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April 2009
Notes from the Section
- A new continuing education
opportunity from the AARC will soon be arriving in your mailbox. Read
the “Improving Symptom Control in Patients with Chronic Respiratory
Disease” booklet and then take the online POST-TEST
to earn 4 FREE CRCEs. The booklet is being supported by an education
grant from Sepracor.
- Do you know a section member
who has gone above and beyond, either for the section or on the job?
Then nominate him or her for our 2009 Specialty Practitioner of the
Year Award. Nominations are being accepted now on the SECTION
WEB SITE.
- Do you Facebook or Twitter?
Join in. FACEBOOK
TWITTER
NTSB Reiterates its Support
for Anti-fatigue Efforts
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) used National Sleep
Week to reconfirm its commitment to eliminating human fatigue in
the transportation
industry, noting the Board has issued more than 100 fatigue related
recommendations since 1972 and has placed human fatigue and hours-of-service
on its Most
Wanted List of safety improvements capable of making the biggest
impact on the industry. “Fatigue in transportation presents
unnecessary risks to the traveling public,” said NTSB Board
Member Deborah Hersman. “Fatigue
can impair a person behind the wheel or at the helm much like alcohol
or other drugs. We must ensure that as much as possible is being
done to protect
our transportation system from the insidious effect of human fatigue.” READ PRESS RELEASE
Fibromyalgia Drug Delayed
According to a recent Reuters article, Forest Laboratories and
Cypress Bioscience, Inc., are delaying the launch date for their
fibromyalgia
drug Savella. The companies are seeking Food and Drug Administration
approval
for what they term a “minor cosmetic change.” They expect
the medication to be available mid-year. It was scheduled to
debut in March.
READ ARTICLE
Implantable Device for OSA
Goes into Testing
Inspire Medical Systems, Inc., has implanted its electrical stimulation
device for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) into
the first patient, reports Sleep Review magazine. The device
is based
on a closed
loop system capable of sensing respiratory effort and then
delivering stimulation to keep the airway open, allowing the patient
to
breathe normally. READ
ARTICLE
A Less Costly Approach
A new study out of Australia finds a simplified method of diagnosing
and treating patients with OSA is comparable to standard
methods. Their study
randomized nearly 200 people to either the simplified group,
which was diagnosed and treated via ambulatory overnight
oximetry and
auto-titrating CPAP machines to set fixed CPAP under nurse
supervision, or the standard
care group, which received laboratory-based polysomnography,
CPAP titration, and physician management. Clinical outcomes
did not
differ between
the
two groups, but patients in the nurse-led group were diagnosed
and treated for $722 U.S. dollars less per patient than those
in the
physician-led group. The study appeared in the second March
issue of the American
Journal
of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. READ PRESS RELEASE
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