Page 598 - Health Medical Pharma
Doctors protest against bill that aims to replace MCI with new
Resident doctors of several leading institutions, including AIIMS, today took out a protest march in Delhi against the National Medical Commission Bill, which aims to replace the Medical Council of India (MCI) with a new body. The participants included resident doctors from Safdarjung Hospital, PGI-Chandigarh, Aligarh Muslim University and other institutions. The protest began at the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences and headed towards the Parliament House in central Delhi, but the police stopped them near INA area. Hundreds of doctors participated in the protest opposing various provisions of the bill, including that it seeks to replace the MCI with a new body. A delegation of the doctors also met Health Minister J P Nadda at his office. "The minister assured that all our concerns will be addressed and a meeting with the parliamentary committee will be fixed," a member of the AIIMS Resident Doctors' Association said, adding that they were not going on a strike ..
Tanzanian man undergoes surgery for tumours in liver, rectum
A 32-year-old Tanzanian man received a new lease of life after undergoing a rare surgery for removal of two large tumours in his liver and rectal areas at a city hospital, doctors today said. Omar Salim underwent the surgery at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) on January 31, which lasted for seven hours. He was discharged today. "He came to us last October, with complaints of a large mass in abdomen and abdominal pain for a year. A previous attempt at surgery in his country had failed in view of the extent of the disease," the hospital said in a statement. He was initially evaluated with a CT scan of the abdomen which revealed that there was a large mass in relation to the rectum with compression of the urinary bladder and extending to the anterior abdominal wall up to the level of the umbilicus, it said. "There was another large mass in the left lobe of liver occupying nearly the whole of the left upper abdomen. Biopsy revealed a diagnosis of rectal GIST (Gastro ...
Two tumours weighing over 1 kg each removed from Tanzanian patient
Doctors at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SRGH) here have removed two tumours -- both weighing over 1 kg each -- from a patient from Tanzania, doctors treating him said.
Have made draft guidelines for emergency organ retrieval: Maha
The Maharashtra government today told the Bombay High Court it has drawn a set of draft guidelines for emergency organ retrieval and donation even for hospitals that are not registered for organ transplant. The government said the guidelines will be ratified in about four weeks and a Government Resolution (GR) will then be issued notifying them. The new guidelines will ensure, among other things, a mechanism to deal with emergency organ donation or retrieval situations even for patients who are undergoing treatment at hospitals that do not have the licenses and are not registered for conducting organ transplant. The submissions were made before a bench of Justices Naresh Patil and NW Sambre that was hearing a petition filed by a kidney patient Swapnil Raut. Raut's plea brought to light a recent incident at a Mumbai hospital, where another kidney patient awaiting donation from a brain-dead person, also at the same hospital, failed to get the organ since the potential ...
Roche notches fresh win amid crowd of immunotherapy cocktails
ZURICH (Reuters) - Roche's Tecentriq mixed with an older drug cut the risk of death in kidney cancer, marking another win for the Swiss drugmaker's immuno-oncology (I/O) cocktail as it battles better-established medicines made by its rivals.
HIV incident: Ex-IMA chief says it is a criminal act, Centre
The Centre has sent a team to Uttar Pradesh's Unnao to inquire into at least 46 people getting infected with HIV in the last 10 months after a quack allegedly used a common syringe to administer injection, which the medical fraternity termed a "criminal" act. Former IMA president Dr K K Aggarwal said there are set protocols and guidelines for administering injections and other surgical procedures which need to be followed. "Here, these were openly flouted which is purely a criminal act. A quack is not supposed to administer injections and stern action should be taken against the individual," he said. According to the Union health ministry, the three member team, comprising officials from National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and headed by Asha Hedge, has left for Unnao to find out the facts and will give a report within two to three days. Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Unnao Dr S P Chaudhary said a case has been registered against the quack. During a routine ...
Shalby launches state-of-the-art radiotherapy centre
At recently commissioned Naroda Shalby Hospital, Ahmedabad
Probe ordered after quack infects 40 with HIV
The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday ordered a probe into an incident in Unnao district where 40 persons have tested positive for HIV after being administered injections with the same needle by a quack, an official said.
46 infected with HIV, says Unnao CMO; quack who used common
At least 46 people were found infected with HIV at a tehsil in this district in the last 10 months, after which a quack was booked over the allegation that his use of a common syringe to administer injections led to the spurt in such cases, an official said today. A case has been registered against the quack at Bangarmau police station, the CMO said. "During a routine screening from April to July, 12 HIV positive cases were reported from Bangarmau tehsil alone. During another screening in November, another 13 cases were reported from the same place," Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr S P Chaudhary said. "After noticing the high number of cases, the health department constituted a two-member committee which visited various hamlets of Bangarmau to investigate the reasons behind the spurt," he said. Dr Chaudhary said the team visited Premganj and Chakmirpur areas of Bangarmau and filed a report, based on which screening camps were held at three places on January 24, 25 and ...
Stem cell therapy 'might act as a bridge for liver
Stem cell therapy is found to be useful in treating patients suffering from liver ailments like alcoholic hepatitis and cirrhosis, two studies conducted by PGIMER, Chandigarh have claimed. The patients with decompensated cirrhosis mostly have to opt for liver transplantation, but the limited availability of donor organs and high cost results in high waitlist mortality, Virendra Singh, professor, department of hepatology, PGIMER, told a news conference here today. Stem cells of one's own body help in liver regeneration and delay or possibly avoid liver transplant. Singh said the stem cell therapy "might act as a bridge for liver transplant" and can provide some time to the patients to arrange for liver transplant or in some cases help avoid need for transplant. "The cost of stem cell therapy is about Rs 10,000 for multiple courses and only Rs 3,000 for single course required for patients with alcoholic hepatitis," he said, adding a liver transplant costs anywhere between .
Safdarjung hospital gave proper medical attention to injured
Union Minister Aswini Choubey today informed the Rajya Sabha that not a single person who had sustained burn injuries in a fire in southeast Delhi's Sriniwaspuri was sent back from Safdarjung hospital without having been given proper medical attention. He was replying to a question whether Safdarjung hospital was found to be negligent in treatment of people who sustained burn injuries in a fire caused due to gas cylinder leakage in January and whether some were sent home after first-aid but later had to be admitted to other hospitals as their condition deteriorated. The minister of state for health, in his reply, said 25 patients reported for treatment in Safdarjung, all of them were properly seen, examined and necessary treatment was provided. Of the 25 patients, four were admitted in the Burn ICU while the rest had minor burns (less than 10 per cent), Choubey said. "All the patients were examined thoroughly, dressing was done and due medicines were given and ...
NHPS a 'big step' towards universal healthcare: EAC-PM member
The newly announced mega healthcare scheme is a 'very big step' and will lead to universal healthcare coverage, Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister (EAC-PM) member Shamika Ravi has said. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Union Budget 2018-19 had announced the National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) to provide health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh to over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families. "It's a Budget (2018-19) of continuity...We have to gradually move towards universal healthcare coverage. The National Health Protection Scheme(NHPS) is a very big step towards attaining universal healthcare coverage," Ravi told PTI. Noting that many states had their healthcare schemes, she insisted that the NHPS should be seen as consolidating fragmented healthcare market and making it even stronger. Ravi, also a senior fellow at Brookings India, expressed hope that in competitive insurance market, the government would get good premium and relatively competitive ...
Liver research centre in city
The Indian Institute of Liver and Digestive Sciences (IILDS) today launched a research and development centre at Sonarpur in the southern fringes of the city to provide a deeper understanding of the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in the Indian subcontinent. The NAFLD is the most common liver ailment that can lead to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, Liver Foundation West Bengal secretary Abhijit Chowdhury said during the launch. He said, "Liver and gastrointestinal illnesses are emerging as major health-care priorities in India. Over two lakh people die each year due to liver disease and over ten lakh patients are newly diagnosed with liver cirrhosis every year here". The IILDS in association with MedGenome, will provide for better understanding and mitigate serious liver ailments, sources in it said. The centre, which was inaugurated by Vice-chancellor of West Bengal University of Health Sciences Prof Rajendra Pandey, is a state-of-the-art cell ...
'Pvt sector to play key role in providing quality healthcare'
Leading healthcare providers Apollo Hospitals and Fortis Healthcare have said private sector can play a key role in ensuring quality healthcare in the country as it lauded the National Health Protection Scheme announced by the government. "In my view, this scheme is different from earlier schemes, as for the first time, we have meaningful coverage - Rs 5 Lakhs of cover for a family can truly give them access to cover a range of secondary and tertiary services," Apollo Hospitals MD Suneeta Reddy said in a statement. Definitely, the private sector will need to play a key role in ensuring the delivery of quality care, she added. "The private sector is committed to engaging with the Government, in the true spirit of Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) and develop innovative models of collaboration to ensure that the beneficiaries get the care they deserve," Reddy said. The funding challenge can be overcome by a phased and multi-pronged approach including state government ...
12 patients stabbed in their hospital beds in DR Congo
Unidentified assailants stabbed 12 patients in their hospital beds in the restive DR Congo city of Goma, with fears it was the work of Ugandan Islamist rebels, officials said today. Three of the victims were seriously hurt in the knife rampage overnight Sunday-Monday in two health centres in the Goma district of Mbosho, provincial health minister Martial Kambumbu told AFP. "It is the first time we have seen patients being stabbed in health facilities in Goma," said Etienne Kambale, civil society rapporteur in North Kivu province, of which Goma is the capital. "It is surprising. We are wondering if it was the ADF who have turned up in Goma, because this is the way they killed people in Beni." Government forces last month launched an offensive in Beni against the Islamist Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), one of a number of armed groups that hold territory in the eastern DR Congo and are battling for control of the region's rich mineral resources. Beni lies about 250 ...
Diabetes doubles chance of developing cataract: study
People with diabetes are twice as likely to develop cataract as the general population and the relative risk is highest in those aged between 45 and 54, according to a study. Researchers from Anglia Ruskin University in the UK analysed medical records from 56,510 UK-based diabetes patients aged 40 or over and found that cataract was diagnosed at an overall rate of 20.4 per 1,000 people. This compares to a rate in the general population of 10.8 per 1,000. Diabetics aged between 45 and 54 were considerably more likely than non-sufferers to develop cataract. Those diabetic patients aged between 45 and 49 were 4.6 times more likely to, and diabetics aged between 50 and 54 were 5.7 times more at risk than their healthy counterparts. The study, published in the journal Eye, used data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink, which covers around 7 per cent of the UK population and is representative of the overall demographic with regard to age, sex and geographic ...
New two-minute questionnaire may help detect autism
Scientists have developed a two- minute questionnaire for parents that could help doctors detect autism in toddlers, at a time when intervention might be crucial. The Psychological Development Questionnaire (PDQ-1), developed by researchers at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in the US, correctly identified youngsters who have autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with 88 per cent accuracy. The 1,959 18- to 36-month-old children who participated in the study received screening through a network of pediatric practices and were not known to have any developmental problems. Those who got low PDQ-1 scores were considered to be at risk of ASD and received comprehensive developmental evaluations to determine whether they were on the spectrum. The new screening test correctly identified autism in children from all socioeconomic communities, according to the study published in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. "Too many children, especially from low-income ...
Drinking piping hot tea may up oesophageal cancer risk
Drinking extremely hot tea may increase the risk of oesophageal cancer by up to five times, especially if a person also consumes alcohol and is a smoker, a study has warned. The research, published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, found that drinking very hot tea, along with smoking and drinking alcohol, was linked to an increased risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus. Although the exact mechanism is not known, research has suggested that frequently consuming scalding liquids may result in long-term injury to the cells lining the oesophagus, said Jun Lv, an epidemiologist at Peking University in China. Frequently drinking very hot liquids, prepared at temperatures of 65 degrees Celsius - which is much hotter than a typical cup of coffee or tea - can increase the risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus, researchers said. These heat-related changes to the oesophageal lining may also increase the likelihood of damage from other risk factors .
Daily exercise may boost better lung function among smokers
If you are a smoker try doing regular physical activities as it may help you to have better lung function, a new study suggests.
Resident docs oppose Bill to replace MCI with new body
Resident doctors from Delhi-AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital, PGI-Chandigarh and Aligarh Muslim University along with several other organisations today took out a protest march against the National Medical Commission Bill. The march was held from AIIMS to the Parliament House and over 10,000 doctors staged a protest opposing various provisions of the Bill that seeks to replace the Medical Council of India (MCI) with a new body. The Bill was referred to the Parliamentary Select Committee, following protests by doctors from across the country. They had claimed that the proposed legislation would "cripple" the functioning of medical professionals by making them completely answerable to the bureaucracy and non-medical administrators. Doctors are also opposing the Bill's proposal of allowing practitioners of alternative medicines, such as homoeopathy and ayurveda, practise allopathy after completing a "bridge course". AIIMS Resident Doctors Association (RDA) has termed the bill ..