NHS Private Centres To Take Over Orthopaedic Procedures
A controversial start to the year, with the NHS announcing that Primary care trusts in Cumbria and Lancashire were to carry out an eight-week consultation with Clinical Assessment Treatment and Support centres to carry out diagnostics and minor treatment to cut waiting lists.
The centres are run by private firms, but would be paid by the NHS, leading to complaints from the BMA that it may fragment the NHS. Mike Farrar, chief executive of NHS North West, said: “The centres are not a replacement for hospital services, rather they will let the hospitals concentrate more on what they do best – treating those who need immediate care. But Dr Jonathan Fielden, chairman of the BMA's consultants committee, said: “These proposals could represent a significant threat to local NHS hospitals. When work goes to the private sector, they lose income.
Biomet Announce Merger – And It's Not Smith & Nephew
After months of speculation, troubled Biomet finally announced details of a merger with a private equity consortium worth $10.9bn. The merger was announced just a week after rumours that Smith & Nephew would table an $11bn bid for the company.
Daniel P. Hann, Interim President and CEO of Biomet, said, “As an independent, private company with the strong backing of private equity partners who recognise our potential for growth and support our dedication to providing our patients the best in innovative, high quality medical products, we will be in an even stronger position to deliver on our commitment to them and their doctors, as well as our team members and the communities in which we operate.”
Alcohol May Protect Against Arthritis
If you're a mouse. A study by Gothenburg University gave mice injections of collagen to induce rheumatoid arthritis (RA), then either untreated water or water with 10% pure alcohol. RA was found to develop significantly slower in the mice given alcohol, and had less severe symptoms once the disease did start to progress.
It's thought the alcohol may boost production of testosterone, which restricts the release of cytokines that cause inflammation. But Professor Andrzej Tarkowski, who led the research, said: “We can't translate these results to find out the therapeutic dose in humans. Professor Alan Silman, medical director at the Arthritis Research Campaign said: “It is possible that in this mouse model, alcohol may have had some effect in relation to arthritis. However it is doubtful whether this would have much influence in the human situation.”
Men Just As Likely As Women To Suffer Second Fracture
For years, women have been warned of the high risk of refractures, but it seems that men are the ones at the highest risk, according to a study. “After a first fracture, the risk of a subsequent fracture in women is doubled, but for men, it is increased three- to four-fold, so that the absolute risk of a subsequent fracture is the same for women and men,” said the study's author, Jacqueline Center, a senior research officer at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia.
Women's refracture risk after one fracture similar to a woman 10 years older who had never experienced fracture, the researchers say. For men, the refracture rate was similar to a man 20 years older. So a 60 year-old man who fractures a bone has the same risk of another fracture as an 80 year-old, according to the study.
Researchers Warn Of Osteoporosis Risk For Men
Another bad news story for men – physicians were warned by a Canadian researcher that they cannot continue to overlook osteoporosis problems in men. Dr. Aliya Khan said her paper, which supplements clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of osteoporosis, was intended to make physicians aware of the fact that they can no longer overlook diagnosing osteoporosis in their male patients. “The problem is that when men sustain fractures they are more likely to die or suffer a disability.”
Arthroscopy is 'Failing Rotator Cuff Disease'
A U.S. surgeon