Monday, January 2, 2006

Baxter Moves Ahead With Generic Sevoflurane

Baxter moves ahead with drug despite fight (Chicago Sun-Times):

"Unfazed by a continuing legal battle with Abbott Laboratories , Deerfield-based Baxter International will launch its generic inhaled anesthetic sevoflurane in the United States and Japan in the first half of this year."

[Via Yahoo Search: anesthesia]



Sunday, January 1, 2006

Prilosec and C.Diff?

Reading a blog far afield of medicine, then to the Washington Post, I cam across an interesting nugget on C. Diff. The JAMA published an article on December 21, 2005 titled Use of Gastric Acid–Suppressive Agents and the Risk of Community-Acquired Clostridium difficile–Associated Disease [abstract]. In two population-based case-control studies:

" The incidence of C difficile in patients diagnosed by their general practitioners in the General Practice Research Database increased from less than 1 case per 100 000 in 1994 to 22 per 100 000 in 2004. The adjusted rate ratio of C difficile–associated disease with current use of proton pump inhibitors was 2.9 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.4-3.4) and with H2-receptor antagonists the rate ratio was 2.0 (95% CI, 1.6-2.7). An elevated rate was also found with the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (rate ratio, 1.3; 95% CI, 1.2-1.5). "

A teleconference is planned for January 18th to discuss these results as part of the new Author-in-the-room series.

QA On New Medicare Part B Prescription Drug Plan

Deconstructing drug plan

  • Who is eligible for the new Medicare drug benefit?
  • What does the basic Part D plan include?
  • Do I have to enroll in a Medicare drug plan?
  • Do I have to decide today?
  • What if I miss the deadline?
  • My drug costs are really low and I don't have any coverage. Do I really need this?

More at http://www.medicare.gov/pdphome.asp



Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Gastric Bypass Surgeries Soaring (HealthDay)

Gastric Bypass Surgeries Soaring (HealthDay):

"HealthDay - TUESDAY, Dec. 20 (HealthDay News) -- The number of gastric bypass and other bariatric surgeries conducted in the United States more than quadrupled between 1998 to 2002, from 12,775 procedures to 70,256, researchers report."

And from 2002 to the present, I'm sure they've continued to go up. Would I have one? Ask me when I'm 400 pounds and have tried other methods of weight loss without sustained results...

[Via Yahoo! News: Health]

Epocrates Online Free

A reminder from The Palmdoc Chronicles that Epocrates Online Free is online and, well, free.

Medscape CME: Women With Migraine

Women With Migraine: Effective Strategies for Positive Outcomes:

"Migraine is a female-skewed disorder affecting women about 3 times more often than men. Learn about common diagnostic errors in migraine and how triptans are improving symptoms for many sufferers. (CME)"

As an aside, I have had very good success treating perioperative migraines with IV metoclopramide (reglan).

[Via Medscape Headlines]



Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Insurance Companies Trying To Curb Anesthesiologist Participation in Colonoscopies

Propofol sedation for colonoscopies is in the news today.

Colonoscopy anesthesia popular but pricey (UPI):

"NEW YORK, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- An increasingly popular and potent anesthetic makes colonoscopies more comfortable for patients but it sharply boosts the cost, reports say."

I've given lots of propofol anesthetics for colonoscopies. Patients go off to sleep before they start, wake up when it's over and ask 'when are we going to start?' The recovery is faster and cleaner than traditional opiate/benzodiazepine sedation, allowing a center to increase the number of patients it can perform an exam on in a day.

A similar report on CNN/Money goes as far as to call the insurance company involved (Wellpoint) and ask if their executives will forego propofol. Answer?

""They'll be covered by the same clinical guidelines," the Wellpoint spokeswoman said."

I have to wonder, wouldn't the same logic apply here as applies to providing epidurals for labor? Are labor epidurals medically necessary? The American College of Gynecology, together with the American Society of Anesthesiologists has opined that "there is no other circumstance where it is considered acceptable for a person to experience untreated severe pain that is amenable to safe intervention." Ask a nurse that works with colonoscopy patients how she'd like hers done. I'll bet I know the answer.

It's not just insurance companies that are clamping down on anesthetists administering propofol to colonoscopy patients. Apparently, a group representing the gastroenterologists have asked for propofol labeling to be changed by the FDA to allow them to administer it (see safepropofol.org for more info). This same group is against Wellpoint's policy change as outlined here.

[Via Yahoo Search: anesthesia]



Saturday, December 24, 2005

Mythbusters: On Being An Organ Donor

The Iowa Charles City Press has a nice piece titled Myth busters on being an organ donor which addresses the following myths:

"Myth: Doctors will not try to save my life if they know I want to be a donor.
Myth: People can recover from brain death.
Myth: Minorities should refuse to donate because organ distribution discriminates by race.
Myth: The rich and famous on the U.S. waiting list for organs get preferential treatment.
Myth: I am too old to donate organs and tissues.
Myth: My family will be charged for donating my organs.
Myth: Donation will disfigure my body.
Myth: Organs are sold, with enormous profits going to the medical community.
Myth: Marrow donation is painful. "

Please read and pass along...and 'yes' I'm an organ donor.



Thursday, December 22, 2005

More on why anesthesia is (or is not) safer

Walter Olson responded to my earlier post and I feel I need to clarify what I meant. I thank him for pointing out (gently) the error of my words.

First off, I trained in the early 1990's after the advent of improved monitoring such as pulse oximetry and end tidal gas monitoring. My statement that 'overdose risk is not and was never a cause of patient morbidity and mortality in my field' was overly broad and, as Olson points out, incorrect.

The point I tried to make (though not well) was that overdose is not something we presently worry about and does not explain the apparent increase in awareness under anesthesia. What can explain it (in part) is the use of muscle paralyzing drugs (even when they are not absolutely necessary) often together with medical errors such as empty vaporizers (inhaled anesthetic delivery source), incorrectly installed vaporizers, or other human error.

Though Google turns up many hits on anesthesia and overdose, these tend to be written by non-anesthesiologists for the lay public and should not be taken as evidence that anesthetic overdoses is a cause of malpractice claims (though, admittedly, it is a term that most juries readily understand)

Walter, if you're reading this, I'd love to be able to read more about how the legal system portrays us during trials. Any pointers?

More proof: people don't change (doctors are people)

Disciplinary Action by Medical Boards and Prior Behavior in Medical School

"Conclusions In this case-control study, disciplinary action among practicing physicians by medical boards was strongly associated with unprofessional behavior in medical school. Students with the strongest association were those who were described as irresponsible or as having diminished ability to improve their behavior. Professionalism should have a central role in medical academics and throughout one's medical career."

Another report of H5N1 resistance to Tamiflu

NEJM Case Report: Oseltamivir Resistance during Treatment of Influenza A (H5N1) Infection [free full text]

Tight glycemic control in Type I diabetes reduces risk of cardiovascular disease

NEJM:Intensive Diabetes Treatment and Cardiovascular Disease in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes

"Results During the mean 17 years of follow-up, 46 cardiovascular disease events occurred in 31 patients who had received intensive treatment in the DCCT, as compared with 98 events in 52 patients who had received conventional treatment. Intensive treatment reduced the risk of any cardiovascular disease event by 42 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 9 to 63 percent; P=0.02) and the risk of nonfatal myocardial infarction, stroke, or death from cardiovascular disease by 57 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 12 to 79 percent; P=0.02). The decrease in glycosylated hemoglobin values during the DCCT was significantly associated with most of the positive effects of intensive treatment on the risk of cardiovascular disease. Microalbuminuria and albuminuria were associated with a significant increase in the risk of cardiovascular disease, but differences between treatment groups remained significant (P≤0.05) after adjusting for these factors."

Misconceptions about why anesthesia is safer

Walter Olson has taught me much about the legal system as it pertains to medicine via the PointOfLaw forum. I have to take exception with a post made today however. In pointing to an article that considers whether the lessons of patient safety in anesthesiology are generalizable to other fields of medicine, he writes:

"Incidentally, because anesthesiologists are now more vigilant than ever not to court an overdose risk by giving patients any more than the minimum they need, there is apparently a rising incidence of the phenomenon of "anesthesia awareness", in which underdosed patients are actually aware of the surgery in progress and perhaps end up undergoing psychological trauma as a result. So what happens next? You guessed it."

Overdose risk is not and was never a cause of patient morbidity and mortality in my field. Second, it is not at all clear whether the 'rising incidence of the phenomenon of anesthesia awareness' is anything but a) better reporting (i.e. you don't find what you don't look for) b) realization among patients that there's something else they can sue for or c) an effort by one medical device company which makes depth of anesthesia monitors to panic hospitals and anesthesia groups into buying their product (a product which, by the way, has not been shown to decrease the incidence of awareness).

The specialty is actively engaged in evaluating this 'problem' with the same approach it has used to improve patient safety in other areas such as airway management and positioning injuries.



Tuesday, December 6, 2005

For OR Nurses: iPod 101

iPod 101

"Just in time for the Holiday season Apple has posted iPod 101...[which] covers everything you might want to know about the iPod, but were afraid to ask (or perhaps didn't know you should want to ask)."

[Via TUAW]



Sunday, December 4, 2005

Sales of Impotence Drugs Fall, Defying Expectations - New York Times

Sales of Impotence Drugs Fall, Defying Expectations - New York Times:

"Seven years after Pfizer made Viagra a cultural touchstone and commercial blockbuster, the market for impotence medicines appears to have fallen well short of what was once predicted."

[Via New York Times]



Thursday, December 1, 2005

CDC MMWR: Severe Clostridium difficile

Severe Clostridium difficile--Associated Disease in Populations Previously at Low Risk --- Four States, 2005

Greg Pierce: Pragmatic Security

Greg's "Pragmatic Security," for the Rest of You ;-):

" Greg has just published a very pragmatic set of instructions to help "friends and family of geeks" deal with security issues on the internet. Very good recommendations, all of them, and so I'd like to ask all of my friends and family to go check them out. He obviously spent a lot of time writing that essay, and I believe that most will find it an 'easy read'.

He admits it's not a complete solution to everyone. It's a plan to get started. I think it's a good plan.

The most important issue he left out, in my opinion, is the huge number of "phishing" email messages being sent out these days (these are attempts to trick you out of your username and password). Nobody is safe from these, many of them are just too good. I wrote up a little blurb and posted it in a reply to Greg's message, so please include it in your reading. "

[Via Truer Words - A Journal]

How do you mark a surgical site?

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons has a policy on marking surgical sites titled Guidelines for Implementation of the Universal Protocol for the Prevention of Wrong Site, Wrong Procedure and Wrong Person Surgery. It's worth reviewing and comparing to your institutions policy. For example:

  • Make the mark at or near the incision site. Do NOT mark any non-operative site(s) unless necessary for some other aspect of care.
  • The mark should be unambiguous (e.g., use initials or "YES" or a line representing the proposed incision; consider that "X" may be ambiguous).
  • The person performing the procedure should do the site marking.

There's much more to the guideline, but your current policies are most likely to be at variance with the above three points. One of the surgery centers I work at, for instance, marks the surgical site with an 'X'. I've explained to them that 'X' is ambiguous (does X mark the spot, or does X mark 'not this one'?) and even explained the details of a malpractice case in which marking with an X came into play. Another hospital was in the habit of marking both sides ('L' and 'R'). Also confusing. Finally, several centers have the nurse preparing the patient for surgery to mark the site. Also not a good idea.



Wednesday, November 30, 2005

NYT: Gimme an Rx! Cheerleaders Pep Up Drug Sales

Interesting New York Times article on pharmaceutical reps:

"Exaggerated motions, exaggerated smiles, exaggerated enthusiasm - they learn those things, and they can get people to do what they want."

Approximately two dozen Kentucky cheerleaders, mostly women but a few men, have become drug reps in recent years.

While there are no statistics on how many drug representatives are former or current cheerleaders, demand for them led to the formation of an employment firm, Spirited Sales Leaders, in Memphis. It maintains a database of thousands of potential candidates."

This reminds me of the drug rep on the TV show Scrubs (played by Heather Locklear).

January, 2006
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 31  
Dec  Feb