July 26, 2013

Mayo Clinic in the News is a weekly highlights summary of major media coverage. If you would like to be added to the weekly distribution list, send a note to Emily Blahnik with this subject line: SUBSCRIBE to Mayo Clinic in the News.

Thank you.

Karl Oestreich, manager enterprise media relations

Wall Street Journal
Advances That Regrow Babies' Hearts
by Ron Winslow

Pediatric surgeons are developing a new strategy to tackle one of cardiology's most challenging congenital defects: babies born with only one heart ventricle. The doctors are enlisting the body's own regenerative powers in an effort to grow the missing ventricle or strengthen the remaining one…In the Mayo Clinic study, the focus isn't on salvaging the left ventricle, but on helping the right one serve as the main pumping chamber. Umbilical-cord blood cells are harvested at birth and processed to separate out stem cells, which are then frozen…The theory is that this "would stimulate more heart cells to grow or regenerate and make the existing cells stronger," says Harold Burkhart, a pediatric heart surgeon at the clinic. "The hope is it would delay the need for a transplant or the onset of a decrease in function of the single ventricle."

Circulation: The Wall Street Journal, a US-based newspaper published by Dow Jones & Company, is tops in newspaper circulation in America with an average circulation of 2 million copies on weekdays.

Related Coverage:

Wall Street Journal
New Treatments Give Hope to Babies With Heart Defects

Pediatric surgeons at two of the country's top hospitals are developing new treatments that could dramatically improve the survival rates of babies born with congenital heart defects. WSJ's Ron Winslow and Mayo Clinic physician Tim Nelson explain on Lunch Break.

Context: Mayo Clinic announced the first U.S. stem cell clinical trial in June 2013 for pediatric congenital heart disease. The trial aims to determine how stem cells from autologous umbilical cord blood can help children with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a rare defect in which the left side of the heart is critically underdeveloped. The trial will test the safety and feasibility of delivering a personalized cell-based therapy into the heart of 10 infants affected by HLHS.  Harold Burkhart, M.D. is a pediatric cardiovascular surgeon with the Mayo Clinic Children's Center. Timothy Nelson, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Todd and Karen Wanek Family Program for HLHS in Mayo Clinic's Center for Regenerative Medicine.

News Release: Mayo Clinic First in U.S. to Test Stem Cells for Cardiac Regeneration in Pediatric Congenital Heart Patients

Public Affairs Contact: Traci Klein

Minneapolis/ St. Paul Business Journal
Mayo Clinic adds health system in N.D.'s Bakken region to care network by Katharine Grayson

The Mayo Clinic will add North Dakota-based Trinity Health to its Mayo Clinic Care Network, the health system announced Wednesday. Trinity operates hospitals in Minot, N.D., as well as skilled-nursing and long-term care facilities. It has more than 2,700 employers and about $617 million in annual revenue.

Circulation: The Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal is published by American City Business Journals which owns more than 40 other local business newspapers.

Additional Coverage: Charlotte Observer, KMOT ND, KQCD ND, Bradenton Herald, Star Tribune, Minot Daily News, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Phys.org

Context: In a move designed to strengthen the delivery and quality of health care in northwest North Dakota, Mayo Clinic welcomed Trinity Health as the newest member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network July 24, 2013. As a member of the network, Trinity Health's physicians and other providers will have direct access to Mayo Clinic experts and clinical resources.

News Release: Trinity Health Joins Mayo Clinic Care Network

Mayo Clinic Care Network Members

Public Affairs Contact: Bryan Anderson

Pioneer Press, (AP)
Big names populate Mayo expansion board
by Brian Bakst

Gov. Mark Dayton and the Mayo Clinic turned Tuesday to heavy hitters in business and politics to run a new governing authority that will oversee the medical facility's ambitious Destination Medical Center expansion in Rochester, which is billed as the state's largest-ever economic development project. Dayton made four picks to the eight-member board: his chief of staff Tina Smith, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, former Wells Fargo and Co. executive James Campbell and Rani Engineering president Susan Rani. Meanwhile, Mayo has designated ex-Medtronic chief executive Bill George as its representative on the panel.

Reach: The Associated Press is a not-for-profit news cooperative, owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members. News collected by the AP is published and republished by newspaper and broadcast outlets worldwide.

Additional Coverage:

Star Tribune
Dayton to name 4 picks to new board overseeing Mayo's Destination Medical Center project

Star Tribune
Gov. appointment offers glimpse into Rybak's future

KNSI Radio St. Cloud, Prairie Business Magazine N.D., Duluth News Tribune, Grand Forks Herald, NBCNews, Star Tribune, Politics in Minnesota, MyFOX47, KARE11,  Pioneer Press, Post-Bulletin 

Context: Mayo Clinic announced July 23, 2013 that Bill George, a member of the Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees and former Chairman and CEO of Medtronic, has accepted the appointment to be Mayo Clinic's representative on the Destination Medical Center Corporation (DMCC) Board. Gov. Mark Dayton also named four appoiuntments to the board.

News Release: Bill George Named Mayo Clinic Representative to Destination Medical Center Corporation Board

News Release: Governor Dayton Makes Appointments to Destination Medical Center Board

Destination Medical Center Website

Public Affairs Contact: Karl Oestreich

MedPage Today
Docs Point to Others to Cut Health Costs
by David Pittman

Physicians feel that other major players in healthcare -- lawyers, insurance companies, hospitals, drug companies, and patients -- bear greater responsibility for reducing healthcare costs than doctors do, a survey found. Furthermore, doctors are hesitant to back substantial financing reforms such as eliminating fee-for-service, but they support reducing unnecessary treatments, Jon Tilburt, MD, MPH, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and colleagues found.

Reach: MedPageToday.com is a news service for physicians that provides a clinical perspective on the breaking medical news that their patients are reading. MedPage Today has more than 419,000 unique visitors and 1.2 million page views each month.

Additional Coverage: Pioneer Press, FOX News, Washington Post, Cardiology News, Kaiser Health News, LA Times, Columbus CEO, Toronto Telegraph, HealthDay, Fresno Bee, LiveScience, Medscape, ModernMedicine, HealthLeaders, PhysBizTech, DOTmed

Context: A new study of attitudes about health care costs reveals that an overwhelming majority of U.S. physicians feel a responsibility to address costs, but prioritize their obligations to patients' best interests over cost concerns. Results of the random survey of 2,500 U.S. physicians are published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). "Physicians feel stuck in a difficult position," says lead author Jon Tilburt, M.D., Mayo Clinic's Biomedical Ethics Program and Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery. "Despite their sense of responsibility to address health care costs, physicians consistently express a commitment to the best interests of patients even when it is expensive. Given this finding, we recommend that cost-containment strategies aimed at physician behavior should focus on innovations that not only promote savings but also preserve physicians' commitment to individual patients."

News Release: Mayo Clinic-led Study Finds that US Physicians Put Patients' Best Interests Above Concerns About Health Care Costs

Public Affairs Contact: Shelly Plutowski

MPR
The Daily Circuit: Government ponders move to stub out menthol cigarettes

"Menthol makes a deadly product more palatable" and should be banned from cigarettes, says a Mayo Clinic doctor who works on nicotine addiction.  Dr. Richard Hurt told The Daily Circuit on Tuesday that the addition of chemicals like menthol to cigarettes "makes it easier to start and harder to stop."  Hurt's comments followed the release of federal Food and Drug Administration survey that found menthol cigarettes are a bigger threat to public health than other cigarettes. The finding was contained in a review released this morning.

Reach: Minnesota Public Radio operates 43 stations and serves virtually all of Minnesota and parts of the surrounding states. MPR has more than 100,000 members and more than 900,000 listeners each week, which is the largest audience of any regional public radio network.

Related Coverage:

MedPage Today, FDA Eyes Menthol in Cigarettes

Context: Dr. Richard Hurt is director of Mayo Clinic’s Nicotine Dependence Center and a leading expert on tobacco-related issues. As a former smoker, he once smoked three packs a day. Dr. Hurt had his last cigarette on Nov. 22, 1975.

Public Affairs Contact: Kelley Luckstein

Phoenix Business Journal
Arizona bioscience leaders stress need for more collaboration, industry awareness
by Erin Roman

Arizona’s bioscience leaders said Wednesday there is a lack of understanding about their industry, but huge growth potential and value to investors in the Phoenix area…The panel consisted of Sayare, A. Keith Stewart, the dean for research at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona; Jack Jewett, president of the Flinn Foundation; and Joan Koerber-Walker, president and CEO of the Arizona BioIndustry Association.

Reach: The Phoenix Business Journal is one of 61 newspapers published by American City Business Journals.

Context: Keith Stewart, M.B., Ch.B. is dean for research and conducts translational research in multiple myeloma at Mayo Clinic in Arizona.

Public Affairs Contact: Julie Janovsky-Mason

To subscribe: Mayo Clinic in the News is a weekly highlights summary of major media coverage. If you would like to be added to the weekly distribution list, send a note to Emily Blahnik with this subject line: SUBSCRIBE to Mayo Clinic in the News.

To unsubscribe: To remove your name from the global distribution list, send an email to Emily Blahnik with the subject: UNSUBSCRIBE from Mayo Clinic in the News.

Tags: AP, Associated Press, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Bill George, Bradenton Herald, Cancer, Cardiology, Cardiology News, Charlotte Observer, cigarettes, Columbus CEO, congenital defects, destination medical center, DMC, DOTmed, Dr. David Hayes, Dr. Harold Burkhart. Dr. Timothy Nelson, Dr. John Noseworthy, Dr. Jon Tilburt, Dr. Keith Stewart, Dr. Richard Hurt, Duluth News Tribune, Fox News, Fresno Bee, Gov. Mark Dayton, Grand Forks Herald, health care costs, HealthDay, HealthLeaders, heart defects, heart ventricle, HLHS, hypoplastic left heart syndrome, JAMA, James Campbell, John Kutch., Journal of the American Medical Association, Kaiser Health News, KARE11, KMOT ND, KNSI Radio St. Cloud, KQCD ND, LA Times, LiveScience, Mayo Clinic, Mayo Clinic Arizona, Mayo Clinic Biomedical Ethics Program, Mayo Clinic Care Network, Mayo Clinic Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery, Mayo Clinic in Arizona, Mayo Clinic in the News, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Medscape, Medtronic, menthol, Minneapoli-St. Paul Business Journal, Minnesota Public Radio, Minot, Minot Daily News, ModernMedicine, MPR, multiple myeloma, MyFOX47, NBCNews, Nicotine Dependence Center, North Dakota, pediatric heart surgeon, Pediatrics, Pediatrics, Phoenix Business Journal, Phys.org, PhysBizTech, Pioneer Press, Politics in Minnesota, Post Bulletin, Prairie Business Magazine N.D., R.T. Rybak, regenerative medicine, rochester, Star Tribune, stem cells, Susan Rani, Tina Flint Smith, Tina Smith, Toronto Telegraph, Trinity Health, Twin Cities, Umbilical-cord blood cells, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post