All News

New Products as presented in the April 1, 2002 issue of Urology Times

The question of who is and who isn't an "employee" or an "independent contractor" for tax purposes is one that remains unresolved with no relief in sight. Many urology practices prefer to deal with independent contractors because it relieves them of liability to pay the employment taxes that they are liable for with employees.

Vancouver, British Columbia - Clusterin, a stress-related protein, appears to inhibit apoptosis associated with androgen withdrawal and may therefore be an important therapeutic target in men with advanced prostate cancer, say researchers from the University of British Columbia.

San Francisco - Researchers have successfully induced hypospadias in mice, an accomplishment that observers say provides more compelling evidence in support of the endocrine disruptor hypothesis as an explanation for the increase in hypospadias observed over the past 30 years.

Chicago-Three large-scale, international surveillance surveyshave demonstrated that, while antimicrobial resistance in urinary tractpathogens is on the rise, the antimicrobial susceptibility of bacterialisolates from urinary tract infections varies from country to country andfrom region to region. The reports were presented at the 41st InterscienceConference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

Chicago-Virulence factors among strains of Escherichia coli thatcause prostatitis are more prevalent than among strains that cause pyelonephritisor cystitis, according to a study by Spanish researchers presented at theannual Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapyhere.

San Francisco-A modified Snodgrass hypospadias repair may allbut eliminate the problem of postoperative fistulas, while the originalSnodgrass procedure can be successful for proximal hypospadias reconstruction,according to two studies presented at the 2001 American Academy of PediatricsSection on Urology meeting.

San Francisco-Testis-sparing approaches are appropriate for many prepubertaltestis tumors, according to two decades of data from a tumor registry setup by the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Urology. The registry,established in 1980, has enrolled 395 boys with primary testis tumors thatpresented before 12 years of age.

Q How can I code cysto with double-J stent replacement to receivea higher reimbursement? Medicare states that 52315 is bundled with 52332.I have used ­59 and ­58 and still do not receive reimbursement for52315.

New Products as presented in the March 1, 2002 issue of Urology Times

Bangkok, Thailand - Reports are surfacing on the use of ethanol-based chemoablation in the treatment of symptomatic BPH. At the annual World Congress on Endourology, several studies posted positive results on the safety and efficacy of this technique.

Bangkok, Thailand - High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) may serve as an alternative, second-line treatment for prostate cancer patients who are poor candidates for more common primary treatment modalities

Modified technique can be used to bring the testis to the scrotum in one or two stagesWith the popularization of laparoscopy, the approach to the management of the intra-abdominal testis has undergone a shift in surgical technique.

Bethesda, MD-Mutations in the gene encoding 2-5-oligoadenylate(2-5A)-dependentRNase L (RNASEL) have been found to be associated with prostate cancer inmembers of high-risk families. The recently published research comes frominvestigators from the National Institutes of Health's National Human GenomeResearch Institute and collaborators from industry and several other publicand private institutions.

New York-Some prostate cancer patients may be running to the healthfood store for supplements like PC-SPES, but the supplement cannot competewith other tried and true hormonal therapies, at least in men with androgen-dependentdisease, according to William Oh, MD.

Bangkok, Thailand-Newer, minimally invasive treatment modalitiesfor renal tumors, including cryotherapy, microwave therapy, and radiofrequency(RF) ablation have recently been studied as alternatives to traditionalopen surgery. RF ablation of small renal tumors, albeit in its infancy,is feasible and promising, suggest researchers from Washington UniversitySchool of Medicine in St. Louis and Long Island Jewish Medical Center inNew Hyde Park, NY. Close follow-up is required in these patients to ensurecomplete eradication of the tumor.

Chicago-Physicians appear to be inflating the costs of treating uncomplicatedurinary tract infections in women, and possibly promoting resistance toantibiotics, by ignoring treatment guidelines, a new study suggests.

President's comment during State of the Union address re-ignites debateover right to sueWashington-Lobbyists for insurance companies, the managed care industry,and dozens of large trade associations are worried. Their long-time ally,President Bush, has been talking to one of their biggest enemies, Sen. TedKennedy, about, heaven forbid, managed care reform.

Because of its occasional dramatic effect in the treatment of androgen-independentprostate cancer, PC-SPES, a mixture of eight Chinese herbs, has awakenedphysician interest in herbal remedies, dietary modifications, vitamins,minerals, and supplements (see related article, page 12). What not so manyyears ago was considered "alternative medicine" has moved steadilyinto the realm of acceptance as indicated by the current terminology, "complementary,or integrated, medicine," and is now beginning to reach the mainstreamof traditional care.

Knowing topics ahead of a meeting with your attorney will eliminate wastedtimeQ I have finally made an appointment with my attorney for estate planning.Since his fees are billed hourly, what can I do to be better prepared forour meeting?

New screening techniques will help IRS decide which tax returns are trulyin errorThe good news about the Internal Revenue Service is that its rate ofaudits has been steadily declining in recent years. The bad news is thatthe IRS's current budget allocates more funds to "taxpayer compliance."

Inflammatory e-mails, or 'flames,' can be archived and used against youin litigation

Varicocele was first recognized by Lawrence Dubin, MD, and Richard D.Amelar, MD, as the male reproductive anatomic anomaly most amenable to surgicalcorrection. Varicocelectomy has long since played an important role in theurologist's toolbox. Yet with the emergence of intracytoplasmic sperm injection, a variantof in vitro fertilization in which a single sperm is injected into an ovum,some have questioned the utility of all forms of reproductive therapy otherthan assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs). Among many papers presentedat the American Society for Reproductive Medicine annual meeting-and reportedin this issue of Urology Times-several supported the continued role forvaricocelectomy.

Section 530 of tax law allows relief from tax liability if two conditionsare satisfiedEmployment taxes paid on the "wages" of a urology practice'sprincipal may only be a matter of several hundred dollars each year, butover the course of a career, it can add up.

As of January 4, the final Stark II rules became effective. These federalregulations will have a profound effect on the relationship between urologypractices and the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Their impact extends farbeyond lithotripsy, which has been the primary concern of many urologists,to virtually every aspect of their practices. Practices that have not conformedto the requirements of these new regulations are exposed to financial penaltiesand other severe sanctions.

Rome-The prospects for safe and effective therapy for male erectiledysfunction have never looked brighter, according to experts speaking atthe 4th Congress of the European Society for Sexual and Impotence Researchhere. Results from clinical trials of new oral medications are particularlypromising, but research on other, non-oral agents also showed promise inpatients who fail to respond to oral treatment.

New Products as presented in the February 2002 issue of Urology Times.

Orlando, FL-Is assisted reproduction technology (ART) a better way to deal with varicocele-related infertility, or is surgical repair the better choice? Given the high pregnancy success of ART, the optimal management of infertility secondary to varicocele is unclear," said Paul J. Turek, MD, associate professor of urology, University of California, San Francisco.

Jena, Germany-Botulinum toxin has shown promise as a potential therapy for chronic pelvic pain and lower urinary tract dysfunction. In a German study, injection of botulinum toxin type A into the urethral sphincter muscle led to improvement in muscle tone, pain, and urodynamic parameters in patients enrolled.

Orlando, FL-Infertile men are at increased risk for testicular cancer compared with the general population. That is the disturbing conclusion reached by researchers at the New York Weill-Cornell Medical Center, following a study of 4,470 men over a 13-year period.