Subaqua Sternal Rubs

The Dangers of Drug Trials

Carsten — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 17:38:38 +0000

Volunteer speaks of "horror" effects in drug trial (Alternate coverage in German) - "First they began tearing their shirts off complaining of fever, then some screamed out that their heads felt like they were going to explode." And people wonder why almost no medications are "Pregnancy Category A" (meaning that drug trials in pregnant humans have proven the drug safe). What drug company would want to double their liability risk?

Overheard

Carsten — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 17:18:09 +0000

Home Defibrillators: Not as difficult to operate as a VCR.

Repairing damaged hearts

Carsten — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 20:50:24 +0000

"An experimental treatment for heart attack victims uses stem cell injections to heal the injured muscle. If successful, the therapy could be used in ERs." And if the current administration didn't keep totally ignoring that separation of church and state thing.

Albany Med chosen to participate in blood substitute trial

Carsten — Wed, 07 Sep 2005 20:22:40 +0000

Albany Med chosen to participate in blood substitute trial - I wonder if this will make it on to Capital Region ambulances?

Health Care at the Push of a Button

Carsten — Thu, 07 Jul 2005 17:29:11 +0000

Healthcare at the push of a button - "… a video-telemonitoring unit, she's not only able to meet with her nurse and dietician by video conference, she's also able to have her vital signs checked. The information is then sent to her doctor."

F.D.A. Warns Medtronic on External Defibrillators

Carsten — Fri, 24 Jun 2005 22:32:08 +0000

Great, these are the monitor/defibrillator that my ambulance squad uses: F.D.A. Warns Medtronic on External Defibrillators - "Federal regulators have warned Medtronic that it has failed to complete legally required steps to deal with reported flaws in one of its best-selling external defibrillators."

Prescription for doctors: E-mail

Carsten — Tue, 21 Jun 2005 21:50:47 +0000

Prescription for doctors: E-mail - "In a 2002 survey by Harris Interactive, 90% of adults with Internet access indicated they want to communicate with their physicians via e-mail. But a survey last year by Manhattan Research, a marketing information and services firm, found that less than 20% of physicians communicate via e-mail." Doctor Bob is for allowing patients email access, as am I, but Kevin, MD is mindful of two big problems: liability and reimbursement.

Guidant Recalls Cardiac Defibrillators

Carsten — Fri, 17 Jun 2005 22:05:37 +0000

Follow-up to a previous post: Guidant Recalls Cardiac Defibrillators - "Guidant Corp. on Friday voluntarily recalled nearly 50,000 of its cardiac defibrillators worldwide because of potential malfunctions in the devices."

National EMR

Carsten — Wed, 08 Jun 2005 15:08:57 +0000

Panel Aims for Digital Health Files: "Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt announced Monday that he would head a new panel that would push for a national system to exchange medical records electronically." This would make things easier for health care providers, but how would HIPPA compliance be worked in?

Guidant Didn’t Disclose a Flaw in Defibrillator for 3 Years

Carsten — Tue, 24 May 2005 15:09:38 +0000

"A medical device maker, the Guidant Corporation, did not tell doctors or patients for three years that a unit implanted in an estimated 24,000 people that is designed to shock a faltering heart contains a flaw that has caused a small number of those units to short-circuit and malfunction. The matter has come to light after the death of a 21-year-old college student from Minnesota, Joshua Oukrop, with a genetic heart disease." More: NYTimes.