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New Swedish research suggests that the drug Inspra reduces the threat of major cardiovascular complications among patients who have a mild form of heart failure.

This latest finding builds on earlier work that was published by the New England Journal of Medicine last fall. That study suggested that Inspra (eplerenone), an aldosterone antagonist, helps control cardiovascular complications among patients with a history of serious chronic heart failure.

Since far more people suffer from mild heart failure, this new finding could mean the drug might benefit a far broader group of patients, the researchers added.
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Reminding surgical staff about the expense of taking daily blood samples (phlebotomy) from patients for routine blood work appears to reduce the practice, a new study finds.

“The use of laboratory tests has been rapidly increasing over the past few decades to the point where phlebotomy is a substantial proportion of hospital expenditure, and much of it is unwarranted,” wrote Dr. Elizabeth A. Stuebing, of the University of Miami, and Dr. Thomas J. Miner, of Brown University in Providence, R.I.

They obtained data on daily phlebotomy and associated charges for nonintensive care unit patients in three surgical services at Rhode Island Hospital. They calculated the amount spent on taking blood samples and laboratory tests per patient and for all patients. Read more »

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