The Joint Commission's anticoagulant safety goal goes into effect Jan. 1, 2009. Physicians, pharmacists, and nurses at health-care systems around the country are collaborating to improve best practices and to put more stringent measures in place.

Medicare has stopped paying hospitals for blood conditions caused by poor inpatient glycemic control. Health-system pharmacists can help prevent these conditions and reduce uncompensated expenses by insisting on proper protocols.

The complications of obesity affect nearly every organ system. Treatment approaches include pharmacotherapy, modification of behavior and lifestyle, and surgery. Analysis of the root cause for each patient is essential.

Sen. Edward Kennedy's brain cancer has made the world more aware of malignant glioma. While prognosis for brain-cancer patients is grim, new vaccines and drugs in the pipeline offer extended quality of life and hope of a cure.

The American Thoracic Society End-of-Life Care Task Force has published new guidelines for treatment of patients with advanced respiratory diseases or critical illnesses.

C. difficile may now be causing 500,000 cases a year and contributing to more than 20,000 deaths. The epidemic is increasing.

Tamsulosin and dutasteride combination approved by FDA.

Sanofi-Pasteur's new Pentacel vaccine is cleared to protect against five childhood diseases.

Two GSK vaccines included in CDC recommendations