"Health & Medical News"

It only takes a year to start draining empathy from future physicians, according to a study of medical students in the March issue of Academic Medicine. But empathy is a key quality medical schools should promote, experts said, because it makes for better physicians.

“We know as a medical community that really good communication skills with patients help the patients to comply with the instructions of the physician,” said lead study author Bruce W. Newton, PhD. “It puts them more at ease with the physician, a bond of trust is established, and if something unfortunately goes wrong, if you have this bond and communications skills, you are much less likely to be sued.”

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From:
Treatment Research Institute
600 Public Ledger Building, 150 S. Independence Mall West
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tel: (215) 399-0980
http://www.tresearch.org

Paying substance abuse treatment providers for results, not services, may lead to improved quality of care, according to the first published study of a novel performance-based contracting system implemented by the State of Delaware in 2002.

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Washington — Physician relationships with medical device makers came under fire at a Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing last month. So far, legislation is focused on manufacturers’ conduct, but lawmakers and enforcement agencies expressed concern about doctors’ potential conflicts of interest as well.

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Washington — Becoming a doctor isn’t cheap. The average debt for medical school graduates is approximately $140,000, according to the American Medical Association. But the burden could get a little lighter for some medical students under a bill passed last month by the House.

A provision inserted into legislation reauthorizing the federal government’s student loan programs would allow medical specialists with five or more years of graduate medical education to qualify for up to $2,000 in loan forgiveness annually for serving in areas of need. The maximum amount would be $10,000 for five years of service.

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When physicians look to protect their patients from medical identity theft, they may want to start by examining their office staff.

That’s because, while patients may try to use another person’s identity fraudulently to receive medical care, many thefts happen when a hospital, clinic or practice employee sells patient information to organized crime or gang leaders, experts said. Then the information is used to conduct fake billing or obtain goods such as wheelchairs and prescription drugs to sell on the black market, said Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, a nonprofit research and consumer education organization.

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Some California physicians say a recent settlement between a Ventura hospital and the Dept. of Justice underscores the importance of a self-governing medical staff.

Community Memorial Hospital in December 2007 agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle allegations that the facility gave improper gifts, loans and payments to some doctors in exchange for Medicare patient referrals. No doctors were named in the agreement, and the hospital did not admit any wrongdoing. Community Memorial administrators voluntarily disclosed the financial relationships, which took place under the hospital’s former leadership.

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A bill under consideration in Kansas wouldn’t make medical marijuana legal, but could provide some legal protection to users facing charges of marijuana possession, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported Jan. 29.

The measure would allow judges to consider medical use as a defense if marijuana users presented documentation from a doctor about the drug’s medical benefits. It would not decriminalize or legalize marijuana possession, however.

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Patients with a prescription to use marijuana for medical purposes can now get the drugs from vending machines in California, the BBC reported Jan. 28.

A handful of the vending machines have now been installed, including at a herbal nutrition store in Los Angeles. Medical-marijuana patients who have a prescription and agree to be fingerprinted and photographed are issued a special ID card that they can use to access the machines.

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Medical-marijuana users can be fired for violating workplace drug policies in California, despite the fact that use of the drug is legal for medical purposes under state law, the California Supreme Court has ruled.

The Associated Press reported Jan. 24 that the court upheld the firing of medical-marijuana user Gary Ross, who failed a company-ordered drug test. Ross said the fact that he was an authorized medical-marijuana user should have protected him from being fired, but the employer said that the firing was justified because marijuana is illegal under federal law.

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The nonmedical use of prescription-type drugs continues to be a problem among 12th? grade students, according to data from the 2007 national Monitoring the Future survey.

Fifteen percent of 12th? graders reported the nonmedical use of at least one prescription medication within the past year. Narcotic drugs, such as OxyContin? and Vicodin, were the most prevalent (9.2%), followed by amphetamines (7.5%), sedatives (6.2%), and tranquilizers (6.2%).

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