nih

Study: Family medicine woefully underrepresented at NIH

Anne Zieger — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:56:11 -0500

A new study has found that family physicians and departments of family medicine are woefully underrepresented in grants from the NIH. Researchers from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation analyzed data about NIH grants from 2002 to 2006. They found that grants to family medicine accounted for a measly 0.2 percent of the total grants given out in 2006.

Perhaps part of this comes from the lack of representation for family medicine on NIH advisory committees. Family medicine department members only accounted for 21 of the 5,500 on an NIH committee or subcommittee, and only nine of those 21 members were actually family physicians.

Perhaps these findings, which appear in the Annals of Internal Medicine, will push the NIH to make efforts to increase the representation of family physicians in its funding.

To learn more about the study:
- read this Washington Post piece

NIH offers free care to patients with rare illnesses

Wed, 21 May 2008 06:59:54 -0400

The NIH has launched a new pilot program designed to find patients with rare, hard-to-detect diseases and treat them--for free. The new Undiagnosed Disease Program is far from a panacea for such patients, as it can only take about 100 applicants per year, but it does offer help for some. NIH officials, for their part, hope that in treating such illnesses, they'll find clues for treating more common maladies.

The new program is aimed at patients who typically would be turned away from NIH programs because there are no studies for their condition, either because the condition is rare or because it may not have been discovered yet.

To learn more about the program:
- read this Associated Press article

ALSO NOTED: Healthcare orgs still hiring despite downturn; Data breach affects U.S. Representative; and much more...

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 06:59:50 -0400

> Despite other blows to the U.S. economy, it looks like healthcare organizations are still hiring. Article

> It looks like a recent security breach in which an NIH laptop got stolen may have exposed the personal data of a privacy-conscious U.S. Representative. FierceHealthIT

> The U.S. Dept. of Labor has given a Washington community college $1.8 million to help it expand its nursing program. Article

> Researchers are preparing to move ahead with the first human trials of an ebola vaccine. FierceVaccines

And Finally... OK, maybe in a video game, but in real life, hedgehogs aren't weapons. Article

ALSO NOTED: TN Medicaid to test e-prescribing program; NIH alerts patients of stolen personal information; and much more...

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 07:59:50 -0400

> Tennessee's Medicaid program and one of its Medicaid managed care providers have announced that they plan to kick off an e-prescribing pilot program in 13 of the state's rural counties. Report

> New calls for old drug data in the U.K. have experts second-guessing big drug-safety scandals. If scientists and regulators had had access to every bit of data on Vioxx from the get-go, for instance, would heart attacks and strokes have been averted? Report

> After waiting for nearly a month, officials at the NIH alerted some 2,500 people that their names, addresses and detailed personal health information gathered from heart scans in a clinical trial were purloined when an unknown person stole a government laptop with the data on it. Report

And Finally... Looks like breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. Article

Study: Number of drug-resistant germs rising

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 07:59:54 -0400

Here's an unsettling statistic, to say the least. According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the number of germs resistant to antibiotics is growing. The Institute, which is part of NIH, will publish an article in the April 15 issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases, stating that one in five of the 94,360 patients who developed an invasive MRSA infection in 2005 died. Also, 20 percent of tuberculosis cases worldwide are drug-resistant, with 10 percent "extensively" drug resistant, the agency said. Perhaps most sobering, as of 2002: 14 percent of certain bloodstream infections were resistant to antibiotics, up from 4 percent in 1993.

To learn more about this study:
- read this Modern Healthcare piece (reg. req.)

Related Articles:
Study: Broad testing can slash MRSA rates. Report
Study: MRSA testing may not help. Report
Case study: NY hospital isolates MRSA patients. Report
Case study: NC hospital cuts MRSA rates. Report
VA program slashes MRSA infection rates. Report
Study: Disinfectant cuts down on MRSA. Report

ALSO NOTED: HealthTronics chief dies; PA meth clinics under fire; and much more...

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 06:59:50 -0400

> Sam B. Humphries, president and CEO of urology company HealthTronics, died Tuesday at the age of 64. Company announcement

> Methadone clinics in Pennsylvania may face greater scrutiny after two fatal accidents involving patients. Editorial

> The University of Louisville (KY) will use a $4.4 million NIH grant to study genetic links between health and the environment. Article

And Finally... Aspirin seems to have gained the historical significance of Stonehenge or the Great Pyramids. Press release

HHS to merge genetic, clinical info

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 20:01:38 -0400

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt has unveiled a new initiative which would merge genetic and clinical data in an effort to individualize and improve patient care. Leavitt's "Personalized Health Care" program would use the merged data to predict, and hopefully prevent, the onset of many diseases. Leavitt has said that this effort will be one of his top priorities for the next two years. The concept isn't as novel as it may sound--the VA is already combining EMRs with genetic information--but this is perhaps the first project which would combine such data on a national scale. The project is very much line with emerging medical trends, but could substantially raise privacy worries among those already concerned by potentially discriminatory use of genetic data by the health insurance industry.

Overall, HHS agencies like the NIH, FDA and CDC will spend $277 million on personalized healthcare efforts this year, and should up that spending to $352 million in fiscal 2008. To boost this effort, President Bush has included $15 million in funding in his 2008 budget to create a new electronic network linking together data sources across the U.S., Leavitt noted. To make sure these efforts don't compromise privacy efforts--or expose consumers to discrimination--HHS is beginning a comprehensive review of how the aggregation of this information will impact individual consumers.

To learn more about how this initiative is playing out across HHS:
- read the HHS press release
- check out this United Press International item
- review the HHS overview of the program

Related Articles:
GAO: Gov't HIT efforts lack privacy, security protections. Report
IBM to put worker genetic data off limits. Report

States seek Lilly help with Zyprexa costs

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 20:01:35 -0400

Concerned about the large and growing cost of antipsychotic drug Zyprexa, a number of states have taken Eli Lilly up on its offer to make sure Medicaid physicians stick to Zyprexa prescribing guidelines. The question, though, is whether states are getting what they're supposed to from these programs.

Zyprexa, which treats bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, generates the biggest single drug cost for state Medicaid programs. These programs spent $1.3 billion on the drug in 2005, accounting for nearly 25 percent of the drug's $4.2 billion in 2005 sales. Hoping to reign in its use, twenty states have taken Lilly up on its offer to monitor prescribing patterns. States that take Lilly up on its offer must agree not to require prior authorization for use of the drug, however. In addition, some states, such as Tennessee, have publicly questioned whether it was appropriate to let Lilly offer the program as a substitute for giving the state a drug discount.

Also, some state administrators have disputed that the consulting company that runs the program for Lilly, Comprehensive NeuroScience of White Plains, N.Y., is willing to consider cost-saving ideas that directly cut spending on Zyprexa prescriptions. Meanwhile, Lilly remains under state and federal investigation for its marketing of Zyprexa, as well as being the subject of lawsuits from seven states questioning its marketing tactics and willingness to disclose side effects.

To learn more about the Zyprexa monitoring program:
- read this piece from The New York Times (reg. req.)

Related Articles:
Lilly accused of promoting off-label Zyprexa use. Report
NIH doctors slam Lilly's marketing tactics. Report
Lilly to pay $500 million to settle Zyprexa diabetes claims. Report

New MRI test advantages discovered

Sun, 28 Jan 2007 19:01:35 -0500

In two separate studies this week, evidence has accumulated suggesting that MRI tests have some real advantages in treating cardiovascular incidents. In one study, conducted by researchers at the NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, researchers concluded that MRIs are more sensitive that CT scans when it comes to emergency diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke. In a separate piece of research, meanwhile, doctors at Mount Sinai Medical Center said they'd found MRI tests could help predict who's at risk for heart attack, by detecting and measuring macrophage levels. Both sets of findings seem to rely on MRI testing's refined capacity for three-dimensional views of tissue at the molecular level.

To learn about the research:
- read this UPI piece on MRI versus CT in stroke diagnosis
- check out this article on using MRIs to predict heart attacks

Related Article:
Hospital takes new approach to cutting costs (including MRI costs). Report

Lilly accused of promoting off-label Zyprexa use

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 19:01:35 -0500

Has drugmaker Eli Lilly been promoting the off-label use of antipsychotic Zyprexa for elderly patients with dementia symptoms? According to an investigation by The New York Times, Lilly has been doing just that since late 2000, despite FDA rules to the contrary. Materials given to the NYT outline a campaign called Viva Zyprexa, in which sales reps are told to suggest the drug for older dementia patients. However, such marketing would run afoul of FDA rules, as Zyprexa is approved to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, not dementia or dementia-related psychosis. In fact, Zyprexa actually carries an FDA warning stating that the drug can increase the risk of death in older patients with dementia-related psychosis. A Lilly spokesperson contended that older patients who seem to have dementia may actually have untreated schizophrenia, but psychiatrists have strongly contested that claim. Lilly is currently facing federal and state investigations over its marketing of Zyprexa, which at $4.2 billion in 2005 sales is Lilly's best-selling product.

Get more background on issue:
- read this article in The New York Times
- check out Lilly's response to the article

Related Articles:
NIH doctors slam Lilly's marketing tactics. Report
Does the FDA do enough to regulate drug ads? Report