Healthcare Reflections Blogs

Linking Prescription Databases

Wednesday, 20 October 2010 12:53 |

Healthcare Blogs - Healthcare Reflections Blogs

Next year there will be more and more states banding together to link their prescription drug databases. The article in the Boston Globe says that "with federal money and prodding, states are being asked to sign on to an agreement allowing police, pharmacies, and physicians to check suspicious prescription pill patterns from Nevada to North Carolina." In Maine, we have the system that works intrastate and it is awesome. What's interesting, though, is the fact the the local DEA guys and police cannot get onto the website. For those who don't know, that website lists meds like narcotics, benzos and stimulants and tells you how much a patient was prescribed and by whom. It is meant to cut down on drug abuse. This brings me back to the inability for police or federal officials to access this information. When I found a drug seeker recently who had been making the rounds, the DEA just listened to me but couldn't corroborate what I was saying because he was shut out of the website. Civil liberty groups want to continue this block because they fear legitimate prescriptions would lead to investigations. It's a conundrum but I lean to more open access on this one. Prescription drug abuse kills and robs the healthcare system of billions in dollars a year. Besides, it is a blast catching narc seekers and turning them in! We docs don't often get that much excitement.

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Another Way To Go Blind

Wednesday, 20 October 2010 12:52 |

Healthcare Blogs - Healthcare Reflections Blogs

Imagine coming home to your wife with a punctured eye socket, broken bones around your eye and nose and permanent double vision and admitting it wasn't from a fight but instead from a stripper? Well, a dude in Florida had to do just that, but instead of shame, he has received a check for his damages. The article states that Michael Ireland was "poked in the eye by a stripper's spiked high heel when he got a little too close during a performance at the Cheetah Club near West Palm Beach". I would love to know some more details on exactly what position he and she were in when that poking occurred but suffice it to say, Mr. Ireland is walking away with $650,000. For those that are unable to convert that into stripper currency, that would be 32,500 more lap dances or 1625 more visits to the champagne for our little friend in the story.

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Do it Yourself by Ted Bacharach MD (retired)

Wednesday, 20 October 2010 12:51 |

Healthcare Blogs - Healthcare Reflections Blogs

There has been a definite trend recently favoring a “do it yourself” mentality in the realm of medical care. Is it really best if you approach the physician with your diagnosis in hand? With the help of such programs as “Google” “Triage” and “Epocrates” as well as several others, patients are expected to come up with a diagnosis and know what treatment is recommended. One of the recent comments made on a television program recently gave this advice. The commentator mentioned the adverse effects of many of the medications that are advertised and that people are taking. He advised the viewer to not only look at the medication ad but carefully review the adverse effects that can be caused by the medication which are included in the ads. Unfortunately the advertisers are also quite smart and to prevent too careful perusal of the possible adverse effects they make these disclaimers in small print and avoid prolonged exposure. “Catch me if you can” is their goal.

Getting the patient and the physician back on the same team with similar goals, without the interference of insurers, drug companies, HMOs, hospitals, as well as governmental agencies, seems to becoming increasingly difficult.

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October 2010 medtech financings

Wednesday, 20 October 2010 03:31 |

Healthcare Blogs - Healthcare Reflections Blogs

(Bookmark this page to check recent changes in individual financings and totals.)

Below is the spreadsheet listing of medtech financings for October 2010. This blog post will reflect in the spreadsheet below the current listing of financings as we identify them.

Source: MedMarket Diligence, LLC

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Surgical securement market, Latin America

Tuesday, 19 October 2010 20:39 |

Healthcare Blogs - Healthcare Reflections Blogs

The securement market, encompassing fibrin sealants/glues, high strength glues (cyanoacrylates, others), hemostatic agents, sutures, staples, other mechanical closure and products for the prevention of post-surgical adhesion, in most segments reflects an advanced wound technologies market. As is the cast with virtually all medtech markets, the dominant geographies driving securement revenues are the U.S., Europe and Asian countries like Japan and Korea. However, considerable attention is being given to Latin America, based on the level of healthcare market development, the population and potential caseload, and the relative ease of distribution, particularly for U.S.-based manufacturers (although, not to overstate the opportunity, since by comparison to the well established western markets, Latin America is clearly less driven by high healthcare expenditure and utilization of advanced technologies).

By capitalizing on existing distribution networks, trade agreements and the simple proximity of geography for major U.S. manufacturers, the opportunity of Latin America has been a profitable consideration.