Emergency Medicine News

• American Samoa Reports First COVID-19 Case The case was detected Thursday among 43 travelers who were quarantined at the Sadies by the Sea hotel in the village of Utulei.
  WebMD Health News, September 20, 2021
• Alert FDA Panel Backs Pfizer's COVID Booster for 65 and Older, High Risk Pfizer's application for a third dose of its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine was earlier rejected by the panel for those 16 and over.
  Medscape Medical News, September 17, 2021
• Baylor Gets Restraining Order Against COVID Vaccine Skeptic Doc The health system is seeking $1 million in damages against internist and cardiologist Peter McCullough, MD, for allegedly continuing to claim an affiliation after signing a separation agreement.
  Medscape Medical News, September 16, 2021
• FDA Analysis Chills the Rush to Approve Boosters An FDA report released this week has added doubt to the outcome of an advisory committee meeting on Friday to consider a third booster dose for the Pfizer COVID vaccines.
  Medscape Medical News, September 16, 2021
• 'Empathy Fatigue' in Clinicians Rises With Latest COVID-19 Surge Amid yet another nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases, clinicians are speaking out about their growing frustration and a concerning loss of empathy for unvaccinated patients who are fueling the pandemic.
  Medscape Medical News, September 16, 2021
• Alert As Opioid Deaths Climb, Human Trials Begin for Vaccine Researchers are studying a possible bridge to successful recovery: A vaccine that could blunt the drugs' ability to cause harm.
  WebMD Health News, September 16, 2021
• Florida Cardiologist Settles Suit for Alleged Unneeded Procedures The settlement, $6.75 million, resolves allegations that Ashish Pal, MD, knowingly submitted false claims to federal health care programs for medically unnecessary ablations and vein stent procedures.
  Medscape Medical News, September 15, 2021
• A Boy in a COVID-Swamped ER Waited for Hours; His Appendix Burst Non-COVID patients are paying a price as the Delta variant and low vaccination rates overwhelm hospitals across the country. "Wait times can now be measured in days," said an expert.
  ProPublica, September 15, 2021
• COVID Vaccine Preprint Study Prompts Twitter Outrage The authors' conclusions about rates of myocarditis after COVID vaccine in boys 12 to 17 years of age are attacked for supposedly stoking anti-vaccine sentiment.
  Medscape Medical News, September 15, 2021
• Nursing Student Expelled After 'Insensitive' Writing Assignment A college claims a student had shown a pattern of "unprofessional conduct." The student says her freedom of speech is being violated and that she had followed all class instructions.
  Medscape Medical News, September 15, 2021
• Researchers Warn Young Adults Are at Highest Risk of Obesity Adults aged 18-24 gained the most weight over 10 years compared with older individuals and should be a key target for prevention programs, say researchers.
  Medscape Medical News, September 15, 2021
• ESOC 2021 Aspirin and Heparin Increase Bleeding Risk During EVT New data from MR CLEAN-MED show that aspirin and heparin, alone or in combination, double the risk for symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage when given during endovascular therapy (EVT) for ischemic stroke.
  Medscape Medical News, September 15, 2021
• Man Dies After 43 Full ICUs Turn Him Away 'He knew what the vaccine meant for his health and what it meant to staying alive,' said Raven DeMonia, whose father Ray died Sept. 1 after a search for a cardiac ICU bed across three states failed.
  WebMD Health News, September 14, 2021
• 'Many, Many' More Vaccine Mandates Needed to End Pandemic Millions of Americans still need to get vaccinated, and if health officials and community members can't reach them, then school and business mandates may be necessary.
  WebMD Health News, September 13, 2021
• Doctors Divided About Need for COVID-19 Boosters: Poll Clinicians disagreed about the evidence regarding the need for COVID-19 boosters, as well as the ethics of giving additional shots, in a Medscape poll.
  Medscape Medical News, September 13, 2021
• ESOC 2021 Flying Stroke Team to Rural Patients Doesn't Beat Transfer A cohort study shows that flying interventionalists to provide EVT for rural stroke patients did not improve functional outcome in comparison with transfer to an interventional center, but more study is needed.
  Medscape Medical News, September 13, 2021
• Feds Slap UPMC, Lead Cardiothoracic Surgeon With Fraud Lawsuit The whistleblower suit alleges fraudulent billing tied to concurrent surgeries and 'longstanding, knowing, and egregious violations of the public trust and patient rights.'
  Medscape Medical News, September 10, 2021
• Report Slams Police for Not Finding Dead Vet on VA Campus Confusion over proper procedures at a Veterans Affairs hospital allowed a dead veteran to go unnoticed in a stairwell for more than a month after he was reported missing.
  Associated Press, September 10, 2021
• COVID-19 Linked to Rise in Suicide-Related ED Visits Among Youth After a steep decline in the pandemic's first months, youth with suicidal thoughts and behaviors visiting an ED resurged, with an overrepresentation among specific subgroups.
  Medscape Medical News, September 10, 2021
• USMLE Nightmare: Med Student's Responses Fail to Record Three months after learning the clinical exams he took this summer were lost and after failing a rushed retest, a fourth-year medical student remains hopeful he'll get into a residency program.
  Medscape Medical News, September 10, 2021