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This is an important week for the University of Nevada School of Medicine…officials will submit the school's self-study, an overview of all aspects of their programs…a key document in the effort to earn accreditation…The self-study is a structured review of all aspects of UNLV's proposed program, including what curriculum, resources, faculty and facilities will be needed. The document is an initial step in determining whether the proposed medical school meets standards for structure, function and performance…Dr. Barbara Atkinson, dean of the planned medical school, said the 34-page executive summary of the self-study will be available to the public online after her team submits the document to the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (sponsored by the Assn of Amer. Med. Colleges and the Council on Med. Education of the Amer. Med. Assn) UNLV and Roseman University of Health Sciences both are seeking accreditation for planned medical schools. Each would have the capacity to teach 60 students each year, starting in 2017. Roseman officials submitted their self-study over the summer…

The battle over maintaining life support for a 20-year-old Las Vegas woman continues this week in Reno. It focuses on the question of when is a person considered dead…The unknown is whether doctors for Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center in Reno will continue to try to pull the plug on Aden Hailu, who sought treatment for abdominal pain in April and suffered catastrophic lack of oxygen and brain damage during an exploratory surgery…An attorney for Hailu's family said the next step must be to develop a plan of care…"There is hope that she will regain consciousness," said David O'Mara, the…attorney representing, Hailu's father…The state Supreme Court ruled last week that the standards used by the hospital to make a determination of brain death might not satisfy state law. Hailu was declared brain dead at the hospital May 28 after doctors concluded that she was unresponsive, lacked brain activity as determined by reflexes and eye movement, and could not breathe on her own.

Nevada has created health guidelines for cryotherapy after a Las Vegas spa worker was found dead in a tank that subjects users to subzero temperatures, a treatment that experts say has been growing in popularity but is largely unregulated and whose benefits are not proven…Dr. Tracey Green, the state's chief medical officer, said Friday that the guidelines from the state health department recommend that the machines not be used by minors under 18, those under 5 feet tall and anyone with certain health conditions, such as a history of stroke, high blood pressure, seizures and infections, as well as people who are pregnant or have pacemakers or claustrophobia…The state said it will work with businesses to implement its "expected standards" but there won't be penalties and this doesn't amount to law. Still to be determined is how oversight measures will be carried out to ensure the guidelines will be implemented. The health department has said it will work with other agencies that regulate and license such businesses, including the Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration…"We will go back and assist them," Green said of the businesses. "There's not a penalty. It's really about public safety."…The new guidelines ask cryotherapy centers to have nitrogen monitors in the rooms and emergency kits and defibrillators on site. Signs and user waivers that clearly state that the treatment cannot treat illnesses or be used for medical purposes and outline the service's procedures and risks should also be provided…

Touted as a way to reduce pain, speed injury recovery, and improve mood, cryotherapy involves exposing the body to temperatures up to minus 300 degrees Fahrenheit…Celebrities and some athletes…are proponents of this treatment. However, a recent death has called the safety and efficacy of cryotherapy into question…Chelsea Ake-Salvacion who worked at a Las Vegas cryotherapy center called Rejuvenice died during an after-hours session in a tank, where she was alone...found “rock-hard solid.”…The coroner’s office determined that Ake-Salvacion died from asphyxia from an oxygen-poor environment…Cryotherapy environments can have oxygen levels around 5%—so low that someone can fall unconscious and die…Here are 6 must-know facts about cryotherapy:

1. There are 2 ways to experience whole-body cryotherapy.
2. One study did find some evidence that whole-body cryotherapy can reduce inflammation.
3. Another study shot down cryotherapy as a successful treatment for repairing muscle damage or reducing soreness.
4. Cold baths and packs may be the way to go until further research is completed.
5. Cryotherapy is not regulated.
6. Ake-Salvacion is not the only one harmed by cryotherapy.

Video technology makes it possible for an urban specialist to see rural patients without anyone having to drive, but it doesn't solve a key underlying issue: there aren’t enough specialists in Nevada…a liver specialist in New Mexico posed this question: What if we used teleconferencing to train primary physicians in rural counties?...The result was Project ECHO, which created a model for other rural health programs in the country, including Nevada in 2012. The local Project ECHO program is run out of the University of Nevada, Reno. According to director Dr. Evan Klass, the program is helping to address doctor shortages…Next up? An expansion into Nevada's urban health centers, which Klass says tend to need just as much help as their rural counterparts these days.

...newest pharmacy location, Campus Pharmacy West, is...located next to...Las Vegas Patient Care Center on Charleston Blvd., just west of I-15...(next to the School of Medicine's Patient Care Center; 1701 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 100; 702-992-6906)...Pharmacist Lawrence Coleman, R.Ph....serves as an excellent resource for both patients and practitioners dealing with medication management and best practices in pharmaceutical care....

Offenders facing court-ordered drug tests in Reno Municipal Court have often found ways around the system. That just got a lot harder and consequences for cheaters a lot swifter…Their crimes may vary…But the common underlying cause is substance abuse. That makes them potential candidates for one of the specialty courts. Instead of housing them behind bars, they are sentenced to sobriety and a rigorous schedule of random testing… But the court now has a new drug-screening lab. Samples, as many as 54 at a time, can be analyzed for 11 kinds of drug or alcohol content. Accurate results in minutes…The lab is the first of its kind in northern Nevada.

Medications won't work if patients don't take them…A national association of doctors this week urged physicians to order generic drugs whenever possible because patients are more likely to fill their prescriptions…Southern Nevada doctors and pharmacists say the report in the Annals of Internal Medicine reinforces what they've seen in their practices over the years…"Cost has a role, clearly, in this lack of adherence," said Dr. Scott Stolte, dean of the College of Pharmacy and a professor of pharmacy practice at Roseman University of Health Sciences…"Most of the time the generic drugs are just as effective as the trademark drugs," said Dr. James Anthony, a family practitioner and member of the Nevada State Board of Osteopathic Medicine. "They're more accepted than…they were 10 years ago."…Doctors say they prefer generic drugs because of the data showing patient outcomes improve, and the cost savings are an added benefit…"Not only are prescription-by-prescription costs going to be lower, but also the overall health care costs are going to be lower,"…

A judge has imposed severe sanctions on Centennial Hills Hospital Medical Center for intentionally concealing evidence in a civil case filed by a patient who was sexually assaulted at the Las Vegas hospital in 2008…"Centennial failed to disclose relevant evidence that it knew it had a duty to disclose, caused extensive time to pass, and caused memories to fade," District Judge Richard Scotti wrote in a 39-page order…strikes Centennial's answer in the case — a move that establishes liability against the hospital. When the case goes to trial Jan. 4, Centennial will be allowed to defend itself only on the question of damages…"A party who engages in misconduct must suffer reasonable consequences," the judge wrote. "No party should be allowed to conceal evidence, and then suffer merely a monetary sanction, while being allowed to reap the tactical benefit of the loss of that evidence."…The plaintiff, who filed the case in 2009 as Jane Doe, was one of five female patients who were victimized by certified nursing assistant Steven Farmer.

For the fifth consecutive year, Southern Hills Medical Center in Las Vegas has made the list of top performing hospitals compiled by the independent agency that accredits the most U.S. health care organizations…Fourteen of the 27 Nevada hospitals that submitted data last year to The Joint Commission attained top performing status, including seven other facilities in Southern Nevada. In addition to Southern Hills, the commission also recognized Sunrise, Mountainview, Valley and Desert Springs hospitals in Las Vegas; Strategic Behavioral Health's Red Rock facility; the Spring Mountain Treatment Center in Las Vegas; and Mesa View Regional Hospital in Mesquite.