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Recent economic challenges resulted in cutbacks in personal healthcare spending among continuously insured Americans, according to researchers at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. These insured patients underwent fewer screening colonoscopies, a cost-effective, recommended preventive service, during the recession.
The study appears in the March issue of the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Researchers have found that a new drug for metastatic melanoma nearly doubles the median survival time for patients with a common genetic mutation.
The data come from an international phase 2 study of the drug Zelboraf (vemurafenib). More than half of the 132 patients who were treated with the novel agent responded to treatment and experienced a median overall survival of almost 16 months. Patients with this advanced form of melanoma, in which the cancer has spread to other organs, typically survive about 9 months.
The new healthcare law’s Preexisting Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) program is providing insurance to thousands of people with high-risk preexisting conditions. The US Department of Health and Human Services recently reported how PCIP is helping to fill a void in the insurance market.
A recent study shows that women who received a combination breast cancer chemotherapy regimen referred to as CMF between 1976 and 1995 performed worse on cognitive tests compared with women who never had cancer. The subtle differences in performance were statistically significant and occurred primarily in word learning and memory and information processing speed.
The findings, published February 27 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, indicate that cognitive problems may be observed 20 years following chemotherapy treatment.
Shortages of drugs used for treating patients with hematologic malignancies have recently become critical and life threatening. The following is a February 27, 2012, update on the status of hematologic drug shortages and helpful resources for pharmacists.
Limited Quantities of Daunorbucin Are Available
The first molecular test to help determine the need for repeat prostate biopsies in men who have had a previous negative biopsy has been approved by the FDA.
Four new drugs could help change advanced prostate cancer from a terminal disease to a chronic illness, according to a prostate cancer expert in a recent review for the journal Oncology.
Medication errors are common among primary care providers; however, the number of mistakes could be reduced significantly with the use of in-house pharmacists.
A comprehensive study, led by Tony Avery, Professor of Primary Health Care in the School of Community Health Sciences at The University of Nottingham, involved at-risk patients in 72 general practices. Patients were taking the drugs most commonly and consistently associated with medication errors. Study results were published recently in The Lancet.
Many women endure hot flashes and night sweats following breast cancer treatment. British researchers are now saying that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for women experiencing these main symptoms of menopause.