- New medical schools aim to fix America’s broken health care system (statnews.com)
New medical schools are launching across the country to address a projected physician shortage. They’re promising innovative curriculums that let aspiring doctors spend time doing research, working in community health settings, and following the same patients for months...But they face big obstacles, starting with the challenge of recruiting students and faculty when they’re not yet accredited — and won’t be, even in the best-case scenario, for several years...An equally big challenge: raising the tens of millions it takes to build and then run a top-tier medical school...all in an effort to create a new breed of American doctor...What we’re doing is certainly a little bit risky…At the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, which is on track to launch its med school in the fall of 2017, student training will involve getting out of the hospital to work at a hospice, a home for developmentally delayed patients, or some other community organization. Plus, students will spend a year at an outpatient clinic where they can follow the same individuals over time, rather than jumping among different specialized clinics each month, as is often the case..."The students will actually get to know their own patients," said founding dean Dr. Barbara Atkinson...Massive fundraising campaigns and acceptance from the local community are needed...The financial urgency is even more pronounced at UNLV. Last year, Nevada legislators approved $27 million in startup funds — but that’s just a drop in the bucket of the full amount the university needs to get up and running..."We’re working hard to cultivate donors," said Atkinson...We’re very fortunate to be starting from scratch when we are...It would be virtually impossible to do what we’re doing at a school that’s already set in its ways...
- Onscreen doctors to write scrip at China’s Jo-Jo Drugstores (fiercepharma.com)
With a regulator nod for full online prescription drug sales in China on hold for now...Jo-Jo Drugstores plans a TV loop direct to doctors who will listen to your ailments and write up scripts...The Zhejiang province-based pharmacy chain won China FDA approval for the plan to install the virtual doctor screens at 6 stores, allowing them to consult and write prescriptions if needed that the pharmacist can fill on the spot...China FDA has grown increasingly cautious about the sale of online drugs. But it is willing to experiment with models that may bring down costs and provide better services...Access to doctors in China has been difficult historically in many rural areas of China...Not only does our program rectify this problem, relieving hospitals of patient overflow; we are also able to save consumers between 10% and 30% in prescriptions costs as compared to the exact same service rendered at area hospitals...
- Universal Health Services buying minority stakes in Southern Nevada hospitals (reviewjournal.com)
Universal Health Services Inc., a subsidiary of which owns the Valley Health System, has announced that it will buy a third party’s minority ownership interests in its six Southern Nevada hospitals for $445 million...The King of Prussia, Pennsylvania-based company announced...it would make the aggregate cash payment, which includes purchase price and return of capital, to a "third party" for ownership interests ranging from 26.1 to 27.5 percent...Valley Health System includes Centennial Hills Hospital Medical Center, Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center, Spring Valley Hospital Medical Center, Summerlin Hospital Medical Center, Valley Hospital Medical Center and the under-construction Henderson Hospital..."This transaction reflects our continued confidence in the performance of our hospitals in the Las Vegas market and, in particular, our enthusiasm for the opening of our newest hospital in Henderson, Nevada later this year," Universal Health Services CEO Alan Miller said in the statement.
- Nevada’s prescription monitoring system described (kolotv.com)
The U.S Attorney prosecuting the case against Richie West and Dr. Robert Rand and seven other defendants accused of operating an illegal Oxycodone distribution and street-buying operation says he has records from the Nevada Pharmacy Board. Those records identify when and where the defendants had their prescriptions filled. The system is part of the board's Prescription Monitoring Program...It’s not a perfect system, and there are some loopholes. But it’s helped keep track and monitor those who doctor-shop looking to feed their opioid habits...“So we know who wrote the prescription, what it is, the quantity. Who the patient is that got it, and all of that including who filled it. First thing we do is send an unsolicited report to every one of those physicians, all 10 of those guys, and ladies, and every one of those pharmacies. So now all of a sudden all of those people know the patient that is sitting in that office right now has been to nine other physicians in that same week and then, game over. We don't tell them what to do. We just tell them, doc, you need to know this,” says Executive Director (Executive Secretary) for the Nevada Board of Pharmacy Larry Pinson Pharm. D...Pinson says the information in the database is sensitive. A court order is needed if law enforcement wants access to it...Pinson says the system is designed to get the patient help rather than punish him. And he admits the system is geared toward the patient.
- Walgreens sending medical marijuana smoke signals? (drugtopics.modernmedicine.com)What is Medical Marijuana? Clarifying Clinical Cannabis (staywell.walgreens.com)
Walgreens’ posting of a seemingly sympathetic blog about the use of medical marijuana has created quite a buzz, with some online observers speculating the retail chain has its sight on that lucrative industry...But a Walgreens spokesperson insists the chain has not taken a stance on the use of medical marijuana and cautions people against reading too much into the blog posting. Pharmacies cannot legally dispense medical marijuana...The blog, entitled "What is Medical Marijuana? Clarifying Clinical Cannabis," was written by Dahlia Sultan, who is a resident pharmacist at Walgreens and associated with the University of Illinois at Chicago...Sultan...suggests "marijuana provides pain relief in ways traditional medicines don’t" and "medical marijuana can improve appetite and relieve nausea in those who have cancer and may help relieve symptoms such as muscle stiffness in people who have multiple sclerosis."...Not surprisingly, the blog has attracted the attention of medical marijuana advocates. Some believe that pressure from giant retailers such as Walgreens could eventually convince the federal government to reclassify marijuana so that it could be dispensed by pharmacies...Jim Cohn, spokesperson for Walgreens, said that people shouldn’t read too much into the blog. "The content [of the blog] is strictly informative, and nowhere do we take any stance on the issue,"...
- UPDATED: Merck KGaA expands viral, cell therapy production capacity in U.S. (fiercepharma.com)
Merck KGaA wants to be a go-to company to help others develop and manufacture gene-related therapies and will expand its campus in Carlsbad, CA, by nearly 50% as part of that effort...The German company’s MilliporeSigma unit said...it will add about 21,000 square feet to the facility...The expansion...will leave it with 16 modular viral bulk manufacturing cleanroom suites, two fill/finish suites and twice the warehouse capacity. The expansion will incorporate single-use equipment in a flexible, scalable format for clinical and commercial bulk drug production...Merck considers the Carlsbad site its flagship for viral and gene therapy work...
- Family planning services now offered at health district’s new headquarters (reviewjournal.com)
The Southern Nevada Health District has added family planning to the list of services offered at its new headquarters...A family planning clinic, formerly located at the health district’s Shadow Lane campus, officially opened this week at the district’s 280 S. Decatur Blvd. Location..."Family planning and the availability of contraception are considered among the last century’s greatest public health accomplishments," district Chief Health Officer Dr. Joseph Iser said in the release. "The ability to plan a family and space pregnancies is a key aspect of women’s health care."
- FDA generics backlog improves, although criticism continues (drugtopics.modernmedicine.com)
While many groups are criticizing the FDA's backlog of generic drug approvals, the agency said the situation has improved...In December 2015 alone, OGD (Office of Generic Drugs) issued 99 approvals and tentative approvals...the most approvals and tentative approvals granted in a single month since the start of the generic drug program...FDA’s Office of Generic Drugs awarded 580 generic drug approvals and 146 tentative approvals in 2015...the Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing...is pressing legislators to grant FDA more resources, to allow quicker processing of generic drug applications. The group's members include AARP, ASHP, numerous health plans, providers, and Walmart...The FDA faces a backlog of nearly 4,000 generic drug applications, yet approval times can be three or more years...The FDA should be provided necessary resources to clear this backlog and prioritize generic drug approval applications...
- Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center selects new CEO (reviewjournal.com)
Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center, a Valley Health System property, announced...that it has selected a new CEO...Jeremy Bradshaw, formerly chief operating officer of the 293-bed acute care facility, officially took the helm of the hospital Sunday...Bradshaw...will now oversee "all aspects of the hospital with a particular emphasis on strategic planning, business development, physician relations and value-based purchasing expectations, along with finance, human resources and daily operations...Bradshaw said his top priority...is patient care, and he also hopes to emphasize the important of the emergency department, as it’s often the first or only interaction people have with the hospital.
- The gene editor CRISPR won’t fully fix sick people anytime soon. Here’s why (sciencemag.org)
This week, scientists will gather in Washington, D.C., for an annual meeting devoted to gene therapy—a long-struggling field that has clawed its way back to respectability with a string of promising results in small clinical trials. Now, many believe the powerful new gene-editing technology known as CRISPR will add to gene therapy’s newfound momentum. But is CRISPR really ready for prime time? Science explores the promise—and peril—of the new technology.
- How does CRISPR work?
- What has CRISPR accomplished so far?
- So why isn’t CRISPR ready for prime time?
- With these caveats, do you even need CRISPR?
- CRISPR also has other issues
- And CRISPR still has big safety risks
- So what’s the bottom line?