Big Changes to ACA Unlikely During Current Congress, Expert Suggests
Republicans likely will be successful in blocking any significant expansion of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), former Health and Human Services official Thomas Barker, JD, predicted at an event hosted by the Alliance for Health Policy on the future of the ACA. “It’s hard for me to see how, for example, a public option can […]
Video Laryngoscopy Wins for Tracheal Intubation on the First Try
Use of video rather than direct laryngoscope led to better rates of successful tracheal intubation on the first attempt for critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) or emergency department, the randomized DEVICE trial found. In the unblinded multicenter study, which was stopped early for efficacy at an interim analysis, the rate of […]
Opinion | Healthcare Culture Is Hell
A strong organizational culture is considered the secret sauce of successful organizations. But the Latin term abyssus abyssum invocat (one hell calls forth another), explains perfectly why it is increasingly difficult to maintain optimal organizational cultures in healthcare. Hell #1: Pre-pandemic, health systems and their workers in both Canada and the U.S. were highly stressed. […]
SPAN Study Finds a Winner for Treating Stroke in Rodents
DALLAS — Uric acid was shown to be the most successful neuroprotectant among rodents in a study from the Stroke Preclinical Assessment Network (SPAN), a nationwide trial platform that applies clinical research practices to preclinical studies in hopes of better informing human studies. Of the six interventions studied in the randomized rodent trial, uric acid […]
Can Pre-Op Chemo Set Stage for Organ-Sparing Surgery in Early Rectal Cancer?
Three months of induction chemotherapy resulted in successful downstaging for certain patients with early-stage rectal cancer, enabling them to undergo organ-sparing therapy, according to a phase II trial. In 33 of 58 patients, induction with modified folinic acid, fluorouracil, oxaliplatin 6 (FOLFOX6) or capecitabine-oxaliplatin (CAPOX), followed by transanal excision surgery, resulted in downstaging to ypT0/1N0/X […]
ADVOR Backs Add-On Acetazolamide for Cutting Congestion in Decompensated HF
BARCELONA — The addition of IV acetazolamide to loop diuretic therapy led to a greater incidence of successful early decongestion in patients with acute decompensated heart failure (HF), according to the ADVOR trial. The primary outcome of successful decongestion within 3 days after randomization was 42.2% with acetazolamide versus 30.5% with placebo (P<0.001), reported Wilfried […]
Effective Treatment of Obesity Begins With a Conversation
ORLANDO — Successful weight loss begins with a conversation that many clinicians never have with their patients, a primary care obesity specialist said here. Obesity has become widely recognized as a disease, but many clinicians and patients still do not approach the condition as a disease. Existing in medical and social environments of bias and […]
Common weight-loss drug successfully targets fat that can endanger heart health
Researchers at UT Southwestern announced successful results of a clinical trial for a commonly prescribed weight-loss drug called liraglutide. In adults who are overweight or have obesity combined with high cardiovascular risk, once-daily liraglutide combined with lifestyle interventions significantly lowered two types of fat that have been associated with risk to heart health: visceral fat […]