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Research roundup: Majority of Docs face malpractice claims; colonoscopies in older adults; 'overwhelming' Medicare advantage choices

The authors "analyzed malpractice data from 1991 through 2005 for all physicians who were covered by a large professional liability insurer with a nationwide client base" and found that "by the age of 65 years, 75% of physicians in low-risk specialties had faced a malpractice claim, as compared with 99% of physicians in high-risk specialties." Most of those claims did not result in a pyament.

20 Aug 2011

Seattle Genetics receives FDA approval for Adcetris to treat Hodgkin lymphoma, ALCL

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Adcetris to treat Hodgkin lymphoma and a rare lymphoma known as systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma.

20 Aug 2011

Medicinal Genomics sequences entire genomes of two therapeutic Cannabis strains

Medicinal Genomics, a private company headquartered in Marblehead, Mass., USA and the Netherlands, announced today that it has sequenced the entire genomes of Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica, representing two strains of the therapeutic plant.

19 Aug 2011

High levels of calcium in coronary arteries increase risk of stroke, heart attack

The presence of calcium in coronary arteries is a much better predictor of heart attack and stroke than C-reactive protein among people with normal levels of LDL cholesterol, according to a study of more than 2,000 people led by a Johns Hopkins heart specialist.

19 Aug 2011

Study confirms tamoxifen is superior to fulvestrant in blocking estrogen

For the first time, researchers at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance have demonstrated the feasibility of using serial positron emission tomography (PET) scans, using a special estrogen-containing isotope, to confirm the relative effectiveness of estrogen-blocking and estrogen-depleting therapy in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

19 Aug 2011

Echocardiogram may not improve patients' survival rates after elective surgery

A new study has found no evidence that patients who had a heart ultrasound known as an echocardiogram before major surgery had improved survival rates one month or one year after their operation.

19 Aug 2011

New Therapy Grants Program supports innovative approach to treat epilepsy

The Epilepsy Therapy Project (ETP) and the Epilepsy Foundation (EF) announced today a New Therapy Grant to potentially help those with treatment resistant epilepsy.

19 Aug 2011

Dog fecal material may constitute the dominant source of airborne bacteria

Bacteria from fecal material -- in particular, dog fecal material -- may constitute the dominant source of airborne bacteria in Cleveland's and Detroit's wintertime air, says a new University of Colorado Boulder study.

19 Aug 2011

CJASN: Most dialysis patients are not prepared to effectively handle disasters

Most dialysis patients are not prepared to effectively handle man-made or natural disasters, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology.

19 Aug 2011

Obese patients may be at increased risk for asthma misdiagnosis

The prevalence of physician-diagnosed asthma is increasing partly because of a link between asthma and obesity. Several factors lead to asthma-like symptoms in obese patients, including the mechanical effect of increased body mass index on lung volumes, which increases the work required for breathing.

19 Aug 2011

Common chest wall deformity inhibits lung function as the cavity grows deeper

A common deformity that causes a depression in the chest wall inhibits lung function as the cavity grows deeper, a national study of 327 patients published in the Journal of Pediatrics found.

19 Aug 2011

Virginia Tech to create portable fall prediction monitoring system for the elderly

According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, falls among Americans over age 65 are the leading cause of injury-related death. Falls also are the most common cause of nonfatal injuries and hospital admissions for trauma. In 2007, more than 18,000 older adults died from unintentional fall injuries. In 2009, 2.2 million nonfatal fall injuries among elderly adults were treated in emergency rooms and more than 581,000 of these patients were hospitalized.

19 Aug 2011

States spend up to $15B a year in medical expenses related to obesity

States spend up to $15 billion a year in medical expenses related to obesity, according to a new study by researchers at RTI International, Duke University, and the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

19 Aug 2011

NCD Alliance says U.S., Canada, E.U. stalling efforts to fight NCDs

The NCD Alliance, which represents about 2,000 health organizations from around the world focused on non-communicable diseases (NCDs), "on Thursday accused the United States, Canada and Europe of harming efforts to fight cancer, diabetes, heart and other diseases because they will not agree to set United Nations targets," Reuters reports.

19 Aug 2011

Southampton scientists to progress nutrition and respiratory research

Clinicians and scientists working in the Southampton Centre for Biomedical Research, established by the partnership between Southampton's University Hospitals Trust (SUHT) and the University of Southampton, have been awarded £17m to progress the city's world-leading nutrition and respiratory research facilities.

19 Aug 2011

Mount Sinai to begin largest study of personalized medicine in clinical care setting

Mount Sinai School of Medicine has been awarded a $3.4 million grant over four years from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to begin the largest study of its kind, in which a patient's genomic risk for disease is revealed in a lab, and then entered into an electronic medical record for use in determining treatment in the clinical care setting.

19 Aug 2011

Time-release corticosteroid implant effective in treating uveitis

A team of researchers comparing the two leading treatment approaches for the eye condition uveitis, which is the fifth leading cause of blindness in the US, have found that a time-release corticosteroid implant placed surgically in the eye is similarly effective in treating the disease as anti-inflammatory corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drugs taken orally. The report was published online this week in the journal Ophthalmology.

19 Aug 2011

Seven research teams across the U.S. to develop new drugs for nervous system disorders

The National Institutes of Health has made awards to investigators across the United States for an ambitious set of projects seeking to develop new drugs for disorders of the nervous system.

19 Aug 2011

H1N1 vaccine safe, effective for hemodialysis and kidney transplant patients

When the influenza A (H1N1) virus swept around the world in spring 2009, infection was presumed to be more common in immunosuppressed patients, such as those who have had a kidney transplant. Later that year, the International Societies of Transplantation recommended that transplant recipients receive at least one dose of the H1N1 vaccine, although there was no information on the efficacy of the vaccine in that population.

19 Aug 2011

Powerful X-rays help develop new drug treatment for malignant melanoma

Powerful X-ray technology developed at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) national laboratories is revealing new insights into diseases ranging from Alzheimer's to the swine flu, and, most recently, enabled the discovery of a groundbreaking new drug treatment for malignant melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

19 Aug 2011