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Merck Faces Punitive Damages
Jurors in New Jersey last month awarded $9 million in punitive damages—and $4.5 million in compensatory damages—to John McDarby, 76, who claimed that his myocardial infarction was caused in part by his long-term use of Vioxx. However, the jury did not find in favor of the other plaintiff in the case—60-year-old Thomas Cona, who claimed his use of Vioxx for about 22 months contributed to his MI. Merck & Co., which manufactures Vioxx, plans to appeal both the compensatory and punitive damage awards. “We continue to believe that the heart attacks in both these cases were caused by the preexisting medical conditions of these two men, and not Vioxx,” Chuck Harrell, a member of the Merck defense team, said in a statement. To date, Merck has lost only one other Vioxx case. In 2005, a Texas jury awarded more than $250 million to the plaintiff and found that Merck had failed to warn doctors about the risks of the drugs, the drug was improperly designed, and that the company's negligence caused the death of Robert Ernst. Merck has won a federal case and another New Jersey case and plans on appealing the Texas verdict.
Importance of Exercise
Patients with arthritis still aren't getting the message that exercise can decrease pain and disability in that population, according to a study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The researchers compared levels of activity among individuals with and without arthritis using data from the 2002 National Health Interview Survey and found that adults with arthritis were much less likely to engage in recommended levels of moderate to vigorous activity and that overall activity levels were low. They did not find significant differences between those with and without arthritis in terms of inactivity or in the participation in strengthening exercises. Future research should focus on targeting the groups at the greatest risk for inactivity such as women, the elderly, and minorities, the authors wrote.
Health Care Workforce Concerns
The number of new geriatricians in the United States is declining, even as the over-65 population is growing rapidly, according to a report from the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the University at Albany, part of the State University of New York system. The report, which was funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration, finds that while projections on the number of physicians entering practice each year is expected to be adequate to meet the “aggregate demand,” it may not be well matched to the needs of older Americans. And the report points to the need for more geriatricians, registered nurses, clinical psychologists, nursing home administrators, and other health care workers to meet the needs of the growing older population. The report also found that the demand for services by older adults is likely to be affected by health insurance reimbursement policies, emerging technology, new models of care, and changes in the profession-specific scope of practice. The full report is available online at
Researching Psoriatic Arthritis
The National Psoriasis Foundation has awarded $120,000 in seed money to researchers trying to understand the mechanism of disease for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. The idea behind the program is to fund research that will generate preliminary data to be used in grant applications to the National Institutes of Health. The four grants—funded at $30,000 each—were awarded to researchers in Oregon, Utah, Colorado, and New York. One grant recipient at Columbia University will focus on understanding the environment of joints in psoriatic arthritis. The results of this type of research could lead to better therapeutic targets for psoriatic arthritis, according to the Psoriasis Foundation.
Decline in Charity Care
The decade-long decline in the proportion of physicians providing charity care continued in 2004–2005, according to a study by the Center for Studying Health System Change. The percentage of physicians providing any free or reduced-fee care decreased to 68% in 2004–2005, down from 72% in 2000–2001. “Declines in charity care were observed across most major specialties, practice types, practice income levels, and geographic regions,” study authors Peter J. Cunningham, Ph.D., and Jessica H. May wrote. “Increasing financial pressures and changes in practice arrangements may account in part for the continuing decrease in physician charity care.” More than 70% of physicians providing charity care reported that they typically did so in their own practice, while 14% provided it while on call in a hospital emergency department and 6% in another practice or clinic.
Vote of Low Confidence
Americans have a low level of trust and confidence in President Bush when it comes to improving the U.S. health care system, a Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive poll found. Only 25% of adults are “confident or very confident” that the president can reduce the percentage of Americans without health insurance, according to the online survey of more than 2,400 adults. About half (49%) of Republicans expressed this level of confidence, compared with 7% of Democrats and 19% of Independents. Respondents expressed somewhat more trust in the Democrats (45%) and potential 2008 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) (41%) to improve the health care system than in the Republicans (31%) and President Bush (30%).
Merck Faces Punitive Damages
Jurors in New Jersey last month awarded $9 million in punitive damages—and $4.5 million in compensatory damages—to John McDarby, 76, who claimed that his myocardial infarction was caused in part by his long-term use of Vioxx. However, the jury did not find in favor of the other plaintiff in the case—60-year-old Thomas Cona, who claimed his use of Vioxx for about 22 months contributed to his MI. Merck & Co., which manufactures Vioxx, plans to appeal both the compensatory and punitive damage awards. “We continue to believe that the heart attacks in both these cases were caused by the preexisting medical conditions of these two men, and not Vioxx,” Chuck Harrell, a member of the Merck defense team, said in a statement. To date, Merck has lost only one other Vioxx case. In 2005, a Texas jury awarded more than $250 million to the plaintiff and found that Merck had failed to warn doctors about the risks of the drugs, the drug was improperly designed, and that the company's negligence caused the death of Robert Ernst. Merck has won a federal case and another New Jersey case and plans on appealing the Texas verdict.
Importance of Exercise
Patients with arthritis still aren't getting the message that exercise can decrease pain and disability in that population, according to a study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The researchers compared levels of activity among individuals with and without arthritis using data from the 2002 National Health Interview Survey and found that adults with arthritis were much less likely to engage in recommended levels of moderate to vigorous activity and that overall activity levels were low. They did not find significant differences between those with and without arthritis in terms of inactivity or in the participation in strengthening exercises. Future research should focus on targeting the groups at the greatest risk for inactivity such as women, the elderly, and minorities, the authors wrote.
Health Care Workforce Concerns
The number of new geriatricians in the United States is declining, even as the over-65 population is growing rapidly, according to a report from the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the University at Albany, part of the State University of New York system. The report, which was funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration, finds that while projections on the number of physicians entering practice each year is expected to be adequate to meet the “aggregate demand,” it may not be well matched to the needs of older Americans. And the report points to the need for more geriatricians, registered nurses, clinical psychologists, nursing home administrators, and other health care workers to meet the needs of the growing older population. The report also found that the demand for services by older adults is likely to be affected by health insurance reimbursement policies, emerging technology, new models of care, and changes in the profession-specific scope of practice. The full report is available online at
Researching Psoriatic Arthritis
The National Psoriasis Foundation has awarded $120,000 in seed money to researchers trying to understand the mechanism of disease for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. The idea behind the program is to fund research that will generate preliminary data to be used in grant applications to the National Institutes of Health. The four grants—funded at $30,000 each—were awarded to researchers in Oregon, Utah, Colorado, and New York. One grant recipient at Columbia University will focus on understanding the environment of joints in psoriatic arthritis. The results of this type of research could lead to better therapeutic targets for psoriatic arthritis, according to the Psoriasis Foundation.
Decline in Charity Care
The decade-long decline in the proportion of physicians providing charity care continued in 2004–2005, according to a study by the Center for Studying Health System Change. The percentage of physicians providing any free or reduced-fee care decreased to 68% in 2004–2005, down from 72% in 2000–2001. “Declines in charity care were observed across most major specialties, practice types, practice income levels, and geographic regions,” study authors Peter J. Cunningham, Ph.D., and Jessica H. May wrote. “Increasing financial pressures and changes in practice arrangements may account in part for the continuing decrease in physician charity care.” More than 70% of physicians providing charity care reported that they typically did so in their own practice, while 14% provided it while on call in a hospital emergency department and 6% in another practice or clinic.
Vote of Low Confidence
Americans have a low level of trust and confidence in President Bush when it comes to improving the U.S. health care system, a Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive poll found. Only 25% of adults are “confident or very confident” that the president can reduce the percentage of Americans without health insurance, according to the online survey of more than 2,400 adults. About half (49%) of Republicans expressed this level of confidence, compared with 7% of Democrats and 19% of Independents. Respondents expressed somewhat more trust in the Democrats (45%) and potential 2008 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) (41%) to improve the health care system than in the Republicans (31%) and President Bush (30%).
Merck Faces Punitive Damages
Jurors in New Jersey last month awarded $9 million in punitive damages—and $4.5 million in compensatory damages—to John McDarby, 76, who claimed that his myocardial infarction was caused in part by his long-term use of Vioxx. However, the jury did not find in favor of the other plaintiff in the case—60-year-old Thomas Cona, who claimed his use of Vioxx for about 22 months contributed to his MI. Merck & Co., which manufactures Vioxx, plans to appeal both the compensatory and punitive damage awards. “We continue to believe that the heart attacks in both these cases were caused by the preexisting medical conditions of these two men, and not Vioxx,” Chuck Harrell, a member of the Merck defense team, said in a statement. To date, Merck has lost only one other Vioxx case. In 2005, a Texas jury awarded more than $250 million to the plaintiff and found that Merck had failed to warn doctors about the risks of the drugs, the drug was improperly designed, and that the company's negligence caused the death of Robert Ernst. Merck has won a federal case and another New Jersey case and plans on appealing the Texas verdict.
Importance of Exercise
Patients with arthritis still aren't getting the message that exercise can decrease pain and disability in that population, according to a study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The researchers compared levels of activity among individuals with and without arthritis using data from the 2002 National Health Interview Survey and found that adults with arthritis were much less likely to engage in recommended levels of moderate to vigorous activity and that overall activity levels were low. They did not find significant differences between those with and without arthritis in terms of inactivity or in the participation in strengthening exercises. Future research should focus on targeting the groups at the greatest risk for inactivity such as women, the elderly, and minorities, the authors wrote.
Health Care Workforce Concerns
The number of new geriatricians in the United States is declining, even as the over-65 population is growing rapidly, according to a report from the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the University at Albany, part of the State University of New York system. The report, which was funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration, finds that while projections on the number of physicians entering practice each year is expected to be adequate to meet the “aggregate demand,” it may not be well matched to the needs of older Americans. And the report points to the need for more geriatricians, registered nurses, clinical psychologists, nursing home administrators, and other health care workers to meet the needs of the growing older population. The report also found that the demand for services by older adults is likely to be affected by health insurance reimbursement policies, emerging technology, new models of care, and changes in the profession-specific scope of practice. The full report is available online at
Researching Psoriatic Arthritis
The National Psoriasis Foundation has awarded $120,000 in seed money to researchers trying to understand the mechanism of disease for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. The idea behind the program is to fund research that will generate preliminary data to be used in grant applications to the National Institutes of Health. The four grants—funded at $30,000 each—were awarded to researchers in Oregon, Utah, Colorado, and New York. One grant recipient at Columbia University will focus on understanding the environment of joints in psoriatic arthritis. The results of this type of research could lead to better therapeutic targets for psoriatic arthritis, according to the Psoriasis Foundation.
Decline in Charity Care
The decade-long decline in the proportion of physicians providing charity care continued in 2004–2005, according to a study by the Center for Studying Health System Change. The percentage of physicians providing any free or reduced-fee care decreased to 68% in 2004–2005, down from 72% in 2000–2001. “Declines in charity care were observed across most major specialties, practice types, practice income levels, and geographic regions,” study authors Peter J. Cunningham, Ph.D., and Jessica H. May wrote. “Increasing financial pressures and changes in practice arrangements may account in part for the continuing decrease in physician charity care.” More than 70% of physicians providing charity care reported that they typically did so in their own practice, while 14% provided it while on call in a hospital emergency department and 6% in another practice or clinic.
Vote of Low Confidence
Americans have a low level of trust and confidence in President Bush when it comes to improving the U.S. health care system, a Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive poll found. Only 25% of adults are “confident or very confident” that the president can reduce the percentage of Americans without health insurance, according to the online survey of more than 2,400 adults. About half (49%) of Republicans expressed this level of confidence, compared with 7% of Democrats and 19% of Independents. Respondents expressed somewhat more trust in the Democrats (45%) and potential 2008 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) (41%) to improve the health care system than in the Republicans (31%) and President Bush (30%).