RxWiki Secures $5.7M in Funding; 'Medical Disturbance' Criminalization Takes Effect in China
1. U.S. Drug Encyclopedia RxWiki Secures $5.7 Million in Funding
Today, the Texas-based drug encyclopedia app RxWiki secured $5.7 million in funding from investors Milestone and LiveOak. To date, RxWiki has raised a total of $7.7 million in funding.
RxWiki is a drug encyclopedia app authored by professional pharmacists, serving as a communication tool between doctors and patients. Currently, RxWiki is accessible on desktop, iOS, and Android platforms. Patients can use the app to learn about medications and adjust their prescriptions based on articles updated by physicians. On the RxWiki online forum, users can also consult with pharmacists regarding medication-related questions.
2. National Drug Administration Platform Website Goes Live; Provincial Bidding Information to Be Made Public
The National Drug Administration Platform, constructed and maintained by the Statistical Information Center of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, is the abbreviated name for the National Comprehensive Management Information Platform for Drug Supply Assurance. Its official website was officially launched on October 22, 2015.
The platform will provide information support for provincial drug supply assurance, including reference data on wholesale and retail drug prices across various channels such as centralized procurement, retail pharmacies, and e-commerce platforms; actual procurement volumes of centrally procured drugs in different regions; and integrity records of manufacturers, distributors, and healthcare institutions.
Key information, such as future national drug price negotiations and national tendering for designated production, will be published on this platform in real time. The launch of the website will play a significant role in improving centralized drug procurement and regulating the drug distribution order.
3. Cleveland Clinic Releases Top 10 Medical Innovations List (Details of the 2016 List)Click Here）
On October 25, 2015, the 10th Medical Innovations Summit was held at the Cleveland Convention Center, where an advisory panel of physicians from the Cleveland Clinic unveiled the clinic’s list of the Top 10 Medical Innovations of the past decade.
| Big data has also become a major business, with researchers using computers to analyze medical records in an effort to identify disease spectra and treatment methods, as well as to determine optimal treatment regimens. |
| Over the past few decades, interferon-based therapies have had low success rates. However, new interferon-free regimens are significantly more effective, offering physicians hope for eradicating the disease. |
| Bariatric Surgery Offers Hope in the Fight Against Diabetes. Researchers conducted long-term studies on the efficacy of bariatric surgery in controlling diabetes and found that five years post-surgery, more than half of patients with type 2 diabetes achieved complete or partial remission. |
| This is an alternative to open-heart surgery and has now become the standard treatment for many high-risk cardiac patients. |
| A new vaccine policy can not only combat a deadly influenza virus but also help healthcare workers fight epidemics. |
| In 2014, physicians at the Cleveland Clinic discovered the potential of immune checkpoint inhibitors in combating cancer. |
| Among all patients with elevated LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol levels, 17% are eligible for this drug, potentially creating a $3 billion market. |
| "Patients with high or irregular heart rates are inherently difficult to image using CT; the speed of dual-source CT makes imaging feasible for these patients." |
| 9. Retinal Prosthesis (2014) | More than 130 patients worldwide have successfully received retinal prostheses. |
| 10. Gene-Guided Diagnosis of Solid Tumors (2014) | Genetic testing can be used in the treatment of various types of cancer, including melanoma and tumors in the head, lung, thyroid, and pancreas. |
Cleveland Clinic’s Top 10 Medical Innovations of 2016: Remote Monitoring Makes the List. Click here for details.
4. Effective November 1, Criminal Penalties for Medical Disturbances Officially Implemented
Starting November 1, the Ninth Amendment to the Criminal Law will officially take effect, and “medical disturbances” that have long plagued normal medical order will be formally criminalized.
The "Ninth Amendment to the Criminal Law" stipulates that whoever gathers a crowd to disturb social order, where the circumstances are serious and work, production, business operations, teaching, scientific research, or medical services are rendered impossible, thereby causing serious losses, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years if they are the ringleaders; other active participants shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, public surveillance, or deprivation of political rights.
By John Wang