FDA Has Plan To Limit Antibiotic Use In Food-Producing Livestock
After increasing debate, the FDA has implemented a plan to phase out the use of antibiotics in food-producing livestock, an issue that has generated mounting concern over the past few years that the widespread and, allegedly, inappropriate use of these medications jeopardize human health by causing resistance to the drugs. Not surprisingly, the plan was met with mixed reactions.
About 70 percent of medically important antibiotics sold in the US are for food animals, and most are used in feed without supervision of a veterinarian, according to Pew Charitable Trusts. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently...
Source: Pharmalot - December 11, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
New dissolving patch delivers clotting factor directly to injury to stop bleeding faster
Hemorrhage is a primary cause of mortality in trauma patients even though most injuries suffered are potentially survivable. Increasing survival is simply a matter of effectively controlling hemorrhage. Current hemostatic dressings range from simple gauze to aluminosilicates from natural or synthetic clay Combat GauzeTM, or chitosan from shellfish or algae (CeloxTM). These dressings stop the bleeding by direct compression of injured vessels and/or activation of the intrinsic coagulation pathway. In trauma patients however, this system is often compromised.Current dressings are also unstable, which increases the chance of r...
Source: Medical Hemostat - December 11, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: hemostatguy at gmail.com (hemostat guy) Source Type: blogs
Would experience as a Veterinary Tech help or hurt?
by Percival B (Posted Thu Nov 21, 2013 4:09 am)It depends, in terms of the science, many aspects of veterinary medicine are exactly the same as treatment of human subjects. We are human animals, flesh and blood, with the same strengths and susceptibilities. On the other hand, you don't make the animals sit in the waiting, sign informed consent documents, provide evidence of insurance, ask them questions about their medical history . . . I would say, not bad experience, but won't help very much either, because it did not prove that you have good skills interacting with patients in the hospital clinical setting. If you did a...
Source: Med Student Guide - November 21, 2013 Category: Medical Students Source Type: forums
Former FDA Commishs To White House: Limit Antibiotics In Livestock
A pair of former FDA commissioners has written a letter to the White House Office of Management and Budget to urge the Obama administration to end the use of antibiotics in food-producing livestock for preventing disease and fattening the animals.
The missive, which was sent today by David Kessler and Donald Kennedy, is the latest attempt to address concerns that the widespread and, allegedly, inappropriate use of these medications jeopardize human health by causing resistance to the drugs. As part of their overture, they want the White House to push the FDA to finalize a draft guidance issued last year that would create g...
Source: Pharmalot - November 12, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
Are Farm Veterinarians Pushing Too Many Antibiotics? - NPR
Enlarge imageCattle crowd inside a feedlot operated by JBS Five Rivers Colorado Beef in Wiley, Colo.John Moore/Getty ImagesIn a barn outside Manhattan, Kan., researchers from Kansas State University are trying to solve the riddle of bovine respiratory disease. They're sticking plastic rods down the noses of 6-month old calves, collecting samples of bacteria."This bacteria, Mannheimia haemolytica, lives in most cattle," explains Mike Apley, one of the research leaders. Sometimes, for reasons that aren't well understood, those bacteria make cattle sick. When that happens, or when it just seems likely to happen, cat...
Source: PharmaGossip - November 2, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Antibiotics for people, not animals - LA Times
So far this year, more than 300 people have gotten sick from bacteria called Salmonellaheidelberg. Almost three-quarters of them live in California.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that chicken produced in three Central California processing facilities is the "likely source of this outbreak" and that the bacteria are "resistant to several commonly prescribed antibiotics."The CDC estimates that for every reported salmonella infection, there are about 29 more unreported cases, bringing the potential toll to more than 9,000 victims. About 42% of the patients who reported their illness hav...
Source: PharmaGossip - October 23, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
The Op-Ed: Drugmakers Unfairly Restrict Pet Med Pharmacies
For the past couple of years, a Wisconsin pharmacy that specializes in pet medicines has railed against a few big drugmakers – including Merck, Pfizer and the Merial unit run by Sanofi – for restricting its ability to sell prescription drugs to pet owners. In most instances, however, the same drugs can be purchased from a veterinarian. Reports have suggested this arrangement benefits the veterinarians by increasing their business, while the drugmakers stand to gain from having specialists promote specific products. Race Foster, a veterinarian who heads Drs Foster and Smith, an online pet pharmacy, contends many pharmac...
Source: Pharmalot - October 8, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
Healthcare Update Satellite — 10-03-2013
Via @mdaware … ever wonder whether you need to prescribe two antibiotics for patients with uncomplicated cellulitis? EM Literature of Note’s Ryan Radecki pulls an article showing that there isn’t much difference in outcome/cure rates between treatment of uncomplicated cellulitis with only cephalexin versus combination treatment with cephalexin and Bactrim.
This is important. And it’s from Fox News, so you know it’s fair and balanced. Be very careful about how you sign up for the Obamacare exchanges. Experts expect that there will be a lot of hacking/phishing attacks using phony web sites to try to get unsuspectin...
Source: WhiteCoat's Call Room - October 3, 2013 Category: Emergency Medicine Doctors Authors: WhiteCoat Tags: Healthcare Update Source Type: blogs
CDC: Phase Out Antibiotic Use In Food-Producing Livestock
For the first time, the federal government has attempted to tally the number of people who are made sick each year from bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. And the numbers are, perhaps, larger than many might have realized – at least 2 million Americans fall ill and some 23,000 later die from those infections. The magnitude underscores what is widely acknowledged as a serious public health threat.
However, one aspect of the report, which was issued by the US Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, highlights the use of antibiotics in food-producing livestock, which the agency says has contributed to the probl...
Source: Pharmalot - September 17, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
Dogs Being Trained to Sniff Out Ovarian Cancer; It's Quite Possible
The topic of a recent article was the use of dogs to "sniff out" early ovarian cancer in patients. Ovarian cancer in its early stages can be difficult to diagnosis and vigorous efforts have been directed toward the development of biomarkers to diagnose its presence (see: Patient Symptoms Inadequate Way to Diagnose Ovarian Cancer; Abbott to Offer Automated HE4 Ovarian Cancer Test to Monitor for Tumor Recurrence). But do we really need to turn to dogs, albeit highly trained ones, to help us diagnose disease? Here is the article about these dog diagnosticians (see: Dogs Trained to Sniff Out Early Signs of Ovar...
Source: Lab Soft News - September 16, 2013 Category: Pathologists Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Clinical Lab Industry News Clinical Lab Testing Laboratory Industry Trends Medical Research Source Type: blogs
Staff Changes at the FDA’s Office of Regulatory Affairs: New Regulators and Shuffling Around the Lawyers
On September 3, 2013, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, M.D. announced in an email to FDA staffers that Melinda Plaisier would become the agency's new permanent Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs (ACRA). Plaisier had been the acting commissioner since last October.
In recent months there have been significant changes in the Headquarters of the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA). We have previously covered the ORA, discussing its Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI). The OCI has played a large role in several high-profile settlements involving off-label marketing or deceptive...
Source: Policy and Medicine - September 10, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
Update on Ketamine in Palliative Care Settings
Many recent headlines have heralded a new use for the old veterinary anesthetic ketamine, which can provide rapid-onset (albeit short-lived) relief for some patients with treatment-resistant depression (aan het Rot et al., 2012). This finding has been inflated into “arguably the most important discovery in half a century” by Duman and Aghajanian (2012). While finding a cure for refractory depression is undoubtedly an important research priority, might ketamine be useful for other conditions that cause profound human misery? The care of terminally ill patients suffering from unbearable pain is not a sexy topic, and hos...
Source: The Neurocritic - September 7, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: The Neurocritic Source Type: blogs
End of Life Gamma Waves: Altered State of Consciousness or Artifactual Brain Activity?
"I had been in labor for my daughter for 16 hours. The labor was difficult and the Dr. approached me and told me it may come down to a choice between the child or myself. ... The labor dragged on and on and finally they came in and broke my water. I was rushed into delivery and within minutes my heart had stopped. I remember seeing a beautiful being of light enter the room. She told me I had to return as it was not my time yet. I was sucked back into my body as they restarted my breathing. My daughter began crying the moment I opened my eyes."-Description of a near-death experience1Are you afraid to die? We ...
Source: The Neurocritic - August 15, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: The Neurocritic Source Type: blogs
An Interview with Noted Pancreas Surgeon Dr. Charles J. Yeo
Recently, InsideSurgery had a chance to speak with Dr. Charles J. Yeo about his career as a top Whipple and pancreas surgeon and his ongoing role as a surgical leader and educator.
As the Samuel D. Gross Professor of Surgery and Chair of the Department of Surgery, you welcomed your second intern class to Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania last month. What one piece advice do you have for your new trainees?
One piece of advice….that’s tough! Several pieces of advice….enjoy the challenges and experiences of internship; read and increase your knowledge base outside of that 80 hours; practice kno...
Source: Inside Surgery - August 12, 2013 Category: Surgeons Authors: Editor Tags: Interviews Source Type: blogs
Mobile Real-Time DNA Analysis on Your Smartphone
Biomeme, a new company out of Philadelphia, PA, is planning on launching an easy to use system that can perform real-time qPCR and provide results through any smartphone without using expensive lab equipment nor requiring an experienced hand to operate. The goal is to offer medical professionals, regardless of their location, the ability to do advanced diagnostics and perform disease surveillance.
Biomeme’s platform transforms a smartphone into a mobile lab for advanced DNA diagnostics and real-time disease surveillance. The system includes:
a docking station for performing real-time quantitative polymerase chain ...
Source: Medgadget - July 25, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Editors Tags: Diagnostics Source Type: blogs
