GAN-CAN

Breast implant problems can be stopped with conscientious doctors

This year began with a breast implant scandal. This one has brought back memories of the one early in my private practice. The current one involves the PIP-branded breast implants produced by the French company Poly Implant Prothese and rebranded by the Dutch company Rofil as Rofil M-implants breast implants. The first one involved silicone implants made by American companies including Dow Corning who no longer makes breast implants. The picture of 3 implants includes: top -- an old McGhan double lumen (silicone gel implant surrounded by a saline implant); bottom left – Dow Corning textured silicone implant; and bottom right – Dow Corning smooth silicone implant. Dow Corning has not made breast implants since approximately 1992.

By Dr. Ramona Bates

Hospitals

Does Burzynski movie buzz come at the worst time for the FDA?

Burzynski. To some the name evokes a sense of hope. But to others, the name conjures skepticism, even ridicule. For those who don’t know, Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski is a Texas physician who has spent the better part of the last 30 years developing what he and his supporters claim is a medical breakthrough in treating […]

By Frank Vinluan

With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?

Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.

Hospitals

Reduction mammoplasty eases much more than physical discomfort

This article (full reference below) on the additional benefits an individual gains from having a reduction mammoplasty (RM) has been published online ahead of print. The authors performed a systemic review of the literature focusing on functional outcomes after RM with regard to physical and psychological symptom improvement. The authors performed a systematic review of […]

By Dr. Ramona Bates

Hospitals

How we’ve fought cancer so far: A brief summary

We’ve been fighting the war on cancer for forty years and although there has been a decrease in U.S. cancer deaths, the global burden of cancer has doubled over the last three decades [1]. Indeed, the leading cause of death in the world today is cancer, followed by heart disease and stroke [2,3]. Cancer also […]

By Highlight HEALTH

Hospitals

PSA test recommendation needed a little healthcare PR help

Last Friday at 3 p.m., the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality held a telephone briefing to inform the press and public about the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation against routine screening of prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels in middle-aged men. The “D” recommendation, now open for public comment, said the harms from false […]

Devices & Diagnostics

Catheter, breast cancer imaging companies receive fresh capital

A pair of Pennsylvania medical companies – one focused on cardiac catheterization and the other improving breast cancer imaging – have received fresh funding from the state’s economic development and investment arm. Essential Medical received $250,000 from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania and Real Time Tomography secured a $150,000. Each company has previous […]

By Stephanie Baum

MedCity Influencers

Five movies about breast cancer (with a dash of sentimentality)

I caught this movie last week flipping though channels looking for something to watch while I knitted. “Five” stars Patricia Clarkson, Rosario Dawson, Lyndsy Fonseca, Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Holloway, Tony Shalhoub, Jeffrey Tambor, and Jeanne Tripplehorn. It is an anthology of five short films exploring the impact of breast cancer on people’s lives. The first […]

By Dr. Ramona Bates

Hospitals

Best outcome of PSA debate is more active, informed decision making

Much has and will be written on the new US Preventive Services Task Force (USPTF) recommendations against routine use of the prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test in healthy men . I’m not a doctor or scientist and have not had the PSA test or a subsequent biopsy myself, but I am a close observer […]

Hospitals

Color-coating cancer to ‘change the paradigm’ for cancer surgery

Dr. Sunil Singhal is the director of the Thoracic Surgery Research Laboratory at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, a laboratory he started four years ago. He and a team of researchers last week secured a $7 million, five-year Transformative Research Project Award from the National Institute of Health for clinical […]

By Stephanie Baum

Hospitals

Women at risk for genetic, BRCA breast cancer should be screened sooner

Somewhere along the line I learned to encourage women with a family history of breast cancer to begin getting mammograms at an age 10 years prior to when their mother was diagnosed and to encourage their daughters to begin getting mammograms at an age 10 years prior to when they themselves were ever diagnosed. I […]

By Dr. Ramona Bates

Health Services

Maximize Revenue and Patient Care with Strategic Weight Loss Management

We will highlight Build My Health's revenue practice management tools, which could help physician practices add up to $250,000 to their practices.

By Build My Health and MedCity News

Pharma

GSK halts part of breast cancer trial; drug can’t top Herceptin

GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) has halted part of a phase 3 breast cancer clinical study after an independent committee concluded that the GSK drug administered alone is unlikely to work better than a rival cancer drug from Roche (OTC:RHHBY) But three other arms of the trial studying the GSK drug lapatinib, also called Tykerb, will continue. Those […]

By Frank Vinluan

Devices & Diagnostics

Cancer-detection company Oncoscope closes on $2M fundraise

Cancer-detection medical device company Oncoscope has closed on $2 million in financing, according to securities filings. Durham, North Carolina-based Oncoscope is developing an optical imaging system that can be used for early detection of cancers in the esophagus, colon, lungs, cervix and bladder. Oncoscope is currently conducting a clinical trial sponsored by an SBIR grant […]

By Frank Vinluan

Pharma

University of Cincinnati studying new approach to attacking breast cancer

A University of Cincinnati researcher has received a $587,000 federal grant to study a new way of attacking breast cancer. The goal is to develop a breast cancer treatment by indirectly targeting estrogen, as opposed to other drugs on the market that directly target and stop the hormone, according to a statement from the University […]

By Brandon Glenn

Devices & Diagnostics

MRI-guided radiotherapy firm ViewRay gets $10M in new funding

A company that’s developing MRI-based technology to deliver radiation therapy to cancer patients has secured $10 million in new investment funding. Oakwood Village, Ohio-based ViewRay‘s $10.3 million fundraise comes from existing investors, according to a document filed with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Investors listed in the document include Kearny Venture Partners, OrbiMed Advisors, Fidelity […]

By Brandon Glenn

News

UNC shares in $19.3M NCI grant to study breast cancer disparities

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is sharing in a $19.3 million National Cancer Institute grant to study why young, African-American women are at greater risk for breast cancer. UNC researchers are teaming with researchers at Boston University and Roswell Park Cancer Institute in the five-year study of the health disparity. With data […]

By Frank Vinluan