MEDICAL

Northeast Ohio Medical Industry and Hospital News

Flu in United States resistant to leading antiviral drug

by Plain Dealer staff

Thursday January 08, 2009, 3:22 PM

Scientists and health officials are trying to figure out why virtually all the flu in the United States this season is resistant to the leading antiviral drug Tamiflu.

Last winter, about 11 percent of the throat swabs from patients with the most common type of flu that were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for genetic typing showed a Tamiflu-resistant strain. This season, 99 percent do.

"It's quite shocking," Dr. Kent A. Sepkowitz, director of infection control at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, told The New York Times. "We've never lost an antibiotic this fast. It blew me away."

California court protects ER patients from doctor bills

by Associated Press

Thursday January 08, 2009, 2:50 PM

SAN FRANCISCO — California's high court has barred emergency room doctors from directly billing insured patients when their HMOs refuse to pay the entire bill.

The ruling deals with cases when HMO members are treated by emergency room doctors who aren't in their plan. A unanimous California Supreme Court says the doctors who feel shortchanged by HMOs for ER visits must take up the issue with insurance companies rather than patients.

The practice -- known as "balance billing" -- is becoming increasingly common in California and has touched off fierce political and legal debate.

Today's ruling addressed the issue only narrowly, confining its decision to emergency room visits and leaving unresolved the dispute between doctors and insurers.

Gift to Cleveland Clinic to fund nursing education scholarships

by Kaye Spector/Plain Dealer Reporter

Wednesday January 07, 2009, 6:19 PM

A large gift from a former Cleveland Clinic patient who lives in New York City will first fund scholarships, then help establish a nursing education center at the hospital.

Stanley Zielony of Garden City, Long Island, N.Y., donated money to create the Stanley S. Zielony Center for Nursing Education, the Clinic said Wednesday in a news release. Zielony does not want the amount disclosed, Clinic spokeswoman Natalie Guzzo said.

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Ohio governor signs 'Emily's Law' forcing standards for pharmacy technicians

by Michael Sangiacomo/Plain Dealer Reporter

Wednesday January 07, 2009, 5:25 PM

UPDATED at 10:08 p.m.

Christopher Jerry will never forget the pain of his daughter's death, but his anguish eased a little Wednesday when Gov. Ted Strickland signed his name on "Emily's Law."

"I know that many people, perhaps thousands, will live because of it," Jerry said. "It made dealing with her death a bit easier."

Emily Jerry, the 2-year-old daughter of Christopher and Kelly Jerry, suffered an agonizing death after a pharmacy technician gave her a solution containing 23 percent salt at Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital on Feb. 26, 2006.

The solution was supposed to be about 1 percent salt. The child was undergoing her final treatment for cancer.

The law requires prospective and current pharmacy technicians in Ohio to pass a competency test as well as a criminal background check. Before the law, anyone could become a pharmacy technician with few qualifications; only a high school diploma or equivalency certificate was required.

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C-sections best for baby when close to due date

by Stephanie Nano/Associated Press

Wednesday January 07, 2009, 5:05 PM

NEW YORK -- Babies do better after a scheduled Caesarean section if they're born no sooner than seven days before their due date, a new large study of U.S. births shows.

Those delivered earlier had more complications, including breathing problems, even though they were full term, the researchers reported in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. Even just a few days made a difference, they said.

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Medical Mutual of Ohio catches $6.2 million in fraudulent claims

by Sarah Jane Tribble/Plain Dealer Reporter

Wednesday January 07, 2009, 4:00 PM

Updated at 6:20 p.m.

Medical Mutual of Ohio, the state's largest health insurer, said it caught a record $6.2 million in fraudulent health-care claims last year, up from nearly $5 million the year before.

The company credits its computer software and a diligent investigative unit, which includes ex-police officers, for the increase.

The privately owned Cleveland-based company, which has 2,700 employees and serves about 1.6 million customers, is one of a growing number of insurers fighting fraud in the hopes of controlling health-care costs in a weak economy.

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Ohio joins task force to find cause of salmonella outbreak

by Brie Zeltner/Plain Dealer Reporter

Wednesday January 07, 2009, 12:22 PM

Ohio had the second highest number of cases in the most recent salmonella outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The outbreak, which began in October, sickened 51 people in 18 counties in the state. Fourteen people in Cuyahoga County had the illness, which causes fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps. The last case was reported Dec. 12.

Ohio is now helping the CDC find the source of the outbreak, said Department of Health spokesman Kristopher Weiss. (Earlier story)

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Pfizer: U.S. ruling maintains Lipitor patent term

by Linda A. Johnson/Associated Press

Tuesday January 06, 2009, 4:17 PM

TRENTON, N.J. — The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office Tuesday issued a notice allowing drugmaker Pfizer Inc. to correct a technical defect in one of the patents involving Pfizer's cholesterol medicine Lipitor, the world's top-selling drug.

The decision will result in reissuance of the drug's key patent and maintain that patent's June 2011 expiration date, crucial to Pfizer because Lipitor brings the company nearly $13 billion in annual sales.

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Federal judge tosses suit challenging tobacco settlement

by Brett Barrouquere/Associated Press

Tuesday January 06, 2009, 3:15 PM

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A federal judge has dismissed a challenge to the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement between the states and 19 tobacco product makers saying there's no legal basis for attacking the compact.

U.S. District Judge Jennifer Coffman ruled Tuesday that the lawsuit, brought by General Tobacco, failed on all fronts because the company couldn't prove the settlement amounted to either a conspiracy or anti-competitive behavior by the government.

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Pharmacy technician licensing rules to be signed into law Wednesday

by Michael Sangiacomo/Plain Dealer Reporter

Tuesday January 06, 2009, 12:23 PM

COLUMBUS — "Emily's Law," which will regulate pharmacy technicians in Ohio, is expected to be signed into law by Gov. Ted Strickland Wednesday morning. Kelly Jerry, mother of Emily Jerry, the 2-year-old Mentor-area child who died after a technician's mistake, said she and the bill's sponsor, State Sen. Tim Grendell of Chester Township, will meet with the governor at 8:30 before the 9 a.m. ceremony.

The law will require that Ohio pharmacy technicians pass a competency test as well as a criminal background check.

On her birthday, Feb. 26, 2006, Emily, the daughter of Kelly and Chris Jerry of Concord Township, went to Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital for a final chemotherapy treatment for her cancer, which had all but disappeared. The parents and the child's doctor thought that the final treatment would ensure that the cancer was destroyed.

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Nation's health spending continues to increase

by Kevin Freking/Associated Press

Tuesday January 06, 2009, 11:00 AM

Washington -- Health care continued to take up a greater share of the economy in 2007, as spending on hospitals, doctors and other services increased 6.1 percent to $2.2 trillion.

There was a silver lining in the numbers the government reported Monday: The increase in health spending was the smallest since 1998, thanks largely to the growing use of generic drugs.

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Cleveland Clinic's 'electronic nose' can sniff out cancer

by Angela Townsend/Plain Dealer Reporter

Tuesday January 06, 2009, 9:47 AM

The start of a new year symbolizes beginnings, resolutions and, for researchers across the country, one step closer to finishing work that could change the way we fight cancer.

Although years away from hitting the market -- all must stand up to much larger studies and approval from the Food and Drug Administration -- the following tests show great promise in the quest for early detection of some of the most deadly cancers around.

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