Clinician's Roundtable

Host Lisa D'Andrea welcomes Michele Roth-Kauffman, chair of the physician assistant department at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, and an attorney, to discuss coverage options available to the physician assistants, the limitations of such coverage, and how the physician can enhance his/her own coverage to afford greater protection against malpractice claims. Ms. Roth-Kauffman also shares other steps you can take to reduce malpractice exposure.

When articular cartilage is damaged orthopedic intervention is required. Dr. Riley Williams, associate professor of orthopedic surgery at Weill Medical College, director of the institute for cartilage repair at the Hospital for Special Surgery, and a leading expert on cartilage repair, joins host Dr. Sherwin Ho to talk about current surgical and non-surgical techniques for repairing tissue. Find out also what Dr. Williams is learning from clinical trials on an updated version of an ACI procedure.

For much of the past 40 years, doctors have been telling patients vulnerable to heart disease to avoid eating eggs because of a mistaken belief that cholesterol-rich eggs increased one's risk of coronary heart disease. Guest Dr. Stephen B. Kritchevsky, director of the Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center supported by the National Institute on Aging, reviews the scientific research concerning cardiovascular disease and egg consumption with host Dr. Larry Kaskel.

Truck drivers live to an average age of 55, and thirty drivers are found dead each day in their trucks according to Dr. John McElligott, medical director of Professional Drivers Medical Depots. Dr. McElligott, explains to host Lisa D'Andrea how these statistics fueled his desire to provide convenient and affordable healthcare to the thousands of drivers in America. Dr. McElligott describe the model of the medical clinics, which are located at truck stops off major interstates highways. Dr. McElligott indicates that utilizing physician assistants to provide care makes the trucking clinics financially viable. Dr. McElligott also describes other services provided by the clinics such as taking care of a driver's truck, flexible appointments, and parking for these large vehicles, which are necessary in order to make 'healthcare' accessible for truck drivers.

A treatment for atherosclerosis and the chronic inflammation in arterial blood vessels could be entering critical clinical trial stages that may result in a novel new treatment. Dr. Lawrence Cohen, president and chief executive officer of VIA Pharmaceuticals lays out for host Chicago Tribune's Bruce Japsen the landscape of large pharmaceutical companies as well as smaller biotech companies that are making progress in bringing these treatments through the clinical trial process. They are closer than you might think.

Why aren't there medications to treat atherosclerosis or, more specifically, the underlying chronic inflammation of the blood vessel walls associated with this condition? Dr. Lawrence Cohen, president and CEO of VIA Pharmaceuticals, tells the Chicago Tribune's Bruce Japsen about the coming medications in U.S.-approved clinical trials to treat this inflammatory process.

For more than 150 years, medical researchers have known that atherosclerosis had an inflammatory component. But Dr. Lawrence Cohen, president and CEO of VIA Pharmaceuticals tells host Bruce Japsen of the Chicago Tribune why there has not been anything done about it.

Stroke has been increasingly recognized among children in recent years. Stroke in neonates, in particular, occurs at a much higher rate than in older children. What are the leading risk factors for neonatal stroke? How does it present and how is it diagnosed? Host Dr. Jennifer Shu learns more about the evidence for managing stroke in newborns, as well as the likely short-term and long-term outcomes, from Dr. E. Steve Roach, professor of pediatrics and neurology at the Ohio State University College of Medicine, and chief of the division of child neurology at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

Preparing for the future by studying the past: With researchers now able to resurrect antibodies to the 1918 influenza pandemic from elderly survivors, how does the technology used to do this potentially lead us to antibodies for other viruses? Can we be sure this immunity is not generated by recent exposure to similar strains? Dr. James Crowe, Jr., professor of microbiology and immunology, and director of the Vanderbilt Program for Vaccine Sciences at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, and one of the researchers leading this expansive project, explains how we are beginning to learn more about where viruses, including HIV, are most susceptible to being controlled and destroyed. Dr. Mark Nolan Hill hosts.

Ninety-plus years after the 1918 influenza pandemic, we are just beginning to understand the naturally occurring adaptive immunity of those who were in contact with this devastating virus. As researchers probe survivors of the flu pandemic, all of whom are approaching or have attained centenarian status, what are we learning about their long-lasting immunity to this virus? Can we explain why these people survived this expansive outbreak, just as relatives and friends around them perished? Dr. James Crowe, Jr., professor of microbiology and immunology, and director of the Vanderbilt Program for Vaccine Sciences at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, and one of the researchers leading this expansive project, shares some of the tricks that his team has used to make these antibodies in this fascinating discussion with Dr. Mark Nolan Hill.