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The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) has reported that the $150 Medicare payment for intraocular lenses (IOLs) is more than the cost of IOLs to surgery centers. OIG recommends that the Medicare payment be reduced in a manner that consider the different types and costs of IOLs.
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Since 1996, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received reports of more than 110 adverse events related to absorbable hemostatic agents, including 11 that resulted in paralysis or other neural deficits.
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From an IRB members perspective, these are trying times. On the one hand, investigators complain that regulations for human subjects research and IRBs are too stringent, making it difficult for them to do their studies. Alternatively, human subjects advocates continually complain that IRBs and institutions are too lax in monitoring clinical studies.
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A consortium of hospital systems in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area has implemented a program to standardize protocols for handwritten prescriptions. The effort integrates Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations goals for 2004 targeting the elimination of dangerous abbreviations.
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New research shows that mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene correlate with clinical responsiveness in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer to the tyrosine kinase inhibitor gefitinib (Iressa).
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Continued from the May 1, 2004 isssue. Part 2: Clinical Trials Summary, Recommendations, and Criteria for Use.
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Pharmacists may turn to drug interaction compendia for detailed information on serious drug-drug interactions (DDIs). New research, however, shows that the compendia seldom agree on which DDIs are considered to be of the highest clinical importance. In the study, researchers found that of the 406 DDIs identified in one or more of the references as having the greatest clinical severity or importance, only nine were identified as major in all four compendia.
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Few new antibiotics are in the pipeline; Pharmacy groups establish compounding accreditation board; Be aware of possible drug mix-ups for obstetrical patients; Pancreatic extract makers to submit marketing applications; Concurrent oxandrolone, warfarin use may have adverse effect.
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These drugs recently received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
