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Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a state of metabolic decompensation, secondary to insulin deficiency/resistance that is coupled with counter-regulatory hormone excess and results in varying degrees of hyperglycemia, ketoacidemia, hypertonic dehydration, and sometimes, alterations in mental status.
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Controversy continues to swirl around the appropriateness of emergency physicians writing holding orders (or bridge orders, as they are sometimes called) for admitted patients.
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Crowding is increasingly becoming a factor in litigation involving emergency department care, putting nurses and physicians at increased risk for being named in a lawsuit.
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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently proposed changes to the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) regulations that would allow "community call" programs to be established by groups of hospitals in self-designated referral areas to help address the shortage of ED on-call specialists.
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Increasing numbers of EDs are implementing electronic medical records (EMRs), including computerized physician order entry (CPOE), with the goal of improving patient safety. However, not much is known about the liability risks of these new tools.
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Hepatitis C is the most common viral hepatitis leading to chronic liver disease. Most patients with antibodies to hepatitis C do not develop liver disease even with positive RNA viral levels.
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Pneumococcal meningitis remains a deadly disease, with a case fatality rate among adults that is still above 20%, and also with permanent neurological sequelae in a substantial minority of survivors.
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In This Issue: Shingles vaccine added to CDC list of vaccines for adults 60 and older; CDC recommends Tdap for postpartum women; new study suggests sequential therapy with antibiotics for H. pylori may be more effective than standard therapy; FDA Actions.
