News

The best time to respond to a disaster is before it happens. There are steps you can take now to prepare your dermatology practice for a crisis.

London - The Guardian, a British daily newspaper, reported recently that a Chinese cosmetics firm is using skin taken from the corpses of executed convicts to develop beauty products for sale in Europe.

Baltimore - According to a recent Johns Hopkins study, a hefty dose of dignity is a good way for doctors to enhance their patients' course of treatment.

Omaha - A study at Omaha's Methodist Hospital is evaluating Sorafenib, a new drug for treating advanced stages of melanoma.

New York - In what is believed to be the first product collaboration between a cosmetics company and a drug, Elizabeth Arden Inc. and Allergan Inc., the pharmaceutical firm that markets and distributes Botox, have teamed up to market a reformulated version of Allergan's anti-aging product, Prevage.

Barrington, Ill. - The National Rosacea Society has published the results of a new survey that reflect how devastating rosacea can be to those who suffer from even a mild form of it.

Recently you probably received registration materials in the mail to be completed so that in the future you will be allowed to prescribe isotretinoin to your patients. This new registration program might also have confused you, since we had been living with the "SMART" program for the past few years. So, let me try to set the record straight. This new program, known as iPledge, was not developed by the American Academy of Dermatology. In fact, our representatives have been actively involved at stages of isotretinoin review trying to keep this drug available for dermatologists. The program is free, but you must fill out the registration forms and return them in order to be able to use this drug in the future.

Houston -- Isolagen Inc. in early August reported mixed results from two trials of its wrinkle treatment and said the findings indicate the need for another trial, which will be conducted in the fall.

Newtown, Pa. -- CollaGenex Pharmaceuticals recently filed a New Drug Application (NDA) with the Food and Drug Administration for Oracea, the first orally administered, systemically delivered drug to treat rosacea.

Queensland, Australia -- Two enzymes found in the extract of crushed pineapple stems show promise in fighting cancer growth.

Washington -- In a move that comes as a surprise to few in the medical community, the federal government has proposed reducing Medicare payments to doctors by about 4.3 percent in 2006.

Doctors pay millions of dollars over the course of their careers for medical malpractice insurance coverage and often thousands more to protect some of their assets, yet they still fail to protect their single largest asset. Why is this?

Chicago — Patients seeking safe and effective fat removal procedures presently must stick to dermatologist-performed tumescent liposuction, according to an expert.

Buenos Aires — In selecting therapies for patients with psoriasis, dermatologists need to consider that psoriasis is a life-long, systemic disease that substantially affects a patient's quality of life, according to Alan Menter, M.D., chief of the division of dermatology at Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas.

Doctors pay millions of dollars over the course of their careers for medical malpractice insurance coverage and often thousands more to protect some of their assets, yet they still fail to protect their single largest asset. Why is this?

Baltimore - Results of an exploratory phase 3 clinical trial demonstrate that injection of autologous living skin fibroblasts provides safe and effective correction of facial contour deformities that is sustained for at least 12 months, reports Robert A. Weiss, M.D.

National report - Even as new techniques, devices and pharmaceutical developments for facial contouring and wrinkle refinement proliferate for dermatologists and cosmetic surgeons, two trends are gaining momentum - one for the better and one for the worse, according to dermatologist David H. McDaniel, M.D., and his colleague, cosmetic surgeon Kyle S. Choe, M.D.

National report — Photodynamic therapy using the topical photosensitizer methyl aminolevulinate 16 percent cream (Metvix, Galderma) is a non-invasive, well-tolerated, effective treatment for Bowen's disease, offering excellent cosmetic results, according to the findings of a multicenter, randomized, active- and placebo-controlled study, says Colin A. Morton, M.D., consultant dermatologist, Falkirk Royal Infirmary, Falkirk, Scotland.

Tri Nguyen, M.D. was 6 years old when he finally escaped from war-ravaged Vietnam in 1976. The exit route: his parents paid a French-Vietnamese woman leaving for France to adopt him. After a year in Paris, he was reunited with his family, who ultimately settled in the United States.

Chicago — Running a successful private practice demands that dermatologists give their patients the best of everything, from pre- and postoperative care to drug samples and waiting-room d?cor, says Haines Ely, M.D., a Grass Valley, Calif.-based private practitioner and clinical professor of dermatology, University of California, Davis. Dr. Ely's office logs at least 50 patient visits daily.

Despite your best efforts in managing your schedule, patient waits and delays are inevitable in your dermatology practice. Because you are a service business, patient no-shows, delayed arrivals and your need to maximize revenue based on filling your time, create this predictable situation. You can simply expect patients to wait in an uncomfortable chair, staring at a portrait of you from 1986, with only a tattered magazine to read — or you can dazzle them.

In case you missed it, I want to tell you about a startling piece of news that I came across recently in a scientific study done by Brightwork Partners and published in USA Today. It was determined that rich retirees are happier than retirees who are not rich. Huh?

Medina, Ohio — In a market saturated with competitors, those who offer dermatologic and cosmetic services may wonder how they can stand out in a crowd that is becoming more sophisticated each day.

How does Captique (Inamed) fit into the mix of fillers?

Chicago — As physicians increasingly use injectable fillers and botulinum toxin as complementary treatments for facial rejuvenation, success depends on educating patients thoroughly and injecting products cautiously, says Seth L. Matarasso, M.D., clinical professor of dermatology at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine.

Chicago — Patients seeking safe and effective fat removal procedures presently must stick to dermatologist-performed tumescent liposuction, according to an expert.

National report — Results achieved in a series of studies comprising an extensive phase 3 clinical research program support the conclusion that a self-occlusive lidocaine 7 percent/tetracaine 7 percent peel (LT peel) provides safe, rapid and effective anesthesia for a broad spectrum of cutaneous procedures.

Chicago — Patients seeking upper-face rejuvenation have never before enjoyed as many safe, effective alternatives as are now available, says Kenneth Beer, M.D., director, Palm Beach Esthetic Institute, and clinical instructor of dermatology, University of Miami.

Why is the incidence of sensitive skin increasing in my patient population?

Anaheim, Calif. — Lessons can be learned from the failure of matrix metalloproteinases inhibitors (MMPIs) to make a difference in halting tumor progression in clinical trials, according to the president of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).