Avoid Holiday Shopping Scams

Don’t Fall Victim to Online Schemes

‘Tis the season for holiday gifting, and many shoppers will go online this time of year to find the best deals on popular items. But the sellers you buy from may not be what they seem.

According to the FBI’s

Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)

, thousands of people become victims of holiday scams every year. Scammers can rob you of hard-earned money, personal information, and, at the very least, a festive mood. The two most prevalent of these holiday scams are non-delivery and non-payment crimes.

In a non-delivery scam, a buyer pays for goods or services they find online, but those items are never received. Conversely, a non-payment scam involves goods or services being shipped, but the seller is never paid. In 2018 alone, the IC3 estimates that non-delivery and non-payment scams together affected more than 65,000 victims, causing almost $184 million in losses.

Similar scams to beware of this time of year are auction fraud, where a product is misrepresented on an auction site, and gift card fraud, when a seller asks you to pay with a pre-paid card.

The IC3 receives a large volume of complaints in the early months of the year, suggesting a correlation with the previous holiday season’s shopping scams.

Always be wary of deals that seem too good to be true.

Do your part to avoid becoming a victim. These simple tips from the IC3 can help you look out for scammers during the holiday season or any other time of year:

Always get a tracking number for items purchased online so you can make sure they have been shipped and can follow the delivery process.

Be wary of sellers who post an auction or advertisement as if they reside in the U.S., then respond to questions by stating they are out of the country on business, family emergency, or similar reasons.

Avoid sellers who post an auction or advertisement under one name but ask that payment be sent to someone else.

Consider canceling your purchase if a seller requests funds be wired directly to them via a money transfer company, pre-paid card, or bank-to-bank wire transfer. Money sent in these ways is virtually impossible to recover, with no recourse for the victim. Always remember that anyone who asks you to use one of these forms of payment might be a scammer. A credit card is generally the safest way to pay for an online purchase.

Avoid sellers who act as authorized dealers or factory representatives of popular items in countries where there would be no such dealers.

Verify the legitimacy of a buyer or seller before moving forward with a purchase. If you’re using an online marketplace or auction website, check their feedback rating. Be wary of buyers and sellers with mostly unfavorable feedback ratings or no ratings at all.

Avoid buyers who request their purchase be shipped using a certain method to avoid customs or taxes inside another country.

Be suspect of any credit card purchases where the address of the cardholder does not match the shipping address. Always receive the cardholder’s authorization before shipping any products.

Always be wary of deals that seem too good to be true.

If you do become the victim of a holiday scam, contact your bank immediately. You should also inform your local law enforcement agency, and file a complaint with the IC3 at

ic3.gov

.

Resources

FBI, This Week: Holiday Scams

Action Wellness Honors Three “Friends For Life”

Action Wellness to be Presented with Pioneer Award by Center for AIDS Research at UPENN

PHILADELPHIA, PA (NOVEMBER 2019)

– Every year, Action Wellness observes

World AIDS Day

in partnership with

AmeriHealth Caritas

. On December 1, as a part of their annual campaign

“Action Heroes Wear Red”

, friends and supporters are asked to wear red, or a red ribbon, on this day to raise awareness for World AIDS Day. This day is an opportunity for people to unite in the fight against HIV and to commemorate those who have died from AIDS-related illness. In 2017, according to the CDC, there were 1.8-million new cases of HIV in the United States. Action Wellness refuses to let this disease take over, and is dedicated to raising awareness in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

Since 1991, Action Wellness has recognized individuals who have made a very real difference in the lives of people living with HIV and other chronic illnesses by giving them their highest honor: the

Friend for Life Award

. On December 4, Action Wellness is hosting the Friends for Life Awards event at

Yards Brewing Company

. The award ceremony is set to honor NBC10’s Vai Sikahema, Yard’s Brewery’s Tom Kehoe and London Grill Owner Terry Burch McNally.

Vai Sikaehma has done an outstanding job in raising awareness for those affected by HIV through his work on

NBC10

and

Telemundo62

.

Tom Kehoe, Owner of

Yards Brew

ing Company

, has been supporting Action Wellness for years by creating Action IPA.  Every year the sales of Action IPA benefit Dining Out For Life. Dining Out For Life is Philadelphia’s largest dining fundraiser in which participating restaurants donate 33% of your food bill back to local HIV/AIDS service organization.

Terry Burch McNally has been supporting Action Wellness since the first year of Dining Out For Life. Fairmount’s London Grill (which is now closed) has been one of the few restaurants that have been with Dining Out For Life for the last thirty years.

Through their work, their vision, and their philanthropy, these three individuals have made a very real difference in the lives of people living with HIV and other chronic illnesses.

Finishing out the week on December 6, Action Wellness Executive Director Kevin Burns will be accepting an award on behalf of the organization. It is the Pioneer Award from the

Community Advisory Board of the Center for AIDS Research

at the University of Pennsylvania. The award is part of the Red Ribbon Awards Ceremony which is held each year in commemoration of World AIDS Day, and recognizes the tireless efforts of our local heroes in policy, research, community, faith, youth leadership and more. The Penn CFAR CAB has developed partnerships with several programs from the School District of Philadelphia showcasing the work of youth around the city and creating the space to continue the work of HIV activism and education.

For media inquiries and/or interview requests, please contact

Molly@PhillyPRGirl.com

.

About Action Wellness:

Action Wellness is one of Pennsylvania’s largest AIDS service organizations. It is committed to helping people living with HIV and other chronic illnesses. Its services include: medical case management, a range of health screenings including HIV testing, treatment as prevention, prevention education, supportive housing, and volunteer services. Services are provided at five Action Wellness locations and at more than 30 host sites throughout the city of Philadelphia and in Delaware County. Action Wellness currently serves over 4,000 clients annually through the efforts of 400 dedicated volunteers and over 100 professional staff working together to sustain and enhance the quality of life for the diverse community it serves.

About World AIDS Day:

World AIDS Day

was founded in 1988 and is the first ever globally recognized health day.  There are an estimated 30,000 people living with HIV in Philadelphia and an estimated 37.9 million people living with HIV globally. Despite the virus only being identified in 1984, more than 3 million people have died of HIV or AIDS, making it one of the most destructive pandemics in history.

5 Pieces of Essential Equipment for a New Dental Surgery

(Gloucestercitynews.net)(Nov. 29, 2019)–A surgeon is only as good as their tools, and this also goes for a dentist. When opening, upgrading or launching a new dental surgery, it’s vital that you first have all the supplies you need to provide excellent care for your patients.

Your skill and technique might be top of the class from all your training and qualifications, but if you don’t have the necessary tools to make use of those skills, they will all go to waste.

Before you open your new dental surgery to the public, make sure you have these essential instruments and pieces of equipment at hand.

X-Ray Equipment

Some dental treatments require an insight that you cannot get by eye, which is why you need to

invest in X-ray equipment

. Digital X-rays are much more efficient and less harmful than traditional X-rays; there is a lot less radiation which makes it safer for both the dentist and the patient. What’s more, instead of waiting for X-ray images to develop, you can access them immediately on a computer.

Sterilization Equipment

Maintaining sterile equipment and a sterile environment is vital for good quality care and for the health of your patients. If your equipment isn’t sterile, it can pass on contagious germs and infect multiple patients. There are multiple types of sterilization equipment that you will need throughout the office, including but not limited to:

Dental instrument washers & dryers

Dental sterilizers

Sterilization is essential; even if your other equipment and instruments are of excellent quality. If they aren’t sterile, you won’t be providing excellent care.

Curing Light Units

For treatments like veneers, specialized instruments and equipment are required for the procedures. If you plan to offer cosmetic teeth treatments, you will need a wide range of instruments specifically used for these types of treatments.

One of these instruments is a dental curing light

that will become essential for any procedure that involves materials that need curing by light.

Dental Operatory Lights

To be able to see all the way into patients’ mouths, you will need a strong dental operatory light. When you have a good view of the patient, you can provide more accurate and tailored care for the current condition of their teeth and their mouth.

Cabinets

While cabinets aren’t directly correlated to patient care, they are correlated to how well you perform as a dentist. Organization is key when you have a lot of instruments and equipment in the office. Having cabinets will allow you to organize and store all the essential equipment you need so that you can access it with ease when you are treating a patient.

Reaching for an instrument and knowing exactly where it is, looks much more professional than taking a long time to look for it and wasting the patient’s time.

Whether you are starting a new dental office from scratch or updating one that’s already running, it is important to remember the essentials before anything else.

image courtesy of unsplash.com

All-American Joseph Domanico Named League Performer of the Week

TROY, NY (11/26/2019)– Following an All-America effort at the NCAA Championship Meet, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) student-athlete Joseph Domanico of Haddon Township 08108 and Haddon Township High School has been selected as the Men\’s Cross Country Performer of the Week by the Liberty League, it has been announced.

A senior captain, Domanico earned All-America after leading Rensselaer to a school record 10th place finish at the Division III Championship. He was 17th in the field of 279 finishers to pace the Engineers, who recorded their first top 10 finish.

He was in 124th place after the first 1K (3:08.1) before moving up 76 spots to get to 48th place at the 3K mark (9:15.0). A 3:23.7 split put him in 47th at 4K (12:38.7) before he advanced 18 spots into 29th at the 6.4K mark (19:58.3). A final kick of 4:50.9 brought Domanico into 17th place overall with a time of 24:49.1 – the first time he broke 25:00.0 in his college career. He scored 14 points, which was the best total for any competitor from a Liberty League school and second from a squad from the northeast. The All-America certificate is the first of his career.

Rensselaer, which entered the meet ranked 16th in Division III, has now competed in each of the last four national championships and six in total. It was 13th in 2018 and 2016, 14th in 2017, 17th in 1996 and 33rd in the nation in 1975.

Founded in 1824, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is America\’s oldest technological research university. For nearly two centuries, the Institute has been a driving force behind breakthroughs in engineering and science in virtually every arena-from transportation and infrastructure to business, medicine, outer space, and cyberspace.

As it approaches its bicentennial anniversary, the Institute continues to define The New Polytechnic, a new paradigm for teaching, learning, and research that uses advanced technologies to enable fresh collaborations across disciplines, sectors, and regions, in order to answer the global challenges of our day.

Researchers discover HIV drug is effective against Zika virus

A research team at Temple’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine has discovered that a drug used to treat HIV is effective in suppressing Zika virus, suggesting potential global implications for treating mosquito-borne viral diseases.

Photography By: Ryan S. Brandenberg

Laura H. Carnell Professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience Kamel Khalili, right, and a researcher, work in a lab at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.

A team of Temple researchers has discovered that a drug used for HIV treatment is also effective in suppressing Zika virus. Now with help of

HIV home test kit

you can easily detect HIV.

In a new study published in the journal Molecular Therapy, the research team—led by Laura H. Carnell Professor and Department of Neuroscience Chair Kamel Khalili, director of the Center for Neurovirology and the Comprehensive NeuroAIDS Center at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine—describes a study that demonstrated in cell and animal models that the drug, rilpivirine, stops Zika virus by targeting enzymes that both Zika and HIV depend on for replication.

The enzymes also occur in other flaviviruses—

enveloped RNA viruses often transmitted by mosquitoes

—including dengue, West Nile and yellow fever.

“HIV and Zika virus are distinct types of RNA viruses,” Khalili explained. “By discovering that rilpivirine blocks Zika virus replication by binding to an RNA polymerase enzyme common to a family of RNA viruses, we\’ve opened the way to potentially being able to treat multiple RNA virus infections using the same strategy.”

Previously endemic to regions of Africa and Asia, Zika virus is now present throughout the Americas, and has attracted growing concern in recent years due to its global spread and damaging effects on the brain and nervous system. Zika virus infection is known to cause Guillain-Barré syndrome, which culminates in muscle paralysis, and microcephaly, or underdevelopment of the head, in infants born to mothers infected with the virus.

We now have a clear path forward. We have a starting point from which we can find ways to make these drugs even more potent and more effective against flaviviruses.\”

— Kamel Khalili, Laura H. Carnell Professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience

Rilpivirine is one of several non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) drugs that have been developed to treat HIV. This research breakthrough and other tests showing that other NNRTIs are effective in Zika-infected cells have significant implications for their use in treating other flavivirus infections. The researchers plan to soon step up their studies to develop ways to improve the effectiveness of these drugs in blocking viral infections.

“We now have a clear path forward,” Khalili said. “We have a starting point from which we can find ways to make these drugs even more potent and more effective against flaviviruses.”

A team from across the university, including College of Science and Technology Dean and Laura H. Carnell Professor of Science Michael L. Klein and Associate Professors of Neuroscience Ilker K. Sariyer and Jennifer Gordon of Temple’s Center for Neuroviology, came together to carry out the research.

Read more about the work that led to this research breakthrough.

A Glimpse From The First Cannabis Café in America

(Gloucestercitynews.net)(Nov. 28, 2019)–Cannabis has been recognized for both its benefits and contributions to one’s society. With this, the usage of marijuana has extended into different sectors and services. Alongside this growth and development, the first-ever Cannabis Café in America has become available for service and open to the public.

A weed café, similar to other cafeterias and shops, is a place that offers food and various marijuana products to consume. A guest can afford to order any food from their menu with several marijuana offerings. Upon the establishment of the first weed café, the importance and dominance of cannabis can’t be neglected. Other people choose to visit such a place to obtain

the advantages of taking CBD oil

and marijuana.

Here’s What To Expect From The Lowell Café

Lowell Farms is the first legal business that has a complete cannabis-consumption license. This place allows its customers to smoke weeds while enjoying its ambiance and served food. At the same time, the said restaurant is also believed to create history. It was able to successfully surpassed government negotiation and processes for more than three years before its operation.

This café has also been recognized for its trendy and aesthetic ambiance. Its design is based on the Californian inspiration. With this, it has brick walls, thick ferns, olive trees, and neon signage. The only thing that differs in this shop is its huge air purifiers that help maintain the environment despite the smoking of its customers. Thus,

marijuana

users can continuously consume the plant while enjoying the services and products offered in this restaurant. To explain further, here is a list of things to love from the Lowell Café:

Unique and One-of-a-kind

The legality of marijuana allowed people to consume the plant in the comforts of their home. However, similar to other foods and drinks you consume, several people would also want to try cannabis outside their home. Other people might want to try the plant served and made by professionals. At the same time, customers might also be limited in their homes and can’t use cannabis at home. It may be caused by having children or elderly in the house. Lastly, tourists may seek to visit the country to try cannabis legally. For whatever reason, the establishment of the first café had made a landmark for both long-term and first-time users of marijuana.

Welcoming and Safe

In

an article

posted by CNN, the Lowell Café is created to have an open place for anyone to enjoy cannabis. Thus, the owners seek to offer a welcoming destination for everyone. With this, it can be your go-to place even if it is your first time to try cannabis. At the same time, the café also seeks to provide a safe environment for its customers. Having a legal world of cannabis, this café has proven the success of creating a community that believes in the wonders of the plant.

Well-Served Food and Drinks

This café is more than just the availability of different variants, tools, and flavor of cannabis that you can enjoy. Instead, it also provides its customers with quality food and drinks for everyone to enjoy. By having such, it has proven that it is indeed a café with delicious food to consume and fill one’s tummy.

Powerful Vents

One of the common fear of its potential customers is the threat of smoke due to the vaping and burning of marijuana. There are industrial-sized vents around the restaurant to extinguish the odor of the plant and cigarette that solves this issue. Thus, customers are guaranteed to have clean scenery and ambiance instead of plumes of smoke. At the same time, the café also ensured that the odor and smoke would not get in contact with its neighbors.

The Bottom Line

The significant development established by America’s first weed café paved the way to the changes in view and acceptance to Cannabis users. Despite being limited by state policies, it is considered as a stepping stone towards the acceptance of people regarding marijuana use. At the same time, the creation of the Lowell Farms made a safe and fun place for users to establish its community and for users to interact. With this, it had made history changed negative perspective taken against marijuana.

image courtesy of unsplash.com

Mikhail Peleg: Soon, Machete will please fans with new hits

(Gloucestercitynews.net)(Nov. 28, 2019)–After a long creative work hiatus, the popular Machete band intends to return to the big stage.

This information was shared by Mikhail Peleg, the band’s producer.

The leader of the band, Yaroslav Malyi, said that a creative break was necessary for the group. They traveled around the world, absorbed the energy of ancient countries, meditated, and learned new things. But not only had the rest from the multimillion audience helped band members to grow. They had constantly rehearsed, wrote lyrics and music. Machete visited Israel, Bali, Singapore, and India, the soloist of the band reviewed his life values ​​and began to think differently. The guys do not hide the fact that Machete will present a new album soon, on which they have worked so long.

Frontman Yaroslav Malyi shares his travel experiences. He says that such breaks in creative work are necessary for everyone. For four years, the members of the band studied spiritual practices, practiced yoga, and read books. Lyrics were written for new songs, and musical accompaniment was invented in unusual conditions. Such a long renunciation from popularity yielded results. Completely new, wiser artists are returning to the stage.

Yaroslav Malyi admits that to refuse the attention of fans was a united band decision. Indeed, in order to break new ground and become the best, you need to radically change something in life. While traveling around the world, the band managed to get to know many talented performers, work with them and learn from valuable experience.

The producer of Machete band, Mikhail Peleg

https://genius.com/Dave-yaroslav-maly-machete-and-producer-of-the-band-mikhail-peleg-spoke-about-new-projects-annotated

, does not hide his enthusiasm for the work of Yaroslav Malyi and his team. He notes the unprecedented determination and talent of the band members. According to Mikhail, fans of the band will be able to see several Machete projects very soon.

It is not a surprise that after such a long break, the group will daze its fans with something new. The frontman of Machete has so far only announced that their new songs will combine different styles and genres. The compositions will cover topics that are important to all people.

The first track from the new album will be the song \”Sky is my home.\” Yaroslav says that he tried to put everything in simple but powerful words that could make people think. He tells about important and secondary, temporary, and permanent. According to Yaroslav, this particular song will be the key to understanding the meaning of the entire album.

Modern people are busy with the routine of everyday life. They are always in a hurry and do not pay attention to simple joys. A few adults will be able to say what real happiness is. The leader of the band says that everyone will be able to find the necessary answers to important questions in the song “Sky is my home.”

The comeback of the famous Machete (

Mikhail Peleg: Machete band launches new successful projects

) became public not so long ago. The founder of the band also noted that not only the style of their work has changed, but also the members of the group. Alexander Zinger (drums) and Mikhail Lisov (guitar) joined the band.

The rock band Machete was founded in 2010. Initially, it was an Internet project of Yaroslav Malyi, who was already a soloist of another group. But the very first songs became so popular that they went beyond the Internet and began to be broadcasted on television and radio. As a result, the independent Machete records label was created. The hits “Do not part with your loved ones” and “Dad” were gaining popularity every day, and the video for the song “Tenderness” gained nearly 34 million views on the YouTube channel.

How to Plan the Ultimate Solo Vacation

(Gloucestercitynews.net)(Nov. 28, 2019)–Sometimes life just gets to us, and that’s alright. Needing an escape is not a problem; it’s just a chance to treat yourself to a new routine. It’s healthy, it’s fun, and no, you don’t need to try to organize a trip with friends. If you find it’s difficult to get everyone to agree on dates, on destinations, on what to do or where to go – then go without them. Solo travel is very invigorating when you’re stressed, and can help you have the perfect trip that you’ve always wanted.

To ensure you get a full, rounded, enriching vacation, however, you’re going to want to follow these tips:

Choose a Destination with the Right Weather

There is always going to be great weather somewhere. If the temperature matters to you, then the temperature is going to dictate when and where you can go. If you need a sunny escape during winter, then heading south to

great destinations like Australia

is definitely the way to go. By choosing the weather first, you won’t be disappointed and instead can soak in the sun.

Read Local Guides Before You Go

The best way to learn about what there is to do is to read local guides written by local people. Try to stay away from big corporate travel sites, as their recommendations are going to be skewered. If you want a real, authentic, quality experience, then going where the locals go is your best bet. You can do this for nights out, for food and drink, and even for finding some hidden treasures in your destination that don’t get featured a million times on Instagram.

Be Aware of What is Available in Your Destination

Travel out of state, and the rules will be different. Travel out of the country, however, and you can enjoy a wholly unique experience that is simply not afforded to you back home. Head over to Australia for vacation, for example, and you’d be surprised to learn that brothels like Brisbane’s

cleosonnile.com.au

are exhilarating, legal, and safe. This keeps the experience safe and pleasurable for everyone.

Each country has its own set of rules, and knowing what you can (and cannot) do on vacation is a good way to make the most out of your trip and to ensure you don’t accidentally get in trouble.

Find Events and Book Tickets

Always check to see what events will be going on when you are in town. A great concert, a festival, your favorite comedian – there are so many opportunities at any given time. Going to an event will make your trip more unique and special.

Keep Your Trip Simple

Overdoing your itinerary

is going to be the death of you. Yes, you’ll be fully in charge of what you do, where you go, and what you see, but you don’t want to rush from place to place. You need to take some time to enjoy yourself and soak in the experience and quiet your mind. Regardless of how fun and exciting your trip is, taking some moments to be still will help you relax and rejuvenate so that you can return home well-rested in the mind and spirit.

4 Amazing Technologies Improving Our Health Every Day

(Gloucestercitynews.net)(Nov. 28,2019)–

We’ve come a long way from leeches. The high-tech boom of the Information and Innovation Ages has melded with the healthy-living craze. Cutting-edge technologies help us live longer, happier, and healthier lives.

Here are four amazing technologies for improving our health every day …

1. Software as a Medical Device

We get it—you already had to learn what SaaS means, but now you have to learn SaMD? Nevertheless, according to

Orthogonal

, “SaMD is proving to be a major disruptive force in the way healthcare professionals do their work, in areas such as bioinformatics, drug discovery, genomics, point-of-care diagnostics, robotics, and therapeutics.”

SaMD basically uses software to perform one or several basic medical functions. Examples include:

Artificially-intelligent software that examines MRI scans for signs of cardiovascular disease.

Software that recommends insulin dosage for a diabetic patient based on inputs from a patient’s cloud-based food log.

Software that determines the correct dosage of the medication for an individual, based on that individual’s cloud-based medical records.

Software that identifies signs of respiratory conditions based on breathing patterns recorded by the microphone.

Software that tracks the risk factors contributing to epileptic seizures.

SaMD should be distinguished from SiMD (software

in

a medical device) which includes programs that automate surgical robots or the magnets inside an MRI machine.

Instead of performing these mechanical functions, SaMD apps work in tandem with cloud-based data and wearable devices to provide medical professionals with a wealth of actionable data they couldn’t possibly get from a brief clinic visit (or the clipboard you fill out before the visit).

2. Wearable Health-Tracking Devices

There’s no need to guess when the doctor asks you whether you lead an active or sedentary life. Why guess when a

cheap pedometer

will tell you exactly how many steps you have taken over the course of a week? A month? A year?

In a way, wearable tech started with the wristwatch or pocket watch and took a long leap forward with the cell phone and then the smartphone. Technologies like the Apple Watch have made a clunky transition into the mainstream, but FitBits made a huge splash. HuffPo estimated that by 2018, 130 million wearable devices would have been delivered to consumers.

According to Business Insider Intelligence, a whopping 80%+ of consumers express a willingness to wear fitness technology.

It’s not just about tracking steps, though. Wearable electrocardiogram (ECG) monitors stand to make a huge difference for patients living with heart conditions. A wearable ECG monitor can transmit data directly to your doctor, as well as your atrial fibrillation and details like your elevation, distance, and pace.

This year, Omron Healthcare debuted the first wearable blood pressure monitor to track daily blood pressure readings for patients at risk of hypertension, correlating it with geographical, environmental, and physical exertion data.

Phillips also released a wearable biosensor patch, like those given to astronauts, which shows the promise of an almost 89% reduction in preventable respiratory or cardiac arrest. What a time to be alive … and, presumably, stay alive.

3. Blockchain

No, we don’t mean we will pay all our medical bills with Bitcoin.

Blockchain technology usually makes the news for its role in the cryptocurrency craze. But while crypto is built on blockchain,

blockchain is not crypto.

The reality is far less sexy … and far more revolutionary.

“Blockchain” refers to a process where “blocks” of data exist on a “chain,” a digital, decentralized, and public ledger that exists simultaneously on thousands of individual computers.

As a result, blockchains are

easy to audit and almost impossible to hack or falsify.

This is why people trust it with systems of currency.

Where else do you need transparency, security, and integrity of data. All over the medical profession, of course. According to

Healthcare Weekly

, “Digital blockchains stand to revolutionize how the medical industry creates drugs, runs clinical trials, gathers medical records, and renders care.” In other words, pretty much the whole shebang.

How does blockchain do this? In many ways:

Warehousing of Pharmaceutical Data.

Blockchain and AI technology could standardize and maintain the integrity of the data that pharma companies use to create drugs.

Fighting Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals.

Pharma companies could reduce the $200+ billion in losses they suffer from counterfeit drugs by shoring up the supply chain with unhackable, unimpeachable blockchain records.

Siloing Clinical Trial Data.

No technology shows more promise than blockchain to create unalterable, auditable, secure databases of clinical trial data, which can be browsed by AI for relevant patterns. Blockchain could also bring data integrity to the identification of viable trial subjects.

Managing Patient Consent.

Blockchain’s biggest contribution to the business community may be “smart contracts”—e-signature records beyond reproach. This could apply to patient consent, as well as other hospital contracts.

Patient Intake.

Hey, what if you

didn’t

have to fill out a clipboard in every hospital waiting room and then wait for that data to be input before the doctor sees you? Blockchain offers a secure solution for patient intake

before

you arrive at the doctor’s office.

Verifying Physician Credentials.

Fraudulent physicians and unlicensed quacks are a real liability for hospitals. A transparent, easily-audited blockchain database could replace “scout’s honor” or burdensome research to verify a provider’s qualifications.

The global healthcare marketplace is expected to spend $5.61 billion on blockchain technology by the year 2025 …

and save $100-$150 billion as a result.

Online medical records facilitated by blockchain could work together with wearable devices and SaMD to completely change how patients track their health and how medical professionals deliver care.

4. Genomics

The mapping of the first human genome in 2003 was a medical milestone. The next frontier is the mapping of

your

own genome. Yes, each person’s unique genome, which contains its own inalterable “blockchain” of data about that person’s physiology.

Genomics stands to take personalized medical treatment to the next level. Doctors can take a much less scattershot approach to treatment, therapy, and medication, instead of tailoring a treatment plan to the data found in the patient’s genome. It really is the application of a data-driven age to the very cells of our body and the DNA inside of them.

Genomics stands to:

Reduce our intake of inefficient medications.

Reduce the application of unnecessary surgeries.

Revolutionize the treatment of cancer.

Provide treatment options for genetic disorders like Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Angleman’s Syndrome, and many more.

The Cleary Family Wishes Everyone A…

And

Thank You for your Support!

~

Gloucestercitynews.net