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Testing steeped
in controversy
HANGZHOU —
In a bizarre undercover experiment, a group of Chinese
reporters submitted tea in place of urine for testing
at 10 hospitals in Hangzhou. Six hospitals diagnosed
urinary tract infections and five of them prescribed
$50CAN medications for treatment, confirming for the
reporters rumours that China's hospitals were rife with
greed and corruption. "Patients have become automatic
teller machines for the hospitals," lamented the local
Southern Metropolis Daily.
Warts
and all duct tape study
MINNEAPOLIS —
University of Minnesota researchers studying "duct tape
occlusion therapy" admit they may have made a mistake.
The team treated 80 wart-afflicted patients with either
moleskin plus duct tape or just moleskin — but
they used the wrong kind of tape. Instead of the more
common grey kind used in the seminal 2002 study that
popularized duct tape as a wart removal device, they
opted for the transparent version. The results, published
in the March issue of the journal Archives of Dermatology,
may have been inaccurate.
Sperm
mix-up sparks lawsuit
COMMACK, NY —
Nancy Andrews, a Hispanic woman, was artificially inseminated
in 2004 with sperm from her husband Tom (who is white)
— or so she thought. Later that year, she gave
birth to Jessica: a black-Hispanic baby. Testing confirmed
that the clinic used the wrong sperm. In March a judge
ruled the couple could sue the fertility clinic and
the embryologist, but not the physician who owns the
clinic. "While we love baby Jessica as our own, we are
reminded of this terrible mistake each and every time
we look at her," the mother told the judge. "It is simply
impossible to ignore."
Labrador
elders teach docs
GOOSE BAY —
At the Big Land Health Conference in mid-March, around
100 doctors and nurses heard from three Labrador aboriginal
elders. Mary Adams, an Inuk elder, spoke about traditional
healing, cultural sensitivity and the nutrition in her
people's traditional diet. The conference attracted
delegates from as far away as New Zealand. "The people
are usually coming from places where they have orange
groves and palm trees," Ms Adams told the CBC. "They've
never seen a snowflake."
Tax
break for organ donors
RICHMOND, VA —
Virginia is currently considering a bill to give living
organ donors a tax deduction of $5,000, inspired by
several other states that have already decided to compensate
donors for the wages typically lost during recovery.
The US federal government reportedly plans to introduce
a similar measure later this year. The US Institute
of Medicine published a report last year solidly against
paying organ donors, citing ethical dilemmas, but was
open to tax breaks. This news comes as South Carolinians
continue to await their government's decision on releasing
prisoners early in exchange for their organs.
Fake
tans are addictive
SEATTLE —
Artificial tanning may be as addictive as alcohol or
nicotine, according to new research from the University
of Washington. The study, in the March issue of the
Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology,
argues that repeated self-exposure to UV light, despite
knowing the risks, should be seen as an addictive behaviour.
Of the people surveyed who reported using indoor tanning,
28% scored positively on a standardized substance-abuse
tool — this strongly suggests they're hooked on
UV say the investigators.
Machine
blows stones away
BERLIN —
In late March, Siemens announced a new, all-in-one lithotripsy
system called Modularis Variostar. The device performs
a variety of functions, including urodiagnostics and
shock wave therapy. The company boasts that the machine's
adjustable shock wave function can easily disintegrate
entire kidney stones, in both adults and children, and
can be used for orthopedic treatments like tennis elbow
or pseudarthrosis as well. The company's announcement
comes in the wake of a Cochrane review that called for
more research and the drafting of best-practices guidelines
for lithotripsy
UK
docs text message smokers
LONDON —
Some British physicians took recent research about patient
communication to heart, and are now using a computer
system to send text messages to patients' cell phones
to ask them if they are interested in getting help quitting
smoking. The doctors sent invitations to cessation sessions
to patients who indicated by text message that they
were smokers. Doctors have been able to communicate
directly with hundreds of patients in an instant, and
often get responses within minutes. The patient response
rate was a respectable 30%.
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