Foot Blog News - Issue 14


Texas Court Dismisses Vioxx Lawsuit

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A Texas judge overseeing lawsuits against Merck & Co. over its withdrawn pain drug Vioxx on Friday dismissed a case brought by a woman, rejecting her claim that she was not properly informed of the medicine’s health risks, according to court papers.Judge Randy Wilson held that to prevail under Texas law the plaintiff would have to show that Merck withheld required, material and relevant information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that would have led to a different decision regarding warnings on the approved labeling for Vioxx.

 

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Understanding How Glucocorticoids Work To Stop Skin Irritation

Medical News Today-Individuals who are allergic to some things that their skin comes in contact with (a condition called contact dermatitis), such as metals or poison ivy, are treated with glucocorticoids, which can be applied to the skin as a cream or taken orally. Glucocorticoids work by dampening the inflammatory response to the allergen, but precisely which cells they affect and in what way have not been determined for contact dermatitis.In a study appearing online in advance of publication in the May print issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Gunther Schutz and colleagues from the German Cancer Research Institute, Heidelberg, show that glucocorticoids do not dampen inflammation induced by contact with an allergen in mice lacking expression of the glucocorticoid receptor in immune cells known as macrophages and neutrophils. Furthermore, for glucocorticoids to dampen inflammation the glucocorticoid receptor had to bind DNA and repress the production of several proinflammatory soluble factors, including IL-1-beta, MIP-2, MCP-1, and IP-10. Conversely, administration of these soluble factors to mice abrogated the protective effects of glucocoticoids following the induction of an allergic response in the skin. The authors therefore suggest that targeting macrophage and neutrophil production of these soluble factors might provide a more specific treatment for individuals with contact dermatitis than glucocorticoids and avoid the side-effects that are associated with long-term administration of glucocorticoids. 

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Probiotics help with antibiotic side effects

EDMONTON, Alberta, April 20 (UPI) — Probiotics, the “good” bacteria in yogurt and dietary supplements, help counteract diarrhea in children after taking antibiotics, says a Canadian study. Antibiotics commonly used to treat children with respiratory tract and skin infections can cause antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Some 11 percent to 40 percent of children taking antibiotics suffer from antibiotic-associated diarrhea, according to researchers at the University of Alberta.The review, published in The Cochrane Library, analyzed 10 studies that tested 1,986 children from birth to 18 years old who received antibiotics to treat a medical condition along with probiotics to prevent antibiotic-associated diarrhea. 

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Phase II Trial Of EcoNail For Treatment Of Onychomycosis

MacroChem Corporation (OTCBB: MACM.OB) announced the completion of patient enrollment in a 40 patient U.S. multi-center open label Phase II efficacy study of EcoNail, a topical antifungal lacquer for the treatment of onychomycosis (nail fungus). EcoNail is the company’s patented lacquer which contains the antifungal econazole and MacroChem’s enhancer SEPA®.Patients participating in the study, which is being conducted under MacroChem’s U.S. Investigational New Drug application filed with the FDA, will receive 48 weeks of treatment and will undergo efficacy assessments using standard criteria of nail appearance and mycology. However, the Company will collect and evaluate 24-week interim data later this year. This trial was specifically designed, with the assistance of well-known onychomycosis experts, to address three important objectives: to assess early signs of efficacy, to maintain robust clinical endpoints in the full study, and, if successful, to facilitate advancement to Phase III as soon as possible.

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Study doubts benefit of chondroitin for arthritis

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Though many swear by it, the dietary supplement chondroitin is no better than a placebo at easing the hip and knee pain of arthritis and its use should be discouraged, European researchers said on Monday.  Chondroitin sulfate, one of the building blocks of cartilage, is widely sold in the United States in combination with glucosamine as a treatment for the aches and pains of osteoarthritis. The supplement has annual U.S. sales of about $1 billion a year.In Europe, the supplement is typically sold by itself for arthritis relief and in Switzerland is featured on a list of insurance-approved treatments.

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These Israeli Boots Are Made For Treating Peripheral Vascular Disorders

Medical News Today-Novel Israeli-made therapeutic devices for the treatment of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), deep vein thrombosis (DVT) prevention, venous ulcers, lymphoedema, and other conditions are soon going to be available throughout the US.American wound and skin care manufacturer and supplier Derma Sciences, Inc. has obtained a licensing agreement with C-Boot, an Israeli medical biosystems company, for the marketing, sales and distribution rights of C-Boot’s patented devices which also treat conditions that require compression therapy, including the enhancement of blood circulation during recovery from coronary artery bypass graft surgery and orthopedic hip and knee replacements.Based in Kibbutz Yiron near Israel’s northern border, C-Boot was founded in 2000 as part of the Israeli Chief Scientist’s incubator program, to develop new technologies and specialized products for the management of peripheral vascular disorders.

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The DGEMRIC Index As A Predictor Of Cartilage Mechanical Stiffness

Medical News Today-Can non-destructive MRI provide a measurement of cartilage function? The delayed Gadolinium Enhanced MRI of Cartilage (dGEMRIC) index is highly correlated to mechanical stiffness, and, although not as good as a direct mechanical measurement, the index can be used as a predictive measure of stiffness. These findings will be published in the April issue of the Journal of Orthopaedic Research, (http://www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/jor), the official journal of the Orthopaedic Research Society.Osteoarthritis (OA) involves a loss of balance between synthesis and breakdown of the constituents of articular cartilage. Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) provide this cartilage its compressive strength and the dGEMRIC technique uses a negatively charged MR contrast agent to determine the GAG distribution within the cartilage.

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Change of Season Brings Lawn Mower Warning

SUNDAY, April 15 (HealthDay News) — Each year in the United States, about 9,400 children are treated for lawn-mower related injuries such as lacerations, fractures and amputations of the fingers, hands, toes, feet and legs, say experts at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. 

“The No. 1 advice to parents is: Treat the lawn mower as hazardous equipment, not a toy. You don’t let a child play with an electric saw, and that’s exactly what a lawn mower is,” Carol Gentry, pediatric OR nurse manager, said in a prepared statement.

Of the lawn mower accident cases treated at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center between 2000 and 2005, 95 percent involved amputations that required reattachment or reconstructive surgery.

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Ossur’s Proprio Foot Walks Away With 2007 Medical Design Excellence Award – Ossur’s Bionic Technology Breaks New Ground For Amputeeses


Medical News Today-Ossur, a trusted and global developer of more scientifically advanced prosthetic innovations than any other company in the field, is pleased to announce that its PROPRIO FOOT(TM) is the winner of a 2007 Medical Design Excellence Award. The PROPRIO FOOT, the latest in Ossur’s Bionic Technology platform, is the world’s first motor-powered and intelligent prosthetic foot, a seamless fusion of electronics, mechanics, and human physiology that reduces the energy patients spend in reacting consciously to the environment. The foot replaces muscle function that was lost due to an amputation, enabling amputees to perform normal, functional activites by:* Sensing. Knowing where their foot is in space is a huge safety issue for amputees. Sophisticated sensor technology mimics the body’s own neural receptors that are sensitive to mechanical change, providing artificial proprioception (that sense of where the limb is in space). Hence the name PROPRIO FOOT.
 

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AACE: Surgery Proposed for Intractable Type 2 Diabetes

SEATTLE, April 12 — For long-term remission of refractory type 2 diabetes, a surgical procedure akin to gastric bypass has just entered clinical trials in Europe, investigators said here today.In the two patients treated with an ileal interposition technique, there was a normalization of hemoglobin A1c levels within four months of surgery, commented Karen E. Foster-Schubert, M.D., of the University of Washington in Seattle, during a general session on bariatric surgery at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists meeting.

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Happy Feet: 10 Tips for Maintaining Healthy Feet

April 13, 2007 (Newswise) — The human foot is a marvel of biomechanical engineering that most of us take for granted until the system fails or breaks down. The average person will walk the equivalent of twice around the world in a lifetime, which is a long time on your feet.Podiatrists who are part of the UCLA Medical Group offer the following tips for helping maintain healthy feet and avoiding complications. The physicians are board-certified, provide comprehensive diagnosis and treatment of all foot and ankle conditions, and also have expertise in the management of diabetic foot problems and sports injuries.

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U.S. panel rejects Merck’s Vioxx successor

GAITHERSBURG, Maryland (Reuters) – Merck & Co Inc.’s successor to the recalled pain reliever Vioxx should not be approved, a U.S. advisory panel ruled on Thursday.The Food and Drug Administration’s panel of outside experts voted 20-1 against recommending clearance for the drug, called Arcoxia.The agency is not required to follow panel recommendations but usually does. Merck said it expects a final FDA decision on Arcoxia by month’s end.

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Juries More Often Sympathize with Doctors

COLUMBIA, Mo., , April 13, 2007 (UPI) — It’s a common belief that juries frequently side with patients in lawsuits involving medical malpractice, but a study finds that’s not true. Philip Peters, of University of Missouri-Columbia’s School of Law, found contrary to popular belief, juries sympathize more often with doctors and less with their patients.The findings, published in the May edition of the Michigan Law Review, was made following an extensive review of studies examining medical malpractice cases from 1989 to 2006.The study found negligence matters and plaintiffs rarely win weak cases, but plaintiffs have more success in toss-up cases and have better outcomes in cases with strong evidence of medical negligence. Juries have the ability to recognize weak cases and agree with independent legal experts 80 percent to 90 percent of the time regarding such cases and doctors are victorious in 50 percent of the cases that independent legal experts expected plaintiffs to win.

 

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