Drug companies pay doctors over A$11 million a year for travel and education. Here’s which specialties received the most

Monster Ztudio/Shutterstock Barbara Mintzes, University of Sydney and Malcolm Forbes, Deakin University

Drug companies are paying Australian doctors millions of dollars a year to fly to overseas conferences and meetings, give talks to other doctors, and to serve on advisory boards, our research shows.

Our team analysed reports from major drug companies, in the first comprehensive analysis of its kind. We found drug companies paid more than A$33 million to doctors in the three years from late 2019 to late 2022 for these consultancies and expenses.

We know this underestimates how much drug companies pay doctors as it leaves out the most common gift – food and drink – which drug companies in Australia do not declare.

Due to COVID restrictions, the timescale we looked at included periods where doctors were likely to be travelling less and attending fewer in-person medical conferences. So we suspect current levels of drug company funding to be even higher, especially for travel.

What we did and what we found

Since 2019, Medicines Australia, the trade association of the brand-name pharmaceutical industry, has published a centralised database of payments made to individual health professionals. This is the first comprehensive analysis of this database.

We downloaded the data and matched doctors’ names with listings with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra). We then looked at how many doctors per medical specialty received industry payments and how much companies paid to each specialty.

We found more than two-thirds of rheumatologists received industry payments. Rheumatologists often prescribe expensive new biologic drugs that suppress the immune system. These drugs are responsible for a substantial proportion of drug costs on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

The specialists who received the most funding as a group were cancer doctors (oncology/haematology specialists). They received over $6 million in payments.

This is unsurprising given recently approved, expensive new cancer drugs. Some of these drugs are wonderful treatment advances; others offer minimal improvement in survival or quality of life.

A 2023 study found doctors receiving industry payments were more likely to prescribe cancer treatments of low clinical value.

Our analysis found some doctors with many small payments of a few hundred dollars. There were also instances of large individual payments.

Why does all this matter?

Doctors usually believe drug company promotion does not affect them. But research tells a different story. Industry payments can affect both doctors’ own prescribing decisions and those of their colleagues.

A US study of meals provided to doctors – on average costing less than US$20 – found the more meals a doctor received, the more of the promoted drug they prescribed.

Pizza anyone? Even providing a cheap meal can influence prescribing. El Nariz/Shutterstock

Another study found the more meals a doctor received from manufacturers of opioids (a class of strong painkillers), the more opioids they prescribed. Overprescribing played a key role in the opioid crisis in North America.

Overall, a substantial body of research shows industry funding affects prescribing, including for drugs that are not a first choice because of poor effectiveness, safety or cost-effectiveness.

Then there are doctors who act as “key opinion leaders” for companies. These include paid consultants who give talks to other doctors. An ex-industry employee who recruited doctors for such roles said:

Key opinion leaders were salespeople for us, and we would routinely measure the return on our investment, by tracking prescriptions before and after their presentations […] If that speaker didn’t make the impact the company was looking for, then you wouldn’t invite them back.

We know about payments to US doctors

The best available evidence on the effects of pharmaceutical industry funding on prescribing comes from the US government-run program called Open Payments.

Since 2013, all drug and device companies must report all payments over US$10 in value in any single year. Payment reports are linked to the promoted products, which allows researchers to compare doctors’ payments with their prescribing patterns.

Analysis of this data, which involves hundreds of thousands of doctors, has indisputably shown promotional payments affect prescribing.

Medical students need to know about this. LightField Studios/Shutterstock

US research also shows that doctors who had studied at medical schools that banned students receiving payments and gifts from drug companies were less likely to prescribe newer and more expensive drugs with limited evidence of benefit over existing drugs.

In general, Australian medical faculties have weak or no restrictions on medical students seeing pharmaceutical sales representatives, receiving gifts, or attending industry-sponsored events during their clinical training. They also have no restrictions on academic staff holding consultancies with manufacturers whose products they feature in their teaching.

So a first step to prevent undue pharmaceutical industry influence on prescribing decisions is to shelter medical students from this influence by having stronger conflict-of-interest policies, such as those mentioned above.

A second is better guidance for individual doctors from professional organisations and regulators on the types of funding that is and is not acceptable. We believe no doctor actively involved in patient care should accept payments from a drug company for talks, international travel or consultancies.

Third, if Medicines Australia is serious about transparency, it should require companies to list all payments – including those for food and drink – and to link health professionals’ names to their Ahpra registration numbers. This is similar to the reporting standard pharmaceutical companies follow in the US and would allow a more complete and clearer picture of what’s happening in Australia.

Patients trust doctors to choose the best available treatments to meet their health needs, based on scientific evidence of safety and effectiveness. They don’t expect marketing to influence that choice.

Barbara Mintzes, Professor, School of Pharmacy and Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney and Malcolm Forbes, Consultant psychiatrist and PhD candidate, Deakin University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Multivitamins may help slow memory loss in older adults, study shows

Multivitamins. Photo: generic

A daily multivitamin – an inexpensive, over-the-counter nutritional supplement – may help slow memory loss in people ages 60 and older, a large nationwide clinical trial suggests.

The research, a collaboration between scientists at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Columbia University, appeared in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition on Wednesday.

It was the second such multivitamin clinical study within the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS) – a larger body of research examining the health effects of certain dietary supplements – to reach the same conclusion.

The most recent study found that those taking multivitamins showed an estimated 3.1 fewer years of memory loss compared with a control group who took a placebo. Put another way, the multivitamin group was an estimated 3.1 years “younger” in terms of their memory function than the placebo group.

“Older adults are very concerned about preserving cognition and memory, so this is a very important finding,” said JoAnn Manson, chief of Brigham’s division of preventive medicine and co-leader of the study with Howard Sesso, associate director of the division. “They are looking for safe and effective prevention strategies. The fact that two separate studies came to similar conclusions is remarkable.”

Manson, also a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, described the effect of the supplements as “substantial.”

She stressed, however, that a dietary supplement “will never be a substitute for a healthy diet and a healthy lifestyle.”

The study used a commonly available multivitamin – Centrum Silver – but “we think any high-quality multivitamin is likely to convey similar results,” Manson said. Centrum Silver contains vitamins D, A and B12, thiamine, riboflavin and manganese, among other substances.

Manson and Sesso reported grants to their institution from Mars Edge, which is a unit of the food company, Mars, and which focuses on nutrition research and produces the dietary supplement CocoaVia. Several of the 10 authors of the research also reported financial support from the National Institutes of Health.

Mars Edge and Pfizer Consumer Healthcare (now Haleon), maker of Centrum Silver, donated the multivitamins and placebo tablets and packaging. COSMOS is also supported by NIH grants.

Sesso also reported grants from supplements company, Pure Encapsulations, and biopharmaceuticals company, Pfizer; and honoraria or travel support for lectures from the trade group for the dietary supplement industry, Council for Responsible Nutrition; chemical company, BASF; NIH; and a group that focuses on nutrition research, American Society for Nutrition.

Multivitamins already are popular with older Americans; 39 percent of adults ages 60 and older take multivitamins, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. U.S. sales of multivitamins and multivitamins with minerals totaled about $8 billion in 2020, according to NIH.

– – –

Memory benefit of multivitamins lasted three years

The latest trial included more than 3,500 participants ages 60 and older who completed web-based assessments of memory and cognition annually over three years. The tasks were recalling words and recognizing novel objects, and a measure of executive control.

Compared with the placebo group, participants randomized to multivitamin supplementation did significantly better on immediate recall of words after one year and sustained that benefit for an additional two years of follow-up, according to the study.

Multivitamin use, however, “did not significantly affect memory retention, executive function, or novel object recognition” when compared with placebo use, the study showed.

The finding is especially important because the brain, as all other organs in the body, requires nutrients for optimal functioning and can suffer cognitively without them, brain-health experts said.

“This study is groundbreaking,” said Andrew Budson, professor of neurology at Boston University and chief of cognitive behavioral neurology at VA Boston Healthcare System, who was not involved in the research.

Low levels of vitamins B1 – also known as thiamine – B12 and D are associated with cognitive decline, he said. “That a simple multivitamin can slow cognitive decline while they are aging normally is quite exciting, as it is something that almost everyone can do,” Budson said.

Paul E. Schulz, professor of neurology and director of the Neurocognitive Disorders Center at the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, said the brain requires a lot of vitamins and minerals to function properly. “Think of a complicated engine that requires lots of specialty parts and needs them all,” said Schulz, who also was not part of the study. “We regularly see people who are deficient in them who come in with cognitive impairment.”

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Slowing of cognitive aging

The previous study, conducted by Brigham and Women’s Hospital and scientists at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, appeared in the fall in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia. It found a 60 percent slowing of cognitive aging among those who took multivitamins compared with the placebo group.

The two studies were independent of each other and had different designs. But, significantly, both were randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials, the “gold standard” of research in determining the efficacy of a drug or medical treatment – directly linking cause and effect.

“This is probably the best evidence there is for taking a multivitamin,” said Donald Hensrud, a specialist in nutrition at the Mayo Clinic, who was not involved in the research. “A randomized, controlled trial – good study.”

Curiously, both studies suggest that participants who derived the greatest benefits may have been those with a history of cardiovascular disease, the researchers said.

“It’s most intriguing because this same finding was replicated in two studies, with different designs, and with no overlapping participants,” Manson said, speculating that those with heart disease may have had a lower nutrient status at the start of the study. “They may have started from a lower threshold, so the improvements may have been more easily detectable,” she said.

In the overall COSMOS trial, which includes different studies, there were lower rates of stomach pain, diarrhea, skin rash and bruising as side effects with multivitamin use compared with the placebo, but an increased rate of gastrointestinal bleeding.

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Future research on multivitamins

The study population included people of different races, ethnicities, educational levels, socioeconomic status and household income. “However, as is the case for volunteers in any randomized clinical trials, the participants tended to be slightly more educated, had slightly higher socioeconomic status, and had less diversity than a cross-section of U.S. adults in these age groups,” Manson said.

The researchers said that future studies should explore whether the findings would be applicable to even more diverse participants, including those with lower education levels and social economic status, because the “benefits may turn out to be even greater in populations with lower incomes and poorer quality diets,” Manson said.

Additional studies also should try to identify the nutrients that provide the most benefits, as well as the specific mechanisms involved, the researchers said. Multivitamins may help slow memory loss in older adults, study shows

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California dentist pleads guilty to stealing $500,000 in COVID-19 relief money

Ranjan Rajbanshi, D.D.S., 46, of Bakersfield and Santa Barbara, California, pleaded guilty August 21, 2023, to stealing $500,000 in COVID-19 relief money.

• The guilty plea was announced by U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California Phillip A. Talbert.
• According to the press release which quoted from court records, Rajbanshi ran a dental practice in Bakersfield and Santa Barbara.
• From April 2020 through February 2022, he received more than $850,000 in COVID-19 relief money from the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). He represented to the government that he would only use the relief money for specified business purposes such as facility costs, payroll, and protective equipment for him and his staff.
• Rajbanshi subsequently used $500,000 of the relief money “for improper personal expenditures such as investments,” the press release said. He has agreed to pay that money back to the government before his sentencing. He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ana de Alba on Dec. 4, 2023, when he faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and fine of $250,000. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.The Justice Department said anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at justice.gov.California dentist pleads guilty to stealing $500,000 in COVID-19 relief money

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Ban Smoking and Vaping in Schools Worldwide Urges WHO

Young people continue to be "relentlessly" targeted with tobacco and nicotine products, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday, in a call to ban smoking and vaping "whether sitting in class, playing games outside or waiting at the school bus stop".

According to the UN health agency, the tobacco industry's approach has resulted in increased use of e-cigarettes, with nine out of 10 smokers starting before the age of 18 - and some as early as 11.

"Considering that children spend nearly one-third of their waking hours in school, and much of the peer pressure they encounter occurs within these educational environments, schools play a pivotal role," WHO said.

Schools are in "a uniquely powerful position to play a major role in reducing the serious problem of smoking and other tobacco and nicotine use by kids".

The appeal of e-cigarettes: 

Although smoking has continued to decline among European teens, WHO reported that there has been a rise in novel and emerging tobacco and nicotine products - including electronic cigarettes.

The UN agency pointed out these products have been made more affordable for young people owing to the sale of single-use cigarettes and e-cigarettes, which also typically lack health warnings.

"If we don't take urgent action now, we risk seeing the next generation of tobacco and nicotine users recruited through tobacco industries' unethical practices," said Dr Hans Henri Kluge, Regional Director for WHO European Region.

New guidance: 

The alert comes as the WHO released two new publications to coincide with the return to school of children in many countries of the global north: "Freedom from tobacco and nicotine: guide for schools," and the "Nicotine and Tobacco-Free Schools Toolkit".

The launch also coincided with a warning last month by regulators in the United States that companies must stop selling illegal e-cigarettes that appeal to youth by resembling school supplies, cartoon characters, and even teddy bears.

"Whether sitting in class, playing games outside or waiting at the school bus stop, we must protect young people from deadly second-hand smoke and toxic e-cigarette emissions as well as ads promoting these products," said Dr Ruediger Krech, WHO Director of Health Promotion.

"It is deeply concerning that the tobacco industry is still targeting young people and makes vast profits, harming their health", he continued.

Schools must be safe spaces for young people, where they are free from exposure to, or pressure to use nicotine products. Creating a smoke- and nicotine-free environment in school settings is fundamental to helping prevent young people from starting smoking".

The WHO guides also highlight countries that have successfully implemented policies in support of tobacco and nicotine-free campuses. They include India, Indonesia, Ireland, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Qatar, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Ukraine.

'Whole-of-school' approach

WHO emphasized a "whole-of-school" approach to creating nicotine and tobacco-free campuses. Input is needed from teachers, staff, students and parents, WHO maintained.

The UN health agency's documents include information on how to support students wanting to quit, education campaigns, implementing policies and how to enforce them.

Advice to educators and policymakers includes:

• Banning nicotine and tobacco products on school campuses
• Prohibiting the sale of products near schools
• Banning direct and indirect ads and promotion of nicotine and tobacco products near classrooms
• Refusing sponsorship or engagement with tobacco and nicotine industries, for instance for school projects.

Dangers of tobacco smoke

Speaking to journalists in Geneva, WHO medical officer Dr Kerstin Schotte warned that tobacco kills "eight million people every year, or one person every four seconds".

Meanwhile, 1.3 million people who die from tobacco smoke don't even use the product themselves but breathe in second-hand smoke.Dr Schotte noted that "half of the world's children breathe tobacco polluted air and as a consequence, 51,000 children die every year due to exposure to tobacco smoke"Ban Smoking and Vaping in Schools Worldwide Urges WHO

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US teen girls experiencing record-high levels of sadness, violence: CDC

Children are seen at the Waves of Flags at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, the United States, on Sept. 10, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

U.S. teenage girls are experiencing record-high levels of feelings of sadness and acts of violence, according to new federal data released on Monday.

About 57 percent of girls reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless in 2021, up from 36 percent in 2011 and the highest levels seen in the past decade, according to the report published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

By comparison, U.S. teen boys saw an increase from 21 percent in 2011 to 29 percent in 2021.

The CDC report included an analysis of data and trends from the annual Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which looks at the health and behaviors of U.S. high school students.

"America's teen girls are engulfed in a growing wave of sadness, violence and trauma," said Debra Houry, the CDC's chief medical officer and deputy director for program and science."Over the past decade, teens especially girls have experienced dramatic increases in experiences of violence and poor mental health and suicide risk," she said. Source: China.org.cn

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India-based research finds single-dose treatment for malaria

In a medical breakthrough, scientists based in Bangalore have developed a fast-working, single-dose malaria drug that has proved to be safe and effective in a series of animal tests. The drug Triaminopyrimidine (TAP) is predicted to have a half-life of 36 hours in humans, allowing for a single, effective dose. The drug is said to work against drug-resistant strains of the malaria pathogen and has no known side-effects. After a few more lab tests, it will go for clinical trials in humans. Vasan Sambandamurthy, a senior author of the study, said, "It's a fast-killing and long-acting antimalarial clinical candidate. TAP acts exclusively on the blood stage of Plasmodium falciparum (the stage responsible for clinical symptoms) in a relevant mouse model. This candidate is equally active against causative agent Plasmodium vivax." Existing drugs have a limited effect in humans with a half-life of not more than two hours. It is after that period that the parasites gain strength. This calls for more doses to deal with the infection. Funded by Medicine for Malaria Venture, the research was mostly done at AstraZeneca's Bangalore centre between 2011 and 2014, and with support from GlaxoSmithKline, Columbia University and the Harvard School of Public Health. Drug-resistant killer Drug-resistant malaria is a cause of concern at present, with resistance growing against the combination therapy based on artemisinin, a Chinese herb derivative. Recent detection of artemisinin-resistant strains of the pathogen at the Myanmar-India border raised fears of a threat to millions across the globe if the resistance spreads across the border. Deaths from mosquito-borne malaria have nearly halved since 2000, but the infection still killed about 584,000 people in 2013, mostly in Africa, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In the 20th Century, chloroquine saved hundreds of millions of lives, but resistance was discovered in 1957. It was then replaced by sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP), but resistance to SP also soon emerged in western Cambodia and spread to Africa. SP was replaced by artemisinin combination treatment, or ACT. Given the quick development of resistance among the parasites, work is in progress to develop a vaccine. Rising temperatures across the globe has seen the malaria-transmitting mosquito take residence in new regions of the world like the UK and parts of Europe raising new concerns. Source: Article

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Are IVF clinics hiding the risks of PGD from parents?

BioEdge: American couples who have pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) done on their embryos are almost never informed of the potential risks of the procedure, a Wellesley College biologist claims in the Journal of Medical Ethics. Without this vital information, says Michelle LaBonte, parents are not capable of giving informed consent. PGD, or embryo screening, has become a standard service in IVF clinics. A technician removes a cell from an 8-cell embryo and tests it for defects. If it passes, it is implanted in the womb. In a potentially explosive article, Dr LaBonte asserts that “In efforts to eliminate risk through the use of PGD, we may in fact be creating a new set of risks perhaps even more concerning than those we are trying to avoid.” She bases her claims on a survey of the websites of the 262 US clinics offering PGD. She found that “86.6% of PGD-performing centres state that PGD is safe and/or fail to disclose any risks on their websites despite the fact that the impact of the procedure on the long-term health of offspring is unproven”. IVF clinics have adopted the PGD technology for a wide range of uses -- from eliminating defective embryos to testing for genetic defects to sex selection -- without a thorough understanding of the risks involved. She cites an IVF specialist who admitted ruefully that “[T]he babies that have resulted aren't of reproductive age yet, and we don't know what sort of effects this technique has on the adult human… And I think that I consider it still experimental taking a cell from an embryo.” She points out that this has happened before. For years amniocentesis was touted as completely safe until studies showed that there was an increased risk of spontaneous abortion. Dr LaBonte speculates about why the risks of PGD are being ignored. She gives six reasons:  * Parents were so concerned about the genetic disease of a first child that they overlooked the risks of PGD for a second child. * Doctors allayed the misgivings of parents. * Parental choice trumps the dangers to the embryo: “Unlike ‘passive smokers,’ potential biopsied embryos are not in a position to seek regulation of this procedure.”  * Debate over the ethics of using PGD to create “designer babies” has distracted parents’ attention from its safety. * There have been no widely-publicised catastrophic failures yet. * “The financial rewards of PGD represent a conflict of interest for providers.” Dr LaBonte concludes IVF clinics must inform their clients that PGD is still an unproven technology. “prospective parents of PGD babies should be made aware of all safety information, including that of human and animal studies, and be informed that long-term, definitive safety studies have not yet been carried out. Anything less should not be considered ‘informed’ consent.” Source: BioEdge,

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Rs.550 crore given for alternate medicine systems: Azad

New Delhi, July 12 (IANS) More than Rs.550 crore have been given to various states for establishing centres for alternate medicine like homeopathy and ayurveda as part of the National Rural Health Mission, union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said Friday. For mainstreaming of alternate systems of medicine under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), grants-in-aid amounting to more than Rs.550 crore have been given to the state and Union Territory governments, Azad said, addressing a function here. The money would be used for establishment of new facilities of homeopathy, ayurveda, siddha and unani streams of medicine in 803 primary health centres, 113 community health centres and 24 district hospitals, and for upgradation of 379 such hospitals and 415 dispensaries. “We have a pluralistic healthcare delivery system, where the government provides opportunities to every recognised medical system to develop and be practised, with a view to provide integrated and holistic healthcare,” he said. “We are open to patronising best practices and proven standards for the benefit of the people. That is why naturopathy is also a recognised system in India,” he said. State governments like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have recognised naturopathy. Azad said India had incorporated traditional medical services in the public health delivery system since the 1960s. Source: Dainik-Disha

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Australians debate commercial surrogacy

Australia should legalize commercial surrogacy to stop the exploitation of women overseas and to ensure that agreements are properly regulated to protect children, surrogates and commissioning parents, says the Chief Federal Court Magistrate John Pascoe. Mr Pascoe argues that overseas surrogacy should remain banned – although this has failed to stop hundreds of Australian couples from engaging surrogates in India and elsewhere. The possibility of exploitation would be much less in Australia, he says. “We would know women here wouldn't be forced or threatened to carry a child and that they will be paid more than a few hundred dollars and receive proper medical care.” The current situation in Australia is restrictive. Altruistic surrogacy is permitted but overseas commercial surrogacy has been criminalised in New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory. Even progressive ethicists are split on this contentious topic. Bioethicist Leslie Cannold strongly opposes commercial surrogacy. Even in Australia women could be exploited. “We should not create a situation in which we coerce people economically,” she told The Age. But Loane Skene, another prominent bioethicist, is confident that safeguards could be enshrined in law. “The best form of protection for [surrogates] and any children to be born from surrogacy may be legislation that enables commercial surrogacy to be undertaken openly, by trained, registered health professionals, in licensed and monitored premises.” It would also enable records of the child’s parentage to be maintained. The Australian Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon, announced earlier this year that the Family Law Council, which evaluates how well the Family Law Act is working, would conduct a study of the impact of surrogacy. Its report is due in December next year. Source: BioEdge, Image: flickr.com

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Alcoholics get second chance at liver transplants

BioEdge: By Jared Yee, Gravely ill alcoholics who need a liver transplant should not always have to prove they can stay sober for six months to get one, doctors have said in a study. This could inflame the debate about whether people who destroy their organs with alcohol deserve new ones. The small French study showed that patients who received a liver  without the six - month wait  stopped  drinking  after surgery  and  were sober  years later. The study dealt with patients who had such severe hepatitis that it was unlikely they would survive the waiting period. Alcohol can cause liver-destroying illnesses such as hepatitis and cirrhosis. Almost one in five liver transplants in the US go to former heavy drinkers. Transplant hospitals commonly require patients to stop drinking for six months to demonstrate that they will stay on the wagon after they get a new liver. However, drinkers make up only a fraction of patients needing transplants. The French study suggests that dropping the six-month rule for these patients would increase demand for livers by only around 3 percent. Dr Philippe Mathurin of Huriez Hospital in Lille, France, said that the six-month rule is unfair to alcoholics. Many other patients need livers because of other bad lifestyle choices, such as obesity or drug abuse. Dr Robert S Brown Jr, of New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Centre, also said the six-month rule needs rethinking. “The challenge of this paper is to come up with better ways, both to treat alcoholism as a disease and to predict who will succeed with transplantation,” he said. ~ Washington Post, Read Full: Alcoholics get second chance at liver transplants, Image: fickr.com

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Artificial wombs one small step closer

BioEdge: By Michael Cook: British scientists have developed an artificial womb in which they have grown mouse embryos. A Nottingham University team led by professor of tissue engineering, Kevin Shakesheff, has created a new device in the form of a soft polymer bowl which mimics the soft tissue of the mammalian uterus in which the embryo implants.Their research has been published in the journal Nature Communications. This new method has allowed scientists to see critical aspects of embryonic development that have never been seen in this way before. For the first time it has been possible to grow embryos outside the body of the mother, using a mouse model, for just long enough to observe in real time processes of growth during a crucial stage between the fourth and eighth days of development. The experiments have a clear relevance to artificial reproduction in humans. “We hope this work will unlock further secrets which could improve medical treatments that require tissues to regenerate and also open up more opportunities to improve IVF,” says Professor Shakesheff. “In the future we hope to develop more technologies which will allow developmental biologists to understand how our tissue forms." Source: BioEdge, Image: flickr.com

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Italian man with two hearts suffers a double heart attack - and lives

In what can be called a medical miracle, doctors have managed to save the life of a 71-year-old Italian man who had two hearts and suffered double heart attacks at the same time. At first, doctors thought they had a typical case of cardiac arrest – the man wasshort of breath, sweating profusely and his blood pressure was low. However, they were in for a surprise when upon closer inspection it was found that the patient had been walking around with two hearts and had now suffered a dueling attack. According to medical reports, the man wasn't born with two hearts but had undergone a rare heart transplant (called a heterotopic transplant) years ago in which a new organ was paired with the diseased one. "You can develop two independent heart rhythms, especially in a scenario where one heart gets a little better," Rade Vukmir, professor of emergency medicine at Temple Universityand a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians told MSNBC. This is apparently exactly what happened to the Italian patient. After being admitted to the hospital, doctors administered drug therapy in an attempt to correct his dysrhythmia, only to have the medicine shut down both of his hearts. Doctors then were able to successfully use a defibrillator to revive both hearts simultaneously. He's now reportedly doing well with his two functioning hearts. Source: Ananta-Tec

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India cracks down on surrogacy

Is India finally cracking down on surrogacy for foreigners? The blogosphere is abuzz with news of stiff new regulations. Only heterosexual couples who have been married for more than two years will be able to hire surrogate mothers. Surrogacy must be legal in their home country and they must have a medical visa, not a tourist visa. They have to produce proof from their own embassy that the child will be accepted as their biological child when they return. Only authorised IVF clinics will be able to employ surrogates for foreigners. And gay couples, married or not, are not eligible because gay marriage is not recognised in India. According to a memo from the Deputy Commissioner of Police in Mumbai, the India’s Ministry of Home Affairs, the police will be liable if a foreigner violates these restrictions. Violations could land the parents in jail. According to Australian surrogacy lawyer Stephen Page, the restrictions are already having an effect. He told ABC News that most Australians who have engaged surrogate mothers in India were de facto couples, singles, or gay couples. Mr Page says the majority of people who went to India before the law was changed were not married. "I believe instead of about 200 children a year being born to Australian-intended parents a year, it will be down to five or 10," he said. The regulations have not been widely publicised, but they follow surrogacy scandals which have made headlines in India. Commissioning parents from countries like Ireland, Germany, Norway and Iceland found that their new children were stateless and that they were stranded and tangled in a bureaucratic nightmare. Source: BioEdge

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Now, £2 pill to help you lose weight naturally

London: An anti obesity pill, costing 2 pounds, can help women lose three times more weight than dieting alone when taken along with a healthy, balanced diet, researchers say. The tablet called XLS-Medical Fat Binder is made of fibre taken from dried leaves of the prickly pear cactus, is the first naturally occurring product available from pharmacy shelves to be clinically proven to succeed. According to scientists, the pill also worked to help reduce food cravings and appetite. As the pill contains fibre, it helps dieters to feel fuller for longer. The pill works by binding to dietary fat so that the body does not absorb it, thereby preventing the build up of fatty deposits. A clinical study in October last year revealed that by taking two tablets three times a day after meals people could lower their daily calorie intake by as much as 500 calories. Those taking the pill in the trial lost on an average around three pounds for every one-pound lost by those not taking it. The pill is supported by the newly launched “123 hello me” online weight loss programme (123hellome.com), which offers a personal weight loss plan. “XLS-Medical Fat Binder is not another fad diet or a miracle pill,” spokeswoman Juliet Oosthuysen said. “When used in conjunction with sensible eating and keeping active as part of the ‘123 hello me’ weight loss programme, it has been clinically proven to help overweight individuals lose three times more weight than dieting alone.” “We genuinely believe it is a realistic programme and will help many people reach their 2012 weight loss goals,” she added Source: Financial Express

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Robotic endoscopy will be in place in 3 years: expert

Research on performing flexible robotic endoscopic surgery is in its final stages, a senior consultant surgeon at the National University of Health System in Singapore has said. Though robotic surgeries on three humans were successful, the technique has to be modified and perfected for use by the medical fraternity without any hassles, Prof. Ho Khek Yu, who performed the first such surgery, said here last night. Ho, here to attend the five day 52nd Annual conference of Indian Society of Gastroenterology, said a flexible endoscope with small robotic arms is inserted in the patient's mouth to the stomach. The surgeon monitors the procedures on a computer and controls the arms with joysticks and button, he said. However, there was the need to modify the robot to perform various other procedures in the digestive tract, Ho said, and claimed that robotic endoscopy would be the future and would be in place in three years. V G Mohanprasad, chairman VGM Hospital and organising secretary of the conference,said treatment cost is going up in India, particularly in speciality fields, one of the reasons being higher import and excise duty levied by the Government Mohanprasad also said the climate in India was also not conducive for manufacturers to invest huge amount, as imported equipment would be cheaper at present. Source: Indian Express

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Charlie Sheen donates $75000 to cancer patient

Actor Charlie Sheen has donated $75,000 for a 10-year-old girl suffering from cancer. The 47-year-old was in conversation with a Hermosa Beach police officer here, when he got to know that the officer's daughter Jasmine is suffering from Childhood Rhabdomyosarcoma (CR), reported TMZ Online. CR is a form of cancer that occurs in the muscle tissue and requires over a year of expensive medical treatments like chemo and radiation therapy. The actor, who is father of five children said to the officer, "No parent should have to watch their kid go through that." Hermosa Beach Police Association, which started a fund for Jasmine received a cheque of USD 75,000 from the actor very next day. Source: Screen-India, Image: flickr.com

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Nelson Mandela responding to treatment: presidential office

South Africa’s anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela is suffering from recurring lung infection, but is responding to treatment, the presidential office announced today, as his wife Graca Machel said “it’s heartsore seeing the sparkle dimming”. Breaking silence four days after he was admitted for what was described as routine tests, the South African presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said that tests on ailing 94-year-old former president had detected the lung infection. “Madiba is receiving appropriate treatment and he is responding to the treatment,” Maharaj said. Mandela has been hospitalised at the 1 military hospital in Pretoria since Saturday for medical tests and the official announcement ended speculation about the ailment the former president was suffering from. His hospitalisation had caused worldwide concern. Mandela had suffered acute respiratory infection in January 2011 elections and his lung impairment is attributed to tuberculosis which he contracted during his 27 long years in prison during apartheid era. In 2001, he underwent seven-weeks of radiation therapy for prostrate cancer, ultimately beating the disease. Meanwhile, in an interview with a local TV network, Graca said: “To see him aging, it’s something also which pains you... You understand and you know it has to happen”. “It’s heartsore seeing the sparkle dimming,” said Graca, 67, who became Mandela’s third wife in 1998, four years after he became the first democratically elected president of South Africa following 27 years in jail as a political prisoner. Graca was the widow of assassinated Mozambican President Samora Machel and Mandela had divorced his controversial second wife Winnie. Her remarks came after several years of Mandela having stopped public engagements following his retirement from public life and several health scares over the past few years. Source: The Asian Age, Image: photobucket.com

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27-year-old gives birth on Metro

A 27-year-old woman, who went into an early labour on way to hospital, gave birth to a baby girl with the help of women co-passengers on a Delhi Metro train on Sunday morning. “This surely is first of its kind incident for Delhi Metro, and possibly for any metro in the world,” said Anuj Dayal, spokesperson of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). A resident of Itmadpur village in Badarpur, Juli Devi was on way to the Safdarjung Hospital for a checkup with her husband, three-year-old daughter and brother-in-law. As the train left the Khan Market station at around 7.20am, Devi went into labour. Hearing her cries, women co-passengers asked other commuters to de-board at the Central Secretariat station, the next stop, and turned the last coach of train, which wasn't crowded, into a delivery room. “One of the women with some medical knowledge took the lead and ensured a safe delivery,” Dayal said. The baby was born at 7.28am. DMRC officials called an ambulance and the mother and the new-born were shifted to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. “We were not at all prepared for this. Her gynaecologist had said the delivery date was 10 days away,” Devi's brother-in-law Sanjit Kumar said. “But everything went off well, thanks to the women commuters and Metro officials.” Source: Hindustan Times, Image: photobucket.com

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Three become one: Triplets who survived despite being born 15 WEEKS early celebrate their first birthday

Max (centre) is the smallest, Lucas (left) is Max's identical twin, while Harvey (right) is the biggest. They are pictured here at 11 weeks

By AMANDA WILLIAMS: The most premature triplets to ever survive in the UK have defied the odds to celebrate their first birthday. Max, Lucas and Harvey Udell spent three months battling for their lives after they were born 15 weeks premature. The tiny brothers, from Trowbridge, Wiltshire, weighed less than 2lb each when they arrived at 24 weeks and five days. They were delivered by emergency caesarean section and whisked straight into intensive care, where they underwent 12 blood transfusions between them. But this week parents Rachael and Ashley Udell were able to celebrate the day they were scared their sons would never see - their first birthday. Little Max now weighs 12lb 13oz after being born at 1lb 4oz. His identical twin Lucas has grown from 1lb 6oz to 15lb 6oz and their brother Harvey weighs 16lb, after being born at 1lb6oz.

Max, Harvey and Lucas on their 1st birthday, the day their parents feared they may never see 

Mrs Udell 32, said: 'I'm very proud of my little fighters. They went through so much after they were born. 'I feel so lucky to have them all here. They're amazing boys. 'It was hilarious watching them fiddle with wrapping paper and scoff their cake. I was tearful a number of times. 'It's strange in a way because I felt so happy to be celebrating with them, but their birthday also brought back memories of how difficult and scary things were at first.

Little Harvey at just four days old. He now weighs 16lb, after being born at 1lb6oz

Rachael, a former medical secretary, and gardener husband Ashley, 30, couldn't wait to have children - and started trying immediately after their wedding in May, 2010. Mrs Udell said: 'I have polycystic ovaries, so we were worried about my chances of conceiving. It took a year and a half for me to get pregnant. And we got more than we bargained for.'

(Left to right) Lucas, Harvey, Max at 7 months not quite filling out their England kits

At 20 weeks, Rachael was signed off work due to pelvic pain. And less than five weeks later she was rushed to St Michael's Hospital in Bristol for an emergency C-section. She said: 'I was awake for everything. When the boys came out they looked so tiny, like little dolls.' The babies were taken immediately to be put in incubators. 

(Left to right) Lucas, Max, Harvey at 11 months, enjoying a soak in the bath

A number of health scares followed and all three of the boys were put on ventilators - with Max the last to come off after two months. At one point, Max's stomach burst and he had to have an operation to repair it, while the parents waited anxiously to see if he would survive. Harvey then had septicaemia, a form of blood poisoning. Eventually, the little boys were transferred one by one to the Royal United Hospital in Bath, where they stayed until they were allowed home on February 18, still three weeks short of their March 6 due date. Rachael said: 'It was a very strange time for us.source: dailymail, Source: Travelfwd+

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Useful kidneys discarded every day in US, experts claim

In August, a nurse at the University of Toledo Medical Center, in Ohio, took a living donor’s kidney from an operating room and "flushed [it] down a hopper”. The highly publicised snafu was a mistake due to poor oversight and communication. But useful kidneys are discarded far more often than the public realises, according to the New York Times. In 2011 2,644 of the 14,784 kidneys recovered in the United States were discarded – nearly 18%, according to official statistics. Almost 500 of these were not transplanted because a recipient could not be found. “There is no doubt that organs that can help somebody and have a survival benefit are being discarded every day,” Dr Dorry Segev, a transplant surgeon at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told the NYTimes. For a layman, discarding a kidney seems like a colossal waste, especially in view of the fact that nearly 5,000 Americans died last year while waiting for a kidney. But it happens even in the best run systems. The responsibility of organ allocators is to ensure that it happens as little as possible. There are a number of reasons why a functioning kidney might be discarded. One of the main factors is time: a match has to be found within 24 to 36 hours. In a country as big as the US, this is a challenge. * Kidneys from older donors may be regarded as a second-best option for younger patients. Half of the discarded organs come from this age bracket. * In the US kidneys are discarded after a bad biopsy result, even though this may not decrease chances of survival. In Europe, biopsies are less important and more patients get kidneys. * The Federal Government sets benchmarks for patient survival rates. This makes surgeons reluctant to use anything but premium kidneys. * A system which matched kidneys according to the ages of donor and patient would be more efficient. But the Federal Government says that this would breach discrimination laws. Experts say that something has to be done. The NY Times says that “The number of kidneys discarded each year has grown 76 percent over the last decade, more than twice as fast as the increase in kidney recoveries. Clearly, revamping the allocation system would help shorten the wait list.”Source: BioEdge

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