New Products and Industry News

Wound care website receives medical education award

    Healthpoint (Fort Worth, Tex.) announced TheWoundInstitute.com, an online source for accredited wound care education, received the prestigious IN-AWE (International Awards of Excellence Medical Education) CE/CME Silver Award at the Medical Marketing Association (MMA) Annual Meeting held June 9, 2005 in Los Angeles, Calif.

    Every year the MMA recognizes outstanding performances related to medical or healthcare marketing for professional, trade, or consumer audiences at their annual national conference. More than 800 entries were submitted this year from healthcare companies and agencies from around the world.

    In the past 18 months, Healthpoint has supported more than 120 professionally accredited programs across the country. These programs awarded continuing education hours (CE/CME) to more than 3,900 clinicians and physicians interested in advanced wound care. In addition, 4,634 certificates and 6,396 CE credits were awarded to RNs last year through company delivered CE programs. Accredited CE programs for pharmacists and sponsors at conferences such as the Symposium on Advanced Wound Care (SAWC), and the Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nurses Society (WOCN) also are offered.

    For more information, visit https://www.healthpoint.com or https://www.thewoundinstitute.com.

Infrared photo therapy receives regulatory approval for treatment of peripheral neuropathy

    Anodyne® Therapy, LLC (Tampa, Fla.) announced that it has received regulatory approval from Health Canada to market its Anodyne Therapy Systems in Canada. Approved Canadian labeling based on submission of published clinical studies includes temporary reduction in disturbances in skin sensation, increases in balance, and reduction in fall risk (when used adjunctively with physical therapy) due to diabetic and other peripheral neuropathies.

    Peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage associated with diabetes and other chronic conditions) usually involves numbness and/or pain in the feet, legs, and hands. While drugs are sometimes effective for the pain associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DNP), no drug or medical device had previously been shown to increase sensation or improve balance once it has been diminished or lost due to DNP.

    Therapy treatments are currently available nationwide at more than 3,200 outpatient therapy facilities, hospitals, nursing homes, physician offices, and home health agencies to improve functional outcomes for patients suffering from peripheral neuropathy, chronic pain, and a broad range of other health problems. Products are also available for convenient home use.

    For more information, visit https://www.anodynetherapy.com.

MRSA skin infections cured more often with linezolid

    The antibiotic Zyvox® (linezolid injection, tablets, and for oral suspension) from Pfizer (New York, NY) is more effective than vancomycin for the treatment of complicated skin and soft tissue infections (cSSTIs) caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), according to the largest MRSA cSSTIs study to date published in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Of the total study population, including those treated for methicillin-susceptible infections, the number of patients cured with linezolid was comparable to those cured with vancomycin.

    The study involved 1,180 patients with cSSTIs, 361 of whom had confirmed MRSA infections.

    Due to the available pill form of linezolid, patients in the linezolid arm had up to five fewer days on intravenous (IV) therapy than patients treated with vancomycin. More than half of study participants (52%) treated with linezolid began treatment on the oral formulation.

    In the intent-to-treat (ITT) population, linezolid had clinical cure rates of 92.2% versus 88.5% for patients on vancomycin. In the MRSA subgroup (microbiologically evaluable population), patients treated with linezolid had better microbiologic cure rates (88.6%) compared with patients on vancomycin (66.9%). In the ITT population, patients in the linezolid group had fewer days of IV therapy than those in the vancomycin group (4.0 ± 2.6 days versus 9.0 ± 5.3 days, respectively). The overall mean treatment duration was significantly longer in the linezolid group versus the vancomycin group (11.8 ± 4.9 days versus 10.9 ± 5.3, respectively).

   For more information, visit https://www.zyvox.com.