eTickets Roll Out HIPAA Countdown Around BIDMC Calendar Moments That Matter Honors BIDMCtoday Home	In the News Janet Baum, M.D., radiology, discussed the use of digital mammography as a screening tool for breast cancer in a newscast on WCVB-TV, Channel 5 and in an article in The Jewish Advocate. BIDMC is one of 18 sites throughout the U.S., and the only site in New England, currently enrolling patients in a clinical trial to test the effectiveness of digital mammography. The trial is sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. Augustus White, M.D., orthopedics, discussed the significance of the book "An American Health Dilemma," which details the legacy of racism in American health care. White told The Boston Globe the book, co-authored by W. Michael Byrd, M.D., BIDMC consulting physician, and Linda Clayton, M.D., should become a part of the medical school curriculum because of what he sees as a "pervasive, unconscious, unrealized bias" against African Americans in the mainstream medical system. Roger Laham, M.D., cardiology, discussed the use of stents - particularly the upcoming clinical trial on the use of drug-coated stents on New England Cable News. The new stents are part of a trial to examine their effectiveness in preventing reblockage of coronary arteries following heart surgery. Timothy Vartanian, M.D., neurology, discussed the growing battle between the manufacturers of two competing drugs for multiple sclerosis. In the article in the Boston Business Journal, Vartanian expressed the need for an independent board to review longer-term data on the new drug Rebif ascompared to Avonex. William Taylor, M.D., general medicine/Health Care Associates, discussed the plusses and minuses of full body scans in an interview on New England Cable News. Taylor believes the benefits from the procedure do not match the potential risks. Panos Papageorgiou, M.D., cardiology, discussed the prophylactic use of implantable defibrillators in patients whose hearts have been damaged by heart attacks on WCVB-TV, Channel 5. The interview was based upon a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine. Lowell Schnipper, M.D., hematology/oncology, discussed the merits and drawbacks of complementary and alternative medicines as part of a treatment plan for cancer patients. The story on WHDH-TV, Channel 7, focused principally on patients at an alternative treatment center in Boston. Norman Letvin, M.D., viral pathology, discussed a recent discovery by a research team he leads. The researchers, including Zheng Chen, M.D., found a group of white blood cells demonstrates previously unrecognized “memory” characteristics that enable them to launch a sustained immune response against tuberculosis bacteria. The interview was conducted with HealthScout News Service.