ACG Clinical Guideline: Management of Patients With Acute Lower Gastrointestinal Bleeding
The American College of Gastroenterology’s new clinical guideline for acute lower gastrointestinal bleeding offers 27 recommendations graded by the strength of evidence. The recommendations, published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, cover evaluation and management, colonoscopic and noncolonoscopic strategies, and preventing recurrent bleeding. Strate said the recommendations call for colonoscopy as the initial procedure for
Homeopathy found to be effective for 0 out of 68 illnesses – Times of India
A leading scientist has declared homeopathy a “therapeutic dead-end” after a systematic review concluded the controversial treatment was no more effective than placebo drugs. A total of 57 systematic reviews, containing the 176 individual studies, focused on 68 different health conditions – and found there to be no evidence homeopathy was more effective than placebo
CDC data showed almost 3.1 million US adults reported being diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease in 2015, with rates varying by age, education, ethnicity, income and employment status. The study, published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, found higher IBD rates among adults ages 45 and older and non-Hispanic whites. MedPage Today (free
Study: $15.4B spent by doctors annually on reporting quality measures
With MACRA, the government has allocated $500M to $1B in bonuses to be paid for the upper tier of quality performers. But let’s put that in perspective. A study by the Medical Group Management Association and Weill Cornell Medical College found that costs for reporting quality measures amount to more than $15.4 billion per year
Cumulative adenoma sizes may be as good a predictor of polyp recurrence as current strategies.
Study: Adenoma bulk may be used as surveillance strategy Analyzing adenoma bulk may predict metachronous neoplasia as well as the current surveillance strategy of size, number, and tissue type. This is according to research presented at the ACG 2016 Annual Scientific Meeting. Dr. Joseph Anderson of Dartmouth College’s Geisel School of Medicine called adenoma bulk
Is it appropriate to comment on the perceived illnesses of public figures? When Britney Spears had one of her famous meltdowns–I can’t recall if it was when she shaved her head or something worse–Dr. Phil of television fame came under fire for interjecting himself into the drama. He was providing medical opinion in public, and
Survey shows physicians inaccurately overestimate both risks and benefits
Most internal medicine residents and attending physicians overestimate the benefits and harms of common interventions, according to a new survey. Physicians and residents overestimated a treatment’s benefits 79% of the time and the harms 66% of the time, according to a survey of clinicians working in primary care, hospital medicine and specialty care at two
Bioengineering has come a long way in the past few years. Organic is so passe. GMO’s are mainstream. What’s the next controversy? A recent hot topic you may have seen online is the idea of engineering ready-to-eat meat right in the research lab. Proponents tout it as a humane way to get us the protein
Is it reflux or not? Dr. Philip O. Katz discusses the dilemmas we face when people perceive ongoing reflux despite optimal medical management. See the webinar here.
Lost, unsecured, non-encrypted cell phone costs facility $650k in HIPAA fines
The Catholic Health Care Services (CHCS) of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, a nonprofit organization, was forced to pay a $650,000 fine. The action resulted after an employee lost a business cell phone containing sensitive information from the network’s nursing home practices. The data included medical and personal information, including in some instances social security numbers. A
