MEDICAL

Northeast Ohio Medical Industry and Hospital News

Follow it live: Town hall meeting about health-care reform under Obama

by Chris Seper and Joan Mazzolini

Thursday November 20, 2008, 12:40 PM

Welcome to live coverage of a town hall meeting about health reform during President-elect Barack Obama's administration.

We're reporting from Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, but several gatherings are being held simultaneously in hospitals across the country.

Follow the debate in the box below, and also use it to add your comments as the event goes on. We'll take your comments and submit them during the question-and-answer portion of the meeting.

If there isn't time for questions, we'll interview one of the participants in the meeting using your questions. So please offer your ideas for health-care reform and question the panel on its ideas.

'Emily's law' for pharmacy technicians expected to pass

by Aaron Marshall/Plain Dealer Columbus Bureau

Thursday November 20, 2008, 7:25 AM

COLUMBUS -- Emily Jerry died because a pharmacy technician wasn't trained well enough to know she was making a lethal mistake by mixing a heavy dose of salt into the tiny girl's chemotherapy treatment.

That tragedy should never be repeated, the girl's mother, Kelly Jerry, told state lawmakers Wednesday as they held a hearing on a bill to regulate and train pharmacy technicians in Ohio for the first time.

Known as "Emily's law," the measure would require that Ohio pharmacy technicians pass a competency test as well as a criminal background check. The measure passed the Ohio Senate in May, and is now undergoing hearings in the House Health Committee.

Propping up a picture of her curly-haired toddler in front of her, Jerry described holding the 2-year-old in her arms as the Mentor girl first went limp and then began screaming as the saline coursed through her veins.

Continue reading "'Emily's law' for pharmacy technicians expected to pass" »

Health-care reform effort gains steam

by Joan Mazzolini/Plain Dealer Reporter

Thursday November 20, 2008, 6:53 AM

The U.S. economic crisis, rather than hinder health-care reform, might hasten it instead.

Before the election, health reform advocates said the economic downturn, coupled with the federal bailout of banks, might doom efforts to overhaul the country's health-care system.

The cost would be too high.

But since the election, momentum to overhaul the system has increased, despite -- or maybe because of -- ever-gloomier economic conditions.

"If we're going to revive our economy -- if we're going to restore a sense of economic security to ordinary American families -- we have to fix health care," Service Employees International Union President Andy Stern testified Wednesday before the Senate Committee on Finance.

Continue reading "Health-care reform effort gains steam" »

Steris agrees to joint venture with VTS Medical Systems

by Mary Vanac/Plain Dealer Reporter

Monday November 17, 2008, 4:42 PM

Steris Corp. in Mentor has solidified its relationship with VTS Medical Systems Inc. in Melville, N.Y., through a joint venture agreement.

Steris, which makes sterilization and surgical support technologies, will cooperate VTS to "bring the latest high-definition video, touch-screen integration and communication technology into hospital operating rooms," Steris said in a written statement.

VTS makes surgical-grade video monitors and information systems. The two companies have worked together since 2005.

The agreement includes an undisclosed cash investment by Steris, which now owns a significant minority interest in VTS Medical Systems LLC, the joint venture, Steris spokesman Stephen Norton said in an e-mail.

MetroHealth to cut 112 jobs to break even in 2009

by Joan Mazzolini/Plain Dealer Reporter

Monday November 17, 2008, 4:36 PM

MetroHealth System employees found out Monday that their numbers will be reduced by 112 to break even financially next year.

The job eliminations are primarily in unfilled positions. However, about 25 employees will be laid off effective the first of December.

The layoffs and job eliminations are expected to save the hospital about $6 million in 2009.

MetroHealth employees were notified this afternoon, though Interim President Mark Moran had been holding meetings with employees in recent weeks outlining the need for more cuts.

While the public hospital had a poor first quarter, with a loss of about $8 million, the following two showed financial improvement.

In May, 73 employees were laid off and jobs were left unfilled because of the deficit. The layoffs and other moves were expected to save the hospital about $13 million.

Physician Bill Lippy passing on his knowledge via an online library

by Mary Vanac/Plain Dealer Reporter

Monday November 17, 2008, 12:10 PM

Dr. Bill Lippy uses a surgical microscope to peer through a 3-millimeter opening into a patient's middle ear.

The doctor already has moved aside the eardrum to reveal the tiny bones -- the malleus, incus and stapes -- that relay sound waves to the brain to produce hearing.

This patient, however, can't hear in one ear. He has otosclerosis, a genetic disease that causes an overgrowth of bone to keep the stapes -- sometimes called the stirrup -- from vibrating to pass along sound.

Lippy separates the stapes from the incus, cuts the tendon that connects the tiniest bone in the body, then removes the stapes.

He replaces it by placing a vein graft over the now open oval window. Then he places a Lippy Titanium Prosthesis -- a sliver of titanium with a tiny hook on one end -- between the incus bone and the vein graft.

"Isn't that beautiful?" Lippy asks.

Within minutes, Lippy tests the hearing of his patient who has been awake during surgery. "Good morning, sir," Lippy says. "When you hear the sounds, say 'yes.' "

"Yes . . . yes . . . yes," the patient responds to the sounds that get softer and softer.

Lippy, an ear doctor in Warren, has done more than 17,000 stapedectomies -- surgeries to replace the stapes -- over his 45-year career. But he grins behind his surgical mask when he realizes that he's given back the gift of hearing to another patient.

Now, he's sharing his lifetime of expertise with the world.

He, his partner Dr. Leonard Berenholz, and his son, David, have created a video library about stapedectomy and otosclerosis for doctors everywhere. The Lippy Library is available online at Thelippylibrary.com.

Continue reading "Physician Bill Lippy passing on his knowledge via an online library" »

Medical radio: The Plain Dealer's week in medical news

by Chris Seper

Monday November 17, 2008, 3:13 AM

Download this week's medical podcast, or listen below to The Plain Dealer's summary of weekly medical news. Click on the links that come after the audio player for more information on the stories.

• Philips Healthcare considers job cuts under restructuring

• Athersys Inc. obesity drug in jeopardy following request from FDA

• Cleveland Clinic doctors pick Top 10 innovations in medicine

• Cleveland researchers borrow from algae to treat paralysis

• VA picks Brookpark clinic site; Parma location ideal, close to I-480

Philips Healthcare considers job cuts under restructuring

by Mary Vanac

Sunday November 16, 2008, 10:21 AM

About 55 workers at Philips Healthcare in Highland Heights could lose their jobs under a corporate restructuring by their Dutch parent company.

Royal Philips Electronics is looking at ways -- including job cuts -- to reduce the layers in its organization and to cut costs in anticipation of a worldwide recession, said Philips spokesman Steve Kelly.

A month ago, Philips said it would speed up "a number of initiatives to improve margins and to further optimize its operations structure, particularly in imaging systems." The restructuring is expected to include job cuts.

Continue reading "Philips Healthcare considers job cuts under restructuring" »

Athersys Inc. obesity drug in jeopardy following request from FDA

by Mary Vanac/Plain Dealer Reporter

Saturday November 15, 2008, 12:29 AM

Cleveland biopharmaceutical company Athersys Inc. said a recent conversation with the Food and Drug Administration may bode ill for the obesity drug the company is developing.

The drug got high marks in initial clinical trials, which found it safe and well tolerated among the 107 volunteers in the United Kingdom test who received the drug rather than a placebo. Those results were announced in February.

But, in late September, Athersys said the FDA had requested more information about current clinical trials of the drug, ATHX-105, which is the company's leading drug candidate. Athersys is also developing an adult stem cell therapy called MultiStem.

While the FDA's request put the study of the drug partly on hold, it also offered an opportunity to hasten development of a once-a-day, controlled-release formulation of the drug, Athersys Chairman and Chief Executive Gil Van Bokkelen said in a written statement in September.

Apparently, that door of opportunity has closed. After meeting with the FDA and submitting preliminary information to answer the agency's request, Van Bokkelen now believes the continued development of ATHX-105 "may be challenging."

Continue reading "Athersys Inc. obesity drug in jeopardy following request from FDA" »

Cleveland Clinic doctors pick Top 10 innovations in medicine

by Mary Vanac/Plain Dealer Reporter

Wednesday November 12, 2008, 11:20 PM

Updated: 11:20 p.m.

For the third year in a row, Cleveland Clinic doctors and their consultants have picked the procedures and products they think could have the most impact on medicine in the coming year.

Clinic doctors announced their Top 10 list Wednesday morning -- the final day of their Medical Innovation Summit, which has drawn about 1,000 medical and business people to Cleveland since Monday.

In picking the innovations, the doctors looked for "very important things" that could have big, measurable effects on patients and are affordable, said Dr. Michael Roizen, the Clinic's chief wellness officer who announced each innovation.

Pointing to the 10 doctors on stage who talked about each innovation, "Their job is to find the best technology and use it for patients," said Christopher Coburn, executive director of Cleveland Clinic Innovations, the Clinic's commercialization unit.

"These people are arbiters of innovation on a daily basis. What we've done here is create a process to harvest that capability," Coburn said about the top 10 list.

Continue reading "Cleveland Clinic doctors pick Top 10 innovations in medicine" »

Voices at the Summit: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

by Mary Vanac/Plain Dealer reporter

Wednesday November 12, 2008, 1:00 PM

Personalized medicine companies are a key investment focus for Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, said Dana Mead, a partner at the firm.

Below, Mead discusses some of the investments in that area, including body computing products such as iPhone-like devices that connect to the body.

Software problem blocks calls to Cleveland Clinic

by Plain Dealer staff

Wednesday November 12, 2008, 11:17 AM

Updated 5 p.m.: AT&T says service to the Clinic restored early this afternoon.

CLEVELAND -- An AT&T software problem is blocking incoming phone calls to the Cleveland Clinic's main campus and may be affecting calls to its community Family Health Centers and administrative buildings, officials said.

Numbers affected are all extensions beginning with 444-, 445- and 636. Urgent telephone lines are being forwarded to 800-223-2273, and the Clinic is contacting families with patients in critical care units.

The Clinic asks that people postpone non-urgent calls to the Clinic until the phone service is restored.