Poll: Americans' Faith in Clinical Trials Shaken Wed Mar 27, 5:25 PM ET http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=594&u=/nm/200 20327/hl_nm/tr ials_risk_1 NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Americans believe clinical trials are important in order to get needed safety and efficacy information on drugs or devices, but they are not fully confident that those who take part in the studies will get the best medical care or be told honestly of all the risks involved, a Harris Interactive survey released Wednesday shows. The results are based on a 6-day survey in February of 2,031 adults aged 18 and older. These people responded to Harris' invitation to participate in an online poll, and are representative of the US population, according to the polling company. Overall, 83% said it is "essential" or "very important" to conduct human studies for new therapies before they are approved. Ninety-two percent said they were somewhat or very confident that patients who take part in the studies contribute to knowledge that will help others in the future. But respondents were slightly less confident that those who participated would be well-treated. Thirty-two percent said they were very confident, and 50% somewhat confident, that study participants would get good medical care. Most thought risks were adequately communicated, but 18% said they were "not confident" that patients were given full disclosure..... **** Coming Soon: Antibiotic-Resistant Strep? Fri Apr 19,11:57 PM ET http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=97&97&e=13&u= /hsn/20020420/ hl_hsn/coming_soon__antibiotic_resistant_strep_ By Serena Gordon HealthScoutNews Reporter FRIDAY, April 19 (HealthScoutNews) -- In the wake of a new report that the strep throat germ is now showing significant antibiotic resistance in the United States, many people are wondering if they -- or their children -- are at risk. They just might be, unless all of us reduce our dependence on antibiotics, says Philip Tierno, director of clinical microbiology at New York University Medical Center and Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York City. "Antibiotic resistance is more prevalent than you'd think," Tierno adds. There are two main reasons for it: Overprescription of antibiotics by doctors and the use of antibiotics in livestock, he says. "One hundred and fifty million prescriptions are written annually," Tierno says. "Ninety million of those are for antibiotics, and 50 million of those are unnecessary." Many antibiotic prescriptions are written for sore throats, but only a small percentage of them are caused by Group A streptococci bacteria, which causes strep throat. The germ can also cause sinus, ear and skin infections. Left untreated, strep can progress into scarlet fever or the more serious rheumatic fever, with potentially fatal consequences. Young children are especially vulnerable to such complications. Strep throat is commonly treated with antibiotics, such as penicillin, or erythromycin for those who are allergic to penicillin. ***** Congressman Urges Autism Research Thu Apr 18, 2:14 PM ET http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=534&534&e=17 &u=/ap/20020418 /ap_on_he_me/autism_1 By JANELLE CARTER, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Research funding for autism lags behind other diseases even as the number of children diagnosed with the condition is increasing, a congressman complained Thursday. "Funding into basic and clinical research into autism needs to grow," said Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., chairman of the House Government Reform Committee (news - web sites). Burton's grandson, Christopher, is autistic. "We have an epidemic on our hands and we in Congress need to make sure the NIH (National Institutes of Health (news - web sites)) and CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites)) treat this condition like an epidemic," Burton said. Autism is a neuro-biological disorder that typically appears during the first three years of life. Children and adults with autism typically have difficulties in verbal and nonverbal communication and social interactions. The disorder makes it hard to communicate with others and relate to the outside world, and in some cases, those with autism can exhibit aggressive behavior. There is no known cure for. Officials don't know the exact prevalence of autism but estimate that it affects anywhere from one in 500 to one in 1,000 people in the United States, according to a February report to Congress by the National Institute of Mental Health. Ten years ago, autism was thought to affect one in 10,000 individuals in the United States. Burton said the CDC is spending $11.3 million on autism this year and $10.2 million next year. Meanwhile, the agency will spend $932 million on AIDS (news - web sites) this year and over $62 million on diabetes. **** Patients Report Trouble with Health Care Tue Apr 23, 9:10 AM ET http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=97&ncid=97&e= 3&u=/hsn/20020 423/hl_hsn/patients_report_trouble_with_health_care By Janice Billingsley HealthScoutNews Reporter TUESDAY, April 23 (HealthScoutNews) -- More than 20 percent of Americans have gripes about what happens in the doctor's office, and they don't mean just the old magazines in the waiting room. A new survey of nearly 7,000 adults found that one-fifth had experienced a medical or prescription error at the hands of their doctor or at the hospital. The same number reported communication problems with their doctors, like not understanding the information they were given or not being listened to. And one out of four who saw a doctor in the last two years didn't follow his or her advice, mainly because they disagreed with it. Further, these complaints are occurring up and down the economic scale, says one of the survey's co-authors. "Even though these problems are more likely to occur among those with less education and lack of health insurance, they are also quite likely to occur among those who are better educated and have health insurance," says Dr. Stephen Schoenbaum, who is also a senior vice president of the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that sponsored the survey. "This survey confirms that medical errors are a significant issue in this country, and that the public is perceiving problems in patient safety," he says. In the survey, one in 10 respondents reported that they or a family member had gotten sicker as a result of a doctor or hospital error, and half of these people said the problem was very serious. Further, 16 percent reported an error in the medication they received, and over one-fifth of those people said the error turned out to be a very serious problem. Schoenbaum says the survey did not include follow-up interviews, so researchers don't have details of these problems. However, he says examples might be when the wrong test is ordered for a patient, or the patient is given the wrong results of a test, wrong prescriptions, or a prescription for a drug to which he or she is allergic. "If a physician ordered a 50-milligram dose, and instead 100 milligrams was filled, that's not a problem because in most instances drugs have a 'therapeutic ratio,' which means that small differences in dosages don't make a big difference, he says. "But if instead of 50 milligrams the prescription is for 500 milligrams -- or instead of Zoloft, which is an antidepressant, the patient gets Zyrtec, which is an antihistamine - - then you have a problem." Also a problem is poor communication in the doctor's office, the survey found, especially among those who didn't finish high school. Nearly 30 percent of those adults reported communication problems with their doctors, and only 39 percent of this group found it easy to understand written information from the doctor's office