New Products and Industry News
Hand hygiene guidelines available on video
3M Heath Care (St. Paul, Minn.) has sponsored a new video to make it easier for healthcare professionals to update their procedures in light of the new hand hygiene guidelines issued recently by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The video, Hand Hygiene: Cleaning Up Our Act, reviews the new CDC Guideline for Hand Hygiene in Healthcare Settings, hand washing methods, their benefits, and indications for their use. The new video, produced for the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) by Envision, Inc. with a grant from 3M Health Care, features internationally known hand hygiene experts. Free previews are available.
To order, please call (866) 321-5066 or visit www.envisioninc.net.
Steroid cream now in economical tube
HEALTHPOINT, Ltd. (Fort Worth, Tex.) introduced a new, economical 90-g tube of Cloderm Cream, 0.1% (clocortolone pivalate), a mid-potency topical steroid for the treatment of inflammation and pruritus associated with dermatoses, including atopic dermatitis, seborrheic dermatitis, and contact dermatitis. The advanced emollient cream formulation combines proven efficacy, an excellent safety profile, patient acceptance, and rapid onset of action (as early as 4 days of treatment).
The cream contains no dyes, fragrances, antihistamines, propylene glycol, or lanolin.
In addition to the new tube size, the cream is available in 45-g and 15-g tubes at pharmacies nationwide.
For more information, please call (800) 441-8227.
In-home wound care solutions introduced
3M Health Care (St. Paul, Minn.) will release 3M In-Home Wound Care Solutions, an integrated package of services and technologies designed to maximize clinical and business efficiencies. The launch is set for January 2004.
The new product is based on a comprehensive study that investigated the needs and challenges of home care administrators, home care nurses, family caregivers, and patients. Among the findings addressed by the product:
* Nearly four out of every 10 patients admitted to home care agencies have wounds requiring continued care
* Misuses and over-utilization of wound care products results in profit margin reduction for providers
* Staff education is costly but critical to retaining valuable, quality employees and to providing better patient and business outcomes.
For more information, please visit www.inhomewoundcare.com.
Wound care website launched
Kestrel Health Information (Bristol, Vt.) publisher of medical product dictionaries, launched a wound care website, www.woundsource.com. The new website features a search engine-driven tool that displays information from the Kestrel Wound Product Sourcebook, which includes clinical-reviewed wound care product data. Searches can be conducted by company, trade name, product category, and patient condition. Other contents include articles, news, forums, and interactive tools for requesting product literature.
For more information about the company, please visit www.kestrelhealthinfo.com.
Ostomy bag system enhances patient convenience
Invention Submission Corporation (ISC, Pittsburgh, Pa.), announced that a pharmacist from Jamesburg, NJ, designed a system to enhance the lifestyle of a patient with an ostomy. The invention is patented and available for manufacturing and distribution.
The "Mayer's Adjustable Ostomy Kit," designed with a 2-L collection container, provides an extended period of waste collection without disruption (ideal for use while the patient is sleeping). Irritation caused by frequent pouch changes and adhesive patches would be avoided.
The collection container also would be tailored to fit into a base with wheels and an adjustable arm to allow a patient to wheel the unit around and utilize it in a vehicle. The patient would enjoy greater independence and freedom of movement.
Medical personnel would benefit from the kit's precalibrated design to allow monitoring of the level of waste material in the collection container without having to pour it into a separate measuring container.
Flexible tubing connecting the pouch to the collection chamber is designed to create a smoother, unobstructed flow of the waste material. In addition, the pouch features an air escape valve to prevent waste leaks caused when a conventional ostomy pouch fills with gas.
The company wants to submit the invention to companies for review. If substantial interest is expressed, the company will attempt to negotiate for a sale or royalties for the inventor. For more information, telephone Department 99-NWK-1048 at (800) 622-9855.
Group purchasing contracts renewed
Stratus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Kendall, Fla.), a minority-owned pharmaceutical distributor and manufacturer, announced that Premier and Consorta, two of the largest hospital group purchasing organizations (GPOs), have renewed the contract for the full line of the company's products. These products include Kovia and Ziox debriding ointments in all dosage forms (30-g tube, 3.5-g unit dose, and 6-g unit dose).
The company's products are also contracted with other major GPOs nationwide, including Amerinet, Innovatix, Novation, PACT, and Med-Assets. The company is also an approved vendor to the federal government and VA hospitals.
For more information, visit www.stratuspharmaceuticals.com.
International marketing deals signed
HEALTHPOINT, Ltd. (Fort Worth, Tex.), signed a distribution agreement for Mexico City-based TH Medical to market the company's Trizenol™ product line, as well as Cook Biotech Incorporated's patented wound matrix product, Oasis®, in Mexico. This agreement is the company's first in Mexico.
Trizenol technology features a fast-acting, persistent topical antiseptic, the first introduced in the field of surgical skin asepsis since the introduction of chlorhexidine gluconate in the 1970s. The product is named for its three elements: alcohol active, emollient for the skin, and a preservative (zinc pythrione), which provide performance characteristics beyond traditional formulations used for surgical scrubbing.
Oasis is based on SIS technology, a new biomaterial that provides a supportive environment to allow a patient's body to rebuild and repair damaged tissue. The natural, extracellular matrix is used in the management of partial- and full-thickness skin loss injuries such as pressure, venous, and chronic vascular ulcers, diabetic ulcers, surgical and trauma wounds, second-degree burns, abrasions, and autograft donor sites. It provides an environment that allows the body to heal itself. Because it is an intact, organic, biologically derived matrix, the product is readily accepted by the body's immunologic system without the rejection sometimes demonstrated by other reconstituted collagen dressings.
HEALTHPOINT also signed a distribution agreement with Mexico City-based Medical Recovery to market , OASIS in Mexico.
The exclusive, worldwide agreement was signed early last year. HEALTHPOINT initially marketed the product in the US and extended marketing efforts to Canada late last year. Discussions for marketing the product in other international markets are currently in process. Indiana-based Cook Biotech, a leading manufacturer of tissue-engineered biomaterials for numerous medical and surgical applications, will continue to manufacture the product.
For more information, visit www.healthpoint.com.
Award winner announced
Angela M. Christiano, PhD, Director of Research at the Department of Dermatology and Associate Professor at the Departments of Dermatology and Genetics & Development, Columbia University, New York, NY, was awarded the C.E.R.I.E.S. 2003 Research Award for her research into epidermal biology. The Award will be used to further Dr. Christiano's proposed exploration of the molecular mechanisms of epidermal growth and differentiation. She received the award in recognition of her contributions to the understanding of hair biology and her determination to bridge the "bench to bedside" gap regarding hair follicle development and hair growth.
