http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. It's one of the toughest questions patients and their loved ones can discuss with physicians: When is further medical treatment futile? The conversation can become even more difficult if patients or their families disagree with health care providers' recommendations on end-of-life care. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-conflicts-end-of-life-mayo-experts.html Health Tue, 27 Nov 2012 15:28:33 EST news273252503 The Red Cross is preparing to launch a new website to help reunite families ripped apart by conflicts and natural disasters all around the world, it said Monday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-red-website-families-crises.html Health Mon, 12 Nov 2012 13:29:37 EST news271949367 As the use of Twitter and other social media by physicians and patients rises, more and more physicians seem to forget to do what many consider crucial for building doctor-patient trust: disclose potential conflicts of interest. However, physicians are not entirely at fault: prominent medical societies have failed to lay out comprehensive guidelines for physicians on when and how to disclose a conflict of interest when utilizing social media. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-physicians-disclose-conflicts-social-media.html Other Mon, 12 Nov 2012 05:44:52 EST news271921485 State physician health programs (PHPs) play a key role in helping doctors with substance abuse problems. But the current PHP system is inconsistent and prone to potential conflicts of interest and ethical issues, according to a review available as publish ahead of print content from the December 2012 issue of Journal of Addiction Medicine, the official journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-addiction-doctors-pose-ethical-issues.html Addiction Mon, 15 Oct 2012 11:02:44 EST news269517756 The more autistic tendencies a person exhibits the greater the chance that he or she uses the Internet in a compulsive manner. NWO researcher Catrin Finkenauer from VU University Amsterdam has demonstrated this relationship scientifically for the first time. Compulsive Internet use can have a negative effect on a person's well-being and on the maintenance of relationships. Finkenauer published the research results today in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. The multidisciplinary research could be realised thanks to a collaboration with the communication scientists Monique Pollmann and Peter Kerkhof, and psychologist Sander Begeer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-autistic-tendencies-linked-compulsive-internet.html Autism spectrum disorders Wed, 26 Sep 2012 08:41:40 EST news267867688 Conflict-of-interest statements made by physicians and scientists in their medical journal articles after they had been allegedly paid by pharmaceutical manufacturers as part of off-label marketing programs are often inadequate, highlighting the deficiencies in relying on author candidness and the weaknesses in some journal practices in ensuring proper disclosure, according to a study by international researchers published in this week's PLoS Medicine. Off-label marketing is the promotion by a manufacturer of a drug for use in a condition or age group, or in a dose or form of administration that has not been specifically approved by a drugs regulatory body; it is illegal in the United States. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-coi-declarations-off-label-drug.html Other Tue, 07 Aug 2012 17:32:11 EST news263579521 (Medical Xpress) -- A study of more than 500 patients admitted to, and discharged from, a big-city medical center suggests that nurse-pharmacist teams trained to track down discrepancies between lists of drugs patients are taking at home and those they are scheduled to take in the hospital might substantially reduce such potentially harmful conflicts. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-special-nurse-pharmacist-teams-conflicts-patient.html Other Fri, 03 Aug 2012 08:23:57 EST news263201028 Recent guidelines recommending cholesterol tests for children fail to weigh health benefits against potential harms and costs, according to a new commentary authored by three physician-researchers at UCSF. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-lipid-screening-guidelines-children-overly.html Pediatrics Mon, 23 Jul 2012 04:18:24 EST news262235890 In an editorial to launch a major new series on "Big Food," the PLoS Medicine editors and guest editors argue that the multinational food and beverage industry has a growing influence on the global health agenda and a major role in the obesity crisis, but that its activities have not been met with sufficient scrutiny or skepticism. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-food-industry-scrutiny-health.html Health Tue, 19 Jun 2012 17:52:25 EST news259347140 Medical institutions have been under pressure to develop and implement policies to avoid conflicts of interest between physicians and pharmaceutical companies. In most cases, medical professionals who have a stake in the issues at hand craft the conflict of interest policies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-physicians-biased-medical-conflict-policies.html Other Tue, 19 Jun 2012 11:11:53 EST news259323105 A recent international study led by researchers from McGill University and the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) examines the complex and controversial interplay of conflicts of interest between physician experts, medicine and the pharmaceutical or medical device industry. The results of the analysis, which are published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, aim to advance the management of conflicts of interest in medical guidelines. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-ethics-framework-urged-conflicts-medicine.html Other Wed, 13 Jun 2012 13:49:41 EST news258814140 Nearly half of the research presented at ASCO's annual meeting last year came from researchers with ties to companies, and the amount appears to be increasing every year, according to new findings from Fox Chase Cancer Center. The new findings will be presented this year at the 2012 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting on Monday, June 4. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-cutting-edge-cancer-industry.html Cancer Thu, 17 May 2012 09:45:42 EST news256466736 "Journals, professional associations, clinical guideline developers, and others need to worry not just that disclosure provides a band-aid to the real problem of the [conflict of interest] itself, but that any attempt to stem the trouble through disclosure policies may actually be worsening the problem," say the editors of PLoS Medicine writing in an editorial that discusses the response to a paper published in the Journal last month, which examined the financial conflicts of interest of members of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) responsible for updating the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-disclosure-financial-conflicts-worsen-medical.html Other Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:00:01 EST news254505557 (HealthDay) -- The use of Oxiplex gel (containing carboxymethylcellulose, polyethylene oxide, and calcium) to coat the surgical site during discectomy procedures for the treatment of lumbar disc herniation is associated with improved clinical outcomes, according to a study published in the April 15 issue of Spine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-oxiplex-outcomes-lumbar-discectomy.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:20:01 EST news254490795 (Medical Xpress) -- Women who served in the U.S. Army in Iraq and Afghanistan were involved in combat at significantly higher rates than in previous conflicts, and screened positive for post-traumatic stress disorder at the same rate as men, according to a study led by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-women-soldiers-combat-prior-eras.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:00:01 EST news245924425 Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that conflicts of interest (COI) are prevalent and potentially underreported among individuals participating in the development of clinical practice guidelines, which inform standards of patient care. The findings provide further evidence of the potential influence of industry on medical practice recommendations. The study is published online Oct. 12 in BMJ: The British Medical Journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-industry-conflicts-pervasive-medical-guideline.html Other Wed, 12 Oct 2011 05:04:43 EST news237614677 Journalists routinely report on conflicts, disasters and tragedies, but a new book by Ball State University's Mark Massé reveals that news media workers may suffer from stress, burnout and mental anguish as a result of being brutally close to the action. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-journalists-depression-ptsd.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 29 Sep 2011 10:51:53 EST news236512300 There are many products that are publicised as cures for acne, often at considerable expense to both consumers and the health-care system, but there is very little evidence of which ones work best and for whom. Few studies have compared treatments against each other in terms of effectiveness and safety. Furthermore, concerns that the long-term use of antibiotics to treat acne might contribute to bacterial resistance increases the urgency to test treatment regimens and to develop more effective non-antibiotic therapies, according to a Seminar, published Online First in The Lancet. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-lack-widely-acne-treatments-limiting.html Medications Mon, 29 Aug 2011 18:30:01 EST news233847500 Results demonstrate that 91% of RCTs recording this kind of FCOI achieved a positive - outcome, compared to 66.7% of RCTs without specific FCOI (p=0.02) and adjusting for confounding factors did not change this finding. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-reveals-financial-conflicts-positive-outcomes.html Other Fri, 27 May 2011 04:45:18 EST news225690301 Canada needs an agency to investigate research misconduct, states an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-ensuring-research-integrity.html Other Mon, 09 May 2011 12:32:56 EST news224163148