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Lawsuits are often premised upon how soon after a patient's treatment her injuries occur. With the support of contemporaneous documentatilon, and a dose of logic and credible science, the flimsy structure upon which many of those claims are based often crumbles.

Women who smoke cigarettes and who are infected with high levels of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) increase their risk of cervical cancer as much as 27-fold, according to a Swedish study, which is one of the largest to date on the subject.

Adding the anthracycline epirubicin to cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil (CMF) is superior to CMF alone as adjuvant therapy for early breast cancer, regardless of estrogen-receptor status, tumor grade, or patient age.

Reducing dietary fat intake by about 35% reduced the risk of a relapse event in women with resected, early-stage breast cancer receiving conventional cancer management by about 24%, according to interim efficacy results from the Women's Intervention Nutrition Study, the first large-scale randomized trial to test whether a dietary intervention can improve outcome in women with breast cancer.

More than 1 year of therapy with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) increases the risk of hip fracture by about 40%, according to results from a nested case–control study conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania.

Women who receive higher amounts of daily magnesium, either from their diet or supplements, have a modestly lower risk for hypertension, according to a report in the December issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.

Children born to women who take fish oil supplements during late pregnancy have better eye/hand coordination at age 2 to 3 years than their counterparts whose mothers did not take the supplements, according to a study published online Dec. 21 in the Archives of Disease in Childhood-Fetal and Neonatal Edition.

Among high-risk women, apparently there's no improvement in low birthweight when clinicians provide earlier or more intense prenatal care.

The effect of Total Mesorectal Excision (TME) on sexual function in the male is well documented. However, there is little literature in female patients.

Questions this month have been answered by:Simon Kipersztok, MD, OBGYN.net Osteoporosis Editorial Advisor Alice Rhoton-Vlasak, MD, OBGYN.net Osteoporosis Editorial Advisor Barry L. Gruber, MD, OBGYN.net Osteoporosis Editorial Advisor

Questions this month have been answered by:Harvey S. Marchbein, MD, FACOG, FACS, OBGYN.net Osteoporosis Chairman and Editorial Advisor

I have a good friend who recently broke a rib. She is not very active and is 54 years old. After 6 weeks, she feels her rib is not healing well. She continues to have pain and difficulty breathing. She has tried many calcium supplements and cannot tolerate them through her digestive tract. She has been diagnosed as having osteoporosis. What alternative treatments are available to her to aid in the healing of her rib? Thank you for your help. Regards, Rebecca

Not according to a 2005 survey of fourth-year medical students at the University of South Florida College of Medicine. The researchers-who presented their findings at the Florida Obstetric and Gynecological Society annual meeting-surmise that concerns about increasing medical liability premiums are contributing to a decline in medical students wanting to specialize in ob/gyn in the state, reported Medical Liability Monitor (9/2006).

When I started practicing "menopause medicine" 40 years ago, Dr. Robert Wilson's book, Feminine Forever was on the bestseller list. Today, as I approach the pinnacle of my career, Suzanne Somers' Ageless: The Naked Truth About Bioidentical Hormones is on the shelves. The titles are different but the message is the same: the promise of eternal youth . . . .

Quite often, the expectation of what is 'normal' leads patients to question their own gastrointestinal physiology.

To guide health-care providers about the role of calcium in peri-and postmenopausal women, The North American Menopause Society recently developed an evidence-based statement.

Diagnosing and treating women with vulvar vestibulitis can sometimes seem more art than science. Here an expert reviews the available evidence and describes his approach.

What can you do right now in your daily practice to prevent the three most common-and potentially dangerous-types of medical errors?

Although officially approved as a contraceptive, the device is also finding a role in several benign gynecologic disorders. One expert examines the evidence for its use in menorrhagia, fibroids, endometriosis, adenomyosis, and endometrial hyperplasia.

Clinical situations that typically result in litigation and the variation in jury verdicts and awards across the nation.

Not according to a 2005 survey of fourth-year medical students at the University of South Florida College of Medicine. The researchers-who presented their findings at the Florida Obstetric and Gynecological Society annual meeting-surmise that concerns about increasing medical liability premiums are contributing to a decline in medical students wanting to specialize in ob/gyn in the state, reported Medical Liability Monitor (9/2006).

The Washington State Medical Association and five individual doctors have filed a lawsuit against Regence BlueShield for defamation and breach of contract. The WSMA claims Regence BlueShield defamed physicians when it told patients that their doctors didn't meet the "quality and efficiency" standards to be included in the insurer's new performance-based network. The WSMA also says that the health plan breached its contracts with physicians when it dropped them from the network and told patients to find new doctors.

A US Magistrate Judge ruled in November that the Center for Reproductive Rights can subpoena White House documents as part of its lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration. The center is pursuing a lawsuit to ensure that Plan B is made widely available over the counter to women of all ages. (In August 2006, the FDA approved Plan B without a prescription, but only for women 18 years and older and only behind the pharmacy counter.)

When it comes to productivity, several specialists and primary-care providers are putting in longer hours yet seeing fewer patients. At least that's what the 2006 Medical Economics Continuing Survey (11/3/2006) shows. Chalk it up to more paperwork, the need for physicians to get involved in the administrative side of running an office, and an aging population that requires increased time and attention from doctors.

Although there are rumblings that earnings may finally be on the upswing for primary-care physicians, it doesn't seem so for ob/gyns. The 2006 Medical Economics Continuing Survey (10/20/2006), which sampled office-based MDs and DOs in 23 specialties, showed that ob/gyns saw a 2% drop in compensation from $215,000 in 2004 to $210,000 in 2005. They also saw a 5% loss in practice revenue from $569,300 in 2004 to $540,000 in 2005. These figures are still higher than the earnings of family practitioners, general practitioners, and internists.

Higher total and free estradiol levels in the early follicular phase of the menstrual cycle, and higher total and free testosterone levels in the early follicular and midluteal phases increase a premenopausal woman's risk of breast cancer, according to a prospective case–control study of over 18,000 premenopausal women nested within the Nurses' Health Study II.

The aromatase inhibitor letrozole produces the same number of mature preovulatory follicles and results in a similar pregnancy rate as clomiphene citrate in women with unexplained fertility undergoing gonadotropin-stimulated controlled ovarian hyperstimulation cycles combined with intrauterine insemination (IUI) therapy. That's the conclusion of a new randomized, blinded trial conducted in Mexico.

Despite what some observational studies have suggested, nonsurgical treatment of periodontal disease during pregnancy does not significantly lower rates of preterm birth, low birthweight, or fetal growth restriction.