Dr Harsh Vardhan presides over draw of lots for selection of NMC members

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare presided over the proceedings of draw of lots for selection of part-time members of NMC, in the presence of Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of Health and Family Welfare. This was conducted in the presence of senior officers from the Ministry and mediapersons.

Terming it historic, Dr Harsh Vardhan stated that it is a huge and visionary reform in the medical education sector by the NDA Government under the leadership of our visionary Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji, and will prove to be a milestone in the years to come. He further stated that as promised, the process of selecting its members is being completed in a time bound manner. “We had 9 months to select the members of the NMC, and within a short span of two months, we have framed the rules, notified them and also carried out the process of selection of the part-time members of the NMC today. To ensure probity and integrity of the highest order, a compact body is being selected through a transparent mechanism and representation of States and State Councils in rotation. This will facilitate for faster decision making also,” Dr Harsh Vardhan added.

Health officials alerts about possible measles exposure at Philadelphia International Airport

(CNN): The Pennsylvania Department of Health warned the public on Friday that anyone who visited the Philadelphia International Airport on October 2 and 3 could have contracted the viral infection. "The Department of Health is working with the county and municipal health departments to notify Pennsylvanians who were on flights with the suspected case, but other individuals may have been exposed at the airport during the identified times," Secretary of Health Rachel Levin said in a statement, adding, "however, if you have been properly immunized against measles, your risk of getting the disease is minimal." An individual who is suspected of having measles was at the airport on both days and may have exposed other people, Levine said.

“All citizens of the world can save a life”: World Restart a Heart Day highlights bystander CPR

Hands-only CPR is a simple, effective life-saving technique and can be performed by anyone

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a lifesaving technique useful in many emergencies, including a heart attack or near drowning. Along with the access to external defibrillators (AEDs), CPR has the potential to improve outcomes in all patients of cardiac arrest outside the hospital.

It has been shown that CPR, especially if performed immediately (especially in the first 10 minutes of cardiac arrest), can double or triple a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival.

When multiple trained personnel are present, the simultaneous performance of continuous excellent chest compressions and proper ventilation using a 30:2 compression to ventilation ratio is recommended for the management of sudden cardiac arrest. The importance of ventilation increases with the duration of the arrest. ....read more

Lefamulin: A new antibiotic for community-acquired pneumonia?

The US FDA has approved a new drug “lefamulin” as treatment for adults with community-acquired bacterial pneumonia. It will be available as oral and intravenous (IV) formulations both.

The drug is a semisynthetic pleuromutilin that inhibits prokaryotic ribosomal protein synthesis through a unique mechanism that reduces its likelihood of developing resistance to bacteria or cross-resistance with the β-lactam, fluoroquinolone, glycopeptide, macrolide, and tetracycline antibiotic classes. ....read more

You look at people the same way as you are

Honest people regard everybody as honest and dishonest people regard everybody as dishonest. It all depends on the type of people you interact with. If you do not take bribe, nobody will come and offer bribe to you and you will feel everybody is honest. If you take bribe then everybody will come to you to offer bribe and you will feel that everybody in the society is dishonest. ....read more

Healthcare News Monitor

50 lakh get hospitalisation benefit under Ayushman Bharat

ET Health-IANS

New Delhi: Achieving another milestone in just over a year, the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) on Monday crossed the 50 lakh treatment mark. There are nine hospital admissions every minute across India under the scheme. Under the flagship health assurance scheme of the Narendra Modi government, free secondary and tertiary treatment worth Rs 7,901 crore has been availed in the 32 states and UTs implementing the scheme. According to the National Health Authority (NHA) figures, more than 60 per cent of the amount spent has been on tertiary care. Segments like cardiology, orthopaedics, radiation, oncology, cardio-thoracic and vascular surgery, and urology have emerged as the top tertiary specialities. Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh have emerged as the top performing states under the scheme. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said: "The Ayushman Bharat family is growing by leaps and bounds. In just over one year, under PM-JAY more than 50 lakh treatments have been availed by beneficiaries across the country." NHA CEO Indu Bhushan said: "50 lakh hospital treatments is a significant milestone for PM-JAY, but there is a long journey ahead. The scheme will continue to focus on reducing catastrophic out-of-pocket health expenditure, improving access to quality health care and meeting the unmet need of the population for hospitalization care, so that we move towards the vision of Universal Health Coverage." The 50 lakh hospital admissions have taken place in the public and empanelled private hospitals that provide care to the beneficiaries under the scheme. To date, 18,486 hospitals have been empanelled across India. In the first year, 53 per cent of the empanelled hospitals are private, especially multi-specialty hospitals. There have been more than 50,000 portability cases, wherein migrant and travelling eligible Indians have availed their treatment outside their home states.

Nebulizers, BP monitors, digital thermometers to need BIS certificate from 1 Jan

Mint- Neetu Chandra Sharma

The government will now regulate quality and performance standards of commonly used medical devices such as nebulizers, blood pressure monitors, digital thermometers and glucometers, effective 1 January 1, 2020. According to the ministry of health and family welfare, these devices will have to be registered under the quality parameters prescribed under Medical Devices Rules 2017 and other standards set by the Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) certification. After the Drug Controller-General of India (DCGI) last year notified these items as drugs under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, the government will also regulate the import, manufacture and sale of these devices. At a recent meeting, the Drug Technical Advisory Body (DTAB) approved the proposal to include these medical devices under the purview of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.

Pacemaker implanted in 100-year-old man in Tamil Nadu

ET Healthworld- Padmini Sivarajah

MADURAI: Doctors in Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre in Madurai have implanted a pacemaker in a 100-year-old man. Head of department of cardiology Dr N Ganesan and consultant electrophysiologist Dr P Jeyapandian said Solyappan was diabetic and suffering from hypertension. His Aadhaar card shows he was born on August 18, 1919. Solyappan came to hospital with complaints of general weakness. He was subjected to routine investigations and his electrocardiogram revealed complete heart block. Echocardiogram showed normal left ventricular function. He had been given a temporary pacemaker before but doctors now advised him to have a permanent pacemaker. The patient’s family agreed following which the implantation was done using a new technology called His Bundle Pacing. Solyappan responded well and started to walk. He was discharged from hospital a few days ago.

Jharkhand men complain of stomach ache, doc prescribes pregnancy test

ET Healthworld- IANS

Ranchi: A doctor in Jharkhand prescribed pregnancy test to two young men in Chatra district after they complained of stomach pain. Besides pregnancy test, Mukesh Kumar, a government hospital doctor, also asked Gopal Ganjhu and Kameshwar Janhu to undergo tests for HIV and haemoglobin. Following this, the two men complained against the doctor to Arun Kumar Paswan, the civil surgeon of Chatra district. "A probe has been ordered into the matter," Paswan told reporters. Kumar has however denied the allegation. In July, another doctor in East Singhbhum district had prescribed condoms to a woman who had complained of stomach pain. Only when she visited a pharmacy, she realised that the prescribed medicine on the prescription was a condom.

Chandigarh: 15 medical negligence cases in 1.5 years, says GMCH study

ET Healthworld- Shimona Kanwar

CHANDIGARH: As many as 15 cases of medical negligence were filed at the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC) against city-based government and private hospitals in the last one-and-a-half years, according to a study by Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32. Only four of the cases were proven. Cardiology related cases accounted for 21% of the suits filed followed by orthopaedics, general surgery and dentistry. Dr Dasari Harish and Dr Varun Modgil from the department of forensic medicine conducted a retrospective and prospective study on the cases from January 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019. "These numbers are not much as the overall reputation of the doctors here is not bad. If is often thought that the case was filed due to improper documentation which made the victim to believe that there was medical negligence," said Dr Harish, the lead author of the study.