Obesity Ups Workers' Comp Costs
Obesity can have a negative effect on workers' compensation costs for employers, according to a study by Duke University researchers. The study looked at records of nearly 12,000 Duke employees over a 7-year period and found that obese workers filed twice as many workers' compensation claims and had medical costs seven times higher than those of nonobese workers. They also lost 13 times more work days because of work-related injuries and illnesses. “Given the strong link between obesity and workers' compensation, maintaining healthy weight is not only important to workers but should also be a high priority for employers,” said Dr. Truls Ostbye, professor of community and family medicine at the university and lead author of the study. “Work-based programs designed to target healthful eating and physical activity should be developed and then evaluated as part of a strategy to make all workplaces healthier and safer.” The study appeared in the April 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
Osteoporosis Audit in the Works
European experts are planning an audit to determine the status of osteoporosis in Europe. Current estimates are that in the European Union, an osteoporosis-related fracture occurs every 30 seconds, and with an aging population, the number of osteoporosis-related hip fractures is expected to double from about 500,000 to 1 million annually over the next 50 years, according to the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF). The IOF supports the EU Osteoporosis Consultation Panel, the group planning the audit. “We need this new [audit] to evaluate current standards of osteoporosis management in Europe,” said Juliet Compston, chair of the consultation panel. “This comprehensive snapshot will enable members to assess developments over the years, and identify areas that require more attention.”
ADA Launches 'CheckUp America'
The American Diabetes Association has launched a campaign to help Americans learn how to lower their risks of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The “CheckUp America” campaign, which is funded by several pharmaceutical companies, includes an online risk assessment called My Health Advisor. Based on an individual's self-reported health status, the tool will assess the person's risk for type 2 diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and death, and will also suggest simple things the person can do to lower his or her risk. “Our major goal is to dispel the myth that disease prevention requires an extraordinary effort,” said Dr. John Buse, president-elect, medicine and science, at the ADA. “Helping individuals understand and apply this information could mean the difference between life and death.”
Group Receives $35 Million Grant
The Sumner M. Redstone Charitable Foundation has awarded a $35 million, 5-year grant to FasterCures/The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions. FasterCures, founded 4 years ago, formed the Research Acceleration and Innovation Network to bring together disease research organizations that are focused on innovative research on diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, AIDS, and breast cancer. “One of our goals is to remove many of the bureaucratic and regulatory barriers that researchers face in pursuing better treatments and cures for all life-threatening conditions,” said FasterCures chairman Michael Milken. The grant also will be used to support FasterCures' Patients Helping Doctors program, which works to speed recruitment of patients for clinical trials.
Chicago Employers Tackle Diabetes
The Midwest Business Group on Health, a Chicago-based group of employers, has established an employer-based diabetes self-management program endorsed by the Institute of Medicine of Chicago. In the Taking Control of Your Health program, which is funded by Novo Nordisk Inc. and Novartis, employers will waive or lower copays for diabetes medications as an incentive to get patients to adhere to their medication regimens. Patients will also meet regularly with a pharmacist coach who is specially trained in diabetes education and monitoring. The program is modeled after several successful programs, including the Asheville Project in North Carolina. “The pharmacist's role is to be an educator and motivator, ensuring the patient follows their physician's orders and understands how to manage and monitor their diabetes and medications,” said MBGH president and CEO Larry Boress. MBGH is one of the groups participating in the Diabetes Ten-City Challenge, a national diabetes self-management program conducted by the American Pharmaceutical Association and funded by GlaxoSmithKline Inc.
Juries Side With MDs
Contrary to popular belief, juries in malpractice cases actually sympathize more with physicians and less with their patients, according to a law professor who performed an extensive review of studies involving malpractice cases from 1989 to 2006. Philip Peters, professor of law at the University of Missouri-Columbia, found that plaintiffs rarely win weak cases, although they have more success in cases viewed as a “toss-up” and better outcomes in cases with strong evidence of medical negligence. Mr. Peters, whose study appeared in the May edition of the Michigan Law Review, said that several factors systematically favor medical defendants in the courtroom, including the defendants' superior resources, physicians' social standing, social norms against “profiting” by injury, and the jury's willingness to give physicians the benefit of the doubt when evidence conflicts.