Drug-induced anti-Ro positive subacute cutaneous lupus in a man treated with olmesartan

A 66-year-old man presented to the outpatient dermatology clinic with a chief complaint of a pruritic rash on his upper trunk and proximal upper extremities, which had been present for three weeks. Upon examination, he was found to have an erythematous, annular, and polycyclic eruption on the chest, upper back, and proximal extremities. A clinical diagnosis of subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (SCLE) was made. The patient was found to have a positive anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) in a speckled pattern and a positive anti-Ro antibody. A biopsy revealed an interface and lichenoid dermatitis with dermal mucin deposition, consistent with subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus. The patient reported that he had recently been diagnosed with hypertension and began treatment with olmesartan, a potassium-sparing diuretic that blocks the angiotensin II receptor, commonly used as an antihypertensive or in patients with heart failure. Cutaneous reactions to olmesartan are rare and reported in <1% of patients in post-marketing surveillance. The patient discontinued use of olmesartan and the rash completely resolved within three weeks. To date, there are no other reported cases of drug induced SCLE in patients taking olmesartan to our knowledge

Bad Medicine: The Anticompetitive Side-Effects of Physician Unionization

In response to the predominance of managed health care, ever-increasing numbers of physicians are turning to unionization as a means of negotiating contracts with larger insurers. While physician unionization has a history of both political and legal controversy, recent federal legislation aims to make the practice legitimate. This Note discusses the trend toward physician unionization, the resulting anticompetitive effects, as well as possible alternatives for physicians seeking to bargain with the powerful health care insurance industry

Scale Development in Information Systems Research: A Paradigm Incorporating Unidimensionality and Its Assessment

Because of their value in assessing many aspects of information systems (IS) productivity, the development and psychometric evaluation of scales which measure unobservable (latent) phenomenon continues to be an issue of high interest among researchers in the IS community. Typically, the measurement properties of developed scales are evaluated through traditional techniques such as item-to- total correlations, coefficient alpha, and exploratory factor analysis. While potentially useful in exploratorysituations,thesemetricsprovidelittleassessmentofscaleunidimensionality. Scaleswhichare unidimensionalmeasureasingletrait. Thispropertyisabasicassumptionofmeasurementtheoryandis absolutelyessentialforaccurate(unconfounded)measurementofvasableintenelationships. Inthispapet a paradigm for developing unidimensional scales Is presented. Drawing from well developed techniques within marketing research, education, aid psychology, this paradigm incorporates the yse of c o n f m a t o v factor analysis (CFA) as a means of assessing measurement properties. Importantly, CFA provides a stricter interpretation of unidimensionality than traditional methods and in many instances will lead to different conclusions regarding scale acceptability

Bad Medicine: The Anticompetitive Side-Effects of Physician Unionization

In response to the predominance of managed health care, ever-increasing numbers of physicians are turning to unionization as a means of negotiating contracts with larger insurers. While physician unionization has a history of both political and legal controversy, recent federal legislation aims to make the practice legitimate. This Note discusses the trend toward physician unionization, the resulting anticompetitive effects, as well as possible alternatives for physicians seeking to bargain with the powerful health care insurance industry

Exploring Alternative Models for the Adoptionof Innovative Telecommunications Technologies

Over the past decade, IS executives have witnessed a proliferation of telecommunications technologies whichare becoming increasingly intertwined with conventional data processing activities. In many instances, this technological coupling has resulted in a completely new class of applications. Further, the importance of these applications to contemporary organizations is becoming increasingly evident, particularly within the context of business process reengineering. However, the declining half life of telecommunications technologies and the rapid proliferation of new products in this arena challenges the ability of organizational leaders to make rational choices regarding the adoption of innovative technologies. Often non-rational imperatives such as aggressive vendor marketing, or the existence of certain technical expertise play a substantial role in adoption decisions. This study examines alternative theoretical models of rational and non-rational adoption behavior within the realm of innovative telecommunications technologies. Drawing from established theoretical and empirical work in organizationalinnovation, these models are formulated and empirically tested for the purpose of better understanding varying processes and consequences of decision making regarding this important new class of information technologie

Intellectual Property Asset Management: A New Dimension For Business Leadership

As we move rapidly toward a knowledge society, intellectual property (used interchangeably hereinafter with IP ) is becoming the primary differentiating factor between companies (Drucker, 199 2). In the knowledge society, the means for production becomes intellectual property which is held within each individual employee within a company, along with a well thought out strategy for managing a company\u27s IP. Leadership is required to ensure that this IP intellectual property is fully utilized by the company through an effective strategy. Leadership has been defined as the ability of an individual to use influence to produce an outcome (Bennis & Nanus, 1985; Bums. 1978). Pertaining to IP it is essential that all individuals in a company understand tire outcomes desired and tire influence and power tactics that promote and further an effective IP strategy. In this is paper, we define the parameters of intellectual property and outline tire importance of developing and implementing an effective IP asset management strategy as an essential component of organizational leadership