All News

The usual claim against a manufacturer in a product liability case is that the product is defective, either as designed or as manufactured, or that there was a failure to warn of something known about the product.

We’ve received a number of questions pertaining to the change in Medicare rules regarding the –59 modifier. Although in a previous column we discussed this change in relation to kidney stones specifically, we feel the interest generated by this change warrants a deeper dive into this subject.

When negotiating with a hospital to purchase your practice, there are many questions that you should review in addition to the dollar per unit you are paid or measured against as an employed physician.

In a series of three articles, I examine the Office of the Inspector General, explain its relevance to urologists and their practice, and provide practical tips to understand and manage any risks associated with the activities of this institution. In this first installment, I provide an overview of the institution and review what it will be examining in 2013.

Cleveland Clinic’s Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute will begin offering urology services in Las Vegas in mid-April, the result of Cleveland Clinic’s acquisition of the private practice of local urologists Scott Slavis, MD, and Laurie Larsen, MD.

The AUA has voiced its support for newly introduced legislation designed to address urotrauma, a growing concern among active military personnel and veterans.

Focal laser ablation is safe and can be performed without the troubling complications associated with more aggressive therapies for low-risk prostate cancer, results of a small phase I study indicate.

More stringent criteria may be needed for African-American men with prostate cancer when considering active surveillance for their disease, new research from The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick suggests.

Placement of an inflatable penile prosthesis (IPP) approximately 3 months after T-shunt surgery in men with acute ischemic priapism and refractory erectile dysfunction is associated with favorable outcomes at 1 year, according to data from a small series of such patients.

Use of tivozanib, an experimental tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) with increased specificity and potency for the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor, as initial targeted therapy for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma did not translate into improved overall survival compared with sorafenib (Nexavar) in a phase III clinical trial.

A recent study highlights huge price swings in patient charges for the 10 most common outpatient conditions-including kidney stones and urinary tract infection-in emergency rooms across the country.

Nearly three-quarters of patients undergoing radiation therapy for prostate cancer had no evidence of the disease at 25 years’ follow-up, the authors of a study from Radiotherapy Clinics of Georgia, Atlanta recently reported.

OnabotulinumtoxinA (Botox) has earned FDA approval for the treatment of overactive bladder in adults who cannot use or don't adequately respond to anticholinergic drugs, and its potential uses in urology may not end there.

Publication of the Value of Urodynamic Evaluation study has drawn attention to whether urodynamics improves patient outcomes when added to an office evaluation of stress urinary incontinence before surgical intervention.

Drugs and devices in the pipeline from Bayer Healthcare, AVEO Oncology, Astellas Pharma Inc., Trimel Pharmaceuticals Corp., OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Nymox Pharmaceutical Corp., Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, and Tengion, Inc.

Recent analyses of urodynamic testing data indicate that both autologous fascial pubovaginal sling and synthetic midurethral sling procedures decrease maximum flow rate and increase bladder outlet resistance, but the pubovaginal sling was found to create more bladder outlet resistance.