Health Highlights: Sept. 7, 2016

• Tweet
• Pin It

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

Paperwork Consumes Half of Doctors’ Time: Study

Doctors spend about half their time on paperwork, researchers say.

Their study of 57 doctors in various sub-specialties found that they spent 29 percent of their total work time talking with patients or other staff members, while 49 percent was spent on desk work and electronic record keeping, ABC New reported.

When the doctors were in the exam room with patients they spent about 53 percent of their time interacting with the patients and 37 percent on electronic health records or other desk work.

The study by American Medical Association researchers was published in the journal Annals of Medicine.

The findings provide insight into how doctors spend their time and may point to solutions to make both both doctors and patients happier, Dr. Tom Payne, medical director for IT services at University of Washington Medicine, told ABC News.

He was not involved with this study, but has done research on the issue.

—–

Asher’s Chocolate Products Recalled

A number of Asher’s brand chocolate products are being recalled due to possible salmonella contamination.

The recalled items were sold in stores nationwide, but no illnesses have been reported so far, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said.

Consumers with the recalled products should not eat them. To arrange for the return of products and a refund, call the company at 888-288-3880 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday.

Salmonella can cause fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain in healthy people, and serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems, the FDA said.

—–

World’s First Face Transplant Patient Dies

The women who underwent the world’s first partial face transplant 11 years ago died in April, a hospital in France announced Tuesday.

Isabelle Dinoire, 49, died after a long illness and news of her death was withheld until now because her family wanted her death kept private, the Associated Press reported.

No further details were provided by Amiens University Hospital in northern France, and it’s not known if her illness was associated with the transplant in 2005.

Dinoire was severely disfigured by her pet dog and received a new nose, chin and lips. Her surgery helped lead to dozen of other face transplants worldwide, the AP reported.

Copyright © 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

• Tweet
• Pin It