Editor's Note In this study led by researchers at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, increased age was found to be the greatest independent risk factor for COVID-19 associated mortality. Of 7,556 patients included in the analysis, 1,556 died, 949 were admitted to ICU, and 227…

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Editor's Note This retrospective cohort analysis led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, finds that a crisis standards of care (CSOC) scoring system designed to allocate scarce resources during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with racial inequities. A total of 498 adult patients…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 16, designated the recall of SD Biosensor’s Standard Q COVID-19 Ag Home Test as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because the test, which uses a nasal swab sample to detect COVID-19 antigens, is not authorized, cleared,…

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Editor's Note On March 14, the Biden administration released a recommendation via the US Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) to restructure the VA healthcare system, including closing over 150 clinics and hospitals and constructing several new facilities, Becker’s March 15 reports. Citing information from the March 15 Washington Post article…

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Editor's Note In this poll of 2,200 adults in the US, conducted in December 2021 by philanthropy de Beaumont Foundation, 78% of respondents said physicians who intentionally spread misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines should be disciplined, JAMA Network February 16 reported. According to JAMA, most professional medical societies and specialty…

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Editor's Note On March 15, Pfizer and BioNTech submitted an emergency use authorization request to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a second booster dose of their COVID-19 vaccine for adults aged 65 and older who have already received a booster of an approved COVID-10 vaccine. The two companies…

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Editor's Note There is a growing concern that ongoing evolution of COVID-19 could lead to variants that are capable of avoiding some or all of the immune response generated by prior infection or vaccination. To this end, Johns Hopkins researchers examined whether mutations in the Omicron variant gave it the…

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Editor's Note As of March 12, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that the Omicron BA.2 subvariant was responsible for 23.1% of all COVID-19 cases in the US, the March 15 Reuters reports. The subvariant is behind about 39% of cases in the Northeast, New York, and…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on March 11, designated the recall by Baxter of its SIGMA Spectrum Infusion Pumps with Master Drug Library (Version 8) and Spectrum IQ Infusion Systems with Dose IQ Safety Software (Version 9) as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated…

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Editor's Note On March 15, The Joint Commission released a statement expressing support for Ukraine, saying the enterprise “is devastated by the horror” of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. According to the statement, the World Health Organization “has identified at least 31 attacks on Ukrainian healthcare organizations” as of March 13, meaning…

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