Year: 2013

Racial gaps in access to robotic prostate surgery

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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Minority and Medicaid cancer patients are less likely to have their prostates removed at hospitals that use robot-assisted surgery, according to a new study that stops short of suggesting the robotic technique represents better care. “People who are poor – frequently Hispanic, African American or black, and Medicaid patients – tend to get what is considered to be less high-quality care than those who are middle class and wealthy,” said Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical and scientific officer of the American Cancer Society. …

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New food safety rules aim for more accountability

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A view shows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) logo at its headquarters in Silver Spring(Reuters) – U.S. regulators proposed new food safety rules on Friday that aim to make food processors and farms more accountable for reducing foodborne illnesses that kill or sicken thousands of Americans annually. The new rules, required by the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) that was signed into law two years ago, were announced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday. "These proposed regulations are a sign of progress," said Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, who has been a critic of the FDA. …

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Canada PM says will meet with native leaders amid protests

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Canada's PM Harper speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in OttawaOTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will meet with native leaders on January 11, his office announced on Friday, after weeks of aboriginal protests and a hunger strike by one chief that has run into its third week. Harper said the meeting would address two key issues: the treaty relationship between the government and native groups and aboriginal rights, as well as economic development. He described it as a follow-up to a meeting that took place in January 2012. …

Copying common in electronic medical records

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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Most doctors copy and paste old, potentially out-of-date information into patients’ electronic records, according to a new study looking at a shortcut that some experts fear could lead to miscommunication and medical errors. “The electronic medical record was meant to make the process of documentation easier, but I think it’s perpetuated copying,” said lead author Dr. Daryl Thornton, assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland. …

Obesity declining in young, poorer kids: study

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New York (Reuters Health) – The number of low-income preschoolers who qualify as obese or “extremely obese” has dropped over the last decade, new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show. Although the decline was only “modest” and may not apply to all children, researchers said it was still encouraging. “It’s extremely important to make sure we’re monitoring obesity in this low-income group,” said the CDC’s Heidi Blanck, who worked on the study. …

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