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Forrest General Introduces BEXXAR Treatment
According to the American Cancer Society, physicians will report close to 59,000 new cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) during 2006. The society also predicts that about 19,000 of those new patients will die from the disease.
Certainly, the drug rituximab (Rituxan®), the first monoclonal antibody approved for cancer therapy by the FDA, has helped the medical profession make great strides in its fight against this disease.
BY JOHN M. HAYS |
Clinical Trials Birth Treatment Options
The advice for cancer patients to seek out clinical trials is practically ubiquitous. The National Cancer Institute, American Cancer Society, Mayo Clinic — all provide encouragement and resources for patients to seek out and find suitable clinical trials to help in the treatment of their diseases.
For Dr. J. Tate Thigpen, an oncologist at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMC), the reason is obvious. "Clinical trials are the only way we can validate what we've discovered in the laboratory," he said.
BY JOHN M. HAYS |
Researchers Reveal New Clue to Cell Death
Any cancer researcher will tell you that cancer cells are frustratingly difficult to kill, and scientists at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center may have pinpointed one reason why.
The lead author of a new study, published in the June 30 issue of the journal Cell, is Dean G. Tang, PhD, associate professor in the M.D. Anderson Department of Carcinogensis. He says cells are "programmed" to die, in a process known as apoptosis, yet cancer cells have adapted to avoid it. Just how they're dodging the apoptosis bullet, however, is where the research of Tang and his associates comes in.
BY SHARON H. FITZGERALD |
ASCO Meeting Showcases Hopeful Cancer Research
A study regarding the effectiveness of a kidney cancer drug against lung cancer was just one of many findings revealed at the June annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Atlanta. Kidney cancer patients heard some good news as well.
In a phase 3 clinical trial of an investigational drug called lapatinib, cancer growth slowed and survival improved in some patients with advanced kidney cancer. Specifically, the growth of renal cell carcinoma decelerated, thanks to the drug.
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Forrest General Implements Region's First Palliative Care Program
Major illnesses involve serious physical and emotional pain and suffering. Even when it leads to a cure, the treatment itself may actually augment the suffering involved with a disease.
Fortunately for patients in South Mississippi, Forrest General Hospital (FGH) is in the process of implementing the region's first palliative care program.
Palliative care, according to the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), is a form of interdisciplinary care that aims to relieve suffering and improve the quality of life for patients, as well as for their families, with life-threatening illnesses.
BY JOHN M. HAYS |
Family Ties
In late June of this year, Families for Depression Awareness (FFDA) launched an online tool to help patients and their relatives trace their mental health family tree. Certain illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, have strong familial connections.
"Bipolar disorder often runs in families like cancer or heart disease," says Julie Totten, president of FFDA, who founded the nonprofit organization in 2001 in the wake of her own family's mental health struggles. "I started it because I lost my brother to suicide about 15 years ago, and I didn't realize he had a depressive disorder."
BY CINDY SANDERS |
Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy Celebrates $14 Million in Research Grants … So Far
When physicians and medical researchers see the acronym ACGT, they think "adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine," the string of four nucleotides that constitute DNA. That's why Edward Netter gets such a kick out of the name he came up with for the organization he founded with his wife, Barbara, in 2001 — the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT®).
"By then, I had probably read 20 books on gene therapy, and ACGT is universal," he says. Netter trademarked the new alliance's name.
BY SHARON H. FITZGERALD |
Doctors Discuss New Ways to Treat Bipolar Disorder
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 5.7 million adults suffer from bipolar disorder — some 2.6 percent of the population over age 18. Though treatable, the disease has so far proven to be incurable.
"Surgeons can often cut out a disease and throw it away, in effect," said Dr. Grayson Norquist, professor of psychiatry and chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMC). "Some diseases we can put into permanent remission — but not bipolar disorder. Still, it is easier to treat than, say, schizophrenia. There is greater hope of improved functionality."
BY JOHN M. HAYS |
Vagus Nerve Stimulation
For almost a decade, patients suffering from some forms of epilepsy have received the benefit of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) therapy. In July 2005, the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of the device for the most severe cases of treatment-resistant depression.
Dr. Richard L. Rudolph, vice president of clinical and medical affairs and the chief medical officer for Cyberonics, the Houston-based manufacturer of the device, says FDA approval for the treatment of patients with refractory epilepsy came in 1997, and the following year clinical trials for depression were launched.
BY CINDY SANDERS |
The Economic Factor
Although approved by the FDA in 2005, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has not yet issued a national coverage decision for VNS therapy tied to depression (although coverage for epilepsy is in place).
Dr. Richard Rudolph, chief medical officer for the Houston-based device manufacturer Cyberonics, says, "In the absence of a national coverage decision, then the regional Medicare plans make their own local coverage decisions."
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Project Recovery Helps Katrina Survivors
"Believe it or not, I was just about ready to retire," said Jennie Hillman, the director of Mississippi's Project Recovery (PR). "Then Katrina hit, and they asked me to be the director of the project."
PR, which is funded by a grant from the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and facilitated by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), is a division of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health.
BY JOHN M. HAYS |
NIMH Study Evaluates Depression Treatment
What should a physician do when a patient with major depressive disorder (MDD) does not respond to his or her first treatment with an antidepressant? What are the ramifications of switching medications or of augmenting the current medication with another?
Answering these questions was the goal of the National Institute of Mental Health's (NIMH) program known as STAR*D, or Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression.
BY JOHN M. HAYS |
Physician Spotlight: Dr. Ken Davis
Ken Davis' life took a dramatic turn just after he was born.
Will Davis, who worked in the seed chemical business, and his wife, Frances, an elementary schoolteacher, adopted him as an infant in 1957 when rules for adoption for very rigid.
"My mother made the ultimate sacrifice for me," said Davis, who grew up in the Mississippi Delta. "She had to quit teaching because at that time, you couldn't adopt a child with the wife working. You couldn't imagine that nowadays."
BY LYNNE JETER |
Healthcare Spotlight: Oxford
Recent additions to the services of Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi's (BMH-NM) Oxford facilities aim to give patients more direct access to the information they need and more responsive attention from their physicians.
Now in its first year, the Baptist Center for Breast Health has centralized services in separate waiting, information and diagnostic areas within the Baptist Diagnostic Center, part of the Baptist Centers for Cancer Care. Five female staff members are dedicated to the breast health space.
BY LUCY SCHULTZE |
Oxford Medical Community Plans Free Clinic
A new free clinic to serve the working uninsured is set to open this fall in Oxford, following a multi-year effort that has involved the city's entire medical community.
The local nonprofit Health Services In-Action, launched in 2002 as a healthcare access program, is coordinating with doctors, nurses, pharmacists and a broad array of community organizations in preparing the Medical Ministries Clinic of Oxford.
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Mississippi Hospitals Object to Governor's Medicaid Plan
Much to the displeasure of private hospitals, Gov. Haley Barbour has introduced an assessment on private hospitals effective Sept. 1 to help cover a Medicaid shortfall necessitated by the federal government's decision to stop Mississippi and other states from using a complex funding formula that has allowed them to receive additional federal money.
Barbour is asking state lawmakers to set aside $45 million to cover half of a $90 million shortfall in state funding for Medicaid, and is using the new hospital assessment — 1.5 percent on the gross revenues of all hospitals — to help cover the remaining $45 million.
BY LYNNE JETER |
Fight Over Specialty Hospitals Continues
For Cirrus Health in Dallas, a three-year federal moratorium directed at specialty hospitals has given them time to work on some long-range planning.
"To be honest," says Cirrus spokesperson Tracy Edwards, "we've been laying the foundation for physician-owned hospitals during the moratorium. With it ending, of course, it just opens up the opportunities."
BY JOHN CARROLL |
JGO Makes History with Robotic-Assisted MIS Procedure
Last August, when Dr. Mildred Ridgway joined Jackson Gynecologic Oncology (JGO) as the third specialist in the practice group, she brought unique expertise on procedures involving minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for uterine cancer, the most common gynecologic cancer in American women, accounting for 35,000 new cases and 3,000 deaths annually.
BY LYNNE JETER |
MHA Celebrates 75 years of Service
With the theme "On the Horizon," the Mississippi Hospital Association (MHA) is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. The association believes that managers look at the bottom line but leaders keep their eyes on the horizon, and the MHA keeps its eye on the needs of members' institutions.
MHA president Sam Cameron said, "For us, 'On the Horizon' means how those needs will be met and how our association will grow and service members for the next 75 years."
BY LYNN LOFTON |
Benefield Awarded Outstanding Alumnus
Donald W Benefield, MD, was awarded Outstanding Alumnus from the Tulane Department of Ophthalmology. This award was given during a joint gathering of the 41st Annual C.S. O'Brien Scientific Meeting and the 28th Annual Tulane Eye Alumni Weekend on June 9, 2006 in New Orleans.
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Wilson Joins Hattiesburg Clinic
W. Jeff Wilson, Jr., MD, joins Hattiesburg Clinic in the practice of urology.
Dr. Wilson will see patients at both Hattiesburg Clinic urology location.
Dr. Wilson received his medical degree from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.
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Rankin Welcomes New Family Physician
Rankin Medical Center is happy to announce the newest member of our active medical staff, Jennifer Joiner Bryan, MD, who will be in private practice in the field of Family Medicine.
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SRHS Honors JulyEmployees of the Month
Singing River Hospital System recently honored two employees who were selected as July Employees of the Month. Jennifer Bartlett, RN, Three East, was chosen as Ocean Springs Hospital's Employee of the Month. Tammy Harris, System Communications Manager, was named Singing River Hospital's Employee of the Month.
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Beltran Joins Medical Staff at CMMC
Central Mississippi Medical Center is pleased to welcome Alvaro Beltran, MD, an infectious disease practitioner, to the medical staff of Central Mississippi Medical Center and the practice of Central Mississippi Infectious Disease Associates.
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Central Mississippi Medical Center Recognizes Teen Volunteers
At a luncheon on July 27, Central Mississippi Medical Center recognized area teens who served in the VolunTEEN program during the summer. The program that began on June 12th was designed to help teens gain work experience in various departments at the hospital. Twenty-two teens volunteered over 1,500 hours to CMMC staff members, visitors and patients.
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