Background Growing evidence shows that hospitals are increasingly employing physicians. Objective To examine changes in U.S. acute care hospitals that reported employment relationships with their physicians and to determine whether quality of care improved after the hospitals switched to this integration model. Design Retrospective cohort study of U.S. acute care hospitals between 2003 and ...

Until quite recently, the Chinese pension system was an enterprise-based, pay-as-you-go, defined benefit scheme. In 1995, the decision was made to shift to a multi-pillar scheme that included a second funded defined contribution pillar. The transition is proving difficult. This article outlines an alternative second pillar that may make more sense for China, a pay-as-you-go notional defined con...

Plain English summary People living with a condition are uniquely positioned to inform the understanding of the therapeutic context for drug development and evaluation. In 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) established the Patient-Focused Drug Development (PFDD) initiative to more systematically obtain the patient perspective on specific diseases and their currently available tre...

16.15.03-022010 Introduction Following publication of the December 2008 FDA Guidance for Industry Diabetes Mellitus — Evaluating Cardiovascular Risk in New Antidiabetic Therapies to Treat Type 2 Diabetes, assessment of cardiovascular safety has become a critical focus during the development of new antidiabetic therapies for Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The importance of this guidance docume...

The new england journal of medicine 2875 correspondence Rofecoxib, Merck, and the FDA to the editor: Merck has been proactive and conscientious in evaluating the cardiovascular profile of rofecoxib (Vioxx); Dr. Topol's remarks to the contrary in his Perspective article (Oct. 21 issue) 1 are false. First, his description of the time line obfus-cates the facts. The Food and Drug Administration (F...

T he Cardiovascular and Renal Advisory Panel of the FDA met January 27-28, 1998, to discuss (1) evaluation and use of intravenous inotropic agents in patients with heart failure; (2) liver function test abnormalities with a new AT 1 receptor blocker, tasosartan; and (3) the use of the platelet IIb/IIIa receptor blocker eptifibatide in syndromes of acute cardiac ischemia. Intravenous drugs for t...

Patients with hormone-sensitive breast cancer who have responded to tamoxifen may receive additional benefit from a second endocrine agent following progression or relapse after tamoxifen therapy. Fulvestrant (Faslodex((R)), ICI 182780, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals; Wilmington, Delaware) is a selective antagonist of estrogen designed to have no estrogenic effects. Lack of aqueous solubility led ...

The recovery of patients undergoing total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) can be adversely affected by a number of complications. Autologous platelet gel (APG), produced by activating platelet-rich plasma (PRP). has been shown to improve hemostasis and wound healing and reduce infections in some surgical procedures. Activated platelet-poor plasma (PPP) has also been used as a hemostatic agent. This...