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Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. The United States saw nearly 23% more deaths than expected during the first 9 months of the pandemic, and almost three-quarters of those deaths involved COVID-19. For comparison, the death rate increased by 2.5% or less annually in recent years. At

The best medical school program for primary care is at the University of Washington in Seattle, according to the latest rankings by US News & World Report. The University of California, San Francisco, ranks second and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, third, in the rankings released March 30. Rounding out the top

The U.S. healthcare system is poorly equipped to meet the needs of patients with mental health and substance use problems, but primary care integration can help, said public health specialists during a webinar on Wednesday. Making temporary telehealth flexibilities triggered by the public health emergency permanent should also be a top priority, said panelists at

With a new gel and a new patch joining the existing line-up of contraceptive options, it seems that women have many choices these days to prevent a pregnancy.  On the face of it, yes. Condoms, spermicide, IUDs, the pill, a cervical cap, a diaphragm, the gel, are part of the list.  But the birth control

Liability insurance premiums are rising at a rate not seen in nearly 20 years, according to a new report from the American Medical Association (AMA). While the report is based on premium increases that predated the COVID-19 pandemic, it cites experts who predict that the upward trend in insurance costs will continue. These forecasts come

A minimally invasive blood test along with artificial intelligence (AI) may flag early-stage Alzheimer’s disease (AD), raising the prospect of early intervention when effective treatments become available. In a study, investigators used six AI methodologies, including Deep Learning, to assess blood leukocyte epigenomic biomarkers. They found more than 150 genetic differences among study participants with

Overdose deaths involving both opioids and either cocaine or psychostimulants were rising long before anyone heard of COVID-19, a National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) report showed. From 2009 to 2019, deaths involving both cocaine and opioids rose more quickly than those involving cocaine but not opioids, reported Holly Hedegaard, MD, of the NCHS Division

ennifer T. Grier, University of South Carolina A few weeks ago, a message popped up in the corner of my screen. “What do you think about people who have recently had COVID–19 getting the vaccine?” A friend of mine was eligible for a COVID–19 vaccine, but she had recently gotten over an infection with SARS–CoV–2.

A soft, flexible device that sticks on skin to capture sweat and measure sweat chloride may help doctors diagnose cystic fibrosis in infants, according to new data published online March 31 in Science Translational Medicine. But not everyone is convinced the device is the right approach for an important clinical diagnosis. That said, the technology

Early this morning, Pfizer announced results from a phase III trial that tested its vaccine on 2,260 youngsters between 12 and 15; the company announced that the vaccine showed strong protection and minimal side effects. Should the FDA grant Pfizer the vaccine emergency use authorization for the vaccine, which the company has said it will

Monday, April 5 is the official start of a US law requiring healthcare organizations to provide patients with free, full, and immediate electronic access to their doctor’s clinical notes as well as test results and reports from pathology and imaging. The mandate, called “open notes” by many, is part of the 21st Century Cures Act,

Maternal deaths in the U.S. spiked in 2019, with significant disparities by race and age, federal data showed. The U.S. maternal mortality rate was 20.1 per 100,000 live births in 2019, up from 17.4 per 100,000 the year before, reported Donna Hoyert, PhD, of the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), in NCHS Health E-Stats.

In 1967, when the United Nations Convention on Drugs classified psychedelics as Schedule I substances, it effectively ended research into these agents as potential therapeutics for psychiatric disorders. Psychedelics induce altered states of perception. They bind to the 5-hydroxytryptamine 2A (5-HT2A) receptor and include psilocybin, which is derived from “magic mushrooms”; N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a component

Intravitreal injections with aflibercept (Eylea) don’t improve the visual acuity of people with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR), researchers say. The treatments do reduce the risk for center-involved diabetic macular edema and proliferative diabetic retinopathy, however, said Adam R. Glassman, MS, principal investigator of the DRCR Retina Network Coordinating Center, Tampa, Florida. “Some clinicians may decide

Many state medical boards “are doing a dangerously lax job” protecting the public from incompetent physicians, according to a report from Public Citizen, the consumer advocacy group. The report — co-authored by Sidney Wolfe, MD, and Robert E. Oshel, PhD, of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group — ranked states by their rate of serious disciplinary

by Michelle Andrews There’s something for everyone with private health insurance in the American Rescue Plan Act, but determining the best way to benefit may be confusing. The $1.9 trillion covid relief law that President Joe Biden signed this month will make coverage significantly more affordable for millions of people who either who have marketplace

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Two-thirds of epidemiologists from leading academic institutions say the world will need new or modified vaccines for COVID-19 within a year, new research show.. In a survey of 77 epidemiologists from 28 countries by the People’s Vaccine Alliance, 66.2% predicted the

Since the early days of Donald Trump’s campaign, mental health professionals have come forth in unprecedented ways to warn against entrusting the U.S. presidency to someone whose mental fitness for the Oval Office was more than suspect.  In early 2017, I organized an ethics conference at Yale School of Medicine to clarify our public health duty,

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Obesity rates among children jumped substantially in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published online in Pediatrics. Experts worry the excess weight will be a continuing problem for these children. “Across the board in the span

Cognitive impairment occurred more than twice as often in patients with normotensive glaucoma (NTG) as compared with high-tension glaucoma (HTG) and exhibited a trend toward greater impairment, a matched case-control study showed. A telephone-based cognitive assessment questionnaire showed that 14.8% of patients with NTG met criteria for cognitive impairment versus 5.4% of patients with HTG.

In their clinical trials, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines did okay, well enough for the FDA to grant emergency use authorization. But in a real-world study, where participants were all on the front lines fighting Covid, the vaccines proved 90% effective against the virus – not just the symptomatic disease. In the clinical studies, Pfizer

At least one doctor has lodged a complaint with the Maryland Board of Physicians against a physician member of the Maryland House of Delegates who apparently conducted legislative business at least twice while in the operating suite. Dr Terri Hill The delegate, Terri L. Hill, MD, called in once via Zoom to speak in support

Car T-cell therapy, described as a “living drug,” is now available for patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma who have been treated with four or more prior lines of therapy. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said these patients represent an “unmet medical need” when it granted approval for the new product ― idecabtagene vicleucel

“We don’t knock. We don’t pull the door shut. We just barge in and ask what we want.” — Beverly Jordan, MD, a family practitioner in rural Enterprise, Alabama, describing the challenge of relatives interrupting a patient’s telehealth visit. “Sleep disturbance may be a two-edged sword for COVID infection.” — Michael Irwin, MD, of UCLA

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Medtronic’s Harmony Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve (TPV) System to treat severe pulmonary regurgitation in pediatric and adult patients who have a native or surgically repaired right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT). The Harmony TPV is the first nonsurgical heart valve to treat severe pulmonary valve regurgitation, which is

Todd Lencz, PhD A new genetic mutation in schizophrenia that blocks neuron communication in the brain may lead to novel treatment strategies and improve understanding of the mechanics of this disease. The discovery of this new gene, PCDHA3, could enhance the development of genetic-risk calculators “that may help us understand vulnerability to schizophrenia in high-risk individuals

The 24-hour news cycle is just as important to medicine as it is to politics, finance, or sports. At MedPage Today, new information is posted daily, but keeping up can be a challenge. As an aid for our readers and for a little amusement, here is a 10-question quiz based on the news of the

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. People experiencing long-term symptoms following acute COVID-19 infection are increasingly meeting criteria for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), a phenomenon that highlights the need for unified research and clinical approaches, speakers said at a press briefing Thursday held by the advocacy