Featured Articles

The New Middle Ground: Between RX & Over The Counter

SAUSALITO (ASRN.ORG) -- If you were taking the NCLEX today, and were asked if there was a middle ground between prescription and OTC, would you answer "yes" or "no"? Well, get ready. The answer is a surprising yes. If you're a male nurse, you may not be aware that even right now, Plan B, Barrs's emergency contraception pill is sold this way now. It's called "behind the counter".

The FDA is looking to expand this "behind the counter" gray area, the middle ground between drugs that require a prescription and those that anyone can buy off the shelf, and said it is holding hearings in this largely uncharted territory next month to discuss the possibility of putting more medicines into this middle-world.

Legislative "Earmarks" Allow Hospitals To Reap Windfall Wnder Child Bill

WASHINGTON (ASRN.ORG)-- Despite the promise by Congress to end legislative "earmarks", which allow legislators to add "silent" funding to their "pet" projects in complete secrecy, the House of Representatives has quietly funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to specific hospitals and health care providers under a bill passed this month to help low-income children.

Instead of naming the hospitals, the bill describes them in cryptic terms, so that identifying a beneficiary is like solving a riddle. Most of the provisions were added to the bill at the request of Democratic lawmakers.

Aldara Cream Treats Skin Damage From Sun

SAUSALITO (ASRN.ORG)-- A type of skin lesion called actinic keratosis, caused by long-term exposure to the sun, responds well to prescription Aldara cream applied three times a week in one or two month-long courses, a study shows. The cream contains a 5 percent concentration of the drug imiquimod.

In the study, reported in the Journal of the America Academy of Dermatology, this treatment successfully cleared all skin lesions in more than half of cases.

Study: Researchers Say Stem Cell Discovery May Treat Leukemia Patients

VANCOUVER (ASRN.ORG) -- The B.C. Cancer Agency says a new finding about stem cells could lead to a breakthrough in treatment for leukemia patients.

Researchers at the agency say they've discovered that not all stem cells in mice are created equal and different cells behave in different ways, which could explain why some kinds of leukemia are harder to treat.

Google and Microsoft bring health care to internet

SAUSALITO (ASRN.ORG) -- In politics, every serious candidate for the White House has a health care plan. So too in business, where the two leading candidates for Web supremacy, Google and Microsoft, are working up their plans to improve the nation’s health care.

By combining better Internet search tools, the vast resources of the Web and online personal health records, both companies are betting they can enable people to make smarter choices about their health habits and medical care.

Masthead

  • Masthead

    Editor-in Chief:
    Kirsten Nicole

    Editorial Staff:
    Kirsten Nicole
    Stan Kenyon
    Robyn Bowman
    Kimberly McNabb
    Lisa Gordon
    Stephanie Robinson
     

    Contributors:
    Kirsten Nicole
    Stan Kenyon
    Liz Di Bernardo
    Cris Lobato
    Elisa Howard
    Susan Cramer