News

An investigational 500-mcg dose of interferon beta-1b demonstrated no advantage compared with the approved 250-mcg dose of interferon beta-1b or with glatiramer 20 mg in reducing relapse risk in patients with early relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), said Paul O'Connor, MD, MS Program Director, St. Michael's Hospital, the University of Toronto, at the 60th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, Chicago.

Lacosamide safely decreases pain scores in patients with painful diabetic neuropathy, according to a pooled efficacy and safety analysis presented at the 60th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, Chicago.

Glatiramer represents a new option for delaying conversion of clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) to clinically definite multiple sclerosis (CDMS), according to the results of a new study known as PRECISE, presented at the 60th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, Chicago.

Iloperidone, a new-generation atypical antipsychotic, is currently under investigation for the treatment of schizophrenia. In 4 separate phase 3 trials, iloperidone has demonstrated efficacy in treating schizophrenia, with total Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS) scores decreasing by a range of 8 to 14 points depending on the iloperidone dose.

Generic drugs approved by FDA (through June 2008) including epoprostenol for injection, ropinirole, donepezil, and drospirenone/ethinyl estradiol.

Recent FDA action (through June 2008) related to lucinactant, loratadine/montelukast, niacin/laropiprant, fentanyl buccal, NPL-2008, carfilzomib, resveratrol, and rhitol.

New indication: Lubiprostone (Amitiza), a chloride channel activator, was approved on April 29, 2008, for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) in women aged at least 18 years.

New biologic: Certolizumab pegol (Cimzia), a tumor necrosis factor blocker, was approved on April 22, 2008, for the reduction of the signs and symptoms of Crohn's disease and the maintenance of clinical response in adult patients with moderately to severely active disease who have had an inadequate response to conventional therapy.

An RNA signature present in blood that is highly accurate for detecting prevalent lung cancer can accurately predict the development of lung cancer within the next 2 years 80% of the time, said Thomas Zander, MD, Department of Internal Medicine and the Center for Integrated Oncology, University Clinic Cologne, Germany. "Early detection of lung cancer is a major need, as most patients present for diagnosis at a late stage when there is no chance for cure," Dr Zander said. Two-year survival after a lung cancer diagnosis is approximately 15%. Early detection may therefore be a promising strategy to improve survival rates.

High-dose vitamin D supplementation can provide relief of symptoms related to vitamin D deficiency from aromatase inhibitor therapy in postmenopausal women with breast cancer, said Q.J. Khan, MD, Cancer Center of Kansas, Wichita.

Most elderly patients do not receive combined modality treatment (CMT) with both chemotherapy and radiation for locally advanced, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) despite trial data indicating that CMT enhances survival, decreases comorbidities, and is potentially curative. Data presented by Martin J. Edelman, MD, professor of medicine, University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center, Baltimore, indicate that elderly patients receiving chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemotherapy and radiation derive the most significant survival benefit.

Strict evidence-based criteria should be used when prescribing erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) for cancer, as ESAs appear to activate signaling pathways that are important in altering tumor behavior and treatment response, experts said.

The extent to which patients should have access to experimental therapies is a hotly contested issue, and courts and regulatory agencies have wrestled with the problems involved when an individual is willing to be treated with unapproved drugs at the potential expense of causing harm not only to the individual but to the clinical trial process itself.

Drug-drug and disease-drug interactions in elderly patients with cancer are significant; 33% of elderly patients who are taking 3 or more medications are rehospitalized within 6 months of a hospital discharge. "A better index of predicting tolerance to chemotherapy in the elderly is crucial," said Mihaela Popa, MD, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida. Tolerance to chemotherapy among older patients with cancer may be affected by multiple chronic conditions requiring multiple medications and aging-related alterations that induce changes in drug distribution, she said.

Patients with metastatic colorectal cancer are more likely to respond to initial treatment that includes cetuximab if they have nonmutated, wild-type KRAS gene status, reported Eric Van Cutsem, MD, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium. "For the first time in colorectal cancer, we are able to predict which patients are likely to be helped by the new biologics," he said. "KRAS is the first molecular marker for the selection of a targeted therapy in combination with a standard chemotherapy regimen in first-line metastatic colorectal cancer. KRAS testing should be routinely conducted in all colorectal cancer patients immediately after diagnosis to ensure the best treatment strategies for the individual patient."

Drugs in development for the treatment of bipolar disorder and psychosis

Today's hospitals now compete with something far more engaging and intoxicating than the hospital down the street - consumer expectations.

The majority of program development or improvement plans fail to meet their projected performance. What can a healthcare executive leadership team do to change this outcome for their organization?

Most healthcare players agree that ICD-10 implementation will be expensive and resource-intensive. Yet opportunities abound to enable proactive organizations to become industry leaders with the new system.

Dental benefit consultants are important allies for insurers as the dental profession transitions to an evidence-based dentistry (EBD) perspective.

Contact centers must prove their value to the organization and the patient. Kaiser Permanente has seen success with its dashboard approach.

National Reports-Providing useful information is key to increasing satisfaction among health plan members, say industry experts.

Washington, D.C. - The Bush administration has proposed additional curbs on certain sales practices by insurers likely to confuse and deceive seniors enrolling in Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans. Insurers applauded the marketing policy, partly in hopes of heading off legislation that would give states a larger role in policing Medicare marketing activities.

Employers are more than just concerned about the rising costs of prescription drugs-they're ready to stem the tide, according to industry experts.

How is it that well-informed people can look at the same data and come up with dramatically different conclusions and action implications? It turns on whether the analysis is done by biostatisticians looking at utilization data in an academically rigorous way, or by actuaries and benefits consultants looking at overall financial trends in a pre-post manner.

The use of technology to automate simple tasks has been widely adopted. E-mails broadcast information in a fraction of the time it would take a manual process. More complex tasks, however, require a human driver, and those tasks are in higher demand today.

The convergence of rising healthcare costs, increased cost sharing and demand by consumers for more participation in healthcare decisions is producing a variety of innovative health insurance solutions.

The intensive care unit (ICU) is, in many ways, the most significant section of a hospital, because it is where life-threatening issues occur almost daily. The ICU is the one area where most hospitals don't employ specialists-board-certified intensivists with expertise and training in critical care medicine.