News

The New York Times highlighted the whistle blower lawsuit against the device maker Medtronic today. The article articulates improper relations between manufactures and surgeons.

Manufactures have been paying and providing vacations to surgeons who use (or companies hope use) their products at high volumes. No party has been found guilty for any illegal activity, though the ethical concerns are clear. The article can be read at NYTIMES.COM.

Guidant acknowledged it may have more problems than previously recognized concerning their pacemakers. The Guidant news story has been busy in the news because of it's pending sale and bidding between J&J and Boston Scientific. Last year Guidant issued a recall on some of its pacemakers, but cast a wider net on which ones may need to be replaced since a different batch of devices may also be faulty. The release letter from guidant can be downloaded here. Read about it in the Chicago Tribune.

New chemotherapy technique is reported to prolong survival for ovarian cancer patients. The treatment involves high doses of drugs delivered through the stomach. The research is published in the New England Journal and a review can be found through the National Cancer Institute.

Genetic Testing is available for ovarian cancer. For more information on Genetic Testing of Hereditary Cancers, look for issues 6 & 7 of the Biomedical Review Letter.

The Biomedical Review Letter issue 5 is out now. The topic covers Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding. Recent reports in JAMA suggest that Gastric Bypass is not as safe as previously thought. To see a list of American Society of Bariatric Surgery Centers of Excellence that perform LAGB please click here . A review of availability and access to LAGB will be coming out in our Market Edition on the topic of Weight-Loss Surgery.

A large study comparing digital mammography to traditional film mammography has been published. The conclusion of the authors is:
"The overall diagnostic accuracy of digital and film mammography as a means of screening for breast cancer is similar, but digital mammography is more accurate in women under the age of 50 years, women with radiographically dense breasts, and premenopausal or perimenopausal women."

-Etta D. Pisano, M.D., Constantine Gatsonis, Ph.D., Edward Hendrick, Ph.D.,Martin Yaffe, Ph.D., Janet K. Baum, M.D., Suddhasatta Acharyya, Ph.D., Emily F. Conant, M.D., Laurie L. Fajardo, M.D., Lawrence Bassett, M.D., Roberta Jong, M.D., and Murray Rebner, M.D., for the Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial (DMIST) Investigators Group* Diagnostic Performance of Digital versus Film Mammography for Breast-Cancer ScreeningN Engl J Med 2005;353.

The New York Times (Barry Meier) has discovered that the FDA was aware of failures with Guidants Prizm Pacemakers before the public was made aware earlier this summer. The information was only made public after the filing of a Freedom of Information Act. Original Article.

The New York Times ran an article today on how physicians help investment groups select stocks. The article noted concerns over inappropriate use of information and the increasing frequency of this sort of partnership. The article can be found online here.

The Biomedical Review Letter on Carotid Artery Stenting by Emile Mohler will be released this week. The articel compares this non-invasive technology with the long standing treatment of endarterectomy.