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NPA Brings Pharmacy Owners Issues To Welsh Assembly Government
Representatives of the NPA have met with the Minister for Health and Social Services, Edwina Hart, to discuss a number of matters on behalf of members in Wales.
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Opinion Piece Criticizes Winfrey For 'Unbalanced' Medical Advice On Hormone Replacement Therapy
Oprah Winfrey "has scored good ratings with her health episodes" of her television show, but "in doing so, she seems to have thrown therapeutic caution to the wind," such as on her shows featuring actress Suzanne Somers" opinions on bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, Salon contributor and physician Rahul Parikh writes in an opinion piece. Somers, while advocating for the use of bioidentical HRT as a safe alternative to traditional HRT for postmenopausal women, said she used "mega-doses of bioidenticals continuously and aggressively," according to Parikh. Parikh writes that Somers, on television and in her 2007 book, "argues that these hormones are more natural, more effective and safer than what doctors prescribe." According to Parikh, "In reality, ...÷ there are no good medical studies to back up those claims."Parikh says that although "what Somers was advocating was radically different from standards of medical care," Winfrey "was not concerned" and even said that Somers ""might be a pioneer,"" Parikh continues. Winfrey billed the episode as part of a ""great debate"" on hormone therapy, but she "didn"t ask about whether [Somers"] super-hormone regimen could have contributed to Somers" history of breast cancer"; "her hysterectomy, the result of pre-cancerous changes in her uterus from her use of HRT"; or the "validity of Somers" book"s s, many of whom are neither experts in women"s health or endocrinology, nor board-certified physicians, nor experienced researchers," Parikh states. He adds, "It"s not that Winfrey doesn"t try to maintain medical credibility in her shows," but "her efforts seem subpar," noting that her show "reaches millions of people, while each doctor can reach only one patient at a time." Parikh concludes, "That could easily be corrected by Winfrey providing more thought and balance in her medical advice" (Parikh, Salon, 5/15).
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Taiwan Rolls Out Plans To Boost Fertility Rates
Targeting the issue of low birth rates, the Taiwanese government implemented the Mega Warmth Social Welfare Program (MWSWP) in 2006 after its fertility rates dipped lower than most industrial nations.
Public Health

For Most Late-Stage Colorectal Cancers Surgery Is Not Necessary

A new study shows that a large majority of patients who present with advanced colorectal cancer that has spread to other organs (stage IV) don"t require immediate surgery to remove the primary tumor in the colon. Researchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) presented their data at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting. "For this population with metastatic disease that cannot be cured by surgery, undergoing colon surgery is not always necessary," said Philip Paty, a surgical oncologist at MSKCC and one of the study"s lead authors. "If the colon tumor is not causing obstruction, perforation, or bleeding we"ve found these patients are best treated with chemotherapy. By moving straight to chemotherapy, patients can avoid the risk of surgical complications and can start treatment for all sites of disease without delay." For this retrospective study, a multidisciplinary team looked at 233 metastatic colorectal cancer cases treated at MSKCC from 2000 to 2006. Their analysis showed that 217 of the 233 patients, or 93 percent, did not have complications that required resection of the primary tumor. Only 16 patients required colon surgery for symptom management. Previously, in the conventional approach to treating stage IV disease, patients underwent colon surgery immediately following their diagnosis and would typically start chemotherapy treatments three to six weeks later. The rationale for immediate colon resection was to prevent future symptoms and complications from the primary tumor. It was assumed that the majority of colorectal cancers would have little response to chemotherapy. But with the development of better chemotherapy treatments in the past decade, doctors at MSKCC and others within the oncology community started looking at patients with stage IV disease differently, and began to administer chemotherapy as initial treatment. Such treatments seemed to be reliable in shrinking both colon tumors and the metastases; however, there was not published data to support this approach. "We now know that the routine use of surgery for these patients is based on old thinking, and we"re beyond that. There will always be the need for individual exceptions based on the clinical situation, but our default position should be not to operate," said Dr. Paty. Colorectal cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States. Courtney DeNicola Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center


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