October 5, 2012

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.

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Karl Oestreich, manager enterprise media relation

Philadelphia Inquirer
Disease names can pose ethical problems
by Melissa Dribben

… Wegener's granulomatosis, for example, a rare autoimmune disease, is named for Friedrich Wegener, a German pathologist recently outed as a Nazi storm trooper. Wegener's past was uncovered in 2006 when Eric Matteson, a rheumatologist at the Mayo Clinic, was researching a biographical article about the physician. Not only did he discover Wegener's Nazi connection, but he also found that Wegener's medical-school roommate had beaten him to describing the disease.

Circulation: The Philadelphia Inquirer operates in America's sixth largest market in population and household, including five counties in Pennsylvania and four across the Delaware River in southern New Jersey. The Philadelphia Inquirer has more than 354,000 daily readers.

Context: Eric Matteson, M.D., is chair of the Rheumatology Department at Mayo Clinic  in Rochester, Minn. The Division of Rheumatology provides diagnosis and treatment of diseases affecting the joints and connective tissue (rheumatic diseases), including more than 100 types of arthritis and many autoimmune diseases. Doctors in the division have been trained in internal medicine and rheumatology. Besides caring for patients, medical staff are also involved in research and in training new rheumatologists. The first chair of Rheumatology at Mayo Clinic, Dr. Philip S. Hench, started the tradition of research that still motivates the division today. His efforts led to the discovery of the beneficial effect of cortisone in rheumatoid arthritis, an observation that led to his sharing the Nobel Prize in 1950.

Public Affairs Contact: Sharon Theimer

KPHO-CBS5
Life comes full circle for one Eastern Arizona family

SCOTTSDALE, AZ (CBS5) - Kathy Hunt of Young, AZ, needed a liver transplant. Her husband, Jeff Hunt, wanted to be her donor. But while going through a series of standard pre-surgery tests at the Mayo Clinic, it was discovered for the first time that Jeff had the early stages of kidney cancer, for which he's currently being treated.

Reach: KPHO-5 is the CBS affiliate in Phoenix and is owned by Meredith Corporation.  

Context: The interview took place at the Village at Mayo Clinic, where Kathy Hunt is recuperating. The Village at Mayo Clinic is a low-cost, extended-stay lodging option for transplant and cancer patients receiving treatment at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. The Village at Mayo Clinic is located on the Phoenix campus of Mayo Clinic, allowing transplant patients easy and timely access to their appointments at Mayo Clinic Hospital and the Mayo Clinic Specialty Building.

Public Affairs Contact: Lynn Closway

Arizona Republic
Doctors shine light on concussions in Scottsdale symposium
by Paola Boivin

Three days ago, Mayo Clinic neurologist Dr. David Dodick met with an NHL player who had suffered at least five concussions. The athlete said his wife no longer asked him to bring things from the upstairs of his house to her. “I come downstairs a minute later, and I don’t have it with me,” he told the director of the clinic’s concussion program. “I don’t remember.” Memory impairment was one of many topics covered at the Mayo Clinic Symposium on Concussion in Sport held Friday and Saturday in Scottsdale. The event attracted many of the field’s foremost experts, including medical representatives from several professional leagues and a highly regarded doctor who has performed autopsies on some of the sports world’s more-concussed brains.

Circulation: The Arizona Republic reaches 1.1 million readers every Sunday. The newspaper’s website Arizona Central, averages 83 million pages views each month.

Context:  Mayo Clinic has assembled the nation's leading experts including professional sports league representatives to discuss the clinical and scientific aspects of concussions and the related growing public health concerns at the Symposium on Concussion in Sport, Sept. 28–29, at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. A news release was ditributed Sept. 19. The story was also picked up by USA Today below:

USA Today
Shining a light on concussions
By Paola Boivin, azcentral sports

Three days ago, Mayo Clinic neurologist Dr. David Dodick met with an NHL player who had suffered at least five concussions. The athlete said his wife no longer asked him to bring things from the upstairs of his house to her.

Circulation: USA TODAY  has a circulation of 1.8 million and a readership of 3.1 million. USA TODAY websites have 26.3 million unique visitors a month.

Public Affairs Contact: Jim McVeigh

Florida Times-Union
Early detection vital in breast cancer batttle
by Sandy Strickland

…Tomosynthesis is another technique that’s recently become available, said Michelle McDonough, assistant professor of radiology at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville. It takes multiple X-ray pictures of each breast from many angles and then sends them to a computer to create three-dimensional images. Mayo in Rochester, Minn., has a unit used for research purposes, she said.

Circulation: The Florida Times-Union reaches more than 120,000 daily and 173,000 readers Sunday.

Context:  The Florida Times-Union published a series of Mayo-Clinic related stories recently as part of Octobers' Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Tomosynthesis takes multiple X-ray pictures of each breast from many angles and then sends them to a computer to create three-dimensional images, said Michelle McDonough, M.D., who has joint appointments in the Breast Clinic and Radiology at Mayo Clinic in Florida. The three others appear immediately below.

Public Affairs Contact: Paul Scotti

Florida Times-Union
Solid advice, but no magic bullet for keeping breast cancer at bay
by Diana Greenberg

There is no surefire way to prevent breast cancer, the experts say, no magic bullet to keep it at bay. But there are steps women can take to minimize their risk. And if they get the disease, there are things they can do to keep it from becoming life-threatening and lessen its impact on their quality of life…“About 70-75 percent of breast cancers occur sporadically, with no family history,” said Stephanie Hines, a doctor of internal medicine and assistant professor of medicine at Mayo Clinic. “Probably 5 to 10 percent of all breast cancers are caused by some gene that is being inherited through the family that we can track.”

Circulation: See Florida Times-Union entry above.

Context: Stephanie Hines, M.D. has joint appoointments in the Breast Clinic an Consultative and Diagnostic Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Florida.

Public Affairs Contact: Paul Scotti

Florida Times-Union
Early detection makes lumpectomies a viable option
By Diana Greenburg

Years ago, when a woman developed breast cancer, she faced the prospect of losing her breast, a lifesaving necessity. Today she has another option — the removal of just the cancer and a bit of tissue around it, preserving the rest of her breast...“Early detection and increased patient awareness have allowed us to identify cancers when they’re not palpable, before patients recognize that they have something wrong,” says Sarah McLaughlin, assistant professor of surgery and fellowship-trained breast surgical oncologist at Mayo Clinic

Related Mayo Clinic coverage in The Florida Times Union on pancreatic and prostate cancer.

Circulation: See Florida Times-Union entry above.

Context: Sarah McLaughlin, M.D., has joint appointments in the Breast Clinic and General Surgery at Mayo Clinic in Florida.

Public Affairs Contact: Paul Scotti

Post-Bulletin
Medical conferences provide bump for local economy
by Jeff Hansel

Mayo Clinic's Individualizing Medicine 2012 conference kicks off today, bringing more than health providers and commercial representatives. This conference, added to others recently, pushes Mayo's local financial impact past the $1 million mark. Brad Jones, executive director of the Rochester Convention and Visitors Bureau, said final tallies aren't in yet. RCVB estimates Mayo's Transform, Cardiovascular Review Course, Karolinska Institute meeting and Individualizing Medicine conferences, together, will bring $1,035,000 into the city.

Circulation: The Post-Bulletin has a weekend readership of nearly 45,000 people and daily readership of more than 41,000 people. The newspaper serves Rochester, Minn., and southeast Minnesota.

Context: The Individualizing Medicine 2012: Transforming Patient Care with Genomics conference was held Oct. 1-3 in Rochester, Minn. This inaugural conference from Mayo's Center for Individualized Medicine focused on the promise and challenges of incorporating genomics into patient care.

News Release

Related Coverage:

Post-Bulletin
Genome testing could help individualize treatments
by Jeff Hansel

Speakers at Mayo Clinic's Individualizing Medicine conference offered impressive examples of real-world genome-based treatment, and called for more research. Michael Snyder, director for the Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine at Stanford University, said Stanford researchers chose to study Snyder's own genome rather than recruit a test subject. Speaking during this week's conference at Mayo Civic Center, Snyder said his entire genome has been sequenced. Whenever he gets a cold, he gets tested to see how the virus affects his genome — and it does.

Post-Bulletin
Mayo Clinic genomics conference explores potentials, fears
By Ken Hanson

Two huge video screens overlooking the floor of Mayo Civic Center’s Taylor Arena showed a woman dressed as a fortune-teller gazing into a crystal ball and speaking to a man eager to hear about his future.

The woman told the man that he was going to be involved in a serious car accident. He responded by asking for details and about what he could do to prevent the calamity. Her craft, the fortune-teller explained, couldn’t supply details “but can only describe risks and possibilities.”

Additional coverage: Post-Bulletin

Public Affairs Contact:  Sam Smith

Chicago Tribune
Don't rush medical care for student athletes
by Janice Neumann

Some cash-strapped parents see group sports physicals or quick exams at walk-in clinics as a convenient and inexpensive way for students to meet health exam requirements before entering a new school or athletics…Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., provides station-based sports physicals by nurses, orthopedists, physical medicine and rehabilitation specialists, physical therapists, athletic trainers and cardiologists. "A station-based approach to the sports pre-participation examination enables a larger number of athletes to receive evaluations in a time-efficient manner," said Dr. Edward Laskowski, co-director of the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center. "It also enables specialists who staff each station to evaluate their area of expertise in a more focused fashion."

CBS News This Morning
Mayo Clinic blames monopoly for cancer drug costs

A new Mayo Clinic study says drug manufacturers are driving up the cost of popular cancer drugs. Gayle King reports.

Reach:  CBS This Morning airs from 7 to 9 am Monday through Saturday in markets across the United States.

Context: A virtual monopoly held by some drug manufacturers in part because of the way treatment protocols work is among the reasons cancer drugs cost so much in the United States, according to a commentary by two Mayo Clinic physicians in the October issue of the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Value-based pricing is one potential solution, they write.

"Cancer care is not representative of a free-market system, and the traditional checks and balances that make the free-market system work so efficiently in all other areas are absent when it comes to most cancer treatment," write authors, Mustaqeem Siddiqui, M.D., an oncologist and Vincent Rajkumar, M.D., a hematologist.

News Release

Public Affairs Contact: Joe Dangor

Ottawa Sun.com
Mayo Clinic – Tips for a Safe Hunting Season

A 22-year-old man is dead following a hunting accident in the Osgoode-area. A 911-call came in about 7 p.m. last nite and apparently the man shot himself accidentally. My condolences to the family during this extremely difficult time. Although hunting is generally considered a safe sport accidents do occur and hunters are reminded to be diligent…

Circulation: The Ottawa Sun is owned by Sun Media Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Quebecor Media Inc., Canada's largest newspaper publisher. Sun Media's English and French language papers are leaders in providing local news and information to more than 10 million readers every week. The Ottawa Sun's weekday readership is more than 128,000, Saturday readership more than 86,000 and Sunday readership of 74,000. 

Context: Mayo Clinic Health System issued an expert alert Oct. 1. Errant gunshots are an obvious health risk during fall hunting season, but a range of other dangers also can send hunters to the hospital or worse: heart attacks, injured backs and broken bones are among the most common medical emergencies. Emergency medicine physician Eric Grube, D.O., of the Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse offers several tips for a safe hunting season.

Public Affairs Contacts: Rick Thiesse, Sharon Theimer

Arizona Daily Star - Tucson
Robots to help stroke patients

Starting in October, Phoenix-based neurology specialist Dr. Bart Demaerschalk will be able to roam the halls of Casa Grande Regional Medical Center, look into the eyes of stroke patients, diagnose conditions and consult with colleagues. And he'll do it all from Phoenix using a joysticklike tool while looking at his computer monitor. His patients will be looking right back at him.

Circulation: The Arizona Daily Star is a morning daily newspaper that serves Tucson and surrounding districts of southern Arizona with more than 133,000 daily readers. 

Additional coverage:
Arizona Republic
Robots let Ariz. Mayo Clinic doctors treat remotely

TUCSON - Starting in October, Phoenix-based neurology specialist Dr. Bart Demaerschalk will be able to roam the halls of Casa Grande Regional Medical Center, look into the eyes of stroke patients, diagnose conditions and consult with colleagues...Demaerschalk is medical director of the Mayo Clinic's telestroke system, which consists of a mobile robot doctors can control, adjust and speak through. ER doctors in Casa Grande will be able to contact the Mayo Clinic staff on a telestroke hotline.

Circulation: The Arizona Republic reaches 1.1 million readers every Sunday. The newspaper’s website Arizona Central, averages 83 million pages views each month.

Context: TUBA CITY, Ariz. — Residents of the largest city in the Navajo Nation in need of emergency medical care for a stroke may benefit from a Mayo Clinic "telestroke" program that will now be available at Tuba City Regional Health Care. A recent agreement between Tuba City Regional Health Care and Mayo Clinic in Arizona means the service will start in Tuba City as early as November. Tuba City is located in north central Arizona within the Painted Desert. Most of the area's population belong to the Navajo and Hopi tribes.

News Release

Public Affairs Contact: Jim McVeigh

ABC News
Blockers May Not Prevent Heart Attacks and Strokes
by Sydney Lupkin

New research suggests that beta-blocker pills don't prevent heart attacks, strokes or cardiac deaths in patients with heart disease, but doctors are torn over whether there's enough in the study to make them want to stop prescribing the drugs. Beta blockers have been a standard heart medication for decades… "This is a very compelling study that has the potential to shake up the conventional wisdom that exists regarding the role of beta blockers in the management of patients with cardiovascular disease," said Dr. Randal Thomas, a cardiovascular specialist at the Mayo Clinic. "At a minimum, it will lead to new studies that address this issue once again."

Reach: ABCNews.com is the official website for ABC News.

Context: Randal Thomas, M.D., Mayo Clinic Cardiovascular Dieases, offered his third-party expertise on the topic. The study was published in the Oct. 3, 2012 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Study Abstract

Public Affairs Contact: Traci Klein, Nick Hanson

Star Tribune
Running not for her best time, but for love
by Rachel Blount

Friends and family will run the Twin Cities Marathon with Johanna Olson as she battles a recurring brain tumor…During Olson's freshman year at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, she began to see spots and suddenly was struck with excruciating headaches. One week later, she underwent surgery at the Mayo Clinic for a grade II glioma. She was told it was a slow-growing type of brain tumor. She also was told it almost certainly would return.

Circulation: The Star Tribune Sunday circulation is 514,457 copies and weekday circulation is 300,330. The Star Tribune is the state’s largest newspaper and ranks 16^th nationally in circulation.

Context: Treatment of gliomas involves a multispecialty team effort at Mayo Clinic. A neurologist with expertise in brain cancers (neuro-oncologist) usually serves as the team lead. Brain tumor treatment team specialists work together to provide the integrated model of care for which Mayo Clinic is known. The neuro-oncologist helps coordinate your overall care with specialists from neurosurgery, medical oncology, radiation oncology, neuropathology, neuroradiology and brain rehabilitation, if needed.

Public Affairs Contacts: Nick Hanson, Joe Dangor

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Tags: ABC News, Arizona Daily Star, Arizona Republic, beta-blocker pills, Brad Jones, brain cancer, Breast Cancer, Cancer, Cancer, Cardiology, Casa Grande Regional Medical Center, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, clinical trials, concussions, Dr Bart Demaerschalk, Dr. David Dodick, Dr. Edward Laskowski, Dr. Eric Grube, Dr. Eric Matteson, Dr. Michelle McDonough, Dr. Mustaqeem Siddiqui, Dr. Philip S. Hench, Dr. Randall Thomas, Dr. Sarah McLaughlin, Dr. Stephanie Hines, Dr. Vincent Rajkumar, Florida Times-Union, Genome, Genomics, Genomics, gliomas, heart attacks, hunting, JAMA, Johanna Olson, Journal of American Medical Association, Karolinska Institute, Kathy Hunt, KPHO-5, liver transplant, Luther College, Mayo Clinic, Mayo Clinic Arizona, Mayo Clinic Breast Clinic, Mayo Clinic Cardiovascular Review Course, Mayo Clinic Health System, Mayo Clinic in the News, Mayo Clinic Individualizing Medicine Conference, Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center, Mayo Clinic Telestroke Program, Mayo Clinic Transform, memory impairment, neuro-oncologist, Neurology, NHL, Nobel Prize, Ottawa Sun, Phoenix, PM&R, Post Bulletin, RCVB, Rheumatology, Rheumatology, Rochester Convention and Visitors Bureau, Scottsdale, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Sports Medicine, Star Tribune, strokes, telestroke, Transplant, transplants, Tuba City Regional Health Care, Tuscon, Twin Cities, Twin Cities Marathon, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, USA Today, Village at Mayo Clinic, Wegener's Granulomatosis