Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Guidelines for FUZEON (enfuvirtide) are published today in AIDS

New international consensus guidelines for FUZEON (enfuvirtide) are published today in AIDS, the official journal of the International AIDS Society.

17 May 2004

Technology will help as world's population over 60 doubles

It's just a collection of bloody nuts and bolts." That was the damning reaction of a 69-year-old resident at a Scottish nursing home - let's call him William Brown - when asked if he would like a robotic pet as a companion to help relieve his boredom and loneliness. But once he realised that the robot could play games with him, he quickly changed his mind.

15 May 2004

Ireland's new European health insurance card

Micheál Martin TD, Minister for Health and Children has given further details of the new European Health Insurance Card.

15 May 2004

Lockheed Martin has won a $47.8 million DoD military health contract

Lockheed Martin has won a $47.8 million contract to develop and integrate software applications for the Department of Defense's Theater Medical Information Program (TMIP), Block 2.

15 May 2004

Should drug users and their families be trained in basic resuscitation methods?

Should drug users and their families be trained in basic resuscitation methods, and be allowed to administer interim emergency naloxone to prevent overdose deaths whilst awaiting emergency medical help? If so why are the drug regulators so resistant to implementing these obvious harm reduction measures?

14 May 2004

AIDS Foundation praises Governor Schwarzenegger for restoring AIDS funding

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the nation's largest AIDS organization -- issued the following statement in response to today's news that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's "May Revise" budget includes a 13% increase to the state's AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP).

14 May 2004

Americans spend more on health care but feel worse

Americans spend twice as much on health care as their European and Canadian counterparts, yet are more likely to rate their own quality of health as poor, says a new report, “Spending more, feeling worse: medical care expenditures and self-rated health,” forthcoming in the June 2004 edition of the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.

14 May 2004

Patients say that the medical information online is more useful than that of their clinicians

Many patients say that the medical information and guidance they can find online is more complete and useful than they receive from their clinicians, according to an editorial in this week's BMJ.

14 May 2004

Better understanding of radiation therapy in the treatment of breast cancer

To help patients understand the importance of radiation therapy in the treatment of breast cancer, the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology has published the new patient information brochure Radiation Therapy for Breast Cancer: A Patient’s Guide to Understanding Treatment.

13 May 2004

New Canadian drug submission for cannabis-based medicine

GW Pharmaceuticals and Bayer HealthCare, Pharmaceuticals Division - Canada have announced that GW has submitted a New Drug Submission for Sativex®, a cannabis-based medicinal extract product, to Health Canada.

13 May 2004

Patients still prefer doctors to wear white coats

Doctors find their traditional white coats uncomfortable and a germ reservoir, but patients still prefer them to be worn, finds research in Postgraduate Medical Journal.

13 May 2004

What's the fourth biggest killer in America? Over 51% of Americans don't know either

More than half of Americans (51 percent) have never even heard of a disease that is the fourth leading killer in this country, according to results of a nationwide survey released today by the National Women’s Health Resource Center (NWHRC).

11 May 2004

Low-level personnel un-trained in decision-making end up making discretionary medical choices

With no requirement for healthcare providers to care for uninsured patients seeking routine medical attention, frontline staff -- from clerks to insurance verifiers -- are the gatekeepers, deciding who is seen by the physician and who is turned away, according to research conducted at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

11 May 2004

Increasing number of cases of wet age-related macular degeneration

Nearly all retina specialists are greatly alarmed by the increasing number of cases of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of severe vision loss and blindness in people over the age of 50, and believe the disease will have a serious impact on the public.

11 May 2004

Telecare and telemedicine services seen as solution for long-term care of elderly or vulnerable people

Telecare and telemedicine services are increasingly being seen as a potential solution to one of society’s most pressing healthcare issues, that of long-term care of elderly or vulnerable people. BT’s broadband telecare proposition is simple and compelling

11 May 2004

Country Industry Forecast - European Union Healthcare Industry

The accession of ten more central and east European countries to the European Union (EU) -15 in 2004 has created a single European market, the largest market and trading zone for the healthcare industry with almost 500 million consumers. The total healthcare industry comprising pharmaceuticals and drugs, medical devices and equipment, and health services is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.4 per cent from 2003 to 2008.

11 May 2004

Men with erectile dysfunction (ED) are 38 percent more likely to have hypertension

This statistical analysis is the largest epidemiological study to confirm this link, and the first to compare men with ED - and those without - for hypertension

10 May 2004

Low back pain - does it need costly scan?

A major study has been conducted to evaluate the role of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Computed Tomography (CT) scans in the treatment of low back pain (LBP).

10 May 2004

New proposals to improve safety of anaesthesia

New proposals to reduce the risk of anaesthetic tubing becoming blocked during operations, were published today. Following 11 similar NHS cases where tubing had become blocked, the Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson set up an Expert Group in July 2002 to look into the issue.

10 May 2004

X-rays and scans to be stored and mailed electronically across NHS

The new system will enable images such as X-rays and scans to be stored and mailed electronically rather than printed on film and filed manually – enabling doctors to provide a much faster diagnosis.

10 May 2004