Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
Popular Articles

Pledges To Reduce Health Care Costs, Spending Growth Could Violate Antitrust Laws, Lawyers Say
U.S. antitrust laws could affect health care industry groups" efforts to work together to rein in health care costs, the New York Times reports (Pear, New York Times, 5/27). In a letter sent to President Obama on May 10, a coalition of groups -- the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the Advanced Medical Technology Association, America"s Health Insurance Plans and the Service Employees International Union -- pledged to reduce the annual health care spending growth rate by 1.5%. The groups did not elaborate on what specific measures they would use to achieve such reductions, but the Obama administration has requested specific plans from the groups by June 1 (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 5/26). According to the Times, many of the plans being considered by the health care industry would require greater cooperation across health care providers. Robert Leibenluft, a former Federal Trade Commission official, said, "Any agreement among competitors with regard to prices or price increases -- even if they set a maximum -- would raise legal concerns." In addition, while Obama is asking for specific plans from the health care industry, the administration has not offered any relief from antitrust laws, the Times reports. Furthermore, during his campaign Obama pledged to increase enforcement of antitrust laws, according to the Times.Antitrust laws have had a negative effect on previous health reform efforts, the Times reports. In 1993, the drug industry established a voluntary cost control plan that limited each drug company"s annual increase in the average price of prescription drugs to the increase in the Consumer Price Index, but the Department of Justice ruled that the proposal would violate antitrust laws. DOJ officials said that the U.S. Supreme Court made it clear that setting price maximums was akin to setting price minimums, which is illegal. In a letter to the Senate Finance Committee, AHA wrote that uncertainty regarding the enforcement of antitrust laws "makes it difficult for a hospital and doctors to collaborate to improve care" and reduce costs. AMA has asked Congress to amend antitrust laws to allow physicians to collectively negotiate with insurers over fees and other concerns, but FTC repeatedly has designated the practice illegal price-fixing, according to the Times. FTC officials said that consumers could benefit from cooperation among health care industry groups but that cooperation also could lead to increased bargaining power for physicians and hospitals, making it easier for them to set prices and eliminate competition (New York Times, 5/27). Reform Developments

Advance In Detecting Melamine-adulterated Food
Researchers in Indiana are reporting an advance toward faster, more sensitive tests for detecting melamine, the substance that killed at least 6 children and sickened 300,000 children in China who drank milk and infant formula adulterated with the substance. The improved tests may ease global concerns about food safety, the researchers say. Their report is scheduled for the May 27 issue of ACS" Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication.
News of the day
Moist Wound Healing Reduces Scarring And Promotes Faster Healing
New consensus has been reached by a panel of leading European experts on the guidelines for the treatment of acute minor wounds which states that healing is accelerated by a moist wound environment.
Cardiovascular

Prevalence Of Ureaplasma Urealyticum And Mycoplasma Hominis In Women With Chronic Urinary Symptoms

UroToday.com - Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma Hominis are members of a unique group of microorganisms commonly identified in the genital tract of women. With the onset of sexual intercourse the prevalence of Mycoplasma increases dramatically an isolation is strongly dependent on the number of sexual partners. Convincing evidence of an infection caused by genital Mycoplasma is not easy, because they usually are not isolated in pure culture, making the evaluation even more difficult. Dr. Stavroula Baka and colleagues from Athens, Greece evaluated the prevalence of U. urealyticum and M hominis in women presenting with chronic urinary symptoms, and the subsequent improvement, if any, of symptom severity and urinary frequency after appropriate therapy targeting these microorganisms. The 153 patients who completed the study had symptoms including dysuria, pelvic pain, urgency, frequency, and dyspareunia. They had either failed a course of antimicrobial therapy or had negative routine cultures. Urine samples (midstream and catheter specimens), and urethral, vaginal, and cervical swabs were obtained. U. urealyticum was detected from 1 or more sites in 52.9% and M. hominis was detected in 5 women, all of whom were positive for U. urealyticum. In 82.3% of patients positive for U. urealyticum, other pathogens were also identified. A single-dose regimen of 1 gram azithromycin was given to all culture positive patients and recommended for their sexual partner. Those with a positive culture one month after therapy (4.9%) were successfully treated with 7 days of doxycycline 100mg twice daily. Significant improvement was observed in all symptoms. When the mean difference in the urinary symptom scores before and after treatment in women with positive cultures for Mycoplasma only was compared with those from women with Mycoplasma and other organisms as well, dysuria, dyspareunia, urinary urgency, and urinary frequency had improved significantly, while there was no difference in pelvic pain between the groups. The authors conclude that the significant improvement noted in all symptom scores after treatment in women with positive cultures for U. urealyticum and M. hominis suggests that these pathogens might have been involved in the etiology of chronic urinary symptoms experienced in this group of patients. Baka S, Kouskouni E, Antonopoulou S, Sioutis D, Papakonstantinou M, Hassiakos D, Logothetis E, Liapis A Urology. 2009 Jul;74(1):62-6 10.1016/j.urology.2009.02.014 Written by UroToday.com Contributing Editor Philip M. Hanno, MD, MPH UroToday - the only urology website with original content written by global urology key opinion leaders actively engaged in clinical practice. To access the latest urology news releases from UroToday, go to: www.urotoday.com Copyright © 2009 - UroToday


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009