'Free' Rx samples expensive.
Free drug samples provided to physicians by pharmaceutical companies actually could cost uninsured patients more in the long run, because those patients are prescribed brand-name drugs rather than generics, according to a study done by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Physicians were three...

Briefs.
COLUMN: Briefs V-F execs elected HOPKINTON - Valpey-Fisher Corp. announced that the board of directors yesterday elected Michael J. Ferrantino Jr. executive vice president and chief operating officer effective Oct. 1. In his new role Mr. Ferrantino will have overall responsibility of the day-to-day operations...

MEDICAL MEMOS.
COLUMN: MEDICAL MEMOS Fallon Clinic has added three new physicians: Dr. James C. Bayley, Dr. Margaret A. McCahan and Dr. Veronica Rusu. Dr. Bayley joined the department of orthopedic surgery at Worcester Medical Center. Dr. Bayley is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati in...

Physicians urged to get in the pay-for-performance game.
WASHINGTON -- Physicians may never embrace pay for performance with open arms, but they need to get in the game. That was the message delivered by policy experts speaking at meeting of annum research meeting of Academy Health. Hospitals have viewed pay for performance "as something that...

Making medical inroads in India: global perspectives on medical practice.
Dr. Renu Weiss had a longstanding desire to work with the destitute. When she heard about The Banyan, a facility that focuses on providing psychiatric and medical care for mentally ill destitute women in Chennai, India, she decided that working with that group was how she wanted to make...

H. pylori eradication cuts gastric cancer incidence.
Eradication of Helicobacter pylori in patients with early-stage gastric cancer reduced the risk of subsequent metachronous gastric carcinoma significantly, compared with controls, in a Japanese study of more than 500 patients. H. pylori is a known gastric carcinogen, according to the World Health Organization, and its causal...

Physicians urged to engage pay for performance.
WASHINGTON -- Physicans may never embrace pay for performance with open arms, but they do need to get in the game. That was the message delivered by policy experts speaking at meeting of annual research meeting of Academy Health. Hospitals have viewed pay for performance...

FDA panel urges review of CV risks of diabetes drugs; Long-term safety studies recommended.
SILVER SPRING, MD. --A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel agreed in a 14-2 vote that developers of new drugs or biologics for type 2 diabetes should be required to conduct a long-term study of cardiovascular safety or to provide "equivalent evidence" to rule out an unacceptable cardiovascular risk...

Lowering blood pressure reduces CV risks in diabetes.
PHILADELPHIA -- Lowering blood pressure might be more effective than lowering blood sugar alone for reducing the risk of cardiovascular events in type 2 diabetes patients, according to Dr. George J. Philippides, director of the coronary care unit at Boston Medical Center. Reducing blood pressure in patients...

Adherence to process measures predicts acute MI mortality.
PITTSBURGH -- Hospitals with low adherence to acute MI process measures have higher 30-day mortality rates than do other U.S. hospitals, even after adjustment for differences in patient populations. Recent studies have shown significant improvements in adherence to acute MI process measures--particularly aspirin and 13-blockers and ACE...