Since Rofecoxib (Vioxx) was withdrawn from the worldwide market based on the safety findings of the Adenomatous Polyp Prevention on Vioxx (APPROVe) study, the uncertainty around the cardiovascular safety of NSAIDs and COX-2 inhibitors remains and leaves practitioners with difficult management decisions for the hundreds of millions of patients worldwide who continue to require pain-relieving…
Last October the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) added a black box warning on ultrasound (US) contrast agents used in echocardiogram imaging examinations, around 200 reports of serious allergic reactions were received. Problems included cardiac arrest as well as breathing difficulty and seizures; seven of the cases resulted in death.
The belief that iodinated contrast agents can induce nephropathy has been held for many years, even though most of the clinical literature has not been able to distinguish contrast-induced nephropathy from other causes of the condition.
The drug information system AiDKlinik developed by Dosing GmbH is a software solution for the server-based intranet for medication dosing.
The Dutch E-health initiatives have made remarkable progress in recent years, writes Marcel Swennenhuis, President of Topicus HealthCare. Many solutions, such as online medication services, patient portals and web-based disease management initiatives, demonstrate the success of the country's EHR approach.
The world's first installation of Cisco's telemetry system HealthPresence has been completed at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in Scotland. The system combines video, audio and call centre technology with medical information in a high-security network.
Information in patients' records could benefit biomedical research in terms of understanding diseases and their treatments. The drawback is that those records contain confidential information that could identify patients. If that data has to be removed manually, the task is not only painstaking and therefore expensive, but also not foolproof.
Laparoscopy is playing an increasingly important role in urology and centres of excellence have been established to provide training in urological laparoscopic surgery.
Researcher have found that overcrowding and understaffing in hospitals lead to a failure of MRSA control programmes, which in turn results in increased inpatient hospital stay, bed blocking and further infection control failure.
According to recent survey by the Leapfrog Group 87% of hospitals fail to adhere infection prevention measures on a consistent basis. In the Wall Street Journal, Betsy McCaughey, chair of the Committee to Reduce Infection Death, warns against the next wave of lawsuits.
Hospital infections are immensely dangerous. Toul Meditech has therefore developed a new mobile laminar airflow system which can be used in every operating room in addition to the existing ventilation system.
Hospital admission might probably determine the severity of heart failure. By analysing data from 260 hospitals across the United States researchers created a model to reduce in-hospital mortality and more quickly identify triage methods and treatment decisions.
A recent case from Eardisland, Herefordshire, demonstrates the impact of institutions like the Nursing & Midwifery Council in the UK that considers allegations of misconduct of nurses. A nurse was given a three-year caution for not adhering to the Council's professional code of conduct which led to serious consequences for the patient.
Hiding behind a doctor's licence obtained years ago will no longer be tolerated in England. Senior doctors are asked to function as "responsible officers" who collect information about colleagues over a period of time. The new arrangement intends to examine the fitness of physicians every five years.
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed a software application to automatically "de-identify" medical records. The software might help to allay patients' fears about who has access to their confidential data. It is capable of deleting details which may identify patients while leaving important medical information intact.
In any hospital, one of the most dreaded enemies is MRSA. This super-resistant pathogen laughs in the face of most antibiotics. But now, medical and hygiene product manufacturer Lohmann & Rauscher may have developed an efficient weapon to fight this ugly beast: a wound dressing that contains polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB).
Considered optimal transportation and identification tools, they have become a symbol for modern hospitals: RFID tags. But according to a new study radio frequency identification devices (RFID) may disrupt medical devices. Moreover, the FDA is concerned that the increase in digital technology might be dangerous for patients.
When tumours are situated in difficult locations, e.g. near the brain, lungs, prostate or abdomen, patients treated with conventional radiation equipment often suffer severe side effects, which include bleeding, chronic infections or organ function limitations.
Report: Mark Nicholls
"Surgical care and its safe delivery affect the lives of millions of people. About 234 million major operations are performed worldwide every year", according to the World Health Organization (WHO). To avoid - possibly fatal - complications the WHO introduced a checklist on safe surgery.
When it comes to children's cancer care, the National Health Service counts on the concern of others, critics say. In their opinion the Britisch NHS tries to compense financial deficits by falling back on charity support. This could lead to large inequalities between different disease treatments and to over-reliances on local donations and social work.
The clinical center of the university of Mainz, Germany, reported the first successful use of a newly developed mobile heart-lung support system with a patient suffering from life-threatening pulmonary embolism. "Lifebridge", a highly automated system, was connected via the inguinal vessels right after the embolism had occurred and immediately took over the functions of lung and heart, supplying…
Unexpected risks my result from today's medical devices, such as implantable cardiac defibrillators and pacemakers, if they are equipped with wireless technology to enable remote device checks.
The USA's National Institutes of Health aims to review blood transfusion safety
Storing, archiving and sharing patient information in an intelligent and controlled manner is one of the 'hot topics' for healthcare organisations, was Pierre-Yves Nectoux' message at the Hospital Management Symposium. Mr Nectoux, business manager of e-Health Managed Services for Carestream Health in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, has been actively involved in EU e-Health initiatives in his…