MASSDEVICE ON CALL — CDC: Americans in Appalachia and the South are most sedentary. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report that says Americans in Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Tennessee are the least active, while people who live in Colorado, the west coast and parts of New England are the most active.
Obama administration requests that judge tell states to implement health reform. The Obama administration is asking the federal judge who decided against the healthcare reform law to tell states that the law isn’t optional, reports The Hill.
Study: Total knee replacement patients functioning well after 20 years. Most patients who undergo total knee replacement (TKR) are age 60 to 80. More than 90 percent of these individuals experience a dramatic reduction in knee pain and a significant improvement in the ability to perform common activities. However, questions have been raised about the decline in physical function over the long term despite the absence of implant-related problems. New research revealed at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) evaluates patient functionality 20 years after knee replacement.
Meawhile, metal-on-metal implants are getting more FDA scrutiy. The Food & Drug Administration raised alarms this week on metal-on-metal hip components. The information on the F.D.A. website, notifies people of the symptoms which include "hip/groin pain, local swelling, numbness or changes in your ability to walk." According to the site,
Metal-on-metal hip implants, like other types of hip implants, are known to have adverse events including infection and joint dislocation. There are some case reports of the metal particles causing a reaction around the joint, leading to deterioration of the tissue around the joint, loosening of the implant and failure of the device, as well as some of the symptoms described above. In addition, some metal ions from the implant may enter into the bloodstream. There have been a few recent case reports of patients with metal-on-metal hip implants developing a reaction to these ions and experiencing medical problems that might have been related to their implants, including effects on the nervous system, heart and thyroid gland.
The statement arrives not long after Johnson & Johnson subsidiary DePuy Orthopaedics issued a recall on their ASR line of hip replacement devices which have metal-on-metal hip components.
More than 100 charged with $225 million Medicare fraud. The Departments of Justice and Health & Human Services charged 111 healthcare providers with Medicare fraud. The individuals were accused of illegally billing country’s largest payer of medical bills more than $225 million, according to The Associated Press.
