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BONITA SPRINGS, Florida — Offering evaluation and treatment for smoking cessation via audiovisual (AV) conferencing results in quit rates equivalent to those achieved with in-person treatment, new research shows. Dr Kareem Seoudy Real-time AV conferencing, or telemedicine, has the potential to bridge a big gap in healthcare delivery, making it easier to provide highly specialized care from academic centers, which are …

Contrary to the popular stereotype, not all physicians love to play golf. In fact, only a small percentage of physicians in the United States actually spend time on the links, but of those that do, surgeons have the strongest game, a study has shown.  In an analysis of golfing patterns among physicians, Gal Koplewitz, Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical …

An investigation of alleged price-fixing in the generic drug sector has grown to involve at least 16 companies and some 300 medications, according to a Connecticut official involved in the probe. In an interview with the Washington Post , published Sunday, Joseph Nielsen, an assistant attorney general in Connecticut, said that the inquiry, which began in 2014, had greatly widened. …

The Ottawa Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Risk Scale (OCRS) predicts short-term serious outcomes from COPD better than current practice, suggests new research. The study of 1415 participants with COPD found that 9.5% had short-term serious outcomes and approximately half of those were discharged home from the emergency department. The OCRS risk-stratification tool showed better sensitivity at identifying these patients …

(Reuters) – McDonald’s Corp said on Tuesday it plans to reduce the use of antibiotics in its global beef supply, fueling projections that other restaurants will follow suit. The logo of a McDonald’s Corp restaurant is seen in Los Angeles, California, U.S. October 24, 2017. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson The move by the world’s biggest fast-food chain addresses concerns that the overuse …

Patients with dermatomyositis (DM) who were positive for a specific antibody — anti-transcriptional intermediary factor 1 (anti-TIF1) — were at more than threefold increased risk for cancer, a retrospective U.K. study found. In a cohort of 263 DM patients followed for a median of 11 years, 38% of patients who were anti-TIF1 antibody positive had developed cancer compared with 15% …

(Reuters Health) – – The medicine in emergency allergy shots like the EpiPen can deteriorate when exposed to heat, so don’t leave them in the car on a hot day, researchers warn. FILE PHOTO: EpiPen auto-injection epinephrine pens manufactured by Mylan NV pharmaceutical company for use by severe allergy sufferers are seen in Washington, U.S. August 24, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Bourg/File …

Action Points At 5 years of use, the levonorgestrel (LNG) 52-mg intrauterine system (IUS) was more than 99% effective in preventing pregnancy and well-tolerated in the eligible study participants. Only 39 (2.2%) users discontinued the study as a result of bleeding symptoms. CME Author: Zeena Nackerdien Study Authors: Stephanie B. Teal, David K. Turok, et al. Target Audience and Goal …

The logo of a McDonald’s Corp restaurant is seen in Los Angeles, California, U.S. October 24, 2017. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (Reuters) – McDonald’s Corp on Tuesday released guidelines for suppliers of beef in its top 10 sourcing countries to curb the use of antibiotics as the fast-food giant joins a broad effort to battle dangerous superbugs. The guidelines released by the …

NEW ORLEANS — The vast majority of women with epilepsy are able to get pregnant, with relatively few issues, new research shows. “There has been the notion and some evidence in the past that fertility is reduced in women with epilepsy compared with the general population, but what these findings suggest is that 90% of women with epilepsy can get …

Preliminary results from the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) mandated postmarket surveillance studies of duodenoscopes show “higher-than-expected” contamination rates after reprocessing. In a safety communication issued December 10, the FDA said 3% of properly collected samples tested positive for more than 100 colony-forming units of “low-concern” organisms that are unlikely to cause serious infections but are, nevertheless, an indication …

JoNel Aleccia explores how financial factors determine who gets a spot on a transplant waiting list ~ No Cash, No Heart. Transplant Centers Require Proof Of Payment. (Kaiser Health News) What does sexual harassment really mean? Lilia M. Cortina, PhD, and Reshma Jagsi, MD, DPhil, explore what sexual harassment is and how we can change the current climate in medicine …

The novel drug larotrectinib (Vitrakvi, Bayer/Loxo Oncology) that was approved recently by the Food and Drug Administration is a precision model “game changer,” say clinical trial investigators. The drug achieved overall response rates (ORR) of up to 80% in unique advanced and metastatic pediatric and adult solid tumors that have a genomic TRK fusion, and is the first “tumor-agnostic” agent …

Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who fail on ibrutinib (Imbruvica) still have a number of options, but data are limited depending on the scenario, and considerations need to be made based both on whether failure stems from intolerance or disease progression and whether the patient was being treated in the first-line or relapsed setting. A recent study of 320 …

An electronic alert embedded in the electronic health record (EHR) safely decreases the length of time that hospitalized patients are on cardiac telemetry, according to a study published online Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine “This study demonstrates a safe reduction in unnecessary cardiac monitoring using a simple, targeted EHR intervention without the need for intensive human resources or nonenduring educational …

Action Points A systematic review and meta-analysis of patients with lupus showed that for both men and women, the risks for 16 cancers were significantly elevated in comparision with populations without the autoimmune disease, and they have 2-5 times the risk of death compared with the general population for all-cause mortality and also death from cancer. Lupus patients are at …

(Reuters Health) – – Patients sent home from the hospital around Christmas time are more likely to have bad outcomes compared to those discharged at other times, a Canadian study suggests. Researchers poring through data from Ontario hospitals found that patients discharged during the Christmas season were more likely to die or to be readmitted during the following 30 days …

SAN DIEGO — Election day 2016 was also the birthday of gynecologic oncologist Shannon Westin, MD, MPH, in which she celebrated with her husband, medical oncologist and hematologist Jason R. Westin, MD, with a bottle of champagne. When they learned of Donald Trump’s victory, they opened their liquor cabinet. So, quipped Jason Westin, 41, speaking here last week at the …

SAN ANTONIO — Radiotherapy for the treatment of “minimal” positive axillary lymph nodes in patients with early-stage breast cancer was comparable in efficacy and was associated with a significantly lower rate of the feared side effect of lymphedema compared to surgery, new 10-year data from a major randomized trial indicate. Dr Emiel Rutgers The findings come from the European AMAROS …

Image copyright Science Photo Library An additional 3,591 women have not received information about NHS cervical cancer screening, it has emerged. Capita, the company contracted to send out the screening invitations, made the discovery while investigating an administrative error already known to have affected 40,000 women in England. NHS England says there is no evidence of any harm having resulted …