December 2nd, 2010 by AnneHansonMD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: American Psychiatric Association, APA, California, Correctional Facilities, Correctional Systems, Dr. Anne Hanson, Mental Deterioration, Mental Health, Mental Health Services, Prison Overcrowding, Prison System, Prisoner Health, Prisoners As Patients, Psychiatry and Psychology, Psychological Problems, Schwarzenegger Vs. Plata
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In California, the U.S. district court has ordered that tens of thousands of prisoners be released to reduce overcrowding. The case, Schwarzenegger v. Plata, was argued this past Tuesday and the transcript is online.
This is relevant to a psychiatry blog because one of the arguments used in support of the releases is the contention that overcrowded facilities reduce access to mental health and medical services and that overcrowding causes mental deterioration and breakdown. The APA filed an amicus brief in the case, but the brief isn’t available online yet. (Keep an eye out for it here.)
The challenge with this case is that there is no (or extremely little) actual research to support the link between overcrowding and psychological problems. Correctional systems have spent a lot of time litigating issues — and experts make a fair amount of money working on these cases — without actual data. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Shrink Rap*
December 2nd, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: BBC Radio 4's Today, Clinical Testing, Doctors As Paid Consultants, Doctors Speaking Out, Dr. Peter Wimshurst, Dr. Wes Fisher, Freedom Of Speech For Doctors, Libel, Medical Device Companies, Medical Investigators, Medical Lawsuits, Medical Litigation, NMT Medical, Patent Foramen Ovale, PFO, Physician Opinion, Scientists' Rights To Free Academic Debate, Starflex
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Imagine having a medical device that is being tested in multiple centers, but one doctor thinks the device has problems. He says so at a national conference despite glowing reviews by others. Should the company sue the doctor for liable and remove him from their investigative panel?
Today, it seems that might not be such a good idea. This is, in fact, what NMT Medical did regarding comments made by Peter Wilmshurst, M.D. regarding NMT’s patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure device called Starflex:
NMT sued Dr. Wilmshurst for libel after he criticized its research at a US cardiology conference in 2007. The doctor vowed to take the case to trial in order to defend scientists’ rights to free academic debate.
The company threatened Dr. Wilmshurst with libel a second time for subsequent comments he made about the case on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
December 2nd, 2010 by RamonaBatesMD in Better Health Network, News, Opinion, Research, True Stories
Tags: Double-Hand Transplant, Dr. Ramona Bates, Dr. Richard Edwards, Hand Or Arm Transplantation, Jeff Kepner, Limb Rejection, Limb Transplant, Loss Of Limbs, Louisville, New Limbs, Otto Bock DynamicArm, Patient Satisfaction, Prosthetics, Rejection By The Body, Suture For A Living, Tammy Chinander, The Jewish Hospital Hand Care Center, Transplantation Surgery
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Dr. Richard Edwards, a chiropractor from Oklahoma and the nation’s third double-hand transplant, was recently in the news again. This time it a report that he “may lose the fingertips on his right thumb and pinkie because his body started to reject the new limbs.”
Dr. Edwards’ surgery was live tweeted when it was done in August by Louisville surgeons at The Jewish Hospital Hand Care Center.
Jeff Kepner, the first patient in the United States to receive two hands simultaneously, experienced an episode of rejection which was dealt with successfully.
Rejection is never a good thing in a transplant patient no matter which organ or body part is transplanted. Even though I applaud the advances being made, we must always consider the cost of the proposed treatment and ask: Is there a better option for this individual? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
December 2nd, 2010 by Steve Novella, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Altered Genetics, Cloned Animals, Cloned Cows, Cloning, Dairy Products, Dr. Steve Novella, European Union, Food Safety, Genetically-Modified Food, Health Risk From Food, Human Food Chain, Human Food Consumption, Meat Production, Nutrition, Safe Diet, SBM, Science Based Medicine, UE, UK Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes
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The controversy over the human consumption of meat and dairy products from cloned cows continues. The UK Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes, after reviewing the evidence, concluded that there was no substantial difference between meat and dairy from cloned cows compared to conventional cows. However, food products from cloned animals and their offspring remain banned in Europe.
Use of offspring of cloned cows, sheep and pigs are legal in the U.S., South America, and Asia. Australia is likely to follow suit in a year or two. The European Union (EU) has an effective ban at the moment, but the policy is under review. The UK is also negotiating with the EU regarding the use of clones.
There is not much of a theoretical reason to suspect that cloned animals would present a health risk. The primary concern is that something unanticipated might have occurred during the cloning process, causing the animal to be genetically or developmentally abnormal. However, if the cloning process works properly this should not happen. Further, if mutations do occur but the animal lives, it is likely that any changes do not represent a risk to humans who consume the meat or dairy from such clones. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
December 2nd, 2010 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Better Health Network, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: AATAC Trial, AF Ablation, American Heart Association, Amiodarone, Anti-Arrhythmic Drugs, Antiarrhythmic Drugs, Atrial Fibrillation, Cardiac Arrhythmia, Cardiac Electrophysiology, Cardiac Procedures, Cardiovascular Drugs, Catheter Ablation, CHF, Circulation, Congestive Heart Failure, Dr. John Mandrola, Dr. Karl-Heinz Kuck, Hamburg, ICD, Implantable Cardiac Defibrillator, New England Journal of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
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In treating atrial fibrillation (AF), this year has witnessed some real excitement. And not all the good news has to do with new pills. Recently, there has been a flurry of encouraging and objective news on ablating AF. Here are some comments on three notable studies that address three important questions:
1. What are the “long-term” success rates of AF ablation?
On this important question comes an American Heart Association (AHA) abstract from the highly-regarded lab of Dr. Karl-Heinz Kuck in Hamburg. They report on a relatively young cohort of 161 patients who underwent AF ablation (using standard pulmonary vein isolation techniques) in 2003-2004. At an average of five years of follow up, more than 80 percent were either AF-free or “clinically improved.”
Real-world impression: Although late recurrences of AF years after successful ablation have been reported, my impression (having started with AF ablation in 2004) is that most who are AF-free off drugs after one year have remained AF-free thus far. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*
