-
After well-child visits, three of the top five reasons parents take their children to pediatricians are for ear, nose, and throat problems such as ear infections, sinusitis, and tonsillitis. Parents need education on how to manage these common conditions in an era of resistant antibiotics.
-
Public awareness of the symptoms of stroke has increased the frequency of emergency department visits by patients with this complex chief complaint. Often, subtle symptoms may or may not represent a cerebral infarct. This issue of ED Legal Letter will review the diagnosis, management, and follow-up of patients with both transient ischemic attack and cerebral vascular accidents. Appropriate diagnosis and treatment will prevent subsequent permanent disability and potential litigation.
-
-
Musher and colleagues in Houston examined the usefulness of examination of Gram-stained sputum specimens and of sputum culture for the diagnosis of pneumococcal pneumonia. They included all 105 patients with bacteremic pneumococcal pneumonia seen over 6 years at their VA hospital, and examined the results of the first sputum specimen submitted to the laboratory.
-
A patient with a disease resembling anthrax led to the identification of anthrax-like virulence factors in an isolate of Bacillus cereus.
-
The FDA has approved Telithromycin, the first Ketolide antibiotic. Ketolides are semisynthetic derivatives of the macrolide erythromycin that have activity against a wide spectrum of respiratory bacterial pathogens including multi-drug resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae. Telithromycin, which is a once-a-day oral tablet, is marketed by Aventis as Ketek.
-
Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is nosocomial pneumonia occurring in a mechanically ventilated patient > 48 hours after intubation. It is categorized as early-onset (defined by most experts as 48-96 hours after intubation) and late-onset (> 2-96 hours after intubation): these differ with respect to responsible bacterial agents as well as outcomes.
-
Nurse practitioners in Glasgow, Scotland, will begin performing minor surgery in dermatology and plastic surgery after completing a credentialing program recently introduced by a large association of hospitals in Scotland and Glasgow Caledonian University.
-
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) will discuss reimbursement for physician-owned ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) at its March 18-19 meeting.
-
In testimony late last year before the Department of Health and Human
Services National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics
Subcommittee on Privacy and Confidentiality, Health Privacy Project
executive director Janlori Goldman submitted 13 common myths that
persist about the HIPAA privacy regulation and the facts that respond
to those myths.
