News

You will need to refurbish everything from patient registration to back-end claims processing to make sure those high-deductible patients pay what they owe.

New understanding about the pathogenesis of cardiocutaneous desmosome disorders is providing clues for early diagnosis and perhaps, one day, treatments, an expert says.

Clinical trials are necessary before products can be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and often afterward, as product safety and efficacy are further investigated.

Dermatologists and other physicians are facing another battle over Medicare fees, with a 9.9 percent cut looming for 2008 unless Congress steps in and provides another one-year fix - or manages an unlikely long-term solution to the problem.

Recent regulations may bar, for the very first time, expert advisers to the FDA who receive money from either a pharmaceutical or device manufacturer from voting to approve that company's products.

The software salesperson painted a rosy scenario of a physician walking from exam room to exam room with a Tablet PC, and by typing a few key strokes, generating a complete office note, prescriptions, a referral letter and instructions for the front office staff.

Understanding the basic concepts of cutaneous immunology, and specifically, the immunology of psoriasis, is vital to successfully embracing newer biologic therapies.

Tel Aviv, Israel - New research suggests a link between psoriasis and two diseases that are potentially serious: diabetes and atherosclerosis.

Sheffield, England - Researchers here are refuting previous studies’ claims that pentoxifylline is an effective long-term treatment for mouth ulcers, HealthDay News reports.

Winston-Salem, N.C.-Two studies published in the April issue of the Archives of Dermatology suggest that oral lichen planus (OLP) responds well to methotrexate and oral erosive lichen planus (OELP) to pimecrolimus, news source Medscape reports.

Scottsdale, Ariz. - A pilot study done by researchers at the Mayo Clinic here has found that optical coherence tomography is as effective as routine histopathologic techniques for estimating the superficial thickness of basal cell carcinomas, HealthDay News reports.

Besancon, France - Researchers here say a superoxide dismutase (SOD) supplement, GliSODin, reduces the severity of redness associated with sunburn by almost 10 per cent.

Hanover, N.H. - Results of a Dartmouth Medical School study suggest that drinking two cups of tea daily can lower the risk of developing skin cancer, BBC News reports.

Philadelphia - According to a new study, the use of the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End-Results (SEER)-based classification system can help identify high-risk patients with thin cutaneous melanomas and thus improve clinical decision-making, Reuters Health reports.

Atlanta - A new study suggests that melanomas detected by dermatologists tend to be smaller and at an earlier stage than those found by non-dermatologists - and that these patients have a higher rate of survival.

Washington - Certain variants in the interleukin 10 (IL-10) promoter region can predict poor outcomes in patients with malignant melanoma, including tumor ulceration and recurrence, suggests research presented at the recent 60th annual meeting of the Society of Surgical Oncology, here.

Albany, N.Y. - Two New York state legislators are co-sponsoring a bill that would require expiration dates on sun-care products.

Berlin - A new vitamin B6 derivative called Panadoxine P may become a commonly used ingredient in cosmetic products in the near future.

South San Francisco, Calif. - Israel’s Ministry of Health has granted approval for biopharmaceutical firm Pain Therapeutics Inc., based here, to begin human testing of a new treatment for metastatic melanoma.

Washington - The child of a soldier just back from Iraq has been hospitalized after developing a reaction to his father’s smallpox vaccination, reports Reuters Health. At press time, the 2-year-old boy was in critical condition, but doctors expressed cautious optimism that he was improving.

Sheffield, England - British researchers report they have identified a means by which to quickly detect the presence of bacteria by using a light device activated by polymer molecules. According to a BBC news report, the technology could have significant application in wound healing.

Alexandria, Va. - There has been a 69 percent increase in the number of women and a 91 increase in the number of men having nonsurgical facial plastic surgery since 2000, the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) reports in its annual membership survey.

Washington - The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is moving to ban scientists from serving on agency advisory panels if those scientists receive more than $50,000 from drug and medical-device companies.

Dublin, Ireland - The concept that rosacea evolves in stages from flushing (pre-rosacea) to rhinophyma (end-stage disease) is erroneous, as it implies a pathogenic process not yet established by research, according to Frank C. Powell, M.D., in practice at the Regional Center Dermatology, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.

Dublin, Ireland - The concept that rosacea evolves in stages from flushing (pre-rosacea) to rhinophyma (end-stage disease) is erroneous, as it implies a pathogenic process not yet established by research, according to Frank C. Powell, M.D., in practice at the Regional Center Dermatology, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.

National report - Dermatologists and other trained medical professionals should oversee use of topical numbing creams, and should use only low concentrations for only short periods of time to ensure the safety of patients, say experts in the field and officials from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Dallas - While toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) ranks among the most serious conditions that may present in an emergency room, it's far from the only emergent issue a dermatologist may be asked to treat.

Advances in techniques and procedures are making treatments for other pediatric dermatologic conditions more effective.

Washington - One year after iPLEDGE's inception, dermatologists applaud the program's elimination of a 23-day lockout period for male and nonchildbearing female patients who fail to fill isotretinoin prescriptions on time.

National report - Although pharmaceutical giant Merck has suspended its lobbying campaign to make its newly approved vaccine Gardasil mandatory for young girls, many dermatologists firmly believe inoculation should be compulsory - for several reasons.