June 2nd, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: ACP, Ad Campaign, AMA, American College Of Physicians, American Medical Association, Cardiologists, Cardiology, Congress, Doc Fix, Doc-Fix Bill, Doctors' Pay, Family Medicine, Florida, General Medicine, Internal Medicine, Medical Society, Medicare Patients, Physicians' Salaries, Primary Care Doctors, Private Medical Practice, Robert Centor, Senior-Laden State, Steven Pearlstein
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The American Medical Association will launch a multi-million-dollar ad campaign tomorrow to heighten pressure on Congress for a doc-fix bill. The American College of Physicians (ACP) reacted by calling for doctors to contact their member of Congress directly to let their voices be heard. Robert Centor, FACP, called for doctors to protest as well. (American Medical Association, American College of Physicians, DB’s Rants)
Meanwhile, a Florida medical society predicts a crisis in that senior-laden state. The society cited but did not name eight primary care doctors who’ve stopped accepting Medicare patients this year, and 12 cardiologists who left private practice for employment elsewhere because of already reduced payments. Unbelievably, business columnist Steven Pearlstein sorted through the issues around the doc fix, and concluded that it’s the docs that need fixing for paying themselves generous salaries. (Naples News, The Washington Post) Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
June 2nd, 2010 by GarySchwitzer in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Atrial Fibrillation, CureTogether.com, Dave Hage, E-Patients, Family Medicine, Gary Schwitzer, General Medicine, Health Data Rights, Health Journalism, Healthcare Conflicts of Interest, Healthcare Social Media, HealthNewsReview.org, Internal Medicine, John Fauber, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Multaq, Natasha Singer, New York Times, Online Health Communities, Online Health Conversations, Over-Used Procedures, PatientsLikeMe.com, Personal Health Data, Primary Care, Side Effects, Social Health Media, Social Media Sites, Social Networking, Social Networks, Too Much Medicine, Under-Proven Ailments, When Patients Meet Online
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A couple of health journalism gems you shouldn’t miss just because they were published over the holiday weekend:
Natasha Singer of the New York Times had an important piece, “When Patients Meet Online, Are There Side Effects?,” about privacy concerns when social networking sites like CureTogether.com and PatientsLikeMe.com offer online communities for patients and collect members’ health data for research purposes.
John Fauber of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel published another in his “Side Effects” series on conflicts of interest in healthcare. This one was about doctors vouching for the drug Multaq for treating atrial fibrillation without ever having seen all of the data.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune began a “Too Much Medicine” series. Health editor Dave Hage informs that they’ve been working on this project for nearly a year with plans for a few more installments in coming months, each covering different ailments and procedures that are over-used or under-proven. (Unfortunately, I think the series is only available in the print editions.)
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
June 1st, 2010 by BobDoherty in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: ACP, American College Of Physicians, Congress, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare reform, Healthcare Reform Law, Internal Medicine, Medicare SGR Cut, Primary Care
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Instead of blogging (again) about Congress’s failure to stop the 21% Medicare SGR cut, which went into effect today, I could just re-run my April 16 post. I wrote then:
“It is the failure of both political parties, over many years, to honestly deal with the SGR, including the cost of getting rid of it, which has resulted in the current ongoing SGR farce. And yet members of Congress wonder why the public holds them in such low regard.”
Blogging in DB’s Medicare Rants, Dr. Bob Centor captures the outrage felt by most physicians:
“I am mad. Every physician I know is mad. Patients should join us in expressing anger. Physicians cannot trust Congress if they cannot repair this absurdity.”
(Bob references ACP’s statement, released on Friday; click here to read it in its entirety.)
That Congress allowed politics again to get in the way of doing what is best for patients makes my blood boil. Voters can and should hold them accountable. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty*
June 1st, 2010 by Peggy Polaneczky, M.D. in Better Health Network, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Art, Assisted Reproductive Technology, Autism, Autistic Children, Fertility Treatment, In Vitro Fertilization, Infertility, International Meeting for Autism Research, IVF, Obstetrics And Gynecology, Pediatrics
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In the latest media barrage on autism, fertility treatment has come into question as a possible cause for this increasingly common developmental disorder. The reason is two research abstracts recently presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research in Philadelphia.
One study assessed the history of IVF (in vitro fertilization) among 574 children evaluated at a special center for autism in Israel. The researchers found that 10% of the group diagnosed as autistic had had IVF, compared to a background rate in the overall population which they quote as 3.5%. Not surprisingly, maternal age was higher in the IVF group and the rate of prematurity was higher in the autistic children.
The second study was a look into a pre-existing database — the Nurse’s Health Study — which collects data from a cohort of nurses over time. The researchers compared the reproductive history reported by women who also reported having a child with autism and compared it to that of women who did not report having an autistic child. Of those with autistic children, 48% reported infertility with 34% having used ovulation inducing drugs, compared with 33% and 24%, respectively, in women without autistic children, a difference that was statistically significant when controlled for maternal age and self-reported pregnancy complications.
A Time article getting a lot of media play calls the results of the second study “some of the strongest evidence to date” linking autism to fertility treatment. Unfortunately, that’s just not true. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Blog that Ate Manhattan*
June 1st, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: American Society of Clinical Oncology, Breast Cancer, CAM, Cancer Diagnosis, Cancer Survivors, Cancer Treatment, Community and Preventive Medicine, Complementary And Alternative Medicine, Daytime Sleepiness, Diagnosed With Cancer, Diaster Relief Medical Care, Dr. Karen Mustian, Fatigue, Grace Cheng, Haiti, Nurse Volunteer, Radiation Oncology, RN, Sleep Aid, Sleep Apnea, Sleep Disturbance, Sleep Medication, Sleep Medicine, Sleep Quality, Sleeplessness, University of Rochester-New York, Yoga
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People who’ve been diagnosed cancer can be heartened by the results of a study that will be presented June 5 at the upcoming American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting. The researchers found that the practice of yoga helped cancer survivors improve sleep quality and reduce fatigue.
The lead researcher, Dr. Karen Mustian, professor of Radiation Oncology and Community and Preventive Medicine at the University of Rochester in New York, followed 410 patients who had already completed treatment for cancer but who experienced sleep disturbance that required medication. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
