oday’s Top Story
FDA to require boxed warnings regarding concurrent use of opioid analgesics, prescription opioid cough products, and benzodiazepine.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that it will require boxed warnings and patient-focused Medication Guides for prescription opioid analgesics, opioid-containing cough products, and benzodiazepines—nearly 400 products in total—including information regarding serious risks associated with concurrent use of those medications. An FDA data review showed that physicians have been increasingly prescribing them together, and this has been associated with adverse outcomes. Based on data reviewed by the FDA, the agency concluded that from 2004 to 2011, the rate of emergency department visits involving non-medical use of opiods and benzodiazepines increased significantly, with overdose deaths involving both drug classes nearly tripling during that time-frame.
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View additional information from FDA…
Other News
AAOS and other organizations object to elimination of CMS Refinement Panel from relative value appeals process.
In a letter to Andrew M. Slavitt, acting director of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), the American Medical Association, and 75 other organizations have requested that the agency restore the Refinement Panel, which serves as part of the relative value appeals process. “For more than 25 years, CMS has convened the Refinement Panel to carefully review public comments, hear testimony from practicing physicians and independently recommend refinements to relative values,” the writers state. However, in a recently issued Final Rule, the agency proposed to permanently eliminate its Refinement Panel process, stating that “2016 is the final year for which we anticipate establishing interim final values for existing services.” AAOS and other organizations have objected to the elimination of the Refinement Panel “due to a technicality,” and urged CMS to “open Refinement Panel review to all procedures and services that are under CMS review during the current rulemaking process.”
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Read the letter (PDF)…
Study: No significant difference in outcomes for Dupuytren patients treated with collagenase or needle fasciotomy for MCP contracture.
A study conducted in Sweden and published in the September issue of The Journal of Hand Surgery finds no significant difference in outcomes between collagenase and needle fasciotomy treatment for contracture of the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint in Dupuytren disease. The authors conducted a prospective, single-blinded, randomized study of 140 patients with an MCP contracture of 20° or more in a single finger, who were treated with collagenase (n = 69) or needle fasciotomy (n = 71). At 1-week follow-up, the authors found that 88 percent of patients in the collagenase cohort and 90 percent of patients in the needle fasciotomy cohort displayed a reduction in MCP contracture to less than 5°, and median gains in passive MCP movement were 48° and 46°, respectively. Overall median visual analog scale score for procedural pain was 4.9 of 10 in the collagenase group and 2.7 of 10 in the needle fasciotomy group. At 1-year follow-up, 90 percent of patients in both groups had full extension of the treated MCP joint, and one patient in each group had a recurrence of the contracture.
Read the abstract…
California.
STAT reports that the California State Legislature is considering a bill that, if enacted, would protect patients from paying surprise medical bills when they inadvertently receive treatment from out-of-network providers. Under the bill, consumers would only pay the equivalent of in-network rates under certain circumstances. The bill has received criticism from some providers, who argue that it would empower insurers to narrow provider networks and limit access to health services.
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Texas.
The Texas Medical Association has announced plans to increase physician awareness of the threat of cyber attack that can leave health records vulnerable. The organization notes that so-called “ransomware” is “software designed to invade and block access to office computer systems that store patient information.” To regain access, providers must often pay a fee to the attackers. The association states that “medical practices often are vulnerable to cyber-attack because of outdated computer systems and obsolete data security,” and that it considers ransomware a direct threat to patient care.
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September AAOS Now is online now and in your mailbox soon!
AAOS members will soon receive the print edition of the September issue of AAOS Now, but the online edition is already available on the AAOS Now website. This month’s issue includes a look recent activities of the Orthopaedic Political Action Committee, an examination of total joint arthroplasty performance measures, answers to commonly asked coding questions, and much more!
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Read “From Cleveland to Philadelphia with the Orthopaedic PAC”…
Read “The Evolving State of TJA Performance Measures”…
Read “Commonly Asked Coding Questions”…
Call for volunteers: Foot & Ankle Program Committee.
Aug. 17, 2017 is the last day to submit your application for chair of the Foot & Ankle Program Committee. Members of Program Committees grade symposia in May and abstracts in June and July, and may moderate paper sessions during the AAOS Annual Meeting. Applicants for this position must be active fellows with a practice emphasis on foot and ankle.
Learn more and submit your application…
