October 26, 2011
- ELI LILLY WITHDRAWALS XIGRIS
- COMMON DRUG REGIMEN FOR IPF FOUND HARMFUL
- DEADLINE NEARS FOR ATS 2012 ABSTRACTS AND CASE REPORTS
- PATIENT INFORMATION SERIES PUBLISHES BLASTOMYCOSIS
- BUGS IN THE LUNGS PODCAST
- HONOR YOUR MENTOR
- ABOUT ATS STAT
The FDA yesterday informed healthcare professionals and the public that Eli Lilly and Company announced a worldwide voluntary market withdrawal of Xigris [drotrecogin alfa (activated)]. In a recent study, Xigris failed to show a survival benefit for patients with severe sepsis and septic shock.
Xigris treatment should not be started in new patients. Xigris treatment should be stopped in patients being treated with Xigris and all remaining Xigris product should be returned to the supplier from which it was purchased.
More information is available on the FDA Web site by clicking here.
COMMON DRUG REGIMEN FOR IPF FOUND HARMFUL
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has stopped one arm of a three-arm multicenter, clinical trial studying treatments for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis for safety concerns. The trial found that people with IPF receiving a currently used triple-drug therapy consisting of prednisone, azathioprine, and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) had worse outcomes than those who received placebos.
The interim results from this study showed that compared to placebo, those assigned to triple therapy had greater mortality (11 percent versus 1 percent), more hospitalizations (29 percent versus 8 percent), and more serious adverse events (31 percent versus 9 percent) and also had no difference in lung function test changes. Participants randomly assigned to the triple-therapy arm also remained on their assigned treatment at a much lower rate (78 percent adherence versus 98 percent).
The other two study arms of this IPF trial comparing NAC alone to placebo alone will continue.
Read the press release on the NHLBI’s action by clicking here.
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DEADLINE NEARS FOR ATS 2012 ABSTRACTS AND CASE REPORTS
Scientific abstracts and case reports submissions for ATS 2012, which will be held May 18 to 23 in San Francisco, are due in one week.
Central to the exchange that takes place at the ATS International Conference is the presentation of original research and case reports.
No other meeting provides as much information about how the science of respiratory, critical care and sleep medicine is changing clinical practice. And there is no better conference to present your research in these fields.
Scientific Abstracts: Research on all aspects of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine, including basic and clinical science, epidemiology and social, biobehavioral, psychosocial, and educational projects.
This year, there is a special call for reports on quality improvement projects.
Case Reports: Interesting and unique reports describing a single clinical case.
The deadline for submission is Wednesday, November 2, 2011 (11:59 pm Eastern Time). You can learn more and submit proposals and case reports by clicking here.
PATIENT INFOMRATION SERIES PUBLISHES BLASTOMYCOSIS
Blastomycosis is the first in a series of fungal lung diseases to be covered in the ATS Patient Information Series. Blastomycosis occurs mostly in central and southeastern United States, as well as parts of Canada. The flier includes information about the signs and symptoms and how the disease is diagnosed and treated.
To download this flier and to see all the fliers available—many in Spanish as well as English—click here.
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In a new podcast on aerosolized albuterol for treatment of acute lung injury, AmericanJournal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine editorial board member Nitin Seam, MD, discusses the latest ARDS network trial with Michael Matthay, MD; Gavin Perkins, MD; and AJRCCM editor Jacob Iasha Sznajder, MD.
Drs. Matthay and Perkins, respectively, co-wrote an article and an editorial on the topic in the September 1 issue of the journal. To listen to the podcast, click here.
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In many cases, mentors have been the most influential figures in the lives of clinicians, researchers, nurses and other health professionals in the fields of respiratory, critical care and sleep medicine. If this is true for you, the ATS Foundation is pleased to offer the opportunity to honor your mentor or mentors by making a gift to the Foundation Honor Your Mentor Program.
Your gift will help sustain core ATS programs, including the ATS Foundation Research Program, MECOR (Methods in Epidemiologic, Clinical and Operations Research), ATS assemblies and clinical education and training projects.
When you make a gift to the Honor Your Mentor Program, your name and your mentor’s will be recognized on the Foundation Donor Wall at ATS 2012, in the Foundation Bulletin and on the Foundation’s Web site. We will also let your mentor or mentors know of your tribute.
For more information and to make a donation, click here or call 212.315.8622.
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ATS Stat combines most of the e-mail messages you’d normally receive during the week from the ATS and puts them into a single message that arrives on Wednesdays. Questions or comments? Send them to Jennifer Ian, MBA, director of member services and chapter relations, at jian@thoracic.org.
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