Comment on this storyComment Cancer patients and their doctors are grappling with a record shortage of effective chemotherapy, putting their treatments and their lives at risk. Most are cheap generic drugs that have been used in cancer medicine for decades, says Satyajit Kosuri, clinical director of the stem cell transplant and cell therapy program at the University of Chicago, who has experienced the consequences firsthand. At the end of last year, there were 295 active drug shortages, ranging from antibiotics and anesthetics to cardiac mediations and chemotherapy drugs, according to…
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Radiation can be safely omitted in selected patients with locally advanced rectal cancer
By the staff of ASCO Post Posted: 6/4/2023 11:46:00 AM Last update: 6/4/2023 10:53:02 Locally advanced rectal cancer patients with chemotherapy-responsive tumors can safely forego radiation therapy before surgery, based on results from the PROSPECT trial. These data were presented by Deborah Schrag, MD, FASCO, MPHat the ASCO Annual Meeting 2023 (Abstract LBA2) and contextually published in The New England Journal of Medicine(effectiveness data) and theJournal of Clinical Oncology (data on patient-reported outcomes). Omitting radiotherapy can reduce short- and long-term side effects that affect quality of life, providing similar results…
Read MoreDetection of impaired irony observed in patients with borderline personality disorder
Can Personality Disorders Affect Your Sense of Humor? A study published in Borderline personality disorder and emotional dysregulation suggests that borderline symptoms are associated with difficulty detecting irony. Borderline personality disorder is a mental health condition characterized by an unstable relationship pattern, intense emotions, impulsivity, and a distorted sense of self. People with borderline symptoms often experience difficulty regulating their emotions and display impulsive behaviors. Borderline personality disorder can also manifest itself in the way individuals handle social communication. Social cognition encompasses understanding of oneself and others and develops through…
Read MoreParalyzed patients can move again with nerve stimulation, confirms HCMC clinical trial
A common implant designed to stimulate the spinal cord is enabling paralyzed patients to move again, a first-of-its-kind discovery in a clinical study at HCMC in Minneapolis. While findings have varied among the roughly 20 study participants, the upshot so far is that people can regain function after spinal cord injury and not simply maintain the limited mobility they have, said Dr. David Darrow, the principal investigator. The trial could be the first to force the US Food and Drug Administration to approve a device that restores function after spinal…
Read MoreThis non-profit healthcare system cuts patients with medical debts
Many hospitals in the United States use aggressive tactics to collect medical debt. They flood local courts with collection lawsuits. They keep the salaries of the patients. They seize their tax refunds. But a wealthy nonprofit healthcare system in the Midwest is among those taking it a step further: withholding care from patients who have unpaid medical bills. Allina Health System, which operates more than 100 hospitals and clinics in Minnesota and Wisconsin and generates $4 billion in revenue annually, sometimes turns away patients who are deeply in debt, according…
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