Current medical news and unique business news for anyone who cares about healthcare.
E.coli as a suicide bomber for bacteria. Researchers in Singapore are developing a new innovative technique for treating Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacteria that commonly leads to serious and sometimes fatal infections in hospital patients with weakened immune systems. The treatment uses E.coli as a sacrificial bomber that attracts a protein that can interact with genes to burst the E.coli and kill the harmful cells around it.
Although it’s a long way from clinical use, the treatment is indicative of continued interest in developing new anti-bacterial drugs. While bacteria continuously evolve and develop resistance to existing drugs, only two new anti-bacterial drugs have entered the market in the last decade.
Pharma, FDA disagree on names. The pharmaceutical industry wants the FDA to revise its policy or give up its power to change proposed drug names that may be confused with other drugs. In response to a government request for input, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America claimed the FDA didn’t have any standard measures to determine when proprietary names are similar.
Rural hospitals get a boost from Washington. The Obama administration yesterday announced a new initiative to help rural hospitals adopt health IT measures with federal loans and attract talent through monetary initiatives.
Overtreatment of thyroid cancer. Doctors may be too quick to treat thyroid cancer patients with the expensive treatment radioactive iodine, according to researchers who sifted through 190,000 records of patients who had their thyroid removed. The therapy can drain the patient’s energy and increase the risk of developing other cancers later.
For love or science? New research in Personality and Social Psychology sheds some light on the gender gap in STEM fields. When women concentrate on romantic goals, researchers say, they demonstrate less interest in STEM and more interest in traditionally feminine careers.