A recent review suggests that the routine application of rapid respiratory viral tests in emergency departments (EDs) offers limited benefits for antimicrobial stewardship. Presented in JAMA Internal Medicine, the review examined 11 randomized clinical trials involving patients with acute respiratory infections (ARIs) seeking care in EDs. It revealed that while rapid viral testing led to increased usage of influenza antivirals among positive cases (absolute risk difference 1%), it did not significantly impact overall antibiotic use, …
Read MoreCouple Locked in Urgent Care Center in Texas
A couple in Texas spent more than an hour locked in an urgent care center after the staff left for the day. According to local news reports, Austin Jennings and his partner, Christina Tirado, went to the Mont Belvieu Urgent Care for treatment for Jennings’ flu symptoms. They arrived for a 6PM appointment and were directed to an exam room at 6:30PM where Jennings started a breathing treatment. When he opened the exam room door 20 minutes later, a …
Read MoreFree COVID-19 Antiviral No Longer Free
In December 2023, drug manufacturer Pfizer changed its strategic sales approach for nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid) by shifting to commercial sales in lieu of providing the COVID-19 antiviral drug at no-cost to patients exclusively through the federal government, according to Kaiser Health News. Some patients, such as those who are uninsured or enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid, may qualify for free prescription fills, but they need to work through an application process. What’s concerning is that nirmatrelvir/ritonavir has …
Read MorePatients, Clinicians Have Similar Accuracy With Interpreting At-Home COVID Tests
When patients use at-home tests to check for COVID-19, their results are similar to results from clinicians using the same tests, according to a study in Microbiology Spectrum. Researchers compared the sensitivity and specificity of Abbott’s BinaxNOW patient-administered rapid antigen test (RAT) against RATs administered by a healthcare provider and against reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Of the 953 patients, 34.1% had at least 1 COVID-19 symptom. Hospital staff administered a RAT and an RT-PCR …
Read MoreCould the US Lose Its Measles Elimination Status?
Rising measles outbreaks in the United States have raised concerns about whether the country is losing its status of having “eliminated” the disease, according to the Hill. As of March 7, 2024, 45 measles cases were reported across 17 states. Florida has reported 10 cases in 2 counties, prompting the Florida Surgeon General to recommend unvaccinated children should stay home for 3 weeks, aligning with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, but it …
Read MoreSmartwatches Show Promise in Detecting Arrhythmia in Kids
According to a retrospective study, smartwatches can detect arrhythmia events in children, including events that are not generally captured with ambulatory monitors. The study presented in Communications Medicine examined medical records for 145 patients under 18 years old and documented potential arrhythmias that were identified by an Apple Watch. Recordings were captured when the patients believed that their heart rhythm was abnormal. Scott Ceresnak, MD, director, of the Pediatric Electrophysiology Program, Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, …
Read MoreCDC Relaxes COVID-19 Isolation Guidelines
Patients who test positive for COVID-19 or believe they are infected no longer need to stay home and isolate for 5 days, as per new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines adopted last week. The CDC reworked its prevailing guidance, saying that COVID-19 “is no longer the emergency that it once was,” and people who with COVID-19 can return to everyday activities if their symptoms are mild, have been improving, and it’s been …
Read MoreDynamics Between Pharmacists and AMA Heat Up
The American Medical Association (AMA) has been consistently outspoken against proposed legislation looking to authorize pharmacists to leverage test results to directly diagnose patients. AMA warns that such “scope creep” is detrimental to patient health because an isolated lab test depicts only a snapshot of overall health, which is not enough to determine treatment. AMA stresses that pharmacists are not trained to diagnose patients, and it has defeated pharmacist-prescribing proposals in Alabama and Louisiana. Pushing …
Read MoreVideo Consultation May Not Have Advantages For Pediatric Prescribing
Researchers found the use of video telemedicine to conduct consultations for acutely ill children in rural and community emergency departments (EDs) does not reduce medication errors when compared to consultations done by telephone, as presented in JAMA Network Open. A randomized trial across 15 community and rural EDs that examined 696 cases of acutely ill children found no statistically significant differences in physician-related medication errors between cases leveraging telephone consultations when compared to cases leveraging …
Read MoreDOJ Questions UnitedHealth’s Contracting Practices
The Department of Justice has launched an antitrust investigation into UnitedHealth Group, focusing on how the UnitedHealthcare insurance division influences its own Optum health-services arm, according to the Wall Street Journal. Optum’s portfolio includes physician groups and other providers, and the business line employs a total physician force of about 90,000, making it the largest physician employer in the country. The investigation is digging into how Optum’s acquisitions of physician groups impact competition, particularly in …
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