Medicine

Guidance Issued for COVID-19 Vaccination of Cancer Patients

Patients with cancer should be prioritized for vaccination; caregivers and household/close contacts should undergo vaccination when possible

Exploring the Gender Gap in Doctors’ Earnings: Time Isn’t Always Money in Primary Care

The gender gap in physicians’ earnings is well recognized — studies have shown that female physicians earn 8% to 29% less than males — but its underlying causes are a source of ongoing investigation and often vigorous debate. Shedding new light on the subject is a study challenging conventional assumptions about women in medicine —…

As Rollout Nears, Small Practices and Rural Clinics Anticipate Challenges Storing and Administering COVID-19 Vaccines

Earlier this month, shortly after Pfizer announced that its vaccine was 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in a clinical trial, New Jersey physician Linda Girgis tweeted to her patients: “As a family doctor, I’m seeing whole families infected with #COVID19. Please #WearAMask and keep #SocialDistance. A vaccine is coming soon.”  But despite her hopeful message,…

Doctors Double as Schoolteachers to Educate Children on COVID-19

It’s Saturday morning and about a dozen young children are making hand sanitizer for their families, mixing together isopropyl alcohol and aloe vera. Via a Zoom screen, several John Hopkins University medics look on, reciting the right proportions and answering questions—such as why the alcohol concentration should be 90 percent and how sanitizer kills the…

How to Dispel a Dozen COVID-19 Myths for Your Patients

Myths and misinformation about COVID-19 may be spreading as rapidly as the SARS-CoV-2 virus itself. An infodemic is vying with the medical pandemic for public attention—not surprising for a disease brand-new to the world—and poses unique challenges for clinicians trying to help their patients sort fact from fancy. Here are a dozen persistent COVID-19 myths…

Repealing the Affordable Care Act Could Hurt Physicians and Hospitals

Last Monday, Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation solidified a 6-to-3 conservative majority in the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). Reputed a conservative jurist who has disagreed with certain aspects of the Affordable Care Act, Barrett is set to hear her first case beginning on November 10. The case challenging the constitutionality of the ACA,…

Herd Immunity 101: Explaining Vaccination Effectiveness to Patients

Detailing the importance of immunization and clarifying the concept of herd immunity to patients is a worthwhile conversation at any time but especially relevant in the COVID-19 era, rife with an abundance of information and misinformation. A good way to approach the subject is to change the terminology. “Herd immunity originally applied to farm animals,”…

Primary Care Visits Dropped in Early Months of the Pandemic

Use of telemedicine increased, but fewer BP and cholesterol assessments being performed

CDC Recommends No Travel for Thanksgiving

Agency says it is best to restrict Thanksgiving dinners to people living in the same household

Frequency of Alcohol Consumption Up During Pandemic

Increase in frequency overall, for adults aged 30 to 59 years, for women, and for non-Hispanic Whites

Lockdown Tied to Worsening of Musculoskeletal Conditions

About half of U.K. patients experienced an increase in symptoms during early stages of the pandemic

AI-Based Point-of-Care Pediatric DR Screenings May Improve Diagnosis Rates

Research shows that point-of-care diabetic retinopathy screenings that provide immediate results and are likely to lead to an in-office exam for patients who need it.

How Breast Cancer Patients Really Feel About Endocrine Therapy

Conventional quality-of-life studies usually don’t measure what’s meaningful to patients.

Clinical Case Challenge: Nodules on Hands and Feet

Two patients present with nodules on the feet and hands.

Coffee Consumption Affects Outcomes in Advanced, Metastatic CRC

A prospective observational study was conducted to assess the impact of diet and lifestyle on risk for disease progression among individuals with colorectal cancer.

Psychiatry Residency Training During COVID-19: Disruptions and Opportunities

COVID-19 has caused disruptions all across the world. In this piece, we take a look at what working during the pandemic has been like for psychiatric residents, as well as opportunities that the current situation has offered for learning.

American Psychiatric Association Publishes Updated Practice Guidelines for the Treatment of Schizophrenia

Since publication of the last full practice guideline and guideline watch on schizophrenia, there have been a multitude of studies on new pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments for schizophrenia.

Opposition to a European Patent for CAR-T Therapy: A Mechanism to Control High Drug Prices?

The nongovernmental organizations argued that patents for this CAR-T should never have been granted in the first place because the underlying technology is not novel.

Real-World Antihypertensive Prescribing Deviates From Guidelines, Study Says

The aim of the study was to analyze antihypertensive utilization patterns among patients with uncontrolled hypertension despite receiving therapy.

Point-of-Care COVID-19 Antibody Test Gets Emergency Use Authorization

The reissued EUA allows for fingerstick blood samples to be tested in point-of-care settings.