“Alive! It’s alive! IT’S ALIVE!!!” (Dr. Frankenstein, pronounced FRONK-en-steen, in Young Frankenstein.) A while ago, the FDA gave life to the Son of Advair, otherwise known as Breo Ellipta, the new face of COPD pharmaceuticals. The GSK website makes the following celebratory announcement: “GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE: GSK) and Theravance, Inc. (NASDAQ: THRX) today announced that the Pulmonary-Allergy Drugs Advisory Committee…
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Blebs; the telltale signs of diseased and damaged lungs, have long indicated the point of irreparable parenchymal destruction producing the stereotypical signs and symptoms of late stage COPD. But the bleb’s days may be numbered. According to snippet in the RC Currents section of the May issue of the AARC Times, John’s Hopkins researchers noted, “using hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)……
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The respiratory therapist is certainly found on the front lines of some hellacious halitosis. Some breath odors are helpful; giving clues to certain patient conditions; sweet smelling breath perhaps indicating the presence of ketones or the distinctive odor of pseudomonas for example. In recent years the technology of breath measurement or “breathprint”, as some have branded it, has begun to…
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Kaiser Permanente Chairman and CEO George Halvorson makes no bones about laying out the coming days of healthcare. According to FierceHealthcare, he is quoted in a New York Times profile forecasting “We think the future of healthcare is going to be rationing or re-engineering (and) key to re-engineering healthcare for greater efficiency is moving care away from the hospital setting.”…
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The Novel Corona Virus (NCoV) is a new and notorious cousin of the common cold and something akin to SARS. Torn straight from the pages of “The Stand,” a novel by Stephen King, this newcomer to the Corona family prophetically poses the threat of worldwide calamity. Though ostensibly isolated (for now) to regions of the Middle East and Britain, according…
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Every RT knows that as soon as a patient is intubated a plan is formed to strategically liberate the patient from mechanical ventilation and then extubate the patient by the safest and most expeditious means possible. One could almost say that a patient is always intubated with a view to extubation. In Chronic Disease Manager section of the March edition…
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In her feature article for the recent ADVANCE for Respiratory Care and Sleep Medicine e-Newsletter, “Making a Case for Hospital Wellness Programs” Jacquelyn Woodworth, MBA, RRT, prevails upon “educated” medical professionals involved in the future of healthcare and community wellness to “strive to deliver ideal care that is more standardized and preventative.” Personally, I am uncomfortable with that word “ideal.” Webster’s…
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Covering the inauguration speech of our new AARC President George Gaebler in the February edition of the AARC Times, Times contributor Debbie Bunch stresses that “upgrading the entry level (to the associate’s degree) helped to raise the stature of RTs in the nation’s hospitals and other care settings” and went on to write that Mr. Gaebler “believes a similar transition may be necessary today…
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The number one goal of our new AARC President is to: “Evaluate the transitional needs to meet the competencies necessary to develop the ‘Respiratory Therapist for 2015 and Beyond,’ based on the expected needs of respiratory care patients, the profession and the evolving health care system.” As I read it, George Gaebler’s goal outlines three essential needs: Transitional needs –…
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Respiratory therapists across the nation inaugurated two presidents in 2013; one in Washington, D.C., and the other from Syracuse, N.Y. George Gaebler, MSEd, RRT, FAARC, assumed the role of AARC president, and with little delay outlined his plan to position respiratory therapists to face the “many changes (coming) over the next three to five years due to the Patient Protection…
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