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Martin A. Makary, MD, MPH, an associate professor of surgery and health policy at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD is the author of the recently published book "Unaccountable: What Hospitals Won't Tell You and How Transparency Can Revolutionize Health Care."
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No specific infection control breach has been identified in the death earlier this year of a 25-year-old research laboratory associate at the VA Medical Center in San Francisco.
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Researchers are finding that a specific spectrum of ultraviolet light kills drug-resistant bacteria and other problem pathogens on common environmental surfaces, including door handles and bedside tables and rails in hospital rooms.
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In this paper, the authors performed a pharmacoepidemiologic study on the relationship between azithromycin, a frequently used broad-spectrum macrolide antibiotic, and cardiovascular death. The authors analyzed data from the Tennessee Medicaid program.
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On 15 May the FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research/Office of Blood Research and Review (CBER/OBRR) granted market clearance to the OraQuick in-home HIV-1/2 antibody test based on the recommendation of the Blood Products Advisory Committee.
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In this issue: Side effects of finasteride; new ruling on pharmaceutical companies paying generic manufacturers; and FDA actions.
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Coffee is widely consumed throughout the United States. Some prior studies have associated coffee consumption with increased rates of heart disease, whereas other studies have shown less heart disease in coffee drinkers.
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As the lines blur between patient safety and worker safety, employee health professionals including those "two-hat" infection preventionists with dual responsibilities can expect much more scrutiny from regulators who traditionally focused on patient care.
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Memo to the Centers from Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) from two leading surgeons on the literal cutting edge of infection prevention in the OR: Hospitals and federal regulators should encourage the use of newer and safer types of surgery and more transparency with patients on procedure options and possible outcomes. That would do more to reduce surgical site infection (SSI) rates than inspections by CMS and other government regulators.
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The Veterans Health Administration has developed best practices in handling large-scale epidemiologic look-back investigations, including finding a way to explain a potential exposure of blood-borne viruses to a large number of people who likely were not impacted by the incident.