M e D i C a L e S e

Now in our tenth year on the internet!

Search for nursing homes in the U.S. at the Medicare website!

Welcome to MeDiCaLeSe, the first place to look for new and elusive medical words. By and for working medical transcriptionists. This website is updated daily, as time permits. Our database includes terms that are not found in the standard medical references, such as clinical trial acronyms, herbal remedies, products available outside the U.S., discontinued drugs, and unapproved cancer therapies.

The 2012 3-D calendar is here!

Please note that MeDiCaLeSe is not a medical dictionary and does not presume to be a comprehensive source. However, brief definitions of some terms are provided. This is to give the transcriptionist enough information to make an educated guess as to whether the word is the one he or she is looking for.

Effective February 1, 2006, guest users of MeDiCaLeSe.org are limited to five (5) searches in a 24-hour period.

Our search function is written in php for increased speed and has been upgraded to allow for the exclusion of one word from the search results. This is not a wildcard search - no ? or * may be used - but a fast string search.

For example: The search string arterio will find every occurrence of the words arteriogram, arteriography, arteriole, arteriosus, and arteriovenous. Entering lung in the first box and ca in the second box would produce results that relate to lung cancer, as well as some that do not, i.e. Madelung's disease - carpus curvus, which is radial deviation of the hand.

To add to your favorites, press Ctrl-D.

News from governmental sources

FDA issues alert on potential dangers of unproven treatment for multiple sclerosis

May 10, 2012 -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting health care professionals and patients about injuries and death associated with the use of an experimental procedure sometimes called "liberation therapy" or the "liberation procedure" to treat chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI).

Some researchers believe that CCSVI, which is characterized by a narrowing (stenosis) of veins in the neck and chest, may cause multiple sclerosis (MS) or may contribute to the progression of the disease by impairing blood drainage from the brain and upper spinal cord. However, studies exploring a link between MS and CCSVI are inconclusive, and the criteria used to diagnose CCSVI have not been adequately established ... read more

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U.S. Marshals seize ultrasound gel product at a New Jersey company

April 18, 2012 -- U.S. Marshals, acting at the request of the Food and Drug Administration, have seized Other-Sonic Generic Ultrasound Transmission Gel located at Pharmaceutical Innovations Inc. in Newark, N.J., after an FDA analysis found that product samples contained dangerous bacteria. The seizure included all lots of the gel product manufactured between June 2011 and December 2011.

Until they were seized, the products were held under embargo by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services at FDA's request.

Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the seized gel is adulterated, because product samples were contaminated with two strains of bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella oxytoca. The gel is also misbranded because it is dangerous to health when used in the manner suggested in the labeling. These bacteria pose serious risks of infection to individuals exposed to the product. ...

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Another counterfeit cancer medicine found in U.S. - Illegal practice puts patients at risk

Altuzan

April 3, 2012 -- FDA lab tests have confirmed that a counterfeit version of Roche's Altuzan 400mg/16ml (bevacizumab), an injectable cancer medication, found in the U.S. contains no active ingredient. Even if the identified drugs were not counterfeit, Altuzan is not approved by FDA for use in the United States (it is an approved drug in Turkey) ...

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