News From Around the Web
> Local Medicare administrators may determine whether or not to cover PET agents for cancer imaging in their jurisdictions, according to a decision memo issued March 7 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, HealthImaging reports. According to CMS, the effect of the decision is to remove the national non-coverage of FDA-approved labeled uses of radiopharmaceuticals. Article
> A new brain imaging study out of the Netherlands has found that people with multiple sclerosis who complain about memory and thinking problems have more damage to the white matter in their brains compared to individuals with MS who don't have the same memory and cognitive issues, HealthDay News reports. Article
> Canada is dealing with a looming shortage of medical isotopes by investing $21 million in projects that officials hope will produce technetium-99m without the need of a nuclear reactor, according to MedPage Today. Canada's Chalk River reactor, its only source of the isotope, is set to shut down in 2016, but by then the hope is that alternative methods, such as cyclotron technology and a linear accelerator, can be used to fill the void. Article
Health IT News
> An international team of researchers has created a "Google map" of human metabolism--an important step in understanding the underlying causes of disease. One of its most promising uses will be in helping to develop personalized treatments, the researchers say. Article
Health Finance News
> Hospital mergers and the monopolies they create are causing healthcare costs to rise without an accompanying improvement in quality, three experts argued March 1, during a panel hosted by the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. Article
And Finally... The free movies will last one year; the tattoo will be there forever. Article