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American Medical Student Association Rejects New Organization Dedicated To Limiting Conflict Of Interest Regulation
The American Medical Student Association (AMSA) rejects the objectives of the Association of Clinical Researchers and Educators (ACRE), a newly formed organization that seeks to limit conflict of interest regulations. AMSA, the nation"s oldest and largest, independent association for physicians-in-training, is calling on the medical profession to continue to reduce the influence of pharmaceutical and medical device industry promotional activities, which research has proven to negatively affect patient care.
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Wall Street Journal Examines Patients' Confusion Over Coverage Of Preventive Exams
As employers increasingly offer no-cost preventive care as a means of controlling health costs, some people under such plans are being charged for services not deemed preventive by the insurer, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to Watson Wyatt Worldwide, 72% of large employers in 2009 cover 100% of preventive care -- such as physicals, colonoscopies or mammograms -- for employees, an increase from 55% of large companies in 2008. The Journal reports that the charges often result from billing errors or from a physician"s office being unaware of an insurer"s procedures. Charges that are the result of billing errors often can be reversed. However, others -- such as a test or treatment not being defined by the insurer as preventive -- force some patients to "wage a protracted battle" to get the charges reversed, according to the Journal. When unexpected charges appear on patients" bills, physicians and employers often receive complaints but they have little control over how insurers classify treatments. The Journal reports that patients can prevent being charged for preventive services by checking with their insurer before seeking care; asking for specific, covered screenings and treatments at physicians" offices; reviewing explanation of benefits forms supplied by insurers; asking supervisors at insurers to review disputed claims; and seeking help from employees in company human re departments (Wilde Mathews, Wall Street Journal, 5/21).
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Intraoperative Radioguidance With A Portable Gamma Camera: New Technique For Laparoscopic Sentinel Node Localisation In Urological Malignancies
UroToday.com - Our first results of sentinel node mapping with intraoperative radioguidance in urological tumors are described in our abstract. We selected this movie to show the whole imaging procedure. In a patient with prostate cancer, the radiopharmaceutical is injected in 4 depots into the prostate. After tracer administration, planar lymphoscintigraphy is performed after 15 minutes and in 2 hours is followed by a SPECT/CT. After fusion of corresponding SPECT and CT slices, the two-dimensional fusion images show the location of the sentinel nodes.
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New York Times Editorial Lauds Appointment Of White House Adviser On Violence Against Women

"Domestic violence is a serious law enforcement and public health problem affecting as many as one in four women in this country," but "Washington has devoted too little attention to reducing domestic violence and sexual assaults generally," a New York Times editorial states. The editorial continues, "We welcome President Obama"s decision to create a new post, White House adviser on violence against women, and his appointment" of former National Network To End Domestic Violence Executive Director Lynn Rosenthal, "a seasoned advocate for victims to fill it." According to the editorial, Rosenthal will report to Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, "whose keen interest in the issue dates from his days in the Senate and his key role in enacting the 1994 Violence Against Women Act." The "challenge" facing Rosenthal and the Obama administration "will be to improve the carrying out of existing laws intended to protect women, starting with better coordination of the activities of all the government bureaucracies involved," including the Department of Justice, HHS and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the editorial states. It notes that a national survey of domestic violence shelters released in May found "a significant increase in the number of women seeking assistance since last fall, a rise largely attributable to the stresses of the economic crisis and rising unemployment." The editorial recommends that states create more emergency shelters, establish more transitional housing for "people fleeing violent situations" and "do more to help these victims rebuild their lives." Rosenthal "will need to tackle bureaucratic and legal hurdles and find more money to help states, localities and charitable groups address those needs," the editorial states. In addition, Rosenthal must "help end the scandal of the thousands of rape kits sitting untested in crime labs and police storage facilities across the country, allowing countless criminals to escape punishment." The editorial concludes, "All of this will require strong and creative leadership" from Rosenthal, Biden and Obama (New York Times, 7/1). Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women"s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women"s Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company. © 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.


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