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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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In findings that may set a new standard of care in intensive care units, researchers demonstrated in a large-scale trial that a combination of daily chlorhexidine baths and a five-day regimen of nasal mupirocin reduced bloodstream infections (BSIs) for all pathogens by a staggering 44%.
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Influenza poses a rare but real risk of fatal infection in otherwise healthy children, a Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention epidemiologist reports.
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Preventing bloodstream infections among the most costly and potentially fatal patient complications provides a benefit so powerful that one is tempted to dismiss the risk.
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Although efforts to cut the overuse of antibiotics have made some headway in hospitals, the majority of prescriptions are written by community-based clinicians often for pediatric patients with common ailments.
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In a multicenter, Phase 3 trial, perioperative chemoradiotherapy with capecitabine proved safe and equivalently effective as fluorouracil in reducing local recurrence. In fact, post hoc analysis demonstrated better disease-free and overall survival for those treated with capecitabine. This is a finding that will resonate in the offices of community-based oncologists.
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Lorcaserin for weight loss; statins and fatigue; treatment-resistant gonorrhea; hydrocodone classification changes; USPSTF recommendations; and FDA actions.
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In this single-institute pilot study, 30 subjects with hepatocellular cancer were randomized to transarterial chemoembolization with or without bevacizumab. Bevacizumab use significantly improved progression-free survival at 16 weeks but no significant difference was seen with respect to the primary outcome (vessel count) or in the overall survival.
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A 57-year-old retail pharmacist presented to his primary care physician because of progressive headaches, blurry vision, hearing loss, and episodes of confusion. He had not had night sweats, fever, or weight loss. On physical examination he was found to be pale and there were ecchymoses over his upper and lower extremities that he reported occurred spontaneously over the past 3 months. He had attributed these to his current medications including both aspirin (81 mg/day) and clopidogrel (75 mg/day), although he had been taking these medications for more than 5 years without noticing ecchymoses in the past. He did not have palpable lymphadenopathy nor was there splenomegaly.
