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New Approach To Treating Heart Attacks Reduces Risk Of Life-Threatening Complications
Transferring heart attack patients to specialized hospitals to undergo angioplasty within six hours after receiving clot-busting drugs reduces the risk of life-threatening complications including repeat heart attacks, according to a new study from St. Michael"s Hospital and Southlake Regional Hospital.

Washington State Drops Budget Provision That Would Have Cut Medicaid Pharmacy Payments
Washington state lawmakers this week eliminated a budgetary proposal that would have reduced Medicaid payment rates to pharmacies to the lowest levels in the country, the AP/Spokane Spokesman-Review reports. The provision would have reduced the payment rate from 86% to 80% of the average wholesale price of branded drugs. It had been approved by the state House and Gov. Chris Gregoire (D) and was intended to address the state"s $9.3 billion shortfall for the current fiscal year.The state"s Department of Social and Health Services moved to make the rate change on April 1, but pharmacy operators and a person living with HIV/AIDS brought a suit in federal court in Tacoma, Wash., and a judge blocked the change. According to the judge"s order, the plaintiffs likely could prove that their best interests had not been sufficiently considered and that the proposal would diminish the quality of Medicaid care in the state. Walgreen had stated that if the rate change occurred, 44 of its 111 stores in the state would no longer be able to fill Medicaid prescriptions. Other pharmacies made similar arguments. The state prepared an argument on behalf of the rate cut, but later decided against it.Along with eliminating the payment reduction, state legislators added a provision that a DSHS analysis is required before rates can be lowered in the next budget, as well as one placing a 2% cap on any future rate cuts. DSHS spokesperson Jim Stevenson said the agency had not started to analyze what would be required to get a rate cut approved, but added, "I think we"re at a stage where we"re going to have to do it soon if we want to get ready for July 1," the start of fiscal year 2010 (AP/Spokane Spokesman-Review, 5/13).
News of the day
Dartmouth Studies Influence Administration, Even In Choice Of Venue
When President Obama chose Green Bay, Wis., to talk about the need for health reform, he did so in part because the area has achieved a high level of quality, and compared with other parts of the country, succeeded in restraining health care costs, National Public Radio reports. "They"re certainly spending a lot less money, and they are providing care that is equal or better than the care that is provided in many other communities around the country," Elliot Fisher, a researcher at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice told NPR in an interview. NPR says: "Some of the research the administration is relying on comes from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice," which focuses on variations in health quality and costs around the country.
Health Insurance

The Union To Offer 8 MDR-TB Courses This Year

The Union will offer 8 MDR-TB courses in 2009 as part of its commitment to addressing the global increase in multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis. The next 5-day intensive course will be held in Beijing, China on 18-22 May 2009. The Comprehensive Course on Clinical Management of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis is designed for senior-level programme and clinical staff and emphasises practical knowledge and skills in the management of the MDR-TB. The course coordinators are Dr Jose A Caminero and Dr Chiang Chen-Yuan. Instruction will be in English, with Chinese translation as required. Topics addressed through lecture, discussion and practical exercises will cover: -- Biological characteristics and condition of M. tuberculosis growth -- Basic concepts in drug resistance -- Global epidemiology of M. tuberculosis resistance -- Clinical manifestations of TB and drug-resistant TB -- Analysis of factors contributing to MDR- and XDR-TB -- Conventional laboratory procedures for diagnosis and treatment follow-up of TB - Clinical relevance -- Approach to the diagnosis of drug-resistant tuberculosis -- Framework for programmatic management of MDR-TB - Update of the MDR-TB Guidelines (Chinese version) -- Infection control -- Support of the drug susceptibility testing for management of drug-resistant TB -- Techniques for rapid diagnosis of drug-resistant TB -- Initial Treatment of TB -- principles -- Tuberculosis, MDR-/XDR-TB, and HIV -- Treatment of MDR-TB and XDR-TB -- principles -- Rational use of first- and second-line drugs in the MDR/XDR-TB treatment -- Adverse reactions to first- and second -line drugs -- Management of the MDR-TB in special situations: pregnancy, et al. -- Management of contacts of MDR-TB patients -- Generation of MDR/XDR-TB in NTP conditions -- Framework for effective MDR-TB control: The Green Light Committee -- Reasoning the best treatment options for a NTP -- Addressing the most controversial clinical issues reviewed in the course Dr Jose A Caminero has been a consultant for The Union since 1996. He develops and teaches many of The Union"s technical courses and serves on the Technical Review Panel of the Stop TB Partnership"s Green Light Committee. Dr Chiang Chen-Yuan is the Director of The Union"s Department of Lung Health. Dr Chiang is an MDR-TB clinician and researcher who has developed and coordinated several post-graduate courses in MDR-TB in addition to providing on-site technical assistance on MDR-TB in China. 2009 Union courses on Multidrug-resistant Tuberculosis International courses VII Spanish International Course on Clinical Management of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Dates: 20-24 July 2009 Location: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Language: Spanish Application deadline: 31 May 2009 Max. no. of participants: 30 II English International Course on Clinical Management of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Dates: September 21-25 2009 Location: Manila, The Philippines Language: English Application deadline: 30 June 2009 Max. no. of Participants: 30 I International Course for Portuguese-speaking countries Dates: November 2-6, 2009 Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Attendance only by invitation of the Brazilian NTP National courses National Course of Mexico April 19-21 2009 This course has already finished. National Course of Namibia June 29 - July 1 2009 Attendance only by invitation of the Namibian NTP National Course of Dominican Republic July 20-22 2009 Attendance only by invitation of the Dominican Republic NTP National Course of China May 18-22 2009 Attendance only by invitation of the China NTP Post-graduate Courses Clinical and Programmatic Management of MDR- and XDR-TB Date: 9 September 2009 Location: Beijing, China This post-graduate course is presented in conjunction with the 2nd Conference of the Union Asia Pacific Region, 9-12 September 2009 in Beijing, China. The conference theme is "Prevention and Control of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis." For more information, please visit The Union website. You may also write to mail@bjiualtd-apr.com International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease

RES Course Provider commented:

The technical training is getting popular at these time as it is the age of competition. MDR-TB courses are very useful for the trainees. Thanks for the post.

25.04.2012


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