As questions mount over the role of the Independent Payment Advisory Board and political pressure to repeal it as an element of healthcare reform increases, the board will no longer fly under the public radar, according to an article published in the October issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

Although adherence to guideline-based care remains paradoxically lower in those MI patients at higher risk of mortality and most likely to benefit from treatment, care is improving for eligible patients within all risk categories, and the gaps between low- and high-risk groups seem to be narrowing, based on a study in the Oct. 17 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

More than half of the members on panels that produced national guidelines for screening or treating diabetes and hyperlipidemia in the U.S. and Canada had a financial conflict of interest, according to an analysis published Oct. 11 in the British Medical Journal. Among 73 panel members who reported no conflicts, 11 percent were found to have one or more conflict of interests, the researchers reported.

The FDA has approved Ferriprox (deferiprone) to treat patients with iron overload due to blood transfusions in patients with thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder that causes anemia, who had an inadequate response to prior chelation therapy.

There is little evidence to support the use of PET/CT imaging in the pre-operative staging of primary colorectal cancer, according to research published in the October edition of Health Technology Assessment.

The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has praised the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force for offering a recommendation on the use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based screening for prostate cancer, but cautioned against a blanket no-testing policy.

GE Healthcares SenoBright Contrast Enhanced Spectral Mammography has received FDA 510(k) clearance.

National Imaging Associates, a subsidiary of Magellan Health Services, has started a two-year demonstration study to assess the appropriate use of advanced imaging for Medicare Fee-for-Service beneficiaries. The research will examine the impact of physician decision support tools on mitigating the inappropriate use of MRI, CT and nuclear medicine.