Training Programs Receive free oximeters
In conjunction with the not-for-profit American Respiratory Care Foundation (ARCF), Nellcor, part of Tyco Healthcare, recently donated Nellcor® pulse oximeters and educational resources to 126 accredited respiratory therapy programs. The ARCF selected donation recipients, each of which was given a Nellcor pulse oximeter and access to Nellcor’s field-based team of hospital clinical consultants.

“Technological advancements in pulse oximetry monitoring have grown in leaps and bounds in recent years. We believe students should be trained on Nellcor’s new generation pulse oximetry technology since this is likely to be what they will use when they begin work in the clinical environment,” says Dan Roth, director of marketing, Nellcor Oximetry, based in Pleasanton, Calif.

FDA OKs COPD Maintenance Inhaler
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Advair Diskus® 250/50 as a twice-daily, maintenance treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) associated with chronic bronchitis. According to the breath-activated inhaler’s makers, GlaxoSmithKline, based in Research Triangle Park, NC, this is the first time a product containing both an anti-inflammatory (fluticasone propionate) and a long-acting bronchodilator (salmeterol) has been approved for this condition. Previously, the only medications approved for the treatment of COPD associated with chronic bronchitis were bronchodilators, the company says.