount doctors learn about nutrition has been an embarrassment for at least 120 years. In fact, W.G. Thompson, a famous medical educator, complained about it in the introduction of his medical textbook on nutrition in 1895. Not only are we doctors poorly educated in nutrition, but there is a serious absence of funding to properly answer some of the most important questions that all nutrition specialists are being asked.