Hospital Medicine News

• 'Physiology Fights Back' When People Are Trying to Lose Weight 'Individuals who are struggling to achieve weight loss goals, despite assuring compliance with [a] diet, may indeed be 'suffering' from metabolic adaptation during active weight loss,' say researchers.
  Medscape Medical News, January 27, 2022
• COVID Is Less Severe With Omicron Than Delta, US Study Suggests The Omicron variant appears to result in less severe COVID-19 than seen during previous periods of high coronavirus transmission including the Delta wave, according to a new US study.
  Reuters Health Information, January 25, 2022
• California Appears to Pass Peak of Omicron Variant Wave Over 15,000 people are hospitalized with coronavirus, a huge figure but well short of last January's peak of about 22,000 and half of what officials had feared.
  Associated Press, January 26, 2022
• Disagreement Over Solutions to Nursing Shortage in Germany The nursing shortage in Germany is growing, and could reach 300,000 in a few years, according to the Association of German Cities, but not everyone agrees on the solutions.
  Medscape Medical News, January 26, 2022
• What the Federal 'No Surprises Act' Means in California The new federal law will provide protection against surprise medical bills for between 6 million and 7 million Californians who are not covered under state law.
  Kaiser Health News, January 26, 2022
• Pfizer and BioNTech Launch Trial of Omicron-Targeted COVID Vaccine Pfizer Inc and BioNTech said on Tuesday they started a clinical trial to test a new version of their vaccine specifically designed to target the COVID-19 Omicron variant, which has eluded some of the protection provided by the original two-dose vaccine regimen.
  Reuters Health Information, January 25, 2022
• Mandatory COVID Shots Could Deepen German Nurse Shortage, Say Care Companies As Germany gears up to make COVID-19 vaccination compulsory in the healthcare sector, the industry fears that resistance among some workers will exacerbate staffing shortages and leave many families reliant on carers in the lurch.
  Reuters Health Information, January 25, 2022
• Doctor's Illegal Opioid Prescriptions Lead to 5 Deaths: Officials Alaskan family physician sentenced to 34 months in prison, probation; Texas hospital CEO and seven docs settle kickback allegations; practice administrator sentenced for fraudulent prescriptions.
  Medscape Business of Medicine, January 26, 2022
• More Than 1 in 10 People in US Have Diabetes, CDC Says According to the latest National Diabetes Statistics Report, a quarter of those with diabetes are undiagnosed and over a third of the US population has prediabetes.
  Medscape Medical News, January 26, 2022
• Most COVID ICU Survivors Show Adverse Effects 1 Year Later: Study Nearly 60% of former ICU patients reported continuing sickness-related problems at work. Three-fourths reported physical problems, and 26% reported mental problems.
  Medscape Medical News, January 25, 2022
• Watch, but Don't Worry Yet, About New Omicron Subvariant A new, highly contagious subvariant of Omicron has emerged, but public health officials say it's too soon to tell what kind of real threat, if any, this new strain will present.
  WebMD Health News, January 25, 2022
• The Doctor Didn't Show Up, but the Hospital ED Still Charged $1012 A toddler burned his hand on the stove, and his mom took him to the ED on the advice of her pediatrician. He wasn't seen by a doctor, and the dressing on the wound wasn't changed. The bill was $1012.
  Kaiser Health News, January 25, 2022
• Ketamine an 'Intriguing New Therapy' for Alcoholism Infusions of ketamine combined with counseling may help alcohol-dependent patients curb their drinking.
  Medscape Medical News, January 25, 2022
• Can a Ketogenic Diet Reduce Concussion-Related Brain Damage? A ketogenic diet has been linked to better outcomes in mild traumatic brain injury, including less cognitive impairment, neuronal loss, and neuroinflammation, new animal research shows.
  Medscape Medical News, January 25, 2022
• FDA Halts Use of Some COVID Monoclonal Antibodies Due to Omicron Bamlanivimab/etesevimab and casirivimab/imdevimab are highly unlikely to be active against the Omicron variant, which now makes up virtually all cases of COVID-19 in the United States, the FDA says.
  Medscape Medical News, January 25, 2022
• Updated CPR Guidance Amidst Omicron Surge The updated guidance, from several organizations, emphasizes the need to fully protect healthcare providers who perform resuscitation, including use of respirators, gowns, gloves, and eye protection.
  Medscape Medical News, January 24, 2022
• Ivermectin as Potential COVID-19 Treatment Subject of Duke Study The study, which began last summer, is attempting to provide a comprehensive assessment of the controversial treatment.
  WebMD Health News, January 24, 2022
• COVID Brain Fog a 'True Neurologic Condition' Preexisting risk factors and immune system activation may explain why some COVID patients and not others experience cognitive symptoms.
  Medscape Medical News, January 24, 2022
• Some States Still Pushing Ineffective Covid Antibody Treatments Many hospitals and clinics are still infusing the costly treatments — often charging hundreds of dollars a session — that public health officials now say are almost certainly useless.
  Kaiser Health News, January 21, 2022
• Physician Burnout, Depression Compounded by COVID: Survey Doctors were already struggling with burnout; the COVID-19 pandemic didn't help.
  Medscape Medical News, January 21, 2022