Public Health recognizes gyms should not sell steroids
Santo Domingo.- The Vice Minister of Collective Health, Eladio Pérez, recently emphasized that gyms should not be authorized places to distribute medications, exceptionally anabolic steroids used to enhance muscle mass among young individuals.
Santo Domingo.- The Vice Minister of Collective Health, Eladio Pérez, recently emphasized that gyms should not be authorized places to distribute medications, exceptionally anabolic steroids used to enhance muscle mass among young individuals. Pérez expressed concern about the improper dispensation of medications, comparing it to administering a penicillin injection in a non-medical setting. He clarified that gyms are not subject to the qualifications and oversight of the Vice Ministry of Quality Assurance, suggesting that other ministries may have jurisdiction over these matters. Pérez assured that appropriate measures would be taken to address the situation if necessary, emphasizing the need to regulate the sales of such substances.
Minister of Sports, Francisco Camacho, acknowledged the challenge of intervening in the matter, noting that gyms are private businesses. He stated that the approval of the General Sports Law is required to address the issue effectively. Camacho explained that while the Ministry, the Olympic Committee, and the International Olympic Committee hold responsibilities regarding athletes and can conduct doping tests, they lack jurisdiction over private citizens. He stressed the need for complaints to be filed to initiate regulatory actions.
Pérez called for the regulation of the sales of these substances and emphasized that the Ministry of Public Health’s role is to verify the importation of approved drugs with proper sanitary registration and quality guarantees. He highlighted the passive monitoring conducted to detect specific issues and ensure safe administration in healthcare centers. The vice minister also called for stronger enforcement of the law and increased doping tests in sports.
In response to the situation, the Ministry of Sports has been collaborating with the Ministry of Health to raise awareness among parents about the dangers of steroid use and encourage them to report coaches who promote the use of such substances to their children. Rafael Mena, the Vice President of the Pediatric Society, emphasized the risks associated with indiscriminate use of anabolic steroids, such as liver cancer, hypertension, and muscle and ligament rupture. Mena stressed the importance of increased supervision and penalties for coaches who engage in such practices. He also noted that these substances are essential in medical treatments for asthma and lupus.
Efforts are being made to address the issue through the Doping Law, which aims to regulate and combat the misuse of substances. The focus is on achieving comprehensive regulations and raising awareness to protect the well-being of young athletes and individuals engaging in fitness activities.
1 year 11 months ago
Health
Medical News, Health News Latest, Medical News Today - Medical Dialogues |
COVID vaccine maker Novavax forecasts higher-than-expected revenue
United States: COVID-19 vaccine maker Novavax Inc on Tuesday forecast much higher 2023 revenue than Wall Street expected and announced plans to cut a quarter of its workforce, spurring hopes of a recovery for the cash-strapped biotech, and its shares jumped 40%.
In February, the company raised doubts about its ability to remain in business, due to uncertainty about 2023 revenue, funding from the U.S. government, and pending arbitration with global vaccine alliance Gavi.
Novavax, whose COVID vaccine is its lone marketed product after 35 years in business, is relying on launching an updated COVID shot this fall to match circulating strains and cost cuts to improve its prospects.
The Maryland-based drugmaker on Tuesday also unveiled promising early data for its COVID and flu combination vaccine.
It said it now expects 2023 revenue between $1.4 billion and $1.6 billion, compared with analysts' estimates of $831.6 million, according to Refinitiv data.
Novavax said $800 million of that was from "locked-in" overseas purchase contracts for the COVID shot that it has committed to ship this year.
Jefferies analyst Roger Song said the amount of overseas revenue flagged by the company was a surprise to the market, and the roughly $260 million to $440 million they expect in the U.S. was also encouraging.
"They seemed to be very confident about the U.S. fall campaign," Song said.
Novavax is working to produce an update version of its protein-based vaccine in time for the fall COVID-19 booster season. Protein-based vaccines like Novavax's take longer to produce than the messenger RNA-based versions made by Moderna and Pfizer /BioNTech.
Chief Executive John Jacobs declined to disclose the company's U.S. pricing strategy as the country moves to a commercial marketplace for COVID products from government purchases when the pandemic was designated a public health emergency.
"Obviously, it's a really competitive marketplace. We're coming in as a late follower with two competitors that were entrenched in the U.S. market already," Jacobs said in an interview. "We're assessing what the competitors are doing and we'd rather unveil our cards a little bit later."
The company said it plans to layoff around 20% of its nearly 2,000 full-time employees, close to 400 jobs. The remaining job cuts will be contractors, it said.
Novavax expects the cost cuts to reduce its annual research and commercial expenses by 20% to 25% from last year.
Its cash and equivalents fell to $637 million at quarter-end from $1.3 billion as of Dec. 31.
Novavax posted a first-quarter net loss of $3.41 a share, compared with estimates for a loss of $3.46 a share.
All the COVID vaccine makers are working on COVID-flu combination shots with the aim of expanding and picking up market share in what they hope will be an annual booster market.
Data from a mid-stage trial in adults aged 50 to 80 years showed that the combination shot produced an immune response comparable to its protein-based COVID vaccine and already approved influenza shots, Novavax said.
Read also: Novavax cut USD 50 million in costs, plans to slash more: CEO
1 year 11 months ago
News,Industry,Pharma News,Latest Industry News
PBMs, the brokers who control drug prices, finally get Washington’s attention
For two decades, patients and physicians eagerly awaited a lower-cost version of the world's bestselling drug, Humira, while its maker, AbbVie, fought off potential competitors by building a wall of more than 250 patents around it.
For two decades, patients and physicians eagerly awaited a lower-cost version of the world's bestselling drug, Humira, while its maker, AbbVie, fought off potential competitors by building a wall of more than 250 patents around it.
1 year 11 months ago
PBMs, the Brokers Who Control Drug Prices, Finally Get Washington’s Attention
For two decades, patients and physicians eagerly awaited a lower-cost version of the world’s bestselling drug, Humira, while its maker, AbbVie, fought off potential competitors by building a wall of more than 250 patents around it.
When the first Humira biosimilar — essentially a generic version — finally hit the market in January, it came with an unpleasant surprise. The biosimilar’s maker, Amgen, launched two versions of the drug, which treats a host of conditions including rheumatoid arthritis. They were identical in every way but this: One was priced at about $1,600 for a two-week supply, 55% off Humira’s list price. But the other was priced at around $3,300, only about 5% off. And OptumRx, one of three powerhouse brokers that determine which drugs Americans get, recommended option No. 2: the more expensive version.
As Murdo Gordon, an Amgen executive vice president, explained in an earnings call, the higher price enabled his company to give bigger rebates, or post-sale discounts, to Optum and other intermediaries. Most of that money would be passed on to insurers, and patients, he said. Gordon did not mention that the higher-priced option would leave some patients paying much more out-of-pocket, undermining the whole rationale for generic drugs.
The Optum-Amgen announcements perfectly elucidated why, after years of thundering against drugmakers, Congress and the administration have now focused on regulating the deal-makers known as pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ health committee grilled a panel of PBM and pharmaceutical executives Wednesday in preparation for a vote on PBM legislation, expected Thursday.
The three biggest PBMs — OptumRx, CVS Caremark, and Express Scripts — control about 80% of prescription drug sales in America and are the most profitable parts of the health conglomerates in which they’re nestled. CVS Health, the fourth-largest U.S. corporation by revenue on Fortune’s list, owns CVS Caremark and the insurer Aetna; UnitedHealth Group, a close fifth, owns Optum; and Cigna, ranking 12th, owns Express Scripts. While serving as middlemen among drugmakers, insurers, and pharmacies, the three corporations also own the highest-grossing specialty drug and mail-order pharmacies.
“John D. Rockefeller would be happy to be alive today,” said David Balto, a former Federal Trade Commission attorney who represents clients suing PBMs. “He could own a PBM and monopolize economic power in ways he never imagined.”
Drug manufacturers claim that exorbitant PBM demands for rebates force them to set high list prices to earn a profit. Independent pharmacists say PBMs are driving them out of business. Physicians blame them for unpredictable, clinically invalid prescribing decisions. And patients complain that PBMs’ choices drain their pocketbooks.
With PBMs driving prices, competition has had the opposite effect from what economic theory predicted Medicare patients would spend out-of-pocket on drugs, one large study showed. Over a five-year period, patients were paying 50% more for branded drugs that had competitors than for those that didn’t.
All this makes the PBMs ripe targets for politicians of both parties. Yet the complexity and obscurity of their role in the drug marketplace have skeptics wondering whether legislation advancing in the House and Senate will actually help patients or lower prices at the pharmacy counter.
“We may try to make things better and actually make things worse,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said at Wednesday’s hearing.
The PBMs pass along most of their rebates to health plans, which will bear a larger share of patient drug costs in coming years under Medicare changes that are part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. It’s likely that pressure on insurers will be passed along to PBMs and result in even more aggressive limits on physician prescription decisions, said Troyen Brennan, an adjunct Harvard University professor who was chief medical officer for CVS Health from 2008 to 2022.
Several congressional bills target drug company rebates to PBMs and what’s known as “spread pricing” — the extra money PBMs collect from insurers over what they pay pharmacies for drugs.
But those aren’t the big PBM revenue sources anymore, Brennan said. PBMs today mostly make money by owning mail-order and specialty pharmacies and from the government’s 340B program, created to help hospitals that treat a disproportionately elderly and poor population. Medicare requires drugmakers to provide big discounts to participating hospitals and the growing rosters of affiliated physician groups they own, and some of those discounts end up with PBMs.
Employers and the federal government decide where most of the rebate money goes, PBM leaders testified Wednesday — and health plans decide what out-of-pocket costs their covered members will pay.
In other words, drug companies blame PBMs for high drug counter prices, PBMs blame insurers, and insurers blame the drug companies, all part of a health care system that hinges on an unspoken bargain: Make life comfortable for some — mostly the upper and middle classes — at the expense of lower-income and poorly insured people who get what they get.
PBMs’ extraction of money from patients in the name of “copayments” at the pharmacy counter “reintroduces medical underwriting” that was stripped away by the Affordable Care Act, Craig Garthwaite, a health care researcher at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, told a Senate panel last year. Insurers can no longer pick and choose whom to insure, as they could before the landmark 2010 health law. But they are finding ways to make the sickest pay.
“People with expensive conditions are paying more for insurance so healthy people can pay less,” he said.
PBMs Evolve From Minnows to Whales
In 1967, a year before the first PBM was founded, spending on prescription drugs outside of a hospital in the U.S. totaled around $3.3 billion, compared with more than $600 billion in net payments last year. By 2005, when Medicare expanded to include coverage of outpatient drugs, government and private insurers depended on PBMs’ negotiating power to keep rising drug prices in check.
The Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department allowed the largest PBMs to gobble up competitors and merge with insurers during the Bush and Obama administrations on the grounds that bolstering their powers might rein in prices. The FTC fought state investigations of anti-competitive behavior, saying that pressure on PBMs would benefit consumers.
The FTC under President Joe Biden has switched course, at least partly because of the arrival of Chair Lina Khan, a vigorous proponent of antitrust policy who launched an investigation of the PBMs last June.
It came partly at the request of independent pharmacists, who rely on PBM reimbursements for the drugs they purchase and provide consumers. Thousands of pharmacists complained to the FTC that PBMs force them to accept unfairly low reimbursements — then slam them with opaque rules requiring them to pay back some of the money months later. Pharmacists returned $12.6 billion to PBMs in 2021, according to a recent Medicare Payment Advisory Commission report.
During a recent week, said Ashley Seyfarth, who owns Kare Drug in Aztec, New Mexico, a PBM reclaimed money from one prescription because the paperwork was faxed. It clawed back cash from another sale because Kare had kept the drug on the shelf an extra day, beyond the PBM’s time limit, to accommodate a patient delayed getting to the store.
And her reimbursements are “beyond low,” Seyfarth said. She laughed when asked whether contract terms with the PBMs were negotiable. “You aren’t negotiating anything,” she said. “It’s take it or leave it.”
PBMs “have the right to audit whether contract terms are agreed to,” Angela Banks, vice president of policy at the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, the PBM trade group, said at a recent conference. “A lot of the complaints about PBMs come from two parties from whom we are extracting money: manufacturers and pharmacists.”
PBM pricing decisions are often murky. According to a recent study, in 2018 Medicare spent $2.6 billion more through PBMs for a year’s worth of 184 generic drugs than they would have cost at Costco. Doctors and hospitals find PBM formularies baffling, with dozens of variations depending on a patient’s health plan.
When Philadelphia-area internist Amy Davis writes a prescription, she has no idea what the pharmacy will bill her patients, she said, or whether a PBM has decided the drug needs prior authorization. Sometimes she doesn’t find out until a patient returns months later saying they skipped the drug because it was too expensive.
“We physicians are completely in the dark,” she said. “And it’s designed that way.”
The PBMs’ growing use of proprietary pharmacies, including mail-order operations, can interfere with the care of patients like Jasmine St. Clair, a 45-year-old restaurant manager and mother of six in Mount Juliet, Tennessee.
In October 2021, St. Clair’s treatment for a rare, non-smoking-related lung cancer was delayed three weeks after PBM giant Express Scripts insisted her prescription be filled by Accredo, the mail-order pharmacy it owns.
In the meantime, her fatigue and lower-back and neck pain became so bad “I couldn’t pick up my daughter, who was 2,” St. Clair said. “And I was really getting scared.”
After St. Clair started the four-pills-twice-a-day regimen, her tumor rapidly shrank. But in January, her husband’s insurance changed and the medications didn’t arrive on time. When she called Accredo to see what was wrong, “they said, ‘You owe $8,000. Would you like to pay by card?’”
The pharmacy attached to her oncology practice straightened out the payment issue and ensured her continued use of the drug, St. Clair said. Her oncologist, Johnetta Blakely, said these are daily occurrences in her practice.
“The problem with the PBMs and the specialty pharmacies they own is that they are so complicated and intertwined it’s hard to figure out what the heck they are doing,” Blakely said. “All this bureaucratic stuff is a distraction and takes away from things I could be doing, like asking Jasmine about her kids.”
What’s the Remedy?
Bipartisan House and Senate bills would require PBMs to reimburse pharmacies serving Medicaid patients based on an authorized price list, rather than using standards that allegedly allow PBMs to lowball pharmacies. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated the bills would save the federal government $1 billion over 10 years. Another Senate bill would require PBMs to report more of their earnings to the FTC, and would ban deceptive and unfair fees.
But PBMs have shown themselves adept at finding ways around regulation. A federal rule scheduled to take effect next year would curtail PBM “clawbacks” on independent pharmacies. But PBM contracts sent out to pharmacies in recent weeks get around that by lowering reimbursement fees and putting a percentage of their payments to pharmacies into a kind of escrow, said Douglas Hoey, CEO of the National Community Pharmacists Association.
When the Trump administration considered banning brand-name drug rebates in 2017, PBMs set up companies in Ireland and Switzerland to take over the negotiations and purchases. Doing so offered a tax advantage and allowed the PBMs to avoid scrutiny of the quantity and nature of those deals. Recently, Express Scripts set up another company to purchase generic drugs, in the Cayman Islands.
And PBMs appear adept at moving money from one pocket to another. “Yesterday’s rebates are today’s fees and potentially tomorrow’s something else,” said John O’Brien, CEO of the pharmaceutical industry-funded research group, the National Pharmaceutical Council.
Every arrangement that PBMs make with manufacturers, employers, and insurers is secret and proprietary, said Barak Richman, a Duke University Law School professor. This makes it nearly impossible to examine what kind of deals PBMs are making.
Antitrust law could be brought to bear on the PBMs, Richman said. And the Biden administration has shown an eagerness to possibly reverse mergers that have increased PBM clout. The Justice Department has taken similar steps.
But federal officials will have to move fast to slow the PBMs. Insurers that don’t have PBMs as part of their business have been shrinking in recent years because of the growing clout and buying power of the companies.
“I predict that any health insurer that doesn’t have a PBM is going to disappear in 10 years,” said Neeraj Sood, a professor at the University of Southern California Sol Price School of Public Policy. “Otherwise, there is no way to compete with the big three.”
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.
USE OUR CONTENT
This story can be republished for free (details).
1 year 11 months ago
Health Care Costs, Health Industry, Pharmaceuticals, Biden Administration, Drug Costs, Legislation, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Prescription Drugs, Tennessee, U.S. Congress
New AI tool helps doctors streamline documentation and focus on patients
Doctors in the U.S. spend an average of 1.84 hours per day completing electronic notes outside their regular work hours, recent studies have shown — and 57% of them said documentation takes away from the time they can spend with patients.
Aiming to change that, Nuance — a Microsoft-owned artificial intelligence company in Massachusetts — has created an AI tool for physicians called DAX Express, which streamlines the note-taking process.
At Cooper University Health Care in New Jersey, doctors who are already using the tool have reported improved patient outcomes, greater efficiency and reduced costs.
AI TOOL GIVES DOCTORS PERSONALIZED ALZHEIMER’S TREATMENT PLANS FOR DEMENTIA PATIENTS
"For our physicians who use DAX more than half the time, they have seen a 43% reduction of the time they spend writing notes and an overall 21% reduction in the amount of time they spend in the electronic medical record," said Dr. Anthony Mazzarelli, the CEO of Cooper, which employs 150 physicians.
He is also an emergency physician.
Peter Durlach, chief strategy officer of Nuance, compares the tool to a "co-pilot" for physicians.
"DAX lets clinicians fully focus on caring for patients instead of manually filling in data entry screens," he told Fox News Digital.
"This technology helps improve the patient experience and the quality of care, while also making it so that clinicians no longer need to spend hours of their own time completing documentation."
DAX Express is powered by GPT-4, the latest version of AI chatbot technology from OpenAI.
The tool automatically and securely creates clinical notes, with the patient’s consent, that are immediately available for the doctor to review after each patient visit.
"The phone sits between the doctor and the patient," Mazzarelli explained during an on-camera interview with Fox News Digital. "It incorporates not just what the doctor says, but also what the patient says. And then it uses AI to write the note."
He added, "It's a huge step up from just dictating notes."
Next, the note is sent to the doctor, who can make any necessary changes before approving it. The doctor can then share the file with the patient for transparency.
"It’s like a physician’s assistant that thinks really fast," Mazzarelli said. "The physician is still responsible for making sure the note correctly reflects the conversation."
AI-POWERED MENTAL HEALTH DIAGNOSTIC TOOL COULD BE THE FIRST OF ITS KIND TO PREDICT, TREAT DEPRESSION
The tool gives doctors evidence-based support for the decisions they make, right in the palm of their hand, he added.
"This is, to me, the next evolution," Mazzarelli said. "It’s not that we just want a faster horse and buggy — we want the car."
The more obvious benefits of DAX are removing the administrative burden from physicians and reducing burnout, but the benefits extend to the patient as well, Mazzarelli said.
The doctor is able to directly interact with the patient and look the person in the eye without the distraction of note-taking, he said.
This aligns with Cooper University Health Care’s philosophy of practicing "compassion science," which emphasizes a clear understanding of what patients are experiencing.
"If you can really connect with patients, whether you're a nurse or a doctor or anybody in health care, it improves patient outcomes and lowers overall costs," Mazzarelli said.
"That's good for not just patients, but for the whole health care system."
Because the physician has to sign off on each AI-created medical note, Mazzarelli believes Nuance’s AI tool presents a low risk.
"It's the same risk as if you had an intern or an administrative assistant write something for you and you put it out in the world and didn't look at it," he said.
"If you’re depending on AI and not thinking of it as an assistant and you just let it make all the decisions — then you certainly could have a problem there."
Nuance’s Durlach believes that administrative functions — note-taking, coding and billing — should be the first place to implement AI because they require a lot of manual work and the cost of making a mistake does not impact patient health.
"As a Microsoft company, our goal is to develop and deploy AI that will have a beneficial impact and earn trust from society," Durlach told Fox News Digital.
"We are committed to creating responsible AI by design."
In developing its tech, Nuance focuses on a core set of principles: fairness, reliability and safety, privacy and security, inclusiveness, transparency and accountability.
"In an industry where certain types of mistakes can have serious consequences, health care organizations must be particularly mindful of choosing safe and proven AI solutions," Durlach said.
In the past, medical technology has actually increased the number of administrative tasks, Mazzarelli said — but he believes AI has the potential to dramatically streamline the doctor-patient experience.
"I am very optimistic about the application of generative AI to improve medical care," the doctor said.
"I think it's going to help doctors and patients have better relationships. And I think if used correctly, it's going to be among the best advances we've had."
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER
As medicine continues to become more complex, Mazzarelli said, there is a greater need for decision support.
"As personalized medicine becomes more and more the way of the future, we need assistance to make sure we can use it correctly," he added.
"AI is clearly already here, and I'm even more optimistic about the ways it can assist in the future."
1 year 11 months ago
Health, artificial-intelligence, medical-tech, chatgpt, health-care, lifestyle, Massachusetts
Do YOU have a bromance? Scientists reveal how men express their feelings
Conventional wisdom says friendships between men are cold and less nurturing. But researchers say, 'Men demonstrate closeness less obviously, in coded ways'
Conventional wisdom says friendships between men are cold and less nurturing. But researchers say, 'Men demonstrate closeness less obviously, in coded ways'
1 year 11 months ago
Marihuana legal es más potente que nunca pero no está bien regulada
La marihuana y otros productos que contienen THC, el principal ingrediente psicoactivo de la planta, se han vuelto más potentes y peligrosos a medida que la legalización los ha vuelto más accesibles.
Décadas atrás, el contenido de THC de la hierba solía ser inferior al 1,5%. Hoy, algunos productos tienen más de un 90%.
La marihuana y otros productos que contienen THC, el principal ingrediente psicoactivo de la planta, se han vuelto más potentes y peligrosos a medida que la legalización los ha vuelto más accesibles.
Décadas atrás, el contenido de THC de la hierba solía ser inferior al 1,5%. Hoy, algunos productos tienen más de un 90%.
La euforia de antaño ha dado paso a algo más alarmante. Cientos de miles de personas llegan a salas de emergencias por crisis relacionadas con la marihuana, y millones sufren trastornos psicológicos vinculados al consumo de cannabis, según investigaciones federales.
Pero los organismos reguladores no están a la altura.
En los estados que permiten la venta y el consumo de la marihuana y sus derivados, la protección al consumidor no es consistente.
“En muchos estados, los productos tienen una etiqueta de advertencia y poco más por parte de las entidades reguladoras”, dijo Cassin Coleman, vicepresidente del comité de asesoramiento científico de la Asociación Nacional de la Industria del Cannabis.
En general, el gobierno federal no ha intervenido. Sigue prohibiendo la marihuana como sustancia catalogada en la Lista 1 —como droga sin uso médico aceptado y con un alto riesgo de abuso— en virtud de la Ley de Sustancias Controladas (CSA). Pero en lo que respecta a la venta de cannabis, que muchos estados han legalizado, no regula características como la pureza o la potencia.
La Administración de Drogas y Alimentos (FDA) “básicamente se ha cruzado de brazos y no ha cumplido con su deber de proteger la salud pública”, afirmó Eric Lindblom, de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Georgetown que anteriormente trabajó en el Centro para Productos del Tabaco de la FDA.
La marihuana se ha transformado profundamente desde que generaciones de estadounidenses la usaron por primera vez.
El cannabis se cultiva para suministrar dosis mucho más altas de THC. En 1980, el contenido de THC de la marihuana confiscada era inferior al 1,5%. Hoy en día, muchas variedades de flores de cannabis —la materia vegetal que se puede fumar en un porro— tienen más de un 30% de THC.
Recientemente, en un dispensario de California el menú incluía una variedad con un 41% de THC.
La legalización también ha abierto la puerta a productos que se extraen de la marihuana pero que no siquiera parecidos: concentrados de THC aceitosos, cerosos o cristalinos que se calientan e inhalan mediante el vapeo o el dab, utilizando dispositivos parecidos a un soplete.
Los concentrados actuales pueden tener más de un 90% de THC. Algunos se anuncian como THC casi puro.
Pocos personifican la expansión de la marihuana de forma tan clara como John Boehner, ex presidente de la Cámara de Representantes de Estados Unidos. El republicano de Ohio se opuso durante mucho tiempo a la marihuana y, en 2011, se declaró “inalterablemente contrario” a su legalización.
Ahora forma parte del consejo directivo de Acreage Holdings, un productor de derivados de la marihuana.
Y Acreage Holdings ilustra la evolución del sector. Su marca Superflux comercializa un producto para vapear —”resina pura en un formato cómodo e instantáneo”— y concentrados como “budder”, “sugar”, “shatter” y “wax”. La empresa anuncia su concentrado de “THCa cristalino” como “lo último en potencia”.
Según el Instituto Nacional sobre el Abuso de Drogas, las concentraciones más elevadas entrañan mayores riesgos. “Los riesgos de dependencia física y adicción aumentan con la exposición a altas concentraciones de THC, y las dosis más altas de THC tienen más probabilidades de producir ansiedad, agitación, paranoia y psicosis”, se explica en su sitio web.
En 2021, 16,3 millones de personas en Estados Unidos —el 5,8% de las personas de 12 años en adelante— habían sufrido un trastorno por consumo de marihuana en el último año, según una encuesta publicada en enero por el Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos (HHS).
Esta cifra es muy superior a la suma de los trastornos por consumo de cocaína, heroína, metanfetamina, estimulantes de venta bajo receta, como Adderall, o analgésicos recetados, como fentanilo y OxyContin.
Otras drogas son más peligrosas que la marihuana, y la mayoría de las personas afectadas por su consumo padecieron un caso leve. Pero aproximadamente 1 de cada 7 —más de 2,6 millones de personas— padecieron un caso grave, según la encuesta federal.
La mayoría de los médicos equiparan el término “trastorno grave por consumo de sustancias” con la adicción, señaló Wilson Compton, subdirector del Instituto Nacional sobre el Abuso de Drogas.
El trastorno por consumo de cannabis “puede ser devastador”, afirmó Smita Das, psiquiatra de Stanford y presidenta de un consejo sobre adicciones de la Asociación Americana de Psiquiatría.
Das dijo que ha visto vidas destrozadas por el cannabis: personas de éxito que han perdido familias y trabajos. “Se encuentran en una situación en la que no saben cómo han llegado, porque sólo era un porro, sólo era cannabis, y no se suponía que el cannabis les creara adicción”, explicó Das.
Entre los diagnósticos médicos atribuidos a la marihuana figuran la “dependencia del cannabis con trastorno psicótico con delirios” y el síndrome de hiperémesis cannabinoide, una forma de vómito persistente.
Se estima que unas 800,000 personas realizaron visitas a emergencias relacionadas con la marihuana en 2021, según un estudio del gobierno publicado en diciembre de 2022.
Derecho a desintoxicación.
Un padre de Colorado pensó que era cuestión de tiempo para que el cannabis matara a su hijo.
En la primavera de 2021, el adolescente pasó un semáforo en rojo, chocó contra otro auto —resultando heridos él y el otro conductor— y huyó del lugar, según recordó el padre en una entrevista.
En los restos del accidente, el padre encontró porros, envases vacíos de un concentrado de THC de alta potencia conocido como “wax” y un vaporizador de THC.
En el teléfono móvil de su hijo descubrió mensajes de texto y decenas de referencias al “dabbing” y a la hierba. El adolescente dijo que había estado fumando antes del accidente y que intentó suicidarse.
Semanas después, la policía ordenó su ingreso involuntario en un hospital para una evaluación psiquiátrica. Según un informe policial, creía que lo perseguían francotiradores de un cártel de drogas.
El médico que evaluó al adolescente le diagnosticó “abuso de cannabis”.
“Deja de consumir dabs o wax, ya que pueden volverte extremadamente paranoico”, escribió el médico. “Vete directamente al programa de desintoxicación que elijas”.
Según el relato del padre, en los dos últimos años el adolescente sufrió varias retenciones involuntarias, docenas de encuentros con la policía, repetidos encarcelamientos y una serie de estadías en centros de tratamiento hospitalario.
A veces parecía fuera de la realidad, y enviaba mensajes de texto diciendo que Dios le hablaba y le daba superpoderes.
Los daños también fueron económicos. Los reclamos al seguro médico por su tratamiento ascendieron a casi $600,000 y los gastos de la familia llegaron a casi $40,000 hasta febrero.
En las entrevistas para este artículo, el padre habló bajo condición de anonimato para no perjudicar la recuperación de su hijo.
Está convencido de que la enfermedad mental de su hijo fue el resultado del consumo de drogas. Dijo que los síntomas remitían cuando su hijo dejaba de consumir THC y volvían cuando usaba de nuevo.
Su hijo tiene ahora 20 años, ha dejado la marihuana y le va bien, dijo el padre, y añadió: "No me cabe la menor duda de que el consumo de cannabis fue lo que le causó la psicosis, los delirios y la paranoia".
Regulación estatal desigual
Ahora, el uso médico de la marihuana es legal en 40 estados y el Distrito de Columbia, y el uso recreativo o para adultos es legal en 22 estados más el Distrito de Columbia, según MJBizDaily, una publicación especializada.
Al principio de la pandemia de covid-19, mientras gran parte de Estados Unidos cerró sus negocios, los dispensarios de marihuana siguieron abiertos. Muchos estados los declararon negocios esenciales.
Pero sólo dos estados que permiten el uso para adultos, Vermont y Connecticut, han puesto límites al contenido de THC —30% para la flor de cannabis y 60% para los concentrados de THC— y eximen de los límites a los cartuchos precargados, dijo Gillian Schauer de la Asociación de Reguladores de Cannabis, un grupo de reguladores estatales.
Algunos estados limitan el número de onzas o gramos que los consumidores pueden comprar. Sin embargo, incluso un poco de marihuana puede equivaler a mucho THC, apuntó Rosalie Liccardo Pacula, profesora de políticas de salud, economía y derecho en la Universidad del Sur de California.
Algunos estados sólo permiten el uso médico de productos con bajo contenido de THC; por ejemplo, en Texas, las sustancias que no contienen más de un 0,5% de THC en peso. Y algunos estados exigen etiquetas de advertencia. En Nueva Jersey, los productos de cannabis con más de un 40% de THC deben declarar: "Este es un producto de alta potencia y puede aumentar el riesgo de psicosis".
La normativa sobre marihuana de Colorado tiene más de 500 páginas. Sin embargo, se enfatizan los límites de las protecciones al consumidor: "Este producto se ha producido sin supervisión reglamentaria en materia de salud, seguridad o eficacia".
Determinar las normas adecuadas puede no ser sencillo. Por ejemplo, las etiquetas de advertencia podrían proteger a la industria de la marihuana de su responsabilidad, al igual que hicieron con las empresas tabacaleras durante años. Poner un tope a la potencia podría limitar las opciones de las personas que toman dosis elevadas para aliviar problemas médicos.
En general, en el ámbito estatal, la industria del cannabis ha frenado los esfuerzos reguladores argumentando que unas normas onerosas dificultarían la competencia entre las empresas legítimas y las ilícitas, explicó Pacula.
Pacula y otros investigadores han pedido al gobierno federal que intervenga.
Meses después de terminar su mandato como comisionado de la FDA, Scott Gottlieb hizo un llamamiento similar.
Al quejarse de que los estados habían llegado "muy lejos mientras el gobierno federal permanecía al margen", Gottlieb pidió "un esquema nacional uniforme para el THC que proteja a los consumidores."
Eso fue en 2019 y poco ha cambiado desde entonces.
¿Dónde está la FDA?
La FDA supervisa los alimentos, los medicamentos recetados, los de venta libre y los dispositivos médicos. Regula el tabaco, la nicotina y los vapes de nicotina. Supervisa las etiquetas de advertencia del tabaco. En interés de la salud y la seguridad públicas, también regula los productos botánicos, productos médicos que pueden incluir material vegetal.
Sin embargo, cuando se trata de la marihuana para fumar, los concentrados de THC derivados del cannabis que se vapean o dabean y los comestibles infundidos con THC, la FDA parece estar muy al margen.
La marihuana medicinal que se vende en los dispensarios no está aprobada por la FDA. La agencia no ha avalado su seguridad o eficacia ni ha determinado la dosis adecuada. No inspecciona las instalaciones donde se producen los productos ni evalúa el control de calidad.
La agencia sí invita a los fabricantes a someter los productos del cannabis a ensayos clínicos y a su proceso de aprobación de medicamentos.
El sitio web de la FDA señala que el THC es el ingrediente activo de dos medicamentos aprobados por la FDA para el tratamiento del cáncer. Aparentemente, sólo por eso la sustancia está bajo la jurisdicción de la FDA.
La FDA tiene "todo el poder que necesita para regular de forma mucho más eficaz los productos de cannabis legalizados por los estados", afirmó Lindblom, ex funcionario de la agencia.
Al menos públicamente, la FDA no le ha prestado atención a los concentrados de THC derivados del cannabis o la hierba fumada en porros, sino más bien en otras sustancias: una variante del THC derivada del cáñamo, que el gobierno federal ha legalizado, y un derivado diferente del cannabis llamado cannabidiol o CBD, que se ha comercializado como terapéutico.
"La FDA se ha comprometido a vigilar el mercado, identificar los productos de cannabis que plantean riesgos y actuar, dentro de nuestras competencias, para proteger al público", declaró Courtney Rhodes, vocera de la FDA.
"Muchos, la mayoría de los productos con THC se ajustan a la definición de marihuana, que es una sustancia controlada. La Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) regula la marihuana en virtud de la Ley de Sustancias Controladas (CSA). Le remitimos a la DEA para preguntas sobre la regulación y aplicación de las disposiciones de la CSA", escribió Rhodes en un correo electrónico.
La DEA, dependiente del Departamento de Justicia, no respondió a las preguntas formuladas para este artículo.
En cuanto al Congreso, quizá su medida más importante haya sido limitar la aplicación de la prohibición federal.
"Hasta ahora, la respuesta federal a las acciones estatales para legalizar la marihuana ha consistido, sobre todo, en permitir que los estados apliquen sus propias leyes sobre la droga", señaló un informe de 2022 del Servicio de Investigación del Congreso.
En octubre, el presidente Joe Biden ordenó al secretario de Salud y Servicios Humanos y al fiscal general que revisaran la postura del gobierno federal respecto a la marihuana: si debería seguir clasificada entre las sustancias más peligrosas y estrictamente controladas.
En diciembre, Biden firmó un proyecto de ley que ampliaba la investigación sobre la marihuana y obligaba a las agencias federales a estudiar sus efectos. La ley dice que las agencias tienen un año para publicar sus conclusiones.
Algunos defensores de la marihuana dicen que el gobierno federal podría desempeñar un papel más constructivo.
"La NORML no opina que el cannabis sea inocuo, sino que la mejor forma de mitigar sus riesgos potenciales es mediante la legalización, la regulación y la educación pública", afirmó Paul Armentano, subdirector del grupo antes conocido como Organización Nacional para la Reforma de las Leyes sobre la Marihuana (NORML).
"Los productos tienen que someterse a pruebas de pureza y potencia", añadió, y "el gobierno federal podría ejercer cierta supervisión en la concesión de licencias a los laboratorios que prueban esos productos".
Mientras tanto, según Coleman, asesor de la Asociación Nacional de la Industria del Cannabis, los estados se quedan "teniendo que actuar como si fueran USDA + FDA + DEA, todo al mismo tiempo".
¿Y dónde deja eso a los consumidores? Algunos, como Wendy E., jubilada en sus 60 años, luchan contra los efectos de la marihuana.
Wendy, que habló con la condición de que no se revelara su nombre, empezó a fumar marihuana en la secundaria en los años 70 y la convirtió en su estilo de vida durante décadas.
Luego, cuando su estado la legalizó, la compró en dispensarios "y enseguida me di cuenta de que la potencia era mucho mayor que la que yo había consumido tradicionalmente", contó. "Parecía haber aumentado de manera exponencial".
En 2020, explicó, la marihuana legal —mucho más fuerte que la hierba ilícita de su juventud— la llevó a obsesionarse con el suicidio.
Antes, la mujer que se define como "hippie de la madre tierra" encontraba camaradería pasando un porro con sus amigos. Ahora asiste a reuniones de Marihuana Anónimos, con otras personas que se recuperan de esta adicción.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.
USE OUR CONTENT
This story can be republished for free (details).
1 year 11 months ago
Health Industry, Mental Health, Noticias En Español, Colorado, Connecticut, FDA, Latinos, Legislation, marijuana, New Jersey, Substance Misuse, texas, Vermont
Chest Wearable Provides Key Heart Measurements
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a new chest wearable that can obtain both electrocardiogram and seismocardiogram data from the underlying heart. While basic ECG can be monitored via smart watches, no other wearable combines it with seismocardiography, which would conventionally be obtained by listening to the heart using a stethoscope. Pairing both measurements into one device allows clinicians to get a more complete picture of cardiac health, while freeing patients to go about their daily activities wearing an unobtrusive wearable.
Wearables are changing how we monitor patients and obtain clinical data, replacing the inconvenient medical appointments and bulky electronics of the past. Simply applying a wearable to the skin could let patients go about their daily business while providing valuable health data that could reveal a health problem and prompt early treatment.
“Most heart conditions are not very obvious. The damage is being done in the background and we don’t even know it,” said Nanshu Lu, a researcher involved in the study. “If we can have continuous, mobile monitoring at home, then we can do early diagnosis and treatment, and if that can be done, 80% of heart disease can be prevented.”
This latest offering is a flexible “e-tattoo” that conforms to the skin of the chest and which can provide continuous cardiac monitoring for at least 24 hours, although the penny-sized battery can last up to 40 hours and can be swapped out by the patient if required. The flexible patch weighs just 2.5 grams and can wirelessly transmit the cardiac data.
The wearable can obtain two types of cardiac data, electrical and mechanical, which together provide a more complete picture of heart health. These are electrocardiography and seismocardiography data. The latter type of data is acoustic, is generated by the heart valves, and is typically heard as the characteristic “lub dub” sound through a stethoscope.
“Those two measurements, electrical and mechanical, together can provide a much more comprehensive and complete picture of what’s happening with the heart,” said Lu. “There are many more heart characteristics that could be extracted out of the two synchronously measured signals in a noninvasive manner.”
Study in journal Advanced Electronic Materials: A Chest-Conformable, Wireless Electro-Mechanical E-Tattoo for Measuring Multiple Cardiac Time Intervals
1 year 11 months ago
Cardiology, ECG, electrocardiography, seismocardiography, UTAustin
Lupus is a mysterious, brutal disease. Here’s how you can join the fight against it - CNN
- Lupus is a mysterious, brutal disease. Here’s how you can join the fight against it CNN
- Advocates make the case for change in lupus care POLITICO Europe
- Raising awareness on World Lupus Day KOIN 6
- Lupus Foundation stages free health fair at Emancipation Park Jamaica Observer
- Lupus and Beyond: Exploring the Common Comorbidities of this Autoimmune Disease News-Medical.Net
1 year 11 months ago
Lupus survivor still advocating for better treatment options - Jamaica Star Online
- Lupus survivor still advocating for better treatment options Jamaica Star Online
- Why Wendy Oliver wants you to learn about lupus: 'It's not you, it's inside of you' CBS 6 News Richmond WTVR
- It’s World Lupus Day! Check Out 7 Celebrities Living With Lupus [Gallery] GlobalGrind
- Raising awareness on World Lupus Day KOIN 6
- Why Wendy Oliver wants you to learn about lupus WTVR CBS 6
1 year 11 months ago
Lupus survivor still advocating for better treatment options - Jamaica Star Online
- Lupus survivor still advocating for better treatment options Jamaica Star Online
- Why Wendy Oliver wants you to learn about lupus: 'It's not you, it's inside of you' CBS 6 News Richmond WTVR
- It’s World Lupus Day! Check Out 7 Celebrities Living With Lupus [Gallery] GlobalGrind
- Why Wendy Oliver wants you to learn about lupus WTVR CBS 6
- Raising awareness on World Lupus Day KOIN 6
- View Full Coverage on Google News
1 year 11 months ago
Natural remedies for urinary tract infection
A URINARY tract infection (UTI) occurs when bacteria get into your urinary tract – kidneys, bladder, or urethra. The role of the urinary tract is to make and store urine. The bladder stores urine until it is emptied by urinating through the urethra...
A URINARY tract infection (UTI) occurs when bacteria get into your urinary tract – kidneys, bladder, or urethra. The role of the urinary tract is to make and store urine. The bladder stores urine until it is emptied by urinating through the urethra...
1 year 11 months ago
Treating chronic back pain: An alternative to surgery and pills
BACK PAIN is one of most common reasons people see a doctor or miss days at work. Back pain can range in intensity from a dull, constant ache to a sudden, sharp or shooting pain. There are two types of back pain – acute or short-term back pain...
BACK PAIN is one of most common reasons people see a doctor or miss days at work. Back pain can range in intensity from a dull, constant ache to a sudden, sharp or shooting pain. There are two types of back pain – acute or short-term back pain...
1 year 11 months ago
Dominican experts request update on essential drugs for diabetes treatment
SODENN and SODODIAN, the two leading medical associations dealing with diabetes in the Dominican Republic, have expressed their concern about the obsolete list of essential drugs that the country uses to treat diabetes mellitus. According to the associations, the current list is far from the recommendations of international organizations and experts in the field.
The doctors leading the associations believe that many specialists feel impotent when they realize that the drugs required to manage and avoid the complications of diabetes are not affordable for the Dominican population.
To address the issue, SODENN and SODODIAN have deposited the scientific evidence, adjusted to the latest knowledge on diabetes mellitus treatment, to the General Directorate of Medicines, Food and Sanitary Products. They hope that the country will update the medicines used for treating diabetes based on the latest recommendations from international organizations. The associations believe that the changes can improve diabetes management in the country and change the history of pain caused by the chronic and acute complications of the condition.
In another initiative, the country is set to host the First International Diabetic Foot Congress, “With Feet on Earth” – ALAPID 2023, in Punta Cana from May 18 to 21. The congress will bring together researchers from Latin America, the Caribbean, and other parts of the world to discuss innovations in the field of diabetic foot complications. The congress aims to unify international clinical, medical-scientific, and surgical concepts and efforts on diabetes, and address topics related to clinical endocrinology and nutrition in patients suffering from diabetes mellitus.
1 year 11 months ago
Health, Local
As King Charles III, at age 74, assumes British throne, here's what to know about his health
On May 6, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, carefully placed the iconic St. Edward’s Crown atop King Charles III's head as the new king solemnly sat in the 700-year-old Coronation Chair at Westminster Abbey while grasping a golden scepter in each hand.
On May 6, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, carefully placed the iconic St. Edward’s Crown atop King Charles III's head as the new king solemnly sat in the 700-year-old Coronation Chair at Westminster Abbey while grasping a golden scepter in each hand.
It was the first time in 70 years for a monarch to be crowned in the U.K. since the coronation of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who shared an almost identical pose, wearing the same crown in 1953.
When his mother died on Sept. 8, 2022, he became the oldest monarch to take the British throne.
KING CHARLES HONORED WITH UNIQUE DISPLAY OF GNOMES ALL OVER UK WOMAN'S YARD
The king is now 74 (he'll turn 75 on Nov. 14, 2023) — and many wonder if the monarch will enjoy the same longevity as his parents did.
"I expect King Charles’ reign to be a long one," Dr. June McKoy, professor of medicine, preventive medicine and medical education at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, told Fox News Digital.
"That he is starting his reign in his 70s will not prevent him from doing as well as a monarch in his 40s," added McKoy, who is an academic geriatrician.
She recommended that older adults be individually assessed and not by chronology as they age.
"To be sure, King Charles has been a great steward of his health and he will benefit from that stewardship."
King Charles III comes from a family of "long livers" on both his mother’s and father’s side, so it’s likely he inherited their genes, McKoy said.
"The latest science on the genetics of longevity suggests that, for most of us, less than 20% of it is passed down through the generations, meaning the other 80% is lifestyle and luck," Andrew Steele, PhD, author of "Ageless: The New Science of Getting Older Without Getting Old," told Fox News Digital.
"However, there does seem to be a more significant genetic component when it comes to exceptional longevity — the child or sibling of someone who lives to 100 is 10 times as likely to do so themselves as someone from the general population," added Steele, a biologist based in Berlin, Germany.
Charles’ father lived to 99, his mother lived to 96 and his grandmother, the queen’s mother, lived to 101 — so he may be lucky enough to have some longevity genes in his DNA, he added.
"Wealth is known to correlate with long life, too, so even though he ascended to the throne at age 73 — the oldest in British history — he's still got a shot at a decently long reign," Steele said in an email.
Charlies turned 74 in November 2022. (None of the medical experts interviewed for this article directly examined King Charles III.)
Prince Harry, Charles’ youngest son, wrote in his bombshell memoir, "Spare," that his father used to perform handstands in Balmoral Castle to relieve chronic back and neck pain from old polo injuries.
"Prescribed by his physio, these exercises were the only effective remedy for the constant pain in Pa’s neck and back," Harry wrote.
FOR KING CHARLES' CORONATION, WORLD'S LONGEST SERVING BRASS BAND PLAYER, 95, CAN TOOT HIS OWN HORN
"He performed them daily, in a pair of boxers, propped against a door or hanging from a bar like a skilled acrobat."
After missing the Royal Ascot, one of Britain’s most famous horse races, because of a herniated disc in his spine in 1991, Charles aggravated the condition when he fell off a horse at Windsor two years later, according to a Daily Mail report.
Experts speculate that his trademark walk with his fingers interlocked together behind his back is a clever way to relieve his back pain.
"On another note, there has been some focus on his posture and its implications for osteoporosis," McKoy told Fox News Digital.
BE WELL: KEEP YOUR BONES STRONG TO PREVENT OSTEOPOROSIS
"Given that osteoporosis causes a decrease in bone density and weakening of the bones, it can cause height loss," she added.
A stooped posture might represent height loss, she said — but this can be normal or abnormal depending on the individual circumstances.
As part of the normal process of aging, people typically lose approximately 1 centimeter, or 0.5 inch, of height every 10 years — which tends to accelerate in our 70s, McKoy said.
She also said, "Height loss of [two] inches or more is not considered normal and should prompt a visit to the physician."
King Charles suffered many injuries while playing polo and hunting, including a pivotal fall during a polo match in 1990 that resulted in fracturing his right arm.
After it didn’t heal once he had surgery, he had a second operation to fix it three months later, partly due to concern the injury would not allow him to properly salute, per a Daily Mail report.
In 2001, Charles was knocked unconscious temporarily when he fell head-first from his horse during a charity match at Cirencester Park in Gloucestershire, England, according to a BBC report.
He retired from polo in 2005 when he was 57, after playing the game for over 40 years, as his biography on his official website said.
"He has an interesting pair of hands for a baby," Queen Elizabeth wrote to her former music teacher shortly after her son Charles was born.
"They are rather large, but with fine long fingers quite unlike mine and certainly unlike his father's."
Charles himself referred to them as "sausage fingers" after Prince William’s birth, according to Howard Hodgson’s biography "Charles, The Man Who Will Be King."
"Dactylitis is a condition where the digits get swollen like sausages, typically seen in the toes and associated with ankylosing spondylitis," Dr. Nilanjana Bose, a board-certified rheumatologist at Lonestar Rheumatology in Houston, Texas, told Fox News Digital.
It’s important to examine the hand to distinguish if the swelling is arising from the joint, the tendon sheath or the soft tissue, added Dr. Amy Kehl, rheumatologist with Providence Saint John’s Physician Partners and staff physician at Cedars Sinai in Southern California.
Bose said the look of Charles' hands could be his "baseline" and not suggestive of any underlying disease.
"True dactylitis is most classically observed in patients with a type of inflammatory arthritis known as spondyloarthritis," Kehl told Fox News Digital.
One example of this type of arthritis, she said, is psoriatic arthritis, which is often diagnosed by examining the patient.
There are a variety of medical conditions that can cause swollen fingers, including other types of arthritis — such as rheumatoid arthritis, gout, autoimmune causes — like lupus, sarcoidosis or sickle cell disease, or infections, such as Lyme disease, syphilis and tuberculosis.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER
"Typically a rheumatologist can order more diagnostic testing including lab testing or imaging studies of the joints if the diagnosis is unclear," Kehl said.
"The typical treatment is geared toward the underlying type of inflammatory arthritis and the degree of symptomatology of the individual patient."
"Understanding the biology of people who make it to exceptional ages could be an important way to discover medicines that can help us all live longer and healthier," Steele noted.
"For example, while women live longer than men, we know that long-lived men tend to do so in better health," he added.
Steele also said he hoped that "Charles will be a 'working royal' for some time yet."
1 year 11 months ago
Health, king-charles-iii, united-kingdom, longevity, geriatric-health, queen, british-royals
Medical News, Health News Latest, Medical News Today - Medical Dialogues |
68-year-old Indian-origin physician charged for sexually assaulting veteran patients in US
New York: A 68-year-old Indian-origin primary care physician in the US state of Georgia has been indicted on multiple counts of sexual assault inflicted on four of his female veteran patients during routine check-ups over a 12-month period, the Department of Justice has said.
The doctor who worked at the Veterans Affairs Medical Centre in Decatur, Georgia is accused of violating his patients’ constitutional right to bodily integrity while acting under colour of law and for engaging in unwanted sexual contact, it said in a press release dated May 4.
Also Read:40-year-old woman alleges sexual assault at Delhi Govt hospital, accused arrested
“Patel allegedly sexually abused his female patients between 2019 and 2020 and violated his oath to do no harm to patients under his care,” said US Attorney Ryan K Buchanan.
“Veterans and their families expect and deserve the highest quality of healthcare delivered in a safe and accountable setting,” said Veterans Affairs Inspector General Michael J Missa.
“Our Veterans have made incredible sacrifices for our country and deserve the best medical treatment and highest quality of care,” Buchanan was quoted as saying.
This case is being investigated by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, the release added.
Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that the Kasaba police arrested a senior paediatrician under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for allegedly sexually abusing a minor girl during a medical examination at his private clinic in Kerala's Kozhikode district. A senior paediatrician has been arrested for allegedly misbehaving with a girl during a medical examination at his private clinic in Kerala's Kozhikode district. The accused had been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act based on the complaint filed by the girl’s parents.
Also Read:77-year-old paralysed woman sexually assaulted at Nagpur hospital, accused arrested
1 year 11 months ago
News,Health news,Doctor News,International Health News,Latest Health News
Health & Wellness | Toronto Caribbean Newspaper
Men and health fitness
BY RACHEL MARY RILEY I always wonder some men enjoy health and fitness and some are not so interested in health and fitness. Some men believe that only woman should take care of themselves more even than themselves. Some men have been traumatizing by life and experiences that lead them into depression, mental health, oppression, […]
The post Men and health fitness first appeared on Toronto Caribbean Newspaper.
1 year 11 months ago
Fitness, #LatestPost
Health & Wellness | Toronto Caribbean Newspaper
Ecosystem biodiversity important to human health and nutrition
BY W. GIFFORD- JONES MD & DIANA GIFFORD-JONES The routine of modern-day life for most of us involves regular trips to the grocery store and three meals a day. The regular patterns of our diet can be a source of comfort or a rushed necessity, but is eating the same familiar foods – often the […]
The post Ecosystem biodiversity important to human health and nutrition first appeared on Toronto Caribbean Newspaper.
1 year 11 months ago
Your Health, #LatestPost
Brain Surgery Performed on Baby in the Womb for the First Time - SciTechDaily
- Brain Surgery Performed on Baby in the Womb for the First Time SciTechDaily
- 'Miracle': Boston Doctors Perform First of Its Kind Brain Surgery on Unborn Baby CBN.com
- First of its Kind Brain Surgery on Baby Inside the Womb has Successfully Prevented Heart Failure Good News Network
- Doctors in US perform brain surgery on unborn baby in womb | Daily Sabah Daily Sabah
- Brain surgery on a fetus inside a womb? Know all about this one-of-a-kind surgery The Financial Express
1 year 11 months ago
Ray Liotta had 'silent killer condition suffered by HALF of Americans over 45
The Goodfellas star, 67, died in his sleep from a combination of acute heart failure, respiratory failure and fluid build-up in his lungs while filming a movie in the Dominican Republic last year.
The Goodfellas star, 67, died in his sleep from a combination of acute heart failure, respiratory failure and fluid build-up in his lungs while filming a movie in the Dominican Republic last year.
1 year 11 months ago