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Primary Care

Prostate Screening No Longer Recommended for Men Over 75

For years, the medical community has assumed that the early detection of prostate cancer by PSA testing improved health outcomes of all men tested. Now, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends against routine cancer screening for men over 75. PSA tests do dectect the disease, but more harm than good can be done with treatment, starting with prostate biopsy and perhaps surgery and or radiation and chemotherapy. The recommendation is based on the fact that the average 75... read more

Posted by Phil Daigle on August 8, 2008 11:01 AM
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Retail Medical Clinic Operators Hit a Rough Patch

Retail walk-in medical clinics in pharmacies are proving more difficult to establish than initially thought. The clinics are more complicated and expensive to operate. It seems, operators and investors were overly optimistic in their return on investment estimates. The clinics are experiencing an 18 to 24 month break-even rather than the initial projections of a six month break-even. Much of the added cost is in marketing to make the public aware the service exists in each market and to gain... read more

Posted by Phil Daigle on May 14, 2008 10:32 AM
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Incompetent Doctors Seldom Reported by Colleagues

While virtually all doctors (96%) agree that they should report incompetent colleagues, only 45% of them have ever done so. This according to a recently published study by Dr David Blumenthal from the Massachusetts General Hospital, Institute for Health Policy. Results were based on responses from 1,662 family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery, anesthesiology, and cardiology physicians between November 2003 and June 2004. Another telling bit of information was that about one third of respondents said they would order unneeded... read more

Posted by Phil Daigle on December 4, 2007 3:16 PM
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Wal-Mart Expands $4 Prescription Program

Wal-Mart Stores will begin selling eight additional generic drugs for $4 per 30-day prescription and several family-planning drugs for $9. The added medications include treatments for glaucoma, attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, fungal infections and acne. In addition, Wal-Mart will offer generic versions of the birth control drugs Ortho Cyclen and Ortho Tri-Cyclen and a fertility drug for $9 per 30-day supply. The discount drug program, which started in September 2006, now will cover 361 prescriptions representing different... read more

Posted by Phil Daigle on October 3, 2007 11:14 AM
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West Nile Virus Hits California Hard

West Nile Virus is hitting Californians hard. Four people have died of the virus in California and the disease is spreading. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently designated the counties of Kern - with 60% of the state's 64 cases - Colusa and San Joaquin, to be in a state of emergency, giving them access to a 1.35 million dollar fund. The high season (August and September). is just starting and there are already three times as many cases as there were... read more

Posted by Phil Daigle on August 7, 2007 2:13 PM
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Computerized Prescriptions Cut Errors by 66%

More proof that prescriptions should be submitted by computer rather than handwritten appeared recently online in the Journal Health Services Research. In U.S. hospitals with computerized prescription systems there was a 66 percent drop in prescription errors. Illegible handwriting and transcription errors are responsible for most medication errors in hospitals. A decimal point in the wrong place can lead to a patient's dosage being 10 times the recommended amount. Filling a prescription for the pain medication Celebrex instead of antidepressant... read more

Posted by Phil Daigle on July 2, 2007 10:31 AM
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AMA Wants Controls on Retail Health Clinics

The American Medical Association (AMA) wants legislation to control the operation of retail clinics at the state and federal level. They will ask federal and state agencies to investigate retail health clinics that are joint ventures between retailers and pharmacy chains. The AMA contends that conflicts of interest exist because retail clinics increase prescription drugs sales and other product. The clinic is not independent of the store which sells the drugs the prescriptions, hence the conflict of interest according to... read more

Posted by Phil Daigle on June 26, 2007 2:03 PM
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Hospital Costs Don't Relate to Quality

When it comes to health care, there's no correlation between what we, our employers, or our insurers pay and the quality of care that we get. Where you live determines cost more than quality. Take Pennsylvania for instance. The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council recently published a report on hospital pricing and patient outcomes. Two Philadelphia area hospitals were the highest paid ($100,000 for heart bypass surgery) and had higher-than-average death rates. Some hospitals in other parts of the... read more

Posted by Phil Daigle on June 18, 2007 10:34 AM
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New Home Fertility Test for Men and Women

A new home fertility test, the Fertell test, has recently been approved by the FDA. It tests the fertility of both men and women and can predict the likelihood of the couple conceiving with considerable accuracy. Men can test the quality of their semen in just over an hour. Women can measures FSH levels, a key predictor of female fertility. While not as comprehensive as a physician's fertility evaluation, the Fertel test, can warn couples that something is wrong. The... read more

Posted by Phil Daigle on June 5, 2007 7:56 PM
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Compare Hospitals

Visit the new Hospital Compare Web Site to compare hospital mortality rates for heart attack and heart failure at over 4,000 nationwide. Once closely guarded, hospital mortality rates are coming out in the open. The Hospital Compare Web Site may include information on whether your local hospital's 30-day mortality rates (heart attack and heart failure patients who died for any reason within 30 days of admission) are better or worse than 4,000 other hospitals.... read more

Posted by Phil Daigle on May 25, 2007 1:32 PM
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