Home Test for AIDS Virus Is Being Test Marketed in Two States
July 1st 1996NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ--Confide, the first home collection HIV testing and counseling service, has received FDA approval and is now being test marketed in Texas and Florida. The test was developed by Direct Access Diagnostics, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary based in Bridgewater, NJ, in conjunction with Chiron Corporation.
AIDS Activists Issue Safeguards for People With AIDS Who Sell Their Life Insurance Policies
July 1st 1996With the goal of protecting the economic security of people with AIDS (PWAs) who decide to sell their life insurance policies to obtain cash, a group of leading advocates for PWAs met in Los Angeles on March 22 to draft a set of standards
AIDS-related Kaposi's Sarcoma: Options for Today and Tomorrow
June 2nd 1996Prior to 1981, Kaposi sarcoma (KS) was considered a rare human cancer occurring primarily among elderly Italian and Jewish men of eastern European ancestry. I wrote a review of KS research and clinical experiences that appeared in CA: A
Psychosocial Oncology May Benefit From System Reform
June 1st 1996PALM SPRINGS, Calif--The United Kingdom, not unlike the United States, is undergoing a period of radical change in the organization of cancer services, the status of the medical professionals delivering those services, and the climate for conducting clinical research, Ann Cull, PhD, said at the American Society for Psychiatric Oncology/AIDS meeting.
Know Your Partners, Know Your Goals in Joint Ventures Between Hospitals and Universities
June 1st 1996WASHINGTON--Joint ventures between community hospitals and university departments of oncology can offer significant benefits to both, but not unless all parties involved understand one another and formulate a well thought out program.
Managed Care Reform: Wait Until Next Year for House, Senate
June 1st 1996WASHINGTON--Despite increasing complaints from physicians and patients, don't look for Congress to take any action in 1996 to remedy the problems that have evolved with the growth of managed care, a key Senate aide said at the national meeting of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC).
Pain Scale Resembling Thermometer May Be Easier to Use Than VAS
June 1st 1996MONTREAL--A new instrument for measuring pain intensity--the visual analogue thermometer (VAT)--developed to overcome some of the disadvantages of the conventional visual analogue scale (VAS)--has proved "valid, accurate, and clinically useful" in two studies, say Manon Choinière, PhD, of the Burn Centre, Hotel-Dieu Hospital of Montreal and the University of Montreal, and Rhonda Amsel, MSc, of the Department of Psychology, McGill University.
Medicine as Business May Mean More Ethical Challenges for Physicians
June 1st 1996Physicians today are facing more ethical dilemmas as patient decisions are being based less on beneficence and more on business models of success, says Sister Patricia Talone, ethics consultant, Mercy Health Corporation of Southeastern
Moral Challenges Ahead as Managed Care Marches On
June 1st 1996PHILADELPHIA--Forging ahead with change was the theme of the second annual meeting of the Association of Cancer Executives (ACE). And for most of the speakers, change meant adapting to the new reality of managed care and hospital mergers.
One Doctor Tells His Experience With Hospital Mergers
June 1st 1996PHILADELPHIA--During his tenure at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Lawrence Shulman, MD, has been involved in two hospital mergers. The first, with Massachusetts General Hospital, was done in secrecy, while the latest, with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, has been an open process.
Measuring the Cost-Effectiveness of Cancer Care
June 1st 1996This timely and informative review describes the components of a cost-effectiveness analysis and provides useful commentary on various ways to measure them. It may be helpful, however, to take a step back and compare cost-effectiveness analysis to the other basic approaches to economic analysis.
Buying Coalitions New Wrinkle in Managed Care Market
June 1st 1996WASHINGTON--Employers, who first embraced managed care as a way to lower health care costs, are now joining together in buying coalitions to extract even greater price reductions from organizations such as HMOs from whom they purchase health care insurance for their employees.
Pilots for AirLifeLine Donate Flights to Patients in Need
June 1st 1996It used to take Mike Natishak, Sr., his wife Mary Alice, and their 9-year-old son Mike Jr., 6 hours to make the weekly drive from their home in Apalachin, NY, to Boston Children's Hospital. They had to stay over at a hotel to be at the hospital the next morning. So in addition to travel expenses, the Natishaks each lost 2 days of work.
Encouraging Results From First Trials of Platelet Growth Factor
June 1st 1996ASCO--Both forms of recombinant human platelet growth factor currently under study have been shown to enhance platelet recovery after myelosup-pressive chemotherapy without serious side effects. The first four clinical trials of the two products--pegylated megakaryocyte growth and development factor (MGDF, Amgen), which is linked to polyethylene glycol to improve its stability and half-life; and thrombopoietin (rhTPO, Genentech)--were presented at an ASCO scientific symposium.
Major Remake Pays Off for the Cancer Program at Washington Hospital Center
June 1st 1996PHILADELPHIA--The strategy of the Washington Hospital Center (WHC) cancer program for surviving managed care has been to enthusiastically embrace change, said Kenneth Samet, president of WHC, at the annual meeting of the Association of Cancer Executives (ACE).
NIH Has New Working Groups on Genetics and AIDS
June 1st 1996BETHESDA, Md--At the 98th Meeting of the National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB), Dr. Richard Klausner, director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), congratulated everyone at the NCI on weathering the first year of structural changes under his new leadership.
Clinical Pathway Discloses One Surgeon's $425 Habit
June 1st 1996PHILADELPHIA--When practice guidelines or pathways take financial considerations into account, they may be termed clinical financial pathways (CFPs). This technique was developed by Kent Giles, MPPM, vice president of development at PhyMatrix, a physician management company headquartered in West Palm Beach, Fla, and is currently being utilized by PhyMatrix to reduce unnecessary medical costs.
Strategies Outlined to Prevent Nosocomial HIV Transmission
June 1st 1996NEW YORK--All physicians, regardless of their specialty, must be prepared to treat HIV-infected patients, according to an expert from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although fears of nosocomial transmission of the virus are not unwarranted, much can be done to avoid it.
Response of the Normal Eye to High Dose Radiotherapy
June 1st 1996his excellent review analyzes ophthalmologic complications following high-dose irradiation of the orbit and surrounding structures as a necessary adjunct to the treatment of patients with carcinomas of the head and neck region. It confirms the critical importance of dose-fraction size in the production of radiation complications, especially in nerve tissue.
Measuring the Cost-Effectiveness of Cancer Care
June 1st 1996The failure to contain health-care costs and curtail growth is a growing national economic concern and public policy issue. The marketplace is rapidly changing how health care is paid for by moving from fee-for-service mechanisms to prospective payment, diagnosis-related groups, and increasing exclusion of some treatment(s).
Response of the Normal Eye to High Dose Radiotherapy
June 1st 1996Parsons and colleagues present an excellent summary of their clinical experience with ocular complications of radiotherapy for primary periocular malignancies, together with a retrospective review of the literature on this subject. The authors emphasize the roles of both total dose and dose-per-fraction in radiation-associated eye complications.
DNA Ploidy and Cell Cycle Analysis in Cancer Diagnosis and Prognosis
June 1st 1996pplication of the techniques of flow cytometry and image analysis to quantitation of DNA and estimation of events in the cell cycle in human tumors has achieved considerable popularity as a laboratory procedure but so far has failed to be of practical clinical value. As brilliantly summarized by Dr. Ross, retrospective studies have repeatedly shown abnormal DNA values to be of prognostic significance in several organ systems, among them, tumors of the urothelium [1] and prostate [2] and, perhaps to a lesser extent, mammary carcinomas [3].
Management of Primary and Metastatic Tumors to the Liver
June 1st 1996This comprehensive report summarizes the current management of primary liver cancer and of metastatic colorectal cancer in the liver. Numerous tests to help define the location and stage of disease have been evaluated. It now appears that spiral CT with arterial portography is superior to other nonoperative methods in evaluating liver tumors. Immunoscintography using monoclonal antibodies is currently under development and appears to be of potential great value. Subclinical, micrometastatic disease is the bane of all efforts at surgical control of cancer. An ability to detect this would have far-reaching consequences. Complete evaluation of patients with these diseases must include a medical evaluation, including liver function tests and a chest CT. Particular attention must also be paid to cardiac, pulmonary, and renal function.