News From Around the Web:
> Researchers have used CT imaging to chronicle how second impact syndrome can occur when a person sustains a second head injury before the an earlier head injury is healed. The report was published in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics on Jan. 1, and detailed the case of a high school football player who was severely injured after returning to the playing field following a head injury. According to co-author Michael Turner, M.D., the report demonstrates "that there must not be a return to play if the athlete is at all symptomatic. Announcement
> The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a surgical tool that can identify cancerous tissue along the margins of removed breast tissue during initial lumpectomy procedures. The MarginProbe System uses electromagnetic "signatures" to identify healthy and cancerous tissue. In a trial the system was found to be three times more effective in finding cancer on the margin during lumpectomy compared with traditional intraoperative imaging and palpation assessment. Announcement
> Congress has passed a bill that will support the domestic product of molybdenum-99. The American Medical Isotope Production Act of 2011 was included in the bicameral conference agreement on national defense spending for fiscal 2013 passed Dec. 21 and signed last week by President Obama. The legislation calls for Congress to get a moly-99 production program started within three years, and for the phasing out the export of high-enriched uranium to make radiopharmaceuticals, according to DOTmed News. Article
Health IT News
> Predictive modeling likely could reduce unnecessary lab tests for intensive-care patients with gastrointestinal bleeding, according to a new study published in the International Journal of Medical Informatics. Working from a database of 746 patients, researchers found that predictive modeling based on 11 measurements could accurately classify more than 80 percent of both necessary and unnecessary lab tests. They achieved an average reduction of 50 percent of eight common gastrointestinal lab tests, better than the 37 percent reduction reached in similar studies. Article
Health Insurance News
> Health insurers won't likely be seeing much competition from a potentially new source of health insurance--consumer oriented and operated plans (CO-OP). That's because the fiscal cliff agreement, which was approved by Congress on New Year's Day, all but nixed funding for the non-traditional health plans authorized under the health reform law. The CO-OPs were designed to be nonprofit, customer-owned and operated plans that would offer an alternative to the traditional insurance companies on health insurance exchanges. Article
And Finally... I never knew cats were so dedicated to their owners. Article