Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Hospitals can be harmful to your health

According to a report on the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK, 1 in 10 patients admitted to NHS hospitals is unintentionally harmed and almost a million safety incidents, more than 2,000 of which were fatal, were recorded last year.

6 Jul 2006

UK sexually transmitted infections on the rise

New figures released by the Health Protection Agency show that the number of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and other conditions diagnosed in genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics in the UK increased by 3% between 2004 and 2005.

5 Jul 2006

Safety of popular painkiller Tylenol questioned

According to a new study the popular painkiller Tylenol may not be as safe to take as previously thought.

5 Jul 2006

Syphilis, chlamydia and herpes on the rise in the UK

Sexually transmitted diseases are steadily rising in the UK despite a concerted effort on the part of the government to tackle them.

5 Jul 2006

Hospital quality measures do not fully account for the variation in hospital death rates for heart attack patients

Hospital quality measures do not fully account for the variation in hospital death rates for heart attack patients, according to a study in the July 5 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association.

4 Jul 2006

External catheters reduce risk of urinary tract infection in men

It's one of the things about a hospital stay that men loathe, and that infectious bacteria love: the urinary catheter. Now, a new study shows that a less-unpleasant option for male hospital patients is also a much safer one.

3 Jul 2006

In future all British nurses will be home-grown

The British government has announced that in future it intends to cut back on hiring junior nurses from abroad as there is no longer a shortage.

3 Jul 2006

Gen-Probe and Bayer to settle patent disputes

Gen-Probe has announced that Bayer HealthCare LLC has agreed to end a series of disputes involving multiple patent litigations and contract arbitrations.

29 Jun 2006

British doctors consider euthanasia issue once again

Doctors in Britain are set yet again to debate the euthanasia issue.

29 Jun 2006

A red light for surgeries in supermarkets and a green light for better food labelling

Doctors in Britain are objecting to plans for walk-in clinics to be set up in supermarkets.

28 Jun 2006

First-in-class biologics poised to drive malignant melanoma drug market

Decision Resources, Inc., a research and advisory firm focusing on pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that first-in-class targeted biologics will enter the malignant melanoma market during the next five years.

27 Jun 2006

New imaging system could track cancer growth

A new imaging system currently entering clinical testing could allow doctors to track the process of cancer growth in real-time, scientists have said.

27 Jun 2006

Overcrowding in hospitals could be responsible for increasing rates of MRSA infection

Overcrowding in specialist hospitals across England could be responsible for increasing rates of MRSA infection

26 Jun 2006

Pre-scan warnings would have caused extra distress say women with problem fetuses

Warning pregnant mothers about fetal abnormalities before scans would only have caused additional distress

26 Jun 2006

1 in 10 British children under 15 has a mental health disorder

According to a new report by the British Medical Association (BMA) as many as 1 in 10 children below the age of 15 in Britain has a mental health problem and that figure is on the rise.

21 Jun 2006

Two year wait for breast cancer test results drives women to consider radical surgery

Women in the UK being put under added stress because they are experiencing delays of two years or more for test results to see if they carry a gene associated with an increased likelihood of breast cancer.

20 Jun 2006

Chlorhexidine decreases risk of acquiring hospital-related ventilator-associated pneumonia

Researchers found that administering the topical antiseptic chlorhexidine to critically ill patients on mechanical ventilation greatly decreased their daily risk of acquiring deadly hospital-related ventilator-associated pneumonia.

18 Jun 2006

Menopausal women don't get enough guidance on treatment options

Few women are consulting their doctors before opting to use herbal therapies and soy products to treat their menopausal symptoms, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found.

18 Jun 2006

Hospitals, dirty hands and the risk of disease

Thousands of patients in hospitals each year are at risk of potentially fatal infections because health care workers do not wash their hands on enough occasions.

13 Jun 2006

New test identifies patients who benefit from targeted cancer drugs

New lab test accurately identified patients who would benefit from treatment with the molecularly-targeted anti-cancer therapies gefitinib (Iressa, AstraZeneca) and erlotinib (Tarceva, Genentech).

13 Jun 2006