Press Announcements > FDA launches drug shortages mobile app

Press Announcements > FDA launches drug shortages mobile app.

From the 4 March 2015 announcement

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration launched the agency’s first mobile application (app) specifically designed to speed public access to valuable information about drug shortages.

The app identifies current drug shortages, resolved shortages and discontinuations of drug products.

Drugs in short supply can delay or deny needed care for patients. Drug shortages may also lead health care professionals to rely on alternative drug products, which may be less effective or associated with higher risks than the drug in shortage.

“The FDA understands that health care professionals and pharmacists need real-time information about drug shortages to make treatment decisions,” said Valerie Jensen, associate director of the Drug Shortage Staff in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “The new mobile app is an innovative tool that will offer easier and faster access to important drug shortage information.”

App users can search or browse by a drug’s generic name or active ingredient, and browse by therapeutic category. The app can also be used to report a suspected drug shortage or supply issue to the FDA.

The agency developed the drug shortages app to improve access to information about drug shortages, as part of the FDA’s efforts outlined in the Strategic Plan for Preventing and Mitigating Drug Shortages.

The app is available for free download via iTunes (for Apple devices) and theGoogle Play store (for Android devices) by searching “FDA Drug Shortages.”

The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.

[News release] How to get smarter on pills for seniors

From the 23 March 2015 MedicalExpress post

Various pills (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Open the medicine cabinet of a senior and you’re likely to find scores of pill bottles. Physicians are often unaware of all the medications a patient is taking, which can result in unnecessary additional prescriptions, non-prescription medications and potential drug-drug interactions that cause unexpected adverse effects. When a cancer diagnosis is thrown into the mix, the drug-drug interactions can become even more complex. A new study evaluates the currently available screening tools for determining if and when seniors with cancer are taking too many medications and finds that a more comprehensive medication assessment and monitoring plan is needed to improve treatment for this population.

2 hospitals embrace coordinated care through design

From the 12 March 2015 Clinical Key article

Coordinated care refers to the ability for physicians in different specialties to come together and share skills and accountability for a given patient’s care. Treatment models such as the accountable care organization and patient-centered medical home are operational examples of the trend of coordinated care come to life through a team of clinicians, though more hospitals are starting to see the value in combining disparate care settings in one package.

In fact, two hospitals in New York and New Jersey have taken the concepts of coordinated care and translated those into new physical spaces in their facilities that make it easier for physicians to provide prompt and accurate care. While one focused on health literacy and the other preferred to add new technologies to their hospitals, both represent a significant conceptual step in transforming the physical space of hospitals into embodiments of modern medicine.

1. The $8 million operating room
At first glance, constructing a single room in a hospital for $8 million seems like a gross over-expenditure of funds that could better be spent elsewhere, especially in an industry already facing out-of-control costs. However, CNY Central reported that Crouse Hospital in Syracuse, New York added not just one, but two state-of-the-art operating rooms each with similar price tags.

So what makes these operating rooms so expensive? Thanks to the inclusion of both surgical and radiological equipment, physicians can give patients X-rays and perform surgery without wasting time shuttling all over the facility. According to Adham Kamel, M.D., a surgeon at Crouse Hospital, the new rooms will make it much easier to diagnose and treat stroke victims.

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2. Engaging patients through design
Within the realm of patient engagement, the hospital has always been a nebulous area for patient education and engagement. Some patients simply do not feel comfortable in these facilities, and physicians are often too busy to sit down with their patients and talk them through their conditions for hours on end.

However, officials at New Jersey’s Morristown Medical Center have taken cues from both the physician’s and the patient’s world to create HealtheConnect, a cafe-style lounge room where patients can get help setting up health management apps on their smartphones, tablets or other mobile devices, PFSK.com reported. HealtheConnect took design cues from Apple’s Genius bars to create a welcoming atmosphere for even the most anxious patients.

To survive, a parasite mixes and matches its disguises, study suggests

To survive, a parasite mixes and matches its disguises, study suggests.

From the news release

…By taking the first detailed look at how one such parasite periodically assumes a new protein disguise during a long-term infection, new research at Rockefeller University challenges many assumptions about one of the best-known examples of this strategy, called antigenic variation, in the parasite that causes African sleeping sickness.

..
Here’s how it works. Many animals, including humans, have immune systems capable of learning to recognize pathogens based on those pathogens’ antigens, usually proteins on their surface. After encountering an antigen, the immune system generates its own proteins called antibodies to target that antigen. By continually changing antigens, a pathogen evades those antibodies.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-03-survive-parasite-disguises.html#jCp

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-03-survive-parasite-disguises.html#jCp