Keeping off the pounds is tough at any age. Now seniors are getting a helping hand from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which has announced that it will cover screening and counseling for obesity as a free preventive service for Medicare beneficiaries.

Coverage is effective immediately.

Advocates hope that CMS’ decision may encourage private insurers and Medicaid to begin covering obesity screening and counseling as well.

“I think it’s fantastic,” says Dr. Marijane Hynes, a primary care physician at George Washington Medical Faculty Associates Weight Loss Clinic.

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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Wednesday that it has approved the first generic version of the world's top-selling medicine, the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor (atorvastatin), currently marketed by Pfizer Inc.

Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, India's largest pharmaceutical company, has gained FDA approval to make generic atorvastatin calcium tablets in 10 milligram, 20 mg, 40 mg, and 80 mg strengths. The tablets will be made by Ohm Laboratories in New Brunswick, New Jersey, says the FDA.

A statement from Raxbaxy says Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd, will be marketing the generic atorvastatin in the US.

Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, told the press the agency was "working very hard" to ensure patients get generic drugs as fast as the law will permit:

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Patients overall in the United States are very satisfied with their physicians and with treatment they receive in outpatient settings, according to new information which challenges common public perceptions about outpatient medical treatment.

"Particularly surprising is that even a lot of patients who reported average encounters with physicians, such as average national wait times and average physician encounter time, seem to be giving full marks to their physician in terms of visit satisfaction," said Rajesh Balkrishnan, lead study author and associate professor in the University of Michigan School of Public Health and College of Pharmacy.

The study analyzed data from an online survey tool*, where 14,984 patients ranked visits from 2004-2010 on a 10-point scale, with 10 being the highest. The study included only physicians with 10 or more ratings, and patients could rate a particular doctor only once every three months, to prevent skewed scores.

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A few months ago, we chronicled the 7 most deadly sins of EMR implementation. From ignoring nurses to declining help, these offenses can be hard to make right.

But, in an effort to help big and small practices alike avoid the most common EMR faux pas, we followed up with Rosemarie Nelson, principal of the MGMA Consulting Group, and asked for her opinion on the best practices for implementing an EMR system.

Here are Nelson’s six golden rules of EMR implementation:

For the full article please go here.

Michael Kirsch, M.D. – author, MD Whistleblower

With regard to physicians’ support for medical malpractice reform, the times they are a changin’. These iconic words of Bob Dylan, who has now reached the 8th decade of life, apply to the medical liability crisis that traditionally has been a unifying issue for physicians.

The New York Times reported that physicians in Maine are going soft on this issue, but I suspect this conversion is not limited to the Pine Tree State. Heretofore, it was assumed that physicians as a group loathed the medical malpractice system and demanded tort reform. The system, we argued, was unfair, arbitrary, and expensive. It missed most cases of true medical negligence. It lit the fuse that exploded the practice of defensive medicine. Rising premiums drove good doctors out of town or out of practice.

What happened? The medical malpractice system is as unfair as ever. Tort reform proposals are still regarded as experimental by the reigning Democrats in congress and in the White House. The reason that this issue has slipped in priority for physicians is because our jobs have changed. Private practice is drying up across the country for the same reasons that family owned hardware and appliance stores are vanishing. Look what has happened to independent bookstores? If you want to find one in your neighborhood, you may need to hire a private investigator. Private physician offices are being squeezed out by surrounding medical institutions that, using Ross Perot’s famous phrase uttered in the 1992 presidential campaign, have created a ‘giant sucking sound’ as it vacuums up patients from private doctors’ waiting rooms.

For the full article please go here.

November 14, 2011 | Bernie Monegain, Editor

PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA – Hazards from clinical alarms top the list of 10 technology hazards for 2012, according to the ECRI Institute, an independent nonprofit that researches the best approaches to improving patient care.

Now in its fifth year of publication, ECRI Institute bills its annual Top 10 hazard list as a comprehensive report designed to raise awareness of the potential dangers associated with the use of medical devices and systems. Most significantly, the report includes action-oriented recommendations on addressing these risks.

The top 10 hazards on ECRI Institute’s 2012 list are:

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Michael J. Sacopulos, Esq.

A Louisiana physician was fired for diverting Demerol from his patients and reporting to work under the influence. Upon the dismissal, a colleague wrote a letter of recommendation for the physician. The discharged physician took his glowing recommendation and found a new job thousands of miles away in Washington State.

About a year into working at this new job, the physician was caught “under the influence.” Further, he was caught after he failed to properly administer anesthesia and his patient fell into a permanent vegetative state, according to court records. The patient’s family filed a malpractice lawsuit against the physician and the medical center where the surgery took place. The case was settled with the physician paying $1 million and the medical center paying $7.5 million.

For the full article please go here.

ScienceDaily (Nov. 4, 2011) — Research shows infection by the brain parasite Toxoplasma gondii, found in 10-20 per cent of the UK's population, directly affects the production of dopamine, a key chemical messenger in the brain.

Findings from the University of Leeds research group are the first to demonstrate that a parasite found in the brain of mammals can affect dopamine levels.

Whilst the work has been carried out with rodents, lead investigator Dr Glenn McConkey of the University's Faculty of Biological Sciences, believes that the findings could ultimately shed new light on treating human neurological disorders that are dopamine-related such as schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and Parkinson's disease.

For the full article please go here.

by Michelle Andrews

It can't hurt to ask if that blood test is really necessary.

People who visit their primary care doctors for routine care often find themselves poked, prodded and advised in all kinds of unnecessary and unhelpful ways.

Add it all up, and the cost of the dubious tests and medical interventions runs to about $6.8 billion a year. The annual checkup, an American medical tradition, is a prime offender.

Some of the waste seems so obvious. We're talking about doctors ordering blood tests when a patient has no risk factors or symptoms of illness, for example, or prescribing a brand-name cholesterol-lowering drug without first making sure a generic won't do the job.

For the full article please go here.