Hospital Medicine News

• AES 2018Long-Term Efficacy for Epidiolex in Resistant Epilepsy Results of open-label extension trials show the recently approved drug Epidiolex, a purified form of CBD, is safe and effective beyond a year in patients with two rare and resistant epilepsy types.
  Medscape Medical News, December 2018
• RSNA 2018Radiologist Malpractice Recommendations Called 'Nonsense' A report from the Cooperative of American Physicians makes recommendations to prevent diagnostic errors in radiology, but one expert is skeptical of the whole report.
  Medscape Medical News, December 2018
• Cell Phones Could Be a Source of Flame Retardant Exposure There is a correlation between the levels of organophosphate esters found on cell phones and their metabolites in urine, say Canadian researchers, although whether the phones are the source is unclear.
  Medscape Medical News, December 2018
• Better Score to Predict Diabetes Remission After Bariatric Surgery A revised version of the DiaRem scoring system helps predict longer-term remission with a range of different bariatric surgical procedures.
  Medscape Medical News, December 2018
• Bacteria-Ridden Stethoscopes Abound in Hospitals Stethoscopes used in an ICU were loaded with bacteria, including bacteria that may be associated with nosocomial infections, and standard cleaning only modestly reduced bacteria levels, a study found.
  Medscape Medical News, December 2018
• Six Michigan Physicians Charged in $464M Pain Pill Conspiracy Federal prosecutors have charged six Detroit-area physicians with fraudulent billing in connection with a scheme to hook patients on opioids and then force them to undergo unnecessary procedures.
  Medscape Medical News, December 2018
• Bond, James Bond, Has a Drinking Problem and Needs Help, Study Shows With a drinking problem at the severe end of the spectrum, 007 would benefit from alcohol education and a supportive workplace culture that provides strategies for managing workplace stress.
  Medscape Medical News, December 2018
• Alert Omega-3 Meds Not Effective After MI, EMA Panel Concludes EMA review finds omega-3 fatty acid medicines are not effective for secondary prevention after myocardial infarction and rules they should no longer be authorized for such use.
  News Alerts, December 2018
• ASH 2018Choosing Wisely Champions Cut Blood RBC Transfusions, HIT testing Two researchers hailed as 'Choosing Wisely Champions' describe how they reduced blood transfusions and inappropriate testing for heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT).
  Medscape Medical News, December 2018
• No Breast Cancer Risk for Testosterone Use in Menopausal Women Research generally does not show a link between breast cancer and testosterone in women when used primarily for hypoactive sexual desire in midlife, but better studies are needed, say the authors of a new review.
  Medscape Medical News, December 2018
• Physician Exclusions From Medicare, Medicaid Increasing
  Medscape Medical News, December 2018
• ASH 2018Reducing Inappropriate Vancomycin Use in Cancer Patients A clinician who reduced the inappropriate use of vancomycin in patients with blood cancers and neutropenic fever has been hailed as a 'Choosing Wisely Champion.'
  Medscape Medical News, December 2018
• Rethinking Conversations on Prognosis and Life Expectancy Talking to patients about end-of-life care is tricky for any physician, especially when the patient doesn't want to talk about it either.
  Medscape Medical News, December 2018
• Opioids, ACA, and 'My Lane' Stoked Physicians' Interest in 2018 A Medscape survey indicates what excited, surprised, and frustrated physicians the most this year.
  Medscape Medical News, December 2018
• Fasting for Lab Tests Raises Hypoglycemia Risk in Diabetes Requiring patients with diabetes to fast before routine lab tests may unnecessarily place them at risk for hypoglycemia and possibly dangerous consequences. Authors call for amendment of guidelines.
  Medscape Medical News, December 2018
• Physician Mothers Face 'Insidious, Persistent' Discrimination In a survey, members of a Facebook group for physicians who are mothers spoke of financial losses and workplace hardships due to discrimination and lack of consideration.
  Medscape Medical News, December 2018
• Non-children's Hospitals Fall Short on CAP Prescribing Most children admitted to non-children's hospitals with community-acquired pneumonia failed to receive antibiotics in accordance with guidelines, a study found.
  Medscape Medical News, December 2018
• Are They in the SPRINT Zone? Applying Trial Results to Patients A new scoring system attempts to measure whether clinical-trial results are a good fit with individual patients in clinical practice, using a major hypertension trial as a test case.
  Medscape Medical News, December 2018
• Sustained Weight Loss in Diabetes More Likely in Teetotalers Thus, 'patients with type 2 diabetes who are trying to lose weight should be encouraged to limit alcohol consumption,' says the lead author of a new study.
  Medscape Medical News, December 2018
• Into the Fray: AHA's First Scientific Statement on Statin Safety The benefits of statins outweigh the harms, the report asserts, which is likely to renew calls for the release of patient-level data from industry-sponsored statin trials for independent scrutiny.
  Medscape Medical News, December 2018