drugs

Freud's 'Talking cure' may actually work

Anne Zieger — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:27:43 -0400

With powerful drugs available, and a range of counseling techniques now in place, few therapists use Sigmund Freud's original approach, typically known as intensive psychoanalytic therapy. Today, however, Dr. Freud's ideas may be making a comeback. Researchers have started to report that this approach can be affective against some chronic mental problems such as anxiety and borderline personality disorder. Article

Study: Drugs may do as well as an angioplasty

Anne Zieger — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:52:28 -0400

In many cases, people with chronic chest pain who aren't at great risk for a heart attack may do much better with drug treatment than an angioplasty, according to a new study. Angioplasty is still the top treatment for people who have a heart attack or are hospitalized with worsening symptoms, but about one-third of angioplasties are done on people who aren't in immediate danger to relieve chest pain. However, these patients are no more likely to die or have a heart attack if treated with drugs alone, researchers concluded.

The study, which appears in the New England Journal of Medicine, finds that the slight lead an angioplasty has over drug treatment at relieving pain in nonemergency cases fades within six months. What's more, within three years, that advantage disappears completely, according to the heart study, which contradicts earlier projects that the lead provided by an angioplasty lasted five years. The study, whose conclusions come from patient self-reports on how they fared after treatment, did note that patients with more severe chest pain recovered better with an angioplasty.

To learn more about the study:
- read this San Francisco Chronicle piece

SPOTLIGHT: Revised study still finds that FDA approval rush may cause harm

Anne Zieger — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:26:37 -0400

Harvard University professor Daniel Carpenter has come out with a revised version of a study concluding that drugs moving too quickly through the FDA approval process are more likely to be linked to safety problems later. Though admitting to data mistakes in his original study, he stands behind his original conclusion, Carpenter says. According to his new numbers, between 1993 and 2005, 88 drugs approved near agency deadlines had a 15 percent chance of being identified as having severe safety problems, as compared with 5 percent of 226 other drugs. Article

NY Medicaid will stop paying for 'never events'

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 06:59:58 -0400

New York's Medicaid program has decided to stop reimbursing for avoidable hospital complications and medical errors it considers to be "never events." Starting in October, it won't pay for care related to 14 conditions, including wrong-site surgery; foreign objects left in the body; medication errors; blood incompatibility; contaminated drugs and patient disability from electric shock. Hospitals that want to receive Medicaid payments will have to prove that such conditions were present on admission to get paid for treating them. Meanwhile, the state expects to keep expanding this list.

To learn more about New York's decision:
- read this Modern Healthcare report (reg. req.)

Related Articles:
By 2008, Medicare won't pay for hospital errors
Business say 'no pay' for major mistakes
PA hospitals won't charge for 'never events'
CIGNA stops paying for its list of never events

ALSO NOTED: Salmonella on Discovery shuttle is first step in biotech space program; After initial shock, providers adjusting to

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 06:59:50 -0400

> The FDA has begun investigating whether autoimmune drugs like Remicade and Humira are linked to childhood cancers. FiercePharma

> A new vaccine research program will put a salmonella strain on the space shuttle Discovery as the first step in an ambitious biotech space program. FierceVaccines

> The industry cried gloom and doom at first, but within only a week, many providers have gotten their act together on using the National Provider Identifier, CMS says. Maybe the transition hasn't been so rough? FierceHealthFinance

> Tacoma, WA-based MultiCare Health System is opening two retail clinics of its own in Rite Aid stores. Article

Related Articles... Hey, if you're Ozzy, it must be nice to have someone say you're not a freak. Article

Study: Hospitalized kids suffer too many infections

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 06:59:54 -0400

A new study released this week concludes that hospitalized children suffer a high rate of infections and other preventable complications that lead to longer stays and cost millions of dollars. The study, which appears in this month's issue of the journal Pediatrics, found that some types of complications occurred in as many as 4 percent of children treated at 38 children's hospitals in the U.S., in part because children are three times more susceptible to infections in hospitals than adults.

To conduct the study, researchers looked at medical records from thousands of children hospitalized in 2006, looking for 12 adverse events identified by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. They found that of 430,000 children hospitalized in 2006, more than 6,600 suffered complications caused by their care, including nearly 3,000 cases of infections caused by care. Complications increased lengths of stay from three days for an accidental laceration to 24 days for sepsis. Added costs ranged from $35,000 to $337,000, researchers concluded.

To learn more about the study:
- read this piece in The Seattle Times

Related Articles:
Quality studies proposed for children's healthcare
Study: Hospitalized kids get off-label drugs

FTC: Pharmas cut 14 deals to delay generic sales in '07

Tue, 27 May 2008 06:59:57 -0400

Makers of brand-name prescription drugs reached 14 agreements with makers of generic drugs to delay the generic drug makers entry into the market, according to a new report released by the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC says these deals, which it has dubbed 'pay-for-delay,' are harmful to consumers, but it hasn't been very successful in blocking them to date. The agency is on record as supporting legislation that would ban such deals, but such measures haven't made much progress on the Hill due to opposition from both brand-name and generic drug makers.

The 14 deals discussed were part of a total of 33 deals between brand-name and generic drug makers for FY 2007 reported to the agency (as required by 2003 Medicare legislation). In each of the 14 deals, the generic maker got some kind of compensation to delay the market entry of their generic product, and in 11 of the agreements, the brand-name drug maker agreed not to sell its own generic when its patents expired.

To learn more from the report, and get more context:
- read this Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report item

Related Articles:
FTC assails generic-delaying deals
FTC criticizes delay of generic competition
AstraZeneca, Par collaborate on authorized generic
US Senate to take on authorized generics

ALSO NOTED: WellPoint exposes patient data; ED visits go up when OR trims Medicaid rolls; and much more...

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 06:59:50 -0400

> Security pros are lambasting WellPoint, which may have inadvertently allowed Web users to access data on 130,000 of its beneficiaries. FierceHealthIT

> A new study has found that when Oregon dropped a large group of Medicaid enrollees, the state's ED traffic went up. FierceHealthFinance

> It seems that pharmaceutical companies are waaaay behind on the drug effectiveness and safety studies that they're supposed to do once the drugs are approved. Surprised? FiercePharma

> Harvard president Drew Faust argues that the government's system for funding biotech research is broken. FierceBiotech

And Finally... What's really entertaining about reading this drug ad parody is that for a minute or two, you don't realize you're being taken for a ride. (Warning: Don't be drinking or eating anything when you read the advisory for squirrels). Site

SPOTLIGHT: FDA can't manage foreign drugmaker inspections

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:59:52 -0400

A new report from the Government Accountability Office has concluded that the FDA doesn't have the resources to properly inspect foreign companies that manufacture drugs or drug ingredients. At present, the FDA can only inspect 8 percent of the more than 3,000 foreign companies that ship such items to the U.S., the GAO told Congress this week. Article

ALSO NOTED: FL hospitals spend $2.35B on uncompensated care; MN HMO gets $6 million bailout; and much more...

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 06:59:50 -0400

> Florida's hospitals have tagged their uncompensated care tab for 2006 at $2.35 billion. Article
> A Minnesota county's HMO plan for the needy has gotten a $6 million bailout intended to keep it in compliance with state law and help it meet minimum reserves levels. Article

> A new report suggests that better staff training could head off many medical data privacy violations. FierceHealthIT

> Increasingly, pharmacy benefit managers are becoming sole distributors for some pricey nice drugs, a practice which lines their pockets but could contribute to drug pricing increases, observers say. FiercePharma

And Finally... Unfortunately, soldiers lose limbs in battle zones--but can those limbs be regrown? The Pentagon thinks the answer might be "yes." Article