News

Creteil, France - A man with neurofibromatosis who received a new nose, mouth, chin and partial cheeks in a 15-hour procedure in January is now doing very well, according to surgeon Laurent Lantieri, M.D.

Boston - Brigham and Women's Hospital, located here, has granted a surgical team led by Bohdan Pomahac, M.D., permission to perform partial face transplants, according to published accounts. Meanwhile, the physicians who performed the world's first and third partial face transplants are planning future transplants, while their existing patients continue progressing well, these physicians tell Dermatology Times.

Published studies have found that dermatology residents express a desire for expanded mentorship. An increasing number of dermatology residency training programs in North America have implemented mentorship programs, designed to advise, encourage, and promote resident mentees. A survey of program directors in both the U.S. and Canada found that program directors supported the concept of mentorship programs. The majority of respondents said it was important for residents to have access to mentors during their residency. Moreover, the majority indicated that the development of more structured mentorship opportunities within the training curriculum could influence the proportion of dermatology residents who pursue academic careers.

Dr. Label is well known for his innovative off-label use of a variety of medications for bullous diseases.

With more than 200 million Internet users in the United States (according to the CIA's online World Factbook, 2005 estimate) the Internet is taking the place of many informational resources such as the Yellow Pages and even person-to-person communication.

A group of medical specialty organizations, including the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), is pushing new legislation that would delay permanent implementation of Medicare's "pay-for-performance" quality reporting program to allow for a more orderly transition to the new system's Medicare reimbursement.

I have recently seen the newly released Michael Moore movie, Sicko, and it left me with profound sadness and some outrage about how our country cares for the medical needs of its citizens. We physicians have all seen the deterioration of medical care over the past 10-15 years, particularly for middle class working people, many of whom are forced to go without health insurance, while gambling that they do not develop a serious and expensive illness which could ruin them medically and financially.

Acne affects almost all adolescents and adults at some point in their lives but is highly treatable with topical retinoids and antibacterials. The type and severity of acne guide early intervention, which can prevent disfigurement and its psychosocial sequelæ.

Greensboro, N.C. - Merz Pharmaceuticals, based here, has announced the donation of 10,000 tubes of its Mederma consumer skincare product to several nonprofit organizations in the United States, including those for members of the military who have been injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, Medadnews.com reports.

Augusta, Ga. - Research conducted at the Medical College of Georgia suggests that the body may hold the secret to normalizing overzealous skin-cell growth in psoriasis and non-melanoma skin cancers and growth that is too slow in sun-damaged and aging skin, Medicalnewstoday.com reports.

Bern, Switzerland - A study published in July’s Archives of Dermatology suggests that patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis may develop papular eruptions during efalizumab treatment - and that because these are new psoriatic lesions, the condition could be referred to as efalizumab-associated papular psoriasis or EAPP, according to a HealthDay News report.

Hong Kong - New research at the University of Hong Kong’s Division of Dermatology suggests that combination therapy using infrared and radiofrequency waves produces mild to moderate improvements in facial skin laxity with few complications, HealthDay News reports.

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If you own your medical practice, your goal should not be simply to protect your personal wealth from the practice's creditors. While this is certainly a mandatory first step, you must do more.

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Many of us create PowerPoint (Microsoft) presentations every year, for business, education and family use. Often, the material is presented or viewed on someone else's computer, on the central server at a medical meeting, or by a business associate or family member.

Auditors estimate that two out of every three physicians will experience embezzlement during their careers. With the inordinate amount of cash circulating in their practices, dermatologists and cosmetic surgeons top the list of potential targets.

Newer body-sculpting treatments should offer patients definitive results, with minimal to no risk as well as no downtime. According to a plastic surgeon, the Ultrashape Contour I technology can offer patients a noninvasive body-contouring solution.

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Dermatologists are increasingly challenged to keep their patients informed of the risks involved in receiving skin and cosmetic treatments from nondermatologists or nonphysicians. Patients need to know that care at medspas may be uniquely different than what they can expect from a board-certified dermatologist. A list of questions from the American Society of Dermatologic Surgery can help guide patients on what to ask and expect.

As lasers and injectables increasingly make their way into the hands of non-dermatologists, rates of complications from cosmetic procedures are taking a turn for the worse and keeping dermatologists busy in correcting the wrongs of poorly trained practitioners.

What will it take for medspas to survive? What is the role of franchises in the medspa industry? While most parties have their own ideas, all agree that oversight and supervision are prerequisites for survival and success.

More untrained, unsupervised individuals are getting into the medspa niche, and complication rates are rising. While derms fight to persuade legislators that nondermatologist-run or insufficiently supervised spas increase the risk of medical complications or, worse, such errors as missing deadly melanomas, some states are passing laws enabling under-trained individuals to take the reins.

There are two sides to every story, and the medspa industry is no exception. While dermatologists have expressed concern about inadequate supervision of this growing industry, those providing goods to the medspas defend their stance.

As the number of medical spas mushrooms, so too do the dermatologic community's concerns over who's supervising medical cosmetic procedures - and even over who's performing the procedures. Less-than-stringent state regulations and an almost total lack of federal regulations are prompting dermatologists and cosmetic surgeons to lobby for change.

Madison, Wis. - A new study suggests that individuals have variable responsiveness to UV radiation, which causes some to have low vitamin D status despite abundant sun exposure, according to Neil Binkley, M.D., University of Wisconsin Osteoporosis Clinical Center and the Osteoporosis Clinical Research Program, Madison, Wis., and author of the study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

One of the oft-repeated concerns in the dermatology field is about the "shortage" of dermatologists. Admittedly, that can vary from region to region, or even city to city.

Without Congressional intervention for the sixth year in a row, physicians participating in the Medicare program will see their fees reduced by an average 9.9 percent for 2008, a move that already has prompted a call for action from a coalition of specialty groups and the American Medical Association (AMA).