Recession and Cosmetic Surgery Trends

This being the worst economic recession in decades hasn't left an industry unscathed. Elective spending in particular has been clearly curtailed, and with much of cosmetic surgery being elective, it has been scarred right in the face by the turbulent economy's clout.

Recent figures from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) unravel the magnitude of damage caused, with the year 2008 registering a drop of 9 percent to $11.8 billion in the number of cosmetic surgery procedures in the U.S.

Mars & Venus Differ

The quest of looking more beautiful or handsome has traditionally been a woman's forte, while men only recently realized that they too have the potential to look good and reap its benefits. However, recession seems to have put men back on the track of regression in terms of cosmetic surgery, while they continue to use skin care products. Statistics uncover that for the past couple of years men had been competing quite well with women in terms of cosmetic surgeries, but in 2008, the male surgery decreased by 2 percent, whereas 29% more women have consulted plastic surgeons. Popular cosmetic procedures during the past year were blepharoplasty, liposuction, breast augmentation, laser hair removal, Botox (R) injections, and injectable fillers.

Survival For The fittest

The changed economic scene with all the job cuts, failing businesses, and uncertainty about the future pretty much seems to have snatched away the coziness of livelihood that we became used to during the good times. Jobs are now hard to find, and only if you are lucky, and are among the best of the lot. Increasingly, cosmetic surgery is being seen to make job seekers and holders more competitive and confident. In a survey 756 women between the ages 18 and 64, about 13 percent said that they would consider a medical cosmetic procedure to make them more competent within the job market.

While plastic surgeons may be reaching out for their surgical boxes somewhat less in the current scenario, the longer term outlook is a lot brighter. It is estimated that in excess of 55 million cosmetic surgery procedures will be conducted in 2015.

US Medical Equipment Industry Overview

There were about 8,000 medical device companies in the United States around 2004. While the number of large and mid-sized medical device companies was less, over 80 percent of firms employed no more than 50 people. The world's medical equipment and supplies industry was worth $80 billion in 2005, with the United States being the the largest consumer country of medical and dental equipment.

Read More at: TheMedica

UK Alternative Medicine Market Overview

Complementary and alternative medicine is increasingly becoming popular in many developed countries including the UK. The UK market value estimates for complementary therapies in 1996 stood at $106.4 million, while the sales of herbal remedies totaled $56 million. Homeopathy, chiropractic, acupuncture, medical herbalism, osteopathy, hypnotherapy, aromatherapy are some popular CAM therapies.

Read More at: TheMedica

Alternative Medicines Industry Profile

Alternative medicines are also known as complementary and alternative Medicine (CAM) or traditional medicines. In some African and Asian nations about 80 percent of the population gets its primary health care via Alternative medicines. About 12 percent children use CAM in the US such as homeopathic medicines, herbs and yoga for addressing a number ailments. However, CAM usage has decreased for head or chest colds from 2002 to 2007 in the US.

Read More at: TheMedica

3 Burning Issues for Hospitals Today

This recession has had quite an impact on hospitals, causing 45% of hospitals to postpone capital projects and 13% to cease any expansion in process, as an American Hospital Association report revealed. But despite the new challenges posed by financial crisis for the medical industry, hospitals have their own health care delivery issues to tackle.

Many hospitals have been purchasing refurbished hospital furniture such as hospital chairs or beds to cut costs. However, in addition, addressing the following issues can lead to long term cost-savings.

1. Hospital Deaths due to Medical Errors

Preventable medical errors caused an average of 195,000 individuals to lose their lives in the USA. This was the finding of a HealthGrades study that assessed 37 million patient records for the years 2000, 2001 and 2002. The associated health care cost of these medical errors is estimated to be over $6 billion per year. Following the study, analysts suggested that just by improving upon four key areas, namely, failure to rescue, bed sores, postoperative sepsis, and postoperative pulmonary embolism. And if their occurrence could be reduced by just 20 percent, 39,000 lives can be saved each year. Whether medical error rates have dropped since the study remains to be seen.

2. Hospitals' Efficiency

The hospitals in the US can significantly improve patient care and also save a minimum of about $4 billion annually, only if they became more efficient. These conclusions follow from an analysis by Thomson Reuters. Key suggestions from the company to save costs include reducing hospital-acquired infections and slashing hospital readmissions. While the minimum savings are to the tune of $4 billion, with some really effective measures in place hospitals could save up to $20 billion over a span of three years. That's about $7 billion a year in savings.

3. Electronic Health Records

The present state of affairs seems pretty dismal as only 1.5 percent of U.S. hospitals have implemented facility-wide comprehensive health care information technology systems. Further, just about 8 – 11 percent hospitals have at least a single unit with installed with basic health care IT systems. (New England Journal of Medicine, NEJM, Mar 2009).

While smaller budgets, maintenance costs, hesitation among health care professional are said to be the primary reasons preventing the widespread use of IT systems, the long-term effects of installing them need to be taken into account. At the same time, it's hardly any use having IT systems in place when their power isn't leveraged via effective use.

Medical Diagnostics Industry Overview

The medical and clinical diagnostic industry comprises businesses and laboratories that offer analytic or diagnostic services including body fluid analysis and diagnostic imaging. The world market for diagnostics was valued at $22.47 billion in 2000 and was expected grew at an annual rate of about 6 percent to $28.63 billion by 2005. The IVD product, point-of-care instrument and the medical diagnostic kit (MDK) markets have emerged as growing segments of the diagnostic laboratory industry.

Read More at: Themedica

Medical Instruments Market Overview

Being used since the seventeenth century, precision medical instruments today are an invaluable component of health care delivery. Used to in monitoring, diagnosis, therapy, treatment or alleviation of diseases, the market for medical instruments is forecast to reach $201.6 billion in 2010. In 2007, the USA accounted for 60% of the industry's world market at $8.3 billion for the minimally invasive medical devices industry.

Read More at: Themedica

The UK Diet Supplements Market Overview

A general sentiment to maintain health, protect against illness, tackle specific health problems, up vitality levels and live healthier are driving up the demand for vitamins, minerals and supplements within the United Kingdom. By the year 2006, the UK VMS market was valued at $827 million. The six major players who held a major share (approx. 78 percent) within the vitamins, minerals, and supplements (VMS) market are Holland & Barrett, Bayer, Seven Seas, Boots Healthcare, SuperDrug, and Tesco. By 2011, the UK market for diet supplements is expected to be valued at $868 million.

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The Vaccine Market Overview

Till now, vaccines were largely associated with inoculation of infants and kids, but now the market for adult vaccines is growing fast. The global vaccine market stood at US$ 11.42 billion in 2006, growing at a rate of 16.52%, it is said to touch US$ 21.05 billion by 2010, and up to $23.8 billion by 2012. As competition within the industry increases, the vaccine market will resemble the conventional market for pharmaceutical products. Amongst many trends seen within the are that vaccines aimed at anthrax, plague, and smallpox, are being designed to defend against bioterrorist attacks. Also, vaccines to stimulate innate immune responses as well as adaptive are being developed, and more.

Read More at: Themedica

Are Pharma Workers Feeling More Insecure Now?

Pharma staffers, despite working long hours in the wake of the shaky economy are beginning to express insecurity about their careers as a recent survey by the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing magazine found.

The press release reports that of the 400 readers worldwide who participated in the survey, 64% feared job security. While in 2008 this figure was 55.8%, and 42.7% in 2007.

It's a progressive trend that with each passing year the percentage of those expressing insecurity within the pharma drug industry has increased. And that experts think that the dwindling economy isn't the sole reason. In fact, the expression of job insecurity by pharma staffers is a result of dwindling product pipelines, blockbuster drug patent expirations, and the buzz created by the recent culminated & speculated mergers and acquisitions.

Further, pharma companies aren't laying off more now than a few years ago. However, new hiring has certainly taken a hit, and as is the case for most industries, a “wait-and-see attitude” is being adapted by pharma companies too.

Despite the prevailing insecurity, industry employees still find “Improving patients’ lives” as something that motivates and find meaning in their jobs. But they are also turned off by uncertainties about the future, job cuts and the fact that they're maintaining more than they're innovating.

Decreasing salaries too appear to be a concern to the workers from this domain of the medical industry. Because the numbers reveal that in response to this year's study just 40.2% said they were drawing an annual pay package of $100,000 as against 47.3% in 2008. The biotech industry seems to be doing better, as biotech's turning out profits.

Nevertheless, Keeping up the spirits of the workforce has always been essential for running a company well, and it seem even truer during tough times. Perhaps the responsibility to keep staffers in good spirits lies on the shoulders of both the companies and the employees themselves – perhaps by maintaining a positive outlook, enhancing skills, or whatever works.

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The US Waste Management Industry Snapshot

Put together, the industry and households in the US produce over 200 million tons of solid waste, that translates into generation of about 4.4 pounds of waste per person every single day. The waste management industry, traditionally engaged in the collection, transport, and disposal of wastes is now faced with meeting the raised expectations of the populace, owing to increasing environmental concerns. The three major players in the waste management business are Allied Waste Industries, Waste Management, and Republic Services, and together with 10,000 private sector firms in the business, generate annual revenues to the tune of $50 billion.

Read More at: Themedica

Pharma Fighting Hard – But will it win?

Hit by the tsunami of recessionary economy causing sales to dip and growth rates forecasted to fall below historic levels, pharma drug companies have hit the panic button and are trying out different ways in their quest to survive.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Pfizer's acquisition of Wyeth for US$68 Billion is a striking example. The company has acted to safeguard itself, owing to the plummeting revenues from it's popular drug “Lipitor” and several other products, which would soon be faced with expired patent protection.

But this is being seen as just the beginning of a whole wave of mergers to come by. Some other expected acquisitions are being speculated such as Roche buying out the remaining share of Genentech, Merck merging with Schering-Plough, a merger between Sanofi and Bristol-Myers Squibb, and more pharma industry mergers.

In fact the general expectation the big pharma companies are all set to taking over smaller player raised the hopes among small biotechnology companies worrying about their own survival soon a bigger firm would approach them with a buy out offer. However, recently panelists attending the BioPartnering North America conference, warned of harboring such an unrealistic expectation that all biotech companies in distress will be rescued. At present pharma firms have their eyes set on other pharma firms rather than biotech product companies.

Job Cuts

Pharma companies are fast reducing their workforce. The Pfizer-Wyeth deal itself if expected lead to a 15 percent reduction of staff for both the firms combined, which translates in to about 130,000 job cuts.

Other recent layoffs include King Pharmaceuticals (KG), (22%, or 760 jobs), KV Pharmaceutical Co (700 job cuts expected), GlaxoSmithKline (10,000 job cuts predicted), and more.

Skepticism

At the same time analysts are skeptical about some aspects of these deals. For example there's apparently no solution to declining sales outlook, as projections about Pfizer-Wyeth will have a combined 2013 total company sales below the 2008 figure of $70 billion. Some suggest that while large-scale mergers between will create cost savings and give these companies time, that won't be sufficient to reinvent pharma.

Medical Device Industry Overview

The US industry with its high investments in Research and Development is regarded worldwide for making sophisticated and high quality devices incorporating advanced technologies. The country's market was valued at nearly $80 billion in 2005. In addition the U.S. medical technology companies are leaders in the world's medical device production. Further, to facilitate expansion, medical device companies are increasingly looking at developing economies as an opportunity to drive future growth.

Read More at: Themedica

Survey: Biotechnology Industry will Bounce Back

The biotechnology industry is expected to rebound and outperform healthcare industry and the rest of the market this year, according to findings from an investor perception study released by Thomson Reuters and the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) at the 11th Annual BIO CEO & Investor Conference in New York.

Findings

• Investors have stated that a company’s cash position is now more important.

• More than two-thirds in the study expect greater M&A volume in 2009, with major pharmaceutical companies buying biotech of all sizes, and large biotechs buying smaller biotech companies.

• The study found that most investors are neutral to positive about the policies likely to be pursued by the Obama administration.

• Investors are particularly hoping for greater consistency and predictability from the FDA where higher safety barriers and insufficient resources are cited as primary reasons for limited drug approvals.

• Most investors pay little attention to activism in the biotech sector

• Meeting with management is the most important factor when researching investments, followed by conferences and sell-side research, which is still considered important.

Investors are optimistic about biotech stock performance

• 70% expect biotech to outperform the rest of the market this year.

• 59% consider biotech undervalued, while only 4% say the sector is overvalued.

• 57% expect biotech to rebound during this year; another 30% expect a rebound in 2010.

Investors are less optimistic about research and development

• 60% state overall productivity in 2009-2011 will be the same as in 2006-2008.

• Investors see the best opportunities in mid-cap companies with late-stage pipelines

• 37% of polled investors see opportunity in micro-and small-cap companies, but only 16% favor early stage pipelines over late stage pipelines.

• 67% of investors state the best investment opportunities lie in oncology while 37% see promise in immunology.

Source: Biotechnology Industry Organization

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5 Reasons Why FDA's Furious Over Narcotics Misuse

The US Food and Drug Administration recently announced that it was beefing up efforts to curb unsafe use of 24 narcotics products used as pharmaceutical drugs. In its first such measure the regulator sent 16 companies making these products letters, asking them to have a "Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS)," in place.

Narcotic products have a chemical composition that simulates the effects of naturally occurring opiates like the opium poppy, and are often prescribed to cancer patients for managing sudden and severe bouts of pain. Though these products have been in use for years now, the question is, why the FDA has come out railing against these prescription drugs?

At least five reasons are the triggers behind the FDA getting tough.

1. Widespread Use: The drugs targeted by the FDA are the most extensively prescribed and used medications. Going by the 2007 figures, pharmacies in the United States doled out about 21 million prescriptions for these 24 narcotic products, and were consumed by approximately 3.7 million Americans.

2. Ineffective Earlier Measures: The FDA was aware of the havoc these chemicals were causing and it did try to reign in on them by means of mandatory label warnings and by working together with other federal agencies. However, the problems seem to have had no effect, and instances of drug misuse, abuse and accidental overdoses have increased over the past decade.

3. Increasing Non-medical Use: The Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) data shows that non-medical use of prescription pain relief drugs in Americans 18-25 has increased from 4.1% in 2002 to 4.6% in 2007. And for those aged 26 & Over, the increase has been from 1.6% from 1.3% over the same period.

4. The Products' Addictive Power: The products included in FDA's present hit list are those, which are based on extended-release formulas for long-lasting effects. But despite their efficacy in damping severe pain they carry the risk of being highly addictive. And this makes them perfect candidates for abuse, and they often are abused for their euphoric effects.

5. The FDA is now Empowered to Act!: This isn't quite a reason inherent in unsafe use of drugs, but it still is the necessary condition for the FDA action. It was only in 2007, that the USFDA got the power to require risk-management plans. Otherwise it would still have been negotiating changes to drug labeling and promotion with the drug making companies from the medical industry.

Hopefully, the new measures will harness the beast of prescription drug abuse.

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Tips To Promote Yourself at Trade Shows

Participating in medical trade shows can produce immediate results in the form of “at-the-show” sales, or generate low-cost, high-quality sales inquiries. In addition, businesses get the opportunity to showcase and demonstrate their latest products, assess the activities of rivals and examine recent trends and opportunities. However, successfully participating at a trade show and deriving all the benefits requires a well-planned approach, or else the participant's cost might turn out to be higher than any benefits. Read on to know the essential tips for make your participation at trade shows a success.

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The Stem Cell Debate - Is It Settled?

The wait for those in support of embryonic-stem-cell research funding seems to be over, as the President Obama is expected to sign an executive order overriding the federal funding limits put on by the former administration. And leading to the rebirth of stem cell research.

Those against stem cell research contend that stem cells research amounts to abortion, because it moves forward at the expense of destroying human embryos, which are fertilized eggs and in early stages of becoming a baby. And abortion is murder, so stem cells research amounts to killing. So when the Bush administration put a cap on funding it was believed that religious convictions had won over science.

But was it really a victory, especially if you consider that stem cells have the potential to be grown into any type of cell the human body has, and thus making them an excellent resource to treat and manage debilitating diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, paralysis, diabetes and more.

Who gets to win or lose?

It seems that despite the convincing power of immorality aspect ascribed to stem cell research, many opinion polls have indicated that a majority of Americans think that stem cell research holds a lot of promise to eventually bring down human suffering than cause it. Perhaps, there would have been some breakthroughs in treatments already, if the big biotechnology product companies hadn't shied away from stem-cell research due to the politics involved.

What's more unpleasant is that a political football match is being played with something as noble as scientific research and which has the potential to save so many lives.

The debate probably isn't settled in the minds of those with the opposing views, and it may never be. But if biotechnology isn't given the respect it deserves, it would choose to grow in a place where it gets the freedom to. For instance, The Shandong Stem Cell Engineering Research Center in China reports, via UPI, that they've successfully cloned five human embryos for medical research!

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Economic Recession - Hospitals aren't Spared

In its most recent update published on January 28, the IMF announced that world growth is forecast to fall to its lowest level since World War II. And with the US being one of the worst hit, the hospital business, an integral part of the medical marketplace, and often regarded as recession proof is beginning to feel the heat.

Despite the fact that hospitals aren't hit the way the way the automotive sector or the retail has been, and that people will continue to fall sick irrespective of the economy, it seems that the number of people seeking medical care and the profitability of hospitals don’t walk hand-in-hand.

Growth stunted & patients decreasing

A recent report by the American Hospital Association (AHA) finds that the sputtering economy has already led to 45% of hospitals to postpone forthcoming capital projects, with about 13% being forced to completely stall any expansion projects already underway. The AHA report included 639 hospitals in the study.

Further, experts believe that even though people continue to fall sick they're postponing, most treatments if not all, which can be classified as elective. The credit for the prevailing scenario goes to all the layoffs and the slowing economy. As per the Bureau of Labor Statistics the month of December saw some of the worst layoff figures, as there were 2,275 mass layoff actions, involving 226,117 workers.

What seems worse is that aside from foregoing elective treatments, patients seem to be avoiding essential drugs, with many actually abusing prescription drugs, such as narcotic painkillers , sedatives and tranquilizers and stimulants.

As a consequence, hospitals are reeling under delayed hospital equipment and supply purchases, declining patient visits, reduced staff with no fresh hiring, unpaid medical bills, in addition to ceasing any construction projects. The AHA survey, released in November last year found that patient visits were static or had decreased during the third quarter of 2008, and the cases of unpaid medical bills for hospitals registered a hike of 8%.

The government's role in uplifting the spirit of hospitals is being thought to be instrumental as Medicare and Medicaid account for about half of the hospital business industry.

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Essential Tips to Import Medical Supplies

Importing medical supplies can quickly make your business more profitable as you discover new opportunities to save costs, compete better and grow fast. But to make your dreams a reality, you'd need to take precautions before you place an import order because a bad supplier can really affect your business within the medical marketplace. The good thing is that it's not all that hard to take effective measures for ensuring your business safety. A basic understanding and some essential tips can go a long way to accomplish a successful import. Read on to know what it takes to import medical supplies safely an effectively.

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Are Best Hospital Lists Worth their Salt?

Recently, a study found that the top-rated U.S. hospitals had a 27 percent lower death rate than other hospitals. So are the best ranked hospitals within the healthcare market really the best places for patients to seek treatment from.

They probably are to quite an extent and the ratings more credible if it's also known that the health care ratings organization is an independent one, such as is the case with HealthGrades.

So many top-rank lists

But consulting a single organization's ranking lists might not serve to be the final answer in your search for the best place to get medical care from. Perhaps, including the results of other agencies such as the Leapfrog Group, which surveys over 1,300 hospitals nationally, or The Joint Commission, which tracks different kinds of medical care rendered, or even the U.S. News' analysis of more than 5,453 medical centers to produce an Honor Roll based on 16 specialty rankings may also come in handy.

However, referring to several such reports, might at times, turn out to be confusing, because they might not appear to agree on who the best hospitals after all are. And some of the very best on one list simply might not figure on another. For instance, if one study analyzes just high volume and low risk procedures, while the other takes account of difficult and highly specialized treatments, the results would naturally be quite different. Or if one just assessed the hospitals' equipment & supplies, the outcomes would be radically different.

Cheeky Critics

Also, despite these lists being reliable in assessing the factors they rate the health care facilities on, are not without critics. The much debated Federal nursing home rating system is a glaring example, as some think that the assessment doesn't consider a broader view of all that takes place inside nursing homes. Nevertheless, it does consider something, which is better than nothing.

It seems in the end that many of these lists do provide reliable assessments, but search for a perfect hospital should always take into account the patient and her family's needs and limitation. As a result the top rank lists would be truly meaningful when they are used while considering the proximity, the abnormal medical condition, the medical procedure advised, affordability, and a host of such factors for which the patient and her family are perhaps the best judges.

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