John Robinson's Blog – September 2017 Archive (40)

The Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation has awarded a grant to Drexel University faculty to support the dissemination and enhancement of an online resource for teaching future health care providers about professionalism in medicine — including empathy, compassion, honesty, ethics and social justice.

Dennis Novack, MD,…

Dear Doctor: My daughter, who is in her 40s, has fibromyalgia. Is there any cure for this painful condition, or any natural remedies? I hate to see her suffer.

Dear Reader: The word “suffer” perfectly sums up fibromyalgia, and my heart goes out both to your daughter and to you, who can see the condition’s terrible effect on her. A chronic pain disorder initially termed “fibrositis syndrome” in the mid-19th…

Between 2004 and 2015, the number of new HIV diagnoses increased by 2.1% each year among this age group, with people over 50 accounting for 17.3% of new HIV cases diagnosed in Europe in 2015.

Experts argue sexual health programs should increasingly target this demographic, as well as the younger population.

“Our findings suggest a new direction in which the HIV epidemic is evolving,” said Lara…

For its many users, healthcare’s fee-for-service reimbursement methodology is like an addiction, similar to gambling, cigarette smoking and pain pill abuse. Doctors and hospitals in the clutches of this flawed payment model have grown dependent on providing more and more healthcare services, regardless of whether the additional care adds value.

I don’t use this metaphor lightly, nor wish to trivialize our nation’s growing problem with…

The approach towards preventing peanut allergies has changed dramatically in recent years. Now the US Food and Drug Administration has approved the first commercial product, called Hello, Peanut!, to help inform the public that early peanut introduction and regular consumption can reduce the risk of peanut allergy in young…

Major depression is a very common mental condition, with…

A new device can assess in real time whether the body’s tissues are receiving enough oxygen and, placed on the heart, can predict cardiac arrest in critically ill heart patients, report researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital and scientists from Cambridge device maker Pendar Technologies. Their study, conducted in animal models, is the cover article in today’s issue of Science…

The number of NHS mental health staff who have had to take sick leave because of their own mental health issues has risen by 22% in the past five years.

Those taking long-term…

  Tobacco, an age-old addiction, dishes out some chilling, unpleasant facts. Tobacco is the US’ leading cause of preventable deaths. Between four and five percent of the entire American population -some 16…

On September 6, 2017, FDA finalized a guidance document entitled “Design Considerations and Pre-Market Submission Recommendations for Interoperable Medical Devices” (“Final Guidance”). In the Final Guidance, the agency outlines design considerations for manufacturers when developing…

Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana have drafted the latest Republican attempt to repeal Obamacare. The bill would overhaul or eliminate major sections of the health care law, including its subsidized insurance coverage and Medicaid expansion. Instead, states would receive block grants, or a lump sum of money from the federal…