A shot in six months can keep knee surgery at bay |  |
- A shot in six months can keep knee surgery at bay
- Poor to get more money to build toilets
- Cabinet approves more funds for total sanitation drive
- Antifungal drug delays need for chemo in advanced prostate cancer
- Supportive of intent of ACO proposed rule, ACP expresses concern
| A shot in six months can keep knee surgery at bay Posted: 03 Jun 2011 10:36 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, June 3 - At the age of 46, Delhi-based homemaker Smita Awasthi found herself shuttling between hospitals, popping pills and visiting doctors on a daily basis to get respite from the ordeal of knee pain because of osteoarthritis. 'Household chores had become difficult. Even simple activities like climbing stairs had become tyrannous because of the tremendous pain in the knees,' Awasthi told IANS. India is said to have the second largest number of osteoarthritis patients in the world. Just when Awasthi had made up her mind for a knee surgery in March this year even though it was too early for her age, doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences - opted for viscosupplementation, a technique of giving injections at regular intervals to provide relief from pain and delay surgery for osteoarthritis patients. 'In osteoarthritis, the outer layer of the knee joint called synovium membrane stops producing the synovial fluid in the knees. This fluid is very necessary for nourishment of the joints, and supporting smooth joint movement through lubrication,' said Buddhadev Choudhary, associate professor at the department of orthopedics at the J.P. Narayan Apex Trauma Centre, AIIMS. In the absence of synovial fluid, the knee cartilage starts reducing in thickness and the joint becomes unstable while drying up. 'Viscosupplementation compensates for the lack of synovial fluid in the patient's knees. A loaded syringe of a similar gel-like fluid is injected into the patient's knees at a minimum gap of six months,' explained Choudhary, who sees around 50 such patients in a month. The technique that came to India over five years ago, say experts, is now gaining popularity among people as osteoarthritis cases are also coming at an early age. 'It is not unusual to see women in their early 40s coming up with osteoarthritis and joint pain. Blame it on the sedentary lifestyle or corporate work culture, we have the second largest... http://www.rxpgnews.com    |
| Poor to get more money to build toilets Posted: 02 Jun 2011 08:56 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, June 2 - The very poor in India can now build toilets at their home -- for Rs.300. The rest of the money will come from the central and state governments. This was decided by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs - Thursday. The cabinet approved an extra Rs.1,348 crore to construct toilets under the 'total sanitation campaign' meant for those living below poverty line -. An official statement said the allocation for each BPL household for building a toilet - had been increased from Rs.2,200 to Rs.3,200. The amount would go up from Rs.2,700 to Rs.3,700 if the houses are located in 'difficult and hilly areas'. The people profiting from the scheme need to put in Rs.300, the statement said. 'State governments are allowed the flexibility to provide higher incentive for a household toilet. The BPL household may contribute towards value addition to the basic unit at its own expense,' it said. The revised rates would be effective from June 1. The increase is expected to put an additional expenditure of Rs.1,348.26 crore on the central government. The states together will also have to bear an additional expenditure of Rs.577 crore. The decision is expected to speed up the pace of construction of toilets, resulting in better sanitation coverage in rural areas. It is expected that all rural households will have access to sanitation facilities by March 2015. The government has so far motivated 7.14 crore rural households to create sanitation facilities. These includes 3.85 crore BPL households. http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Cabinet approves more funds for total sanitation drive Posted: 02 Jun 2011 08:01 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, June 2 - The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs - Thursday approved an extra amount of Rs.1,348 crore for construction of toilets under the total sanitation campaign in below poverty line - households. 'The CCEA has approved the upward revision in the incentive amount to a BPL household for construction of one unit of individual household latrine - from existing Rs.2,200 - to Rs.3,200 -,' said an official statement. The central government's share in this will be Rs.2,200 - and the state governments will chip in Rs.1,000. The people benefitting under the scheme have to put in Rs.300, the statement said. 'State governments are allowed the flexibility to provide higher incentive for a household toilet, of the same or higher unit costs from their own funds. The BPL household may also contribute towards value addition to the basic unit at its own expense,' it said. The revised rates would become effective from June 1. The increase in incentive amount is expected to put an additional expenditure of Rs.1,348.26 crore on the central government. The state governments together will also have to bear an additional financial expenditure of Rs.577 crore approximately, the release added. The hiked incentive is expected to accelerate the pace of construction of toilets, resulting in better sanitation coverage in rural areas of the country. It is expected that all rural households will have access to sanitation facilities by March 2015. The government has so far motivated 7.14 crore rural households to create sanitation facilities. These includes 3.85 crore BPL households. http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Antifungal drug delays need for chemo in advanced prostate cancer Posted: 02 Jun 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The oral antifungal drug itraconazole, most commonly used to treat nail fungus, may keep prostate cancer from worsening and delay the need for chemotherapy in men with advanced disease. Details of the finding, from a clinical trial led by Johns Hopkins experts, are scheduled for presentation on Saturday, June 4 at the 2011 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting (abstract #4532). Currently, the drug is approved to treat fungal infections in nails and other organs. Serious side effects can include heart failure, and Johns Hopkins experts caution that itraconazole needs further study before it can be considered for prostate cancer treatment. Identified as a potential anticancer drug after Hopkins scientists scoured a database of more than 3,000 FDA-approved drugs, itraconazole appears to block tumor blood vessel growth -- the only drug in its class to do so -- much like the anticancer drug bevacizumab (Avastin). The antifungal also disrupts a key cancer-initiating biological pathway called Hedgehog. Laboratory testing by Johns Hopkins scientist Jun Liu, Ph.D., has shown that human prostate tumors implanted in mice shrink when treated with itraconazole. The most effective therapy we have right now for metastatic prostate cancer is hormone therapy, and when it doesn't work, the next step is usually chemotherapy, says Emmanuel Antonarakis, M.D., assistant professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. In a search for compounds that could put off chemotherapy, the Johns Hopkins team turned to itraconazole. For the study, patients with prostate cancer that had spread to other organs and did not respond to hormone therapy were randomly assigned to receive low or high doses of itraconazole. Over 24 weeks of daily treatment with oral itraconazole, the investigators tracked the length of time for each patient's prostate cancer to worsen (called progression-free survival). Evidence of worsening... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Supportive of intent of ACO proposed rule, ACP expresses concern Posted: 02 Jun 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) In a 10-page letter addressed to Donald Berwick, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, ACP today said: The ACP strongly supports the intent of the proposed rule, and believes that an ACOmodel has the potential of supporting such important care delivery goals as enhancingquality, efficiency, integration, and patient-centeredness. The College is also pleased thatthe foundation of care under this payment model, as reflected in the proposed rule, isprimary care. There is substantial research evidence derived from both domestic andinternational settings that a strong primary care foundation is the essence of an effective andefficient healthcare system. We are concerned, though, that the current requirements proposed for acceptance as anACO by Medicare under this program sets too high of a bar for participation by manyinternal medicine physicians, especially internal medicine specialists in primary andcomprehensive care of adults who practice in smaller, independent physician practices.The required administrative, infrastructure, service delivery, and financial resources and the needto accept risk will effectively limit participation to those few large entities already organizedunder an ACO-like structure; that already have ready access to capital, substantial infrastructuredevelopment, and experience operating under an integrative service/payment model (e.g.Medicare Advantage). Even these entities have questioned the business case for adoption ofthe ACO model as outlined in the proposed rule. We do believe that the Center for Medicare andMedicaid Innovation's (CMMI) recent release of the Pioneer option, with its increasedadministrative flexibility and ability to earn a higher share of savings than allowed in theproposed rule, may effectively address this issue for the larger, already prepared players. We alsoare intrigued by the proposal from CMMI for an advance payment initiative for ACOsparticipating in the... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
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