May 4th, 2021 - Tucked within a new National Academies report on the future of primary care is a challenge to an influential panel whose approach to valuing US physician pay has been criticized for being skewed toward specialists. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) should independently value physicians' services, given the limits of the existing Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC) of th...

May 4th, 2021 - Physicians and non-physicians clearly differ in whether or not a PhD or EdD should be able to call themselves 'doctor,' a new Medscape poll Who Should Get to Be Called 'Doctor'? shows. The topic has clearly struck a nerve, since a record number of respondents — over 12,000 — voted in the poll. Most physicians think it's appropriate for people with other doctorate degrees such as a PhD or EdD to...

May 4th, 2021 - In the analysis of images for detecting potential pathology, artificial intelligence (AI) is showing enormous promise across multiple fields of medicine. But the technology in dermatology is bound to fail in skin of color if training does not specifically address these skin types, according to Adewole S. Adamson, MD, who outlined this issue at the American Academy of Dermatology Virtual Meeting...

May 4th, 2021 - Three neonatal intensive care nurses and a family physician were in the right place ― on an airliner traveling to Hawaii ― at the right time ― when a woman unexpectedly delivered a baby prematurely on the flight. The medical professionals sprang into action to keep baby Raymond, who came into the world at 29 weeks, healthy until the flight got to Honolulu, according to a news release from Hawai...

May 4th, 2021 - These are the UK coronavirus stories you need to know about today. Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi again confirmed today that plans are being formed for autumn booster jabs for some people, possibly over-50s. "We want them [CMOs] to be able, if they need to, from September onwards to boost those that are most vulnerable," he told Sky News. Deaths The number of deaths registered in England and W...

May 4th, 2021 - Transfusion-related circulatory overload (TACO) remains the most common cause of transfusion-related death, although deaths due to delays are increasing year-on-year, shows an analysis of reports to the UK’s transfusion safety body. "Communication is a major, major issue" when it comes to delays, which account for over one in four deaths, explained lead author Simon Carter-Graham, clinical inci...

May 4th, 2021 - Cardiothoracic surgeon J. Marvin Smith III, MD, had always thrived on a busy practice schedule, often performing 20 to 30 surgeries a week. A practicing surgeon for more than 40 years, Smith says he had no plans to slow down anytime soon. But Smith says his career was derailed when leaders at Methodist Healthcare System of San Antonio initiated a sudden peer review proceeding against him. The h...

May 4th, 2021 - Personalized nutritional support for adults hospitalized with chronic heart failure and deemed to be at high nutritional risk reduced the risk of dying or suffering adverse cardiovascular events compared with standard hospital food, new research indicates. The Swiss EFFORT trial focused on patients with chronic heart failure and high risk of malnutrition defined by low body mass index (BMI), we...

May 4th, 2021 - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Results of a randomized controlled trial do not support routine use of proactive therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) during infliximab induction for improving disease remission rates in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other chronic immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. Proactive TDM tailors biologic therapy to individual patients by measuring serum drug le...

May 4th, 2021 - Editor's note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape's Coronavirus Resource Center. DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A third coronavirus variant that was first identified in hard-hit India has been uncovered in Iowa, state public health officials said Tuesday.

May 4th, 2021 - RALEIGH, NC (AP) — North Carolina lawmakers on Tuesday advanced a bill to make it illegal for physicians to perform abortions because of the fetus' race or a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. A physician would be subject to monetary damages if he or she performed an abortion despite being aware that the pregnant woman's decision to get the procedure was influenced by either of those two conc...

May 4th, 2021 - DOVER, Del. (AP) — A Delaware pharmaceutical company has agreed to pay $12.6 million to resolve allegations that it violated the federal False Claims Act by paying kickbacks. Department of Justice officials said in a news release Tuesday that the settlement resolves allegations that Incyte Corp. improperly used an independent foundation to cover the copays of certain people taking the company's...

May 4th, 2021 - Editor's note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape's Coronavirus Resource Center. President Joe Biden has announced new strategies for the national COVID-19 vaccination program as demand for vaccinations drops. He also set a new goal for getting shots into people's arms Pfizer and Moderna are developing adolescent vaccines. Health experts say vaccinating children is crucial t...

May 4th, 2021 - NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A court in India's capital New Delhi has become the last hope for many hospitals struggling to get oxygen for COVID-19 patients as supplies run dangerously short while government officials bicker over who is responsible. A two-judge bench of the Delhi High Court has been holding almost daily video conferences to hear petitions from hospitals invoking India's constitutional...

May 4th, 2021 - Editor's note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape's Coronavirus Resource Center. BABB, Montana (AP) — On a cloudy spring day, hundreds lined up in their cars on the Canadian side of the border crossing that separates Alberta and Montana. They had driven for hours and camped out in their vehicles in hopes of receiving the season's hottest commodity — a COVID-19 vaccine — from...

May 4th, 2021 - (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc on Tuesday raised its forecast for 2021 COVID-19 vaccine sales by more than 70% to $26 billion and said demand from governments around the world trying to halt the pandemic could contribute to its growth for years to come. The company said it expects by the end of this month to file for full approval of the vaccine for people over the age of 16 in the United States, where...

May 4th, 2021 - Hispanic adolescents were more likely to use e-cigarettes to vape marijuana than were their Black and White counterparts in 2020, according to a recent study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and published in JAMA Pediatrics. Researchers found that 25.6% of Hispanic students reported vaping marijuana, compared to 19.4% of Black students and 18.2% of White students. The...

May 4th, 2021 - Oral corticosteroid bursts are associated with an increased risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, sepsis, and pneumonia during the month after treatment initiation, according to a nationwide cohort study of children in Taiwan. The adverse events are rare, and the risk attenuates in subsequent months, the analysis shows. Still, the study "provides evidence that corticosteroid bursts are not innocuo...

May 4th, 2021 - Exercise giant Peloton has agreed to recall its popular and pricey treadmill after at least one child was killed after becoming caught underneath the machine's belt. Peloton has also agreed to recall its limited-edition Tread, after 18 reports of the touchscreen loosening and six reports of the screen detaching and falling off. No injuries have been reported for the Tread Among the 72 reports o...

May 4th, 2021 - SACRAMENTO — Treating patients has become more expensive during the pandemic, and doctors and dentists don't want to be on the hook for all the new costs. For instance, the box of 100 gloves that cost $2. 39 in February 2020 costs $30 now, said Dr Reimbursing the cost of nonmedical supplies isn't typically the responsibility of insurers, said Mary Ellen Grant, spokesperson for the California As...