Latest News

• 'UroLeak 2020' Gave Early Look at Urology Match Results Some medical students accessed their Urology Match Day results before the official release.
  Medscape Medical News, January 17, 2020
• Alert European Marketing of Picato Suspended While Skin Cancer Risk Reviewed While the drug is still available in the US, the FDA says it is 'gathering data and information to investigate the safety concern related to Picato.'
  News Alerts, January 17, 2020
• Too Old for New Heart? Germany Faces Dearth of Organ Donors Siegfried Richtsteig has been waiting in hospital for more than 130 days for a heart that would allow him to do the things he enjoyed most, like playing with his grandchildren, before a stroke damaged the organ beyond repair.
  Reuters Health Information, January 16, 2020
• Pharmacy Chains Sue Ohio Physicians Over Opioid Prescribing The suit is in response to litigation against pharmacies by Ohio counties; individual physicians not named in the action.
  Medscape Medical News, January 17, 2020
• Primary Aldosteronism Can Present as Atrial Fibrillation Atrial fibrillation can be a presenting sign of primary aldosteronism in patients with hypertension, according to findings from the PAPPHY study.
  Reuters Health Information, January 16, 2020
• German Drug Assessment Body Not Convinced by Bayer's Cancer Drug Vitrakvi Germany's drug assessment body said that data provided by Bayer on its precision cancer drug Vitrakvi did not provide clear enough evidence of benefits, in a setback to the drugmaker in its home market.
  Reuters Health Information, January 16, 2020
• Alert EU Panel Confirms 4-Week Limit on High-Strength Estradiol Creams The decision marks the third time the European Medicines Agency's safety committee has issued the controversial recommendation.
  News Alerts, January 17, 2020
• Tailored Doses of Enoxaparin Better Prevent VTE After Cancer Surgery Adjusting the doses of enoxaparin based on anti-Xa levels, instead of using standard doses, may better prevent venous thromboembolism (VTE) without worsening bleeding rates in patients undergoing abdominal cancer surgery, according to a new study.
  Reuters Health Information, January 16, 2020
• Bezlotoxumab Reduces Rates of Recurrent C. Diff Infection The monoclonal antibody bezlotoxumab reduces the rate of recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection, according to findings from the MODIFY II trial.
  Reuters Health Information, January 16, 2020
• CDC to Screen for Novel Coronavirus at Three US Airports Symptom-based health screening of passengers entering the US on direct or connecting flights from Wuhan, China, will be conducted in San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles.
  Medscape Medical News, January 17, 2020
• Major Heart Organizations Now Led by Women A growing number of female cardiologists are leading major heart organizations in 2020 in a field still largely dominated by men.
  Medscape Medical News, January 17, 2020
• Alert Cardinal Health Surgical Gowns May Not Be Sterile, FDA Warns Facilities should immediately stop using Level 3 surgical gowns made by Cardinal Health, and PreSource procedural packs that contain the gowns, because of sterility concerns.
  News Alerts, January 17, 2020
• Despite Dangers, Docs Continue to Co-Prescribe Benzos, Opioids Despite well-known dangers and recommendations to the contrary, benzodiazepines and opioids are still commonly co-prescribed.
  Medscape Medical News, January 17, 2020
• Redo PCI or CABG, Left Main Patients Pay a Price: EXCEL A new 3-year analysis shows that repeat revascularization is more common after PCI than bypass surgery, but durability remains an issue for both strategies.
  Medscape Medical News, January 17, 2020
• FDA Panel Split on Approval of Non-Opioid for Surgical Pain A US Food and Drug Administration advisory panel was split on recommending approval of bupivacaine to control post-surgical pain.
  Medscape Medical News, January 17, 2020
• Biodegradable Coronary Stents Better Than Durable Stents in Registry Study Patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) had better outcomes with biodegradable polymer drug-eluting stents (BP-DES) than with second-generation durable polymer drug-eluting stents (DP-DES), a South Korean registry study found.
  Reuters Health Information, January 15, 2020
• 'Uber of Interventional Cardiology' Pushes Stents Over Surgery A physician-driven website touts stenting as a treatment for patients who have been told they need open heart surgery. A surgeon calls it 'trolling for patients.'
  Medscape Medical News, January 17, 2020
• Safe-Sexting Advice Could Help Keep Teens Safe Online Advocating abstinence to teens hasn't proven very effective with regard to sex, and the same is likely to be true for sexting, researchers say. So it may be time to at least arm teens with information about how to protect themselves.
  Reuters Health Information, January 15, 2020
• Deep-Sea Microbe Sheds Light on Primordial Evolutionary Milestone A microorganism scooped up in deep-sea mud off Japan's coast has helped scientists unlock the mystery of one of the watershed evolutionary events for life on Earth: the transition from the simple cells that first colonized the planet to complex cellular life - fungi, plants and animals including people.
  Reuters Health Information, January 15, 2020
• Magnesium Disorders Up Hypocalcemia Risk After Thyroidectomy Hypocalcemia occurred in nearly 20% of patients following thyroidectomy in the large study, however, most cases resolved at 1 year.
  Medscape Medical News, January 17, 2020