The backlash from a hepatitis C outbreak stemming from a Las Vegas endoscopy center's unsanitary practices could mean the end of voluntary ASC accreditation in Nevada.

According to news reports, state lawmakers are planning legislation requiring ASCs to be inspected by the Joint Commission, the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities or the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care.

But Department of Health and Human Services director Mike Willden says this legislation alone might not solve the problem. "The centers that had the most egregious problems, some were accredited and some were not," he says. Mr. Willden cites the following issues as also needing legislative attention:

The financial crisis roiling the housing and credit markets appears to be extending its reach to healthcare ventures. Earlier this month, the South Sonoma County Medical Group announced that it was suspending plans to open a new ambulatory surgery center in Petaluma, Calif., after it failed to secure adequate funding.

The group had partnered with Texas-based Cirrus Health last September to develop the facility. Under the original deal, according to SSCMG president Bob Ostroff, MD, the doctors would have bought shares and attracted patients to the facility while Cirrus provided funding and management. But, Dr. Ostroff reports, for the first time in Cirrus' dealings with ASCs, lenders are requiring the doctors to co-sign on notes for the building and equipment - a condition the Sonoma group was not willing to meet.

Now the group is placing its plans on hold and has paid back the physician-investors with interest. "We hope to resurrect this project when venture money becomes available again," Dr. Ostroff told the North Bay Business Journal.

Meanwhile, some analysts see hope on the horizon for the healthcare real estate market. Erika Morphy of GlobeSt.com writes, "There are signs that this sector ... is well-positioned to come out of the credit crunch with more efficient and streamlined sources of debt and equity," such as local banks and flexible credit facilities.

Irene Tsikitas

Alligator blood and clay hold clues to creating antibiotics capable of killing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and other harmful microbes, researchers report.

Alligators have an immune system much stronger than that of humans, and are able to fight off fungi, viruses and bacteria without prior exposure. Researchers at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, La., analyzed proteins in the white blood cells of American alligators and found that protein extracts kill MRSA, Candida albicans and microbes that cause infections in diabetic ulcers and severe burns.

"There's a real possibility that you could be treated with an alligator blood product one day," said biochemist Mark Merchant, PhD, in a press release. Dr. Merchant presented his findings in a poster session at the American Chemical Society's annual meeting in New Orleans earlier this month. Currently, databases on proteins have very little information on the alligator proteome, which Dr. Merchant hopes will become known as "alligacin."

At the same annual meeting, researchers from Arizona State University presented findings that seem to concur with the folk medicine practice of using clay to help heal wounds and treat an upset stomach. Researchers identified clay from Oregon and Nevada that killed MRSA and E. coli as well as clay from France that killed MRSA, E. coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which causes urinary and gastrointestinal infections.

Researchers studied 30 different types of clay gathered from around the world. The results confirm what homeopathic healers have known for centuries. "Since people existed, they have used clays for medicinal purposes," Lynda Williams, PhD, told Bloomberg News. "If we can understand [clay's] antibacterial mechanism, then I expect clays will be more prevalent in people's lives."

Kent Steinriede