AAFP Cries Foul Over Prescription Requirements for OTC Medications
Provision Puts Patients at Risk, Adds to Physicians' Administrative Burden
(5/15/2012, 5:05 p.m.)
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Many FPs and their patients were surprised to learn in January that a provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act required a physician's prescription to use funds from tax-preferred health accounts to purchase OTC items. Now, the AAFP has joined with dozens of other organizations in calling on Congress to repeal the provision, which "increases costs to the health care system and places a new administrative burden on already overburdened physician offices," according to members of the Health Choices Coalition, of which the AAFP is a member. In an April 25 letter to the House Ways and Means Committee, the coalition said the provision has "resulted in unintended consequences to both physicians and patients."
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Fluoroquinolones May Increase Risk for Retinal Detachment, Study Finds
(5/15/2012, 4:10 p.m.)
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Before signing off on that prescription for a fluoroquinolone, family physicians may wish to consider an alternative, as yet another possible side effect has surfaced for patients who take these broad-spectrum antibiotics. According to a study published last month in JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), patients who take fluoroquinolones are at increased risk for retinal detachment.
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AAFP.org Coming Soon to a Mobile Device Near You
(5/14/2012, 4:00 p.m.)
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When it comes to interacting with for-profit companies, consumers expect to be able to do just about anything -- banking, downloading music, paying bills, shopping or even making dinner reservations -- via their mobile device. Although most nonprofit companies aren't quite as advanced in mobile technology, the AAFP is working on making it possible for us to engage with the Academy on our smartphones or tablet computers as easily as when we buy something on Amazon.com.
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OTHER NEWS
Proposed Increase in Medicaid Payments Helps Patients and Docs Both
(5/11/2012, 2:40 p.m.)
House Bill Would Reform Medicare Payment, Eliminate SGR
(5/9/2012, 5:10 p.m.)
Get Government Out of Exam Room, NCSC Delegates Tell AAFP
(5/9/2012, 1:45 p.m.)
Spotlighting Family Medicine Is Common Theme Among Special Constituency Delegates
(5/9/2012, 4:35 p.m.)
Medically Underserved Are Focus for NCSC Delegates
(5/9/2012, 5:05 p.m.)
Delegates Adopt Measures to Ease Visa Process, Achieve IMG Parity
(5/9/2012, 5:15 p.m.)
Students, Residents: Stand Up and Make a Difference for Family Medicine
(5/9/2012, 10:50 a.m.)
