The case for disease management in chronic kidney disease.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a growing epidemic in the United States and worldwide, with nearly two thirds of CKD patients also having diabetes, hypertension, or both. Morbidity and mortality among patients with CKD are high, as are the costs associated with care, which is highly fragmented. Disease management (DM) programs are designed to coordinate the delivery of care to patients, improve clinical outcomes, and reduce costs along the continuum of care.

L-carnitine use in dialysis patients: is national coverage for supplementation justified? What were CMS regulators thinking--or were they?

Careful review of all available clinical trials of L-carnitine leads to the conclusion that there is insufficient evidence to support the routine use of L-carnitine for any indication in dialysis patients. The literature suffers from a lack of adequately designed studies, and many of the studies which supposedly justify payment for L-carnitine supplementation are more than 10 years old. While some studies support a subjective improvement in symptoms after a few months of L-carnitine treatment, there is little confirming objective data.