USDA INTRODUCES CERTIFICATION PROGRAM FOR MEAT WITHOUT GROWTH-ENHANCING DRUGS
A new U.S. Department of Agriculture certification program for livestock producers may permit them to market their products with a special “Never Fed Beta Agonists” label. Beta agonists are feed additives used to increase muscle mass and promote weight gain in livestock animals. The drugs are typically added to feed along with vitamins and given...Continue Reading
FDA SHOULD EXPAND FOCUS AND ADOPT FOOD SYSTEMS APPROACH TO SAFETY
Want to hear something delicious? Recently the Food and Drug Administration reported that 12 percent of all U.S. spice imports were contaminated with non-spice-like objects, including whole insects and rodent hairs. As Americans, we are lucky to have FDA, which has been (for years) comprehensively studying the issue of spice safety and is moving toward... Continue Reading
Health IT Could Reduce Demand For Physicians
If health IT were fully implemented in 30% of community-based physicians' offices, the gains in efficiency would reduce demand for physicians by 4% to 9%, according to a new study in Health Affairs. If 70% of office-based physicians adopted comprehensive health IT -- including interoperable EHRs, clinical decision support, provider order entry and patient Web portals with secure messaging -- the impact on physician workforce requirements would be twice as large, the study said.
In addition, the study pointed out, 5% to 10% of real-time "office-based care" could be delivered remotely by providers whose patients are not in the physician's office. Continue reading
Utah Physician Invents Disease-Diagnosing Smartphone App
Intermountain Medical Center physician Joel Ehrenkranz has invented a smartphone app that diagnoses diseases. To show how his i-calQ app works, Ehrenkranz drew a small amount of blood from Brittnie, an expectant mother. She was not in a clinic or a lab, but outside in a small park. Ehrenkranz placed the blood sample in a holder then inserted it into an inexpensive reader attached to a smartphone. In one minute, the smartphone had the results of her blood hemoglobin. Within 15 minutes, it had evaluated her thyroid test.
…Ehrenkranz got the idea for this new technology in 2007 while working on the border between Uganda and the Congo. During an Ebola outbreak he theorized the beginnings of smartphone technology that could evolve into an immediate diagnosing tool. continue reading
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