A new study published this week in the December issue of Health Affairs looked at the impact cuts in Medicare Part B reimbursement have had on access and utilization of DXA testing, the imaging procedure accepted as the gold standard for diagnosing osteoporosis. The study found that after a decade of growth, DXA testing in all Part B settings was stagnant from 2007-2009, resulting in 800,000 fewer tests than expected for Medicare beneficiaries, which if conducted, may have prevented approximately 12,000 fractures.
ORAL REMARKS – NOF President Robert R. Recker - FDA – September 9, 2011
Good afternoon. I am Dr. Robert Recker, director of the Osteoporosis Research Center at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska and am here as president of the National Osteoporosis Foundation, the leading consumer and community-focused health organization dedicated to the prevention of osteoporosis and broken bones.
In this letter, NOF President, Dr. Robert R. Recker, commends the FDA for examining the benefits and risks of long term bisphosphonate use and lays out NOF’s hope that its recommendations will help patients and their healthcare providers better understand the benefits and significant risks of the widely prescribed medications.
The FDA has issued new warning label information for the osteoporosis drug zoledronic acid (Reclast) indicating that the drug should not be used in patients with significant renal impairment and stating that physicians should screen patients for kidney dysfunction before starting them on the drug. The FDA also identifies risk factors that physicians should take into consideration when prescribing Reclast including advanced age, concurrent treatment with other nephrotoxic drugs, and dehydration secondary to fever, sepsis, gastrointestinal losses or diuretic therapy.
As the administration works to implement the Affordable Care Act, there are several regulatory proposals on the horizon. NOF highlighted the need for osteoporosis care for men and women after they have broken a bone in its comments on one such proposal which would affect access to quality care for Medicare patients.
WASHINGTON, D.C., (June 9, 2011) — In an effort to protect patient access to osteoporosis testing and reduce the physical and economic burden of osteoporosis for millions of Americans, Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Representatives Michael Burgess (R-26-TX) and Shelley Berkley (D-1-NV) introduced in Congress the “Preservation of Access to Osteoporosis Testing for Medicare Beneficiaries Act of 2011” (S. 1096 and H.R. 2020).
WASHINGTON, D.C., (June 9, 2011) — In an effort to protect patient access to osteoporosis testing and reduce the physical and economic burden of osteoporosis for millions of Americans, Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Representatives Michael Burgess (R-26-TX) and Shelley Berkley (D-1-NV) introduced in Congress the “Preservation of Access to Osteoporosis Testing for Medicare Beneficiaries Act of 2011” (S. 1096 and H.R. 2020).
On May 26, 2011, the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF), along with 22 other patient, professional, health and community organizations sent a letter to Senators Snowe and Stabenow, and Representatives Burgess and Berkley, thanking them for introducing S. 1096/H.R. 2020.
Download the House letter.
Download the Senate letter.
WASHINGTON — On Thursday, May 12, Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand of New York introduced in the Senate the “Bone Health Promotion and Research Act of 2011” (S.
In this session, Dr. Khosla will explore the future of osteoporosis therapies including new pathways under investigation and other promising therapeutic agents in development.
Estrogen plays a key role in building and maintaining bone in both men and women. Other sex hormones will be discussed as well to show the different effects each has in the body. It may be possible to use levels of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) in the blood as a marker to estimate the degree of bone loss during menopause.