In the News


Criteria describe appropriate use of cardiac cath

New criteria provide guidance on when cardiac catheterization is appropriate to evaluate patients for heart disease. The appropriate use criteria were released last week by the American College of Cardiology Foundation and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions.

New guidelines released on lupus nephritis

The American College of Rheumatology released new guidelines last week on the screening, treatment and management of lupus nephritis, the first to specifically cover this topic.

MKSAP Quiz: worsening gait unsteadiness and falls

This week's quiz asks readers to evaluate a 65-year-old man for worsening gait unsteadiness and falls.

Laxative-free CT colonography may be acceptable alternative for cancer screening

Colon cancer screening with laxative-free computed tomographic colonography offers a better experience for patients and may be an acceptable alternate method, a new study indicates.

Copper IUDs effective as emergency contraception

Copper intrauterine devices (IUDs) are safe and highly effective for emergency contraception and regular contraception and are extremely cost-effective as an ongoing method, authors of a meta-analysis concluded.

Data monitoring committee ends behavioral COPD trial early

Scheduled safety monitoring should occur during behavioral intervention trials in case of unexpected outcomes, according to the authors of one such study for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) that recorded excess deaths in the intervention group.

Benefits of bisphosphonates after five years debated

Bisphosphonate treatment that continues beyond five years might not provide additional fracture prevention benefit, concluded a review by the FDA.

CMS modifies online enrollment

CMS has been making changes to its online enrollment system, PECOS.

CMS will distribute missing bonus payments for Palmetto GBA

CMS has announced that missing Primary Care Incentive Payment first quarter payments for physicians in the Palmetto GBA Medicare jurisdiction will be included in the July 2012 payment.

Course on healing health care disparities through education

Medical educators are invited to attend a two-day course featuring interactive methods for achieving the recently mandated integration of cross-cultural care into medical school and residency programs.

National Quality Forum endorses preventive care and screening measures

The National Quality Forum (NQF) has recently endorsed 19 quality measures related to preventive care and screening.

Put words in our mouth

ACP InternistWeekly wants readers to create captions for our new cartoon and help choose the winner. Pen the winning caption and win a $50 gift certificate good toward any ACP product, program or service.