Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

New Blood Test Offers Option For Colorectal Cancer Screening

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week approved a blood test for colorectal cancer screening in average-risk adults aged 45 and older. Known as Shield, it is the first blood test to receive FDA approval as a primary screening method for colorectal cancer and to qualify for Medicare reimbursement, according to a press release. While the price has not been announced, the test is expected to reach the market within a week. Shield will …

Cannabis Present In Rising Number of Suicide Reports

A study in JAMA Network Open examined the presence of cannabis in suicide cases, as reported to US poison centers from 2009 through 2021. Researchers found intentional, suspected suicidal cannabis exposures increased by approximately 17% annually. According to national data, 18,689 exposures were reported in the time frame, and nearly all (96.5%) cases involved exposure to more than 1 substance in addition to cannabis. Overall, 9.6% of exposures resulted in death or major adverse outcomes, …

Asthma Patients May Need Fluticasone Alternatives

Earlier this year, drugmaker GSK stopped making the asthma inhaler Flovent (fluticasone)—which was available as a metered-dose inhaler (Flovent HFA) and a dry powder inhaler (Flovent Diskus). Instead, the company opted to produce its own authorized generic version of fluticasone. However, with the manufacturing change, patients are experiencing insurance barriers and delays in getting their prescriptions filled, according to NPR. It’s especially concerning for children under age 5 who may not have many asthma inhaler …

GLP-1 Drugs Increasingly Used For Weight, Not Diabetes

A nationwide population-based study on prescribing trends published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found a significant increase in new users of GLP-1 receptor agonists who don’t have a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. The proportion of new GLP-1 users with type 2 diabetes decreased from nearly 90% to about 70% from 2019 to 2023, according to a separate analysis of the findings in MedPage Today. Meanwhile, new users tend to be those prescribed the …

Study Finds New Semaglutide Benefits, No Link to Suicidal Thoughts

A study published in the Lancet last week investigated millions of U.S. medical records to determine whether semaglutide increased the risk of neurological and psychiatric conditions within the first year of use compared to 3 other common antidiabetic medications. Authors found no association between semaglutide and a higher risk of the 22 studied conditions (eg, psychosis; bipolar disorder; depression; anxiety; opioid and alcohol use disorder; etc.). In fact, patients on semaglutide showed lower rates of …

Antimicrobial-Resistant Gonorrhea Becomes Global Concern

Canada’s public health agency has reported an increase in antimicrobial-resistant gonococcal infections. Data on 3,377 gonorrhea cases revealed that over a span of 2 years, antimicrobial-resistant gonococcal infections increased while gonococcal cultures demonstrating resistance rose from 24.8% in 2020 to 44.5% in 2021. Resistance to ciprofloxacin was most prevalent, rising from 46.6% of cases in 2020 to 63.1% in 2021. More than 80% of the gonorrhea cases studied were among males, and 55.5% of those …

EDs See Summer Surge of COVID-19 Cases

Cases of COVID-19 have surged in emergency departments (EDs) over recent weeks, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and surges are now demonstrating upward slopes that could lead to peaks similar to what communities might expect in the cooler months of fall. The weekly average of ED patients with COVID-19 has reached 1.18% in the United States overall but 2.9% in Florida, making the “sunshine state” a leader …

Staff Salary Survey Provides Benchmarks

A recent survey conducted by Physicians Practice provides some benchmarking insight for operators regarding staff salaries. According to survey respondents, more than a quarter of them say their full-time nurse practitioners earn within the range of $100,000-$125,000; only a small percentage earn less than $75,000 a year. As for medical assistants, the largest portion of survey respondents (37%) pin those salaries in the range of $30,000 to $40,000 a year with another 23% saying they …

When to Consider Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in the Differential

A new study in Emerging Infections Diseases describes 5 children who had Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) and manifested clinical symptoms similar to multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) in Mexico. Although the number of cases was small, it may be an important differential because Rocky Mountain spotted fever can progress rapidly to death or severe illness if appropriate antimicrobial drug therapy is not delivered within the first 5 days after illness onset. Among the 5 cases, …