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Intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) allows patients to control their own pain medication, but a new study published in the December 2008 issue of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety shows that errors related to this practice are four times more likely to result in patient harm than errors that occur with other medications.
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The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) have created the advanced certified hospice and palliative social worker credential (ACHP-SW).
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The annual number of patients discharged from U.S. community hospitals to home health care rose 53% between 1997 and 2006, while the number discharged to long-term care and other facilities rose 30%, according to a new report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a notice to update the Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS) for calendar year 2009.
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This study examines and describes the occurrence of an inverse neurovascular coupling response in peri-contusional brain tissue as a potential and novel mechanism for secondary brain injury.
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In addition to autoantibodies directed against the acetylcholine receptor (AchR) and the receptor-associated protein muscle-specific tyrosine kinase (MuSK) patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) demonstrate a host of other antibodies.
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Carotid MRI scanning was performed in 1414 stroke-free participants, older than the age of 45 years, to assess the morphology of any atherosclerotic plaques, specifically to look at the presence of a lipid core, intraplaque hemorrhage, calcification, or fibrous tissue in each carotid artery.
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DaTSCAN imaging makes use of the dopamine transporter (DAT) ligand [123I]FP-CIT used with SPECT to provide a means to visualize the integrity of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system. DaTSCAN has been approved in the United States to aid in evaluation of patients in whom Parkinsons disease (PD) and certain other related neurodegenerative disorders are suspected.
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Natalizumab is a monoclonal antibody that is FDA-approved for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). Among the available options to treat MS, it is one of the most effective.
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In a Phase 2 trial, antibodies to calcitonin gene-related peptide resulted in a significant decrease in migraine days measured from baseline to weeks 5 to 8 after one intravenous infusion of the medication, as compared to a placebo infusion. But the high-rate of placebo response (50%) warrants caution in the interpretation of the study results and requires more investigation.
