Daily Rounds: Hip-Bone Shaving; Europe Bans Airport X-Rays; Psych Med Nation; Antibiotic Mapping

Hip procedure grows popular despite doubt (The New York Times) - "Some sports medicine researchers are asking: where is the evidence that shaving bone helps? Might the bumps or irregular shapes they call impingement be just normal variations? Does the shaved bone grow back? And it is not just professional athletes who are having the operation. Now some surgeons are even operating on teenage athletes with hip pain."(nytimes.com)

Europe bans X-ray body scanners used at US Airports (ProPublica) - "The European Union on Monday prohibited the use of X-ray body scanners in European airports, parting ways with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, which has deployed hundreds of the scanners as a way to screen millions of airline passengers for explosives hidden under clothing." (ProPublica)

Psychiatric drug use spreads (Wall Street Journal) - "The medicating of Americans for mental illnesses continued to grow over the past decade, with one in five adults now taking at least one psychiatric drug such as antidepressants, antipsychotics and anti-anxiety medications, according to an analysis of pharmacy-claims data.Among the most striking findings was a big increase in the use of powerful antipsychotic drugs across all ages, as well as growth in adult use of drugs for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, a condition typically diagnosed in childhood. Use of ADHD drugs such as Concerta and Vyvanse tripled among those aged 20 to 44 between 2001 and 2010." (WSJ - subscription needed to read more.)

Antibiotic use higher in East than West (USA Today) - "Antibiotic use varies widely in the USA, with those in Eastern states more likely to use them than those in the West, according to research out Wednesday. From 2006 to 2007, West Virginians got 1,222 prescriptions per 1,000 people. That's more than twice the antibiotic use of Alaska, the lowest, with 546 prescriptions per 1,000 people." (USA Today)