Renal & Urology News: World Review for Urologists & Nephrologists

Editor's Letter Articles

Dialysis Care in the Post-Bundling Era

Jody A. Charnow December 01, 2011

For the ninth straight year, I came away from Kidney Week (formerly Renal Week), the annual scientific meeting of the American Society of Nephrology, feeling badly that Renal & Urology News can only report on a fraction of the thousands of studies presented at the meeting.

Some Thoughts on Patient Education

Jody A. Charnow October 11, 2011

Physicians are indeed spending less face time with patients, according to studies and to what doctors have told me in conversation. One consequence of this could less time to educate patients about their illness.

Relief for Haiti's ESRD Patients

Jody A. Charnow February 16, 2010

As this issue goes to press, thousands of rescue personnel from the United States and other countries throughout the world are engaged in relief efforts in earthquake-ravaged Haiti, where the death toll exceeded 100,000.

Taking on the Issue of Transplant Tourism

Jody A. Charnow November 24, 2008

As the U.S. waiting list for kidney transplants grows, and with it the potential for longer waiting times, so might the temptation among end-stage renal disease patients to travel abroad for a transplant.

Prostate Cancer and the Younger Patient

Jody A. Charnow July 21, 2008

In recent years, a number of studies purport to show that active surveillance with the potential for delayed treatment (AS-DT) is a feasible option for selected prostate cancer patients, namely those with low-risk tumors.

The Kidney Transplant Tradeoff

Jody A. Charnow April 10, 2008

Research developments that have implications for nephrology and urology certainly are not limited to the meetings and journals targeting these specialties. That is why our news coverage extends to meetings that nephrologists and urologists usually do not attend and journals they usually do not read.

Nature's Pharmacy

Jody A. Charnow February 26, 2008

Through millions of years of evolution, nature has created a fantastic array of plant and animal species, each with specific adaptations to survive. These adaptations have resulted in an incalculable number of organic compounds unique to each living thing.

Be Ready to Give Up Beliefs

Jody A. Charnow January 01, 2008

Physicians practice medicine with great sincerity. They want to help their sick patients get well and stay well, and they dole out treatments in good faith and with the best of intentions. From time to time, however, data emerge suggesting that the treatments upon which they rely are of little or no benefit.

Why the OR Just Doesn't Pay

Jody A. Charnow July 01, 2007

Clinicians in virtually every medical and surgical specialty would have little trouble citing services for which they considered third-party reimbursement woefully inadequate for the time involved. Medicare reductions in payments for commonly performed procedures have forced physicians to change their practices so that they can pay for ever-increasing office expenses and still make a decent living.