BY TONI CLARKE Wed Jan 14, 2015 6:33pm EST (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday that many people have been sickened and one has died after receiving intravenous fluids that were meant to be used for training purposes only. News of the death comes less than a month after the […]
THURSDAY, JANUARY 08, 2015 Last month I had a meeting at the Ottawa Hospital’s Civic campus. On my way through the hospital I passed by something called the Omega Laser Stop Smoking Clinic. According to their literature, “laser therapy treatment is a non-invasive method used to balance the energy flow between meridians“, and is reported […]
Justice Dept. Sues Doctor Paid Richly by Medicare By REED ABELSON and JULIE CRESWELL JAN. 5, 2015 One of the nation’s top-billing doctors, a cardiologist who collected more than $18 million in payments from Medicare in 2012, has been accused by the federal government of performing unnecessary procedures on patients. The Justice Department announced on […]
By CATHERINE SAINT LOUIS JANUARY 5, 2015 The Food and Drug Administration has raised new questions about the safety of an adult laxative routinely given to constipated children, sometimes daily for years. The agency has asked a team of scientists in Philadelphia to look more closely at the active ingredient in Miralax and similar generic products, called polyethylene […]
Robert Lowes December 22, 2014 Story Source A New York state judge on December 19 sentenced an anesthesiologist to a minimum of 10 years and 8 months in prison for operating a pain pill mill in New York City and recklessly causing the deaths of two patients. In July, a jury found Stan Xuhui Li, MD, guilty […]
BY LINDSEY TANNER DEC. 22, 2014 4:00 PM EST CHICAGO (AP) — Doctors joke that if you’re going to have a heart attack, the safest place would be at a big national gathering of heart specialists. But a new study suggests some older hospitalized heart patients may fare better when these doctors aren’t around. Survival […]
Cautions against the practice go unheeded by nonpsychiatrists. by John Gever Managing Editor, MedPage Today About one in 12 older Americans were prescribed benzodiazepines in 2008, and one-third of those individuals took them for long periods — and much of this use was probably inappropriate, researchers said. Analysis of a large prescription database for 2008 […]
The Spine Journal December 1, 2014 Volume 14, Issue 12, Pages 2854–2860 Jacob A. Miller, BS Abstract Background context C5 palsy is a debilitating postoperative complication of cervical decompression surgery. Although the prognosis is typically good, patients may be unable to perform basic activities of daily living, resulting in a decreased quality of life. No […]
Alexander M. Castellino, PhD December 11, 2014 National guidelines from associations such as the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and the American Urological Association recommend that men with a life expectancy of less than 10 years who have prostate cancer not be aggressively treated with radiation or surgery. Despite these recommendations, the Urologic Diseases in […]
Caroline Cassels December 11, 2014 The antipsychotic ziprasidone (Geodon, Pfizer Inc) and its generic counterparts have been linked to a rare but potentially fatal skin reaction, prompting the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to add a new warning to the drug’s label. Known as DRESS (drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic syndromes), this serious condition can start […]
Painkiller Tramadol Linked to Low Blood Sugar Study finds the drug may be riskier than expected By Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter MONDAY, Dec. 8, 2014 (HealthDay News) — The narcotic painkiller tramadol (Ultram) seems to be associated with an increased risk of dangerously low blood sugar, Canadian researchers report. Tramadol is a narcotic drug whose […]
Frontline Medical News, 2014 Nov 17, A Karon Story Source Taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for 14 days more than doubled the risk of serious bleeding in patients with atrial fibrillation, and it increased the risk of thromboembolism by 36%, according to a report published online Nov. 17 in Annals of Internal Medicine. Risk of serious […]
Published: Nov 20, 2014 By Kate Johnson , Contributing Writer, MedPage Today Action Points Note that these studies were published abstracts and presented at a conference. These data and conclusions should be considered to be preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal. BOSTON — Osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) is rare in patients taking the […]
Frontline Medical News, 2014 Nov 17, A Karon Taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for 14 days more than doubled the risk of serious bleeding in patients with atrial fibrillation, and it increased the risk of thromboembolism by 36%, according to a report published online Nov. 17 in Annals of Internal Medicine. Risk of serious bleeding and […]
A Texas doctor and five owners of home health-care agencies were arrested recently on charges that they fraudulently billed Medicare and Medicaid nearly $375 million in what authorities described as the largest case of its kind. It’s the kind of physician oversight that could bankrupt a nation. The doctor, Jacques Roy, 54, of Rockwall, was […]
Use of often prescribed drugs against arthritis and pain increases the risk of dying from a stroke. This is the conclusion of a major new registry study involving more than 100,000 patients. 2014.11.13 | LOTTE FISKER JØRGENSEN It is older versions of COX-2 inhibitors, which are now linked to increased risk of dying from a […]
Susan Candiotti and Alan Duke, CNN Updated 9:26 PM EST, Tue November 11, 2014 CNN The cardiac arrest leading to Joan Rivers’ death happened as the comedian’s personal doctor began performing a biopsy on her vocal cords, a source close to the death investigation told CNN. A staff member at Manhattan’s Yorkville Endoscopy clinic told […]
By Mary Ann Roser American-Statesman Staff After a seven-day trial, a Houston jury convicted Dr. Dennis B. Barson Jr., 44, of Austin, and his clinic administrator, Dario Juarez, 54, of Beeville, of conspiracy and health care fraud after they billed Medicare $2.1 million over a two-month period, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced Wednesday evening. Co-defendant […]
HOUSTON — When it comes to what happens behind the pharmacy counter, some industry insiders say the public has no clue. “Wrong patient names, wrong drug, wrong directions,” said Texas pharmacist Bill Bradshaw, remembering the errors like a litany. “It’s scary,” he said. “I have gone home and said a prayer asking God to please […]
Diana Phillips October 23, 2014 Medication errors occurred in 696,937 nonhospitalized children 6 years of age and younger between 2002 and 2012, and more than a quarter of the episodes were documented in children younger than 1 year, according to a studypublished online October 20 in Pediatrics. The number of incidents translates into a medication error occurring […]