CLINICAL NEWS
Oversight and Underfunded
56.8 MILLION
$
The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) total travel budget, sending 28,000
researchers to more than 7,000 conferences annually
14.6 MILLION
$
The amount the NIH spent on monitoring employees’ travel in 2014
To put that number into perspective:
14 MILLION
$
The amount the NIH spent on Hodgkin lymphoma research that same year
Bleeding Them Dry
Cardiac surgery patients are losing an “astonishing” amount of
blood to blood tests, according to a study of more than 1,900
patients in one hospital. Patients received an average of
Source: Bloomberg Business
115 TESTS,
leading to a median blood loss of
The Headaches of Aspirin for Primary Prevention
454 ml –
In a national survey of more than 2,500 people, 52% of respondents ages
45-75 reported current aspirin use: 18% of respondents reported using the
blood thinner for cancer prevention, and 81% reported using aspirin to prevent
a first heart attack or stroke, despite the FDA’s advice that aspirin should be
used only after a cardiovascular event has occurred. When the blood thinner
is used for primary prevention, the FDA concluded, for every heart attack or
stroke prevented, approximately one major bleeding event occurs.
NEARLY HALF A LITER!
The loss of blood, the study authors wrote, could lead to
anemia and transfusions and longer stays in the hospital.
Potential solutions to the “bloodletting