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It appears that Congress is finally determined to provide a permanent solution to the annual Medicare fee payment crisis, and there is a possibility that the process also could reduce pressure to end an exception to the Stark self-referral law upon which many urologists have come to rely.

Renacidin Irrigation (Citric Acid, Glucono delta-Lactone, and Magnesium Carbonate) is once again available after a series of manufacturing issues resulted in the product being unavailable for over a year, according to United-Guardian, Inc., the product’s marketer.

The American College of Surgeons, in collaboration with the AUA and 14 other specialty surgical organizations, has jointly published and released the seventh edition of a report that provides guidance on how often an operation might require the use of a physician as an assistant.

Of top concern to urologists are declining reimbursement (88%), increasing government regulations (86%), Obamacare (73%), and increasing overhead (71%). This finding-from the most recent Urology Times State of the Specialty survey-was consistent for all ages, practice types, and practice sizes.

Among a group of men who underwent coronary angiography and had a low serum testosterone level, the use of testosterone therapy was associated with increased risk of death, heart attack, or ischemic stroke, according to a recent study.

Prostate cancer has made its way into another set of Choosing Wisely recommendations, this time from the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Fewer than 10% of patients are being told about the possibility of overdiagnosis and overtreatment as a result of screening for prostate and other cancers, according to findings from a recently published survey.

Among patients with kidney stones, shared medical appointments decrease appointment wait times, increase patient knowledge about stone prevention, and lead to high levels of patient satisfaction, researchers from the University of Wisconsin, Madison reported.

Uroplasty announced that Humana, Inc. has written a positive coverage policy for percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation delivered via its Urgent PC Neuromodulation System.

A study of several hundred chemicals used in commercial pesticides has found only weak evidence that any of them are associated with hypospadias, the authors reported.

Much of what is said by critics of the RUC process is at best incorrect and at worst purposely misstated.

The FDA has approved a product label addition for the phosphodiesterase-type-5 inhibitor tadalafil (Cialis) that involves its use with finasteride (Proscar).

Urology drugs and devices in the pipeline from AltheRx Pharmaceuticals, TARIS Biomedical, AstraZeneca, NxThera, NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, and OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals.

Energized by recent legislative victories from Tallahassee to Olympia, urologists looked to the future as they gathered for the 6th annual AACU State Society Network Advocacy Conference. Taking place just days after the Oct. 1 launch of open enrollment for health insurance exchange plans, the event focused on the role of urologists and their professional associations in a transformed health care delivery system.

The latest products and services from SuperSonic Imagine, Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, VIVUS, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Innovus Pharmaceuticals, Buffalo Filter, KRS Global Biotechnology, Demos Health, and Ethicon Endo-Surgery.

A phase III trial of enzalutamide (Xtandi) in chemotherapy-naïve patients with advanced prostate cancer has met both of its primary endpoints in an interim analysis, and the trial will be stopped early due to the drug’s benefit.

In terms of total career earnings, urology ranks in the top quartile among 15 specialties evaluated in a recent study, but the study’s findings raise questions about the long-term financial value of urology fellowships.

The 2013 Arthur D. Smith Endourology Lectureship has been awarded to Thomas Knoll, MD, of University Medical Center Mannheim and the Sindelfingen Medical Center of the University of Tuebingen, Germany.

The AUA said it will launch a national, specialty-wide urologic registry designed to measure and report health care quality and patient outcomes as well as provide data to help identify patterns and trends in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer and eventual outcomes related to treatment options.

The publication of data in the New England Journal of Medicine (2013; 369:1629-37) showing an increase in intensity-modulated radiation therapy utilization among self-referring urologists has reignited the self-referral controversy.

Vitamin D does not appear to increase risk for developing kidney stones, say researchers from the University of California, San Diego.

Many physicians continue to administer the PSA test to even their oldest patients despite the fact that no medical organization recommends routine prostate cancer screening in men older than 75 years of age, according to recently published research.

Researchers at the Duke Cancer Institute in Durham, NC say they have developed a tool to forecast the potential survival of individual prostate cancer patients, enabling physicians to better assess whether to try additional rounds of treatment or seek clinical trials.

The first phase II study to investigate the use of the targeted therapy everolimus (Afinitor) for the initial treatment of advanced papillary kidney cancer has shown that it is successful in slowing or preventing the spread of the disease.

Women with common forms of urinary incontinence have various bacteria in their bladder, according to a recent study, and some of these bacteria may differ based on their incontinence type.

In this interview, Dr. Samir S. Taneja discusses the AUA's recommendations on the optimal method to perform a prostate biopsy and handle specimens as well as how to minimize infection and the role of imaging.

Results from a study in an experimental model of cystitis point to the cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2) as a potential target to develop effective new therapies for patients with painful bladder disorders.

Urinary measurement of inflammatory chemokines may offer a noninvasive method for evaluating treatment response to sacral neuromodulation (InterStim Therapy, Medtronic, Inc., Minneapolis) in patients with interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome, says Michael Chancellor, MD.