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Hospital-Based Medicine

News, opinions and meeting coverage in hospital-based medicine.

Truth vs. Fiction: Measuring 'The Knick'

How does John Thackery -- from Cinemax's "The Knick" -- measure up to the surgeon his character is based on, William S. Halsted?

Patients Want Diabetes-Friendly Meals on the Menu

ORLANDO -- It's easy to find heart-healthy or vegetarian-friendly meals labeled on restaurant menus, but diabetes patients are often left in the dark about options best suited to them.

CardioBuzz: Toward the $500 an Hour Physician

In this guest blog, Mark Jay Zucker, MD, JD, an attorney and transplant cardiologist at Rutgers University New Jersey Medical School in Newark, explains why he thinks it's time to talk money.

Dementia Tied to More ICD Placements

Dementia patients get more implantable cardioverter-defibrillators than expected, and even cognitively normal individuals may not understand their options about cardiac device replacement.

Vitamin D Blog: Nutrient or Hormone?

Few people view their vitamin D supplement as hormone replacement therapy, but that鈥檚 exactly what it is, experts told 番茄社区.

Are Your Patients Using Fake Names?

A case study in the American Journal of Medicine poses a vexing question many healthcare professionals have faced: What should you do when your patients use fraudulent names?

Tesamorelin May Help HIV Patients Shed Fat

MELBOURNE, Australia -- HIV-infected patients treated with tesamorelin, a growth hormone releasing hormone analog, achieved modest reductions in abdominal and liver fat, researchers said.

Morning Break: The B.O. Talk, No Love for Niacin

Health news and commentary from around the Web, gathered by the 番茄社区 staff.

Now What? DEA Tosses Tramadol in Schedule IV

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) scheduled tramadol as a Schedule IV substance -- whats the big fuss about tramadol that led to this decision by the DEA?

Staples or Sutures: Which Is Better After C-Section?

The decision to use sutures or staples to close incisions after a cesarean delivery has been debated in the obstetrics community, but results from a new study seem to give sutures the edge.

Antibiotics No Help After Gallbladder Surgery

Postoperative antibiotics after gallbladder removal do not reduce the risk of infection, researchers reported.

Estrogen Alone May Not Suppress Testosterone

CHICAGO -- Simply giving estrogen to male-to-female transgender patients won't completely suppress testosterone levels, researchers reported here.

FDA: No Clear Sign of Harm With Olmesartan in Diabetics

The evidence linking use of the angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) olmesartan in patients with diabetes and increased cardiovascular risk is not conclusive, according to a completed FDA safety review.

Obesity, T2D May Alter Gut Bacteria

CHICAGO -- The portfolio of gut bacteria in patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes may look different from that of healthy people, researchers reported here.

Learning How to Deal With Egos

Managing physicians need to take egos -- including their own -- into account when resolving conflicts among staff, says consultant Rosemarie Nelson.

PDE4 Inhibitor May Help PCOS Patients Slim Down

CHICAGO -- Adding the phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor roflumilast to metformin may help obese women with polycystic ovarian syndrome shed pounds and improve other metabolic markers, researchers reported.

AMA Highlights: VA, Cheerleaders, and Guns

CHICAGO -- Wrapping up a full agenda, the AMA agrees cheerleading is a sport, doctors outside the VA need to pitch in to help care for veterans, and e-cigarettes need to be regulated.

AMA Mulls Gun Violence CME

CHICAGO -- As the AMA's House of Delegates was meeting in a downtown hotel here, 29 local residents were shot and four killed within a 10-mile radius.

ASCO: Myeloma Study Results Inconclusive

CHICAGO -- A trial comparing two immunomodulatory regimens for myeloma failed to demonstrate noninferiority for the newer drug.

Victoza Accused of Causing Pancreatitis

The watchdog group Public Citizen has conducted its own analysis of FDA adverse event reports and concluded that the type 2 diabetes drug liraglutide(Victoza) likely causes pancreatitis, the group said.

Lethal Injections, MOC, and E-Cigs on AMA Agenda

The American Medical Association is being asked to strengthen its ethical stance on physician participation in execution by extending its ban on doctors participating to include all health professionals.

ASCO: Targeting PD-1 Works in Advanced Melanoma

CHICAGO -- Two studies indicate that using investigative immunotherapy drugs improves survival and response in patients with metastatic melanoma, researchers said here.

ASCO: Antibody Adds 6 Weeks to Squamous NSCLC Survival

CHICAGO -- The novel anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody necitumumab modestly improved survival in squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in a pivotal trial, but many called the effect too small to count.

Small eGFR Drops May Predict Kidney Outcomes

Declines in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) smaller than those that currently attract clinical attention may help predict the risk of end-stage renal disease, researchers reported.

ASCO: Ipilimumab Cuts Relapse but Safety Issues Remain

CHICAGO -- High-risk melanoma patients have a reduced level of relapse if they are taking the monoclonal antibody ipilimumab (Yervoy) when compared with placebo, researchers said here.

Real-Time Monitoring Cuts Cardiac Cath Radiation

LAS VEGAS -- A radiation detector that emits audible beeps might help interventional cardiologists and others in the cardiac catheterization laboratory reduce their exposure, researchers found.

More Brain Bleeds With Stroke Drug in 'Real World鈥�

BOSTON -- Intracerebral hemorrhage was more common among patients receiving tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) in the real world compared with those in a clinical trial, a small, single-center study showed.

Calif. Docs Among Top Billers for Complex Visits

Three California doctors are among the top five nationally in billing for the most complex office visits, according to data released by Medicare and analyzed by ProPublica and KQED.

Vitamin C May Save Newborn's Lungs When Mom Smokes

SAN DIEGO -- Damage to the lungs of babies born to mothers who smoked through pregnancy may be mitigated with vitamin C supplementation during gestation, researchers reported here.

Lung Foam Disappoints in COPD

SAN DIEGO -- A trial of hydrogel-based lung volume reduction therapy in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) complicated by emphysema failed to show consistent enough results and has been abandoned by the agent's developer, researchers said here.

Does Tylenol Protect Kidneys in Sepsis?

SAN DIEGO -- Acetaminophen (Tylenol) for severe sepsis patients improved renal function but gave mixed signals in terms of changes in the expected oxidative injury mechanism, researchers found in a pilot trial.

ICD-10 Follies: Falling From the Sky

The switch to the ICD-10 coding system may have been pushed back at least a year by Congress, but 番茄社区 still thinks it's worthwhile to spotlight some of those thousands of new codes that might just be getting a bit too granular.

'Bulletproof' Coffee May Hike Lipids

LAS VEGAS -- Spiking coffee with butter and coconut oil -- a concoction known as "bulletproof coffee" -- may be boosting hyperlipidemia in otherwise healthy patients, researchers said here.

FDA Slashes Starting Dose for Lunesta

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- Patients starting on the sleep drug eszopiclone (Lunesta) should take no more than 1 mg at bedtime -- one-third the current label-recommended dose -- because of the risk of next-day impairment, the FDA said Thursday.

Fewer False Positives With ECG for Young Athletes

SAN FRANCISCO -- When screening high school athletes for cardiac abnormalities, an electrocardiogram (ECG) interpreted using athlete-specific criteria had a lower false-positive rate than a history and physical examination, researchers found.

Leadless Pacing Shows Promise, But Hits Snags

SAN FRANCISCO -- Longer-term results from the first-in-man study of the Nanostim leadless pacemaker showed the device continued to work as expected, but a postmarketing study in Europe has been temporarily halted following reports of perforations and deaths.

Nasogastric Tube May Be Obsolete for GI Bleeds

CHICAGO -- Placement of a nasogastric tube for determining treatment of patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding may be unnecessary since almost all these patients will eventually undergo an endoscopic procedure, researchers argued here.

Dieting Shrinks Liver, Eases Gall Bladder Surgery

CHICAGO -- A 2-week-long restrictive diet appears to shrink obese patients鈥� livers enough to make gall bladder laparoscopic surgery quicker and easier, researchers reported here.

FDA Panel Nixes OTC Singulair

Montelukast (Singulair) should not be allowed over-the-counter use for hay fever and other upper respiratory allergy symptoms, an FDA advisory panel recommended Friday.

Patients鈥� Eye Color a Clue to Pain Tolerance

TAMPA -- Caucasian women with light-colored eyes -- blue or green -- appear to tolerate pain better than Causcasian women with brown or hazel eyes, researchers reported here.

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