Editor's Note Adding more anesthesiology residency positions, even without federal funding, may help hospitals save staffing costs and address shortages of anesthesia personnel, finds a study presented January 27 at the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ ADVANCE 2023, in Orlando, Florida. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center compared the…

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Editor's Note The New York Times on January 27 reported that 37% of aspiring nurses who allegedly purchased fraudulent degrees to bypass coursework and training required to sit for the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) passed the test. Many of the 7,600 individuals who paid between $10,000 and $15,000 for…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 30 identified the recall by Medtronic of its Mahurkar Acute Dual Lumen High Flow (13.5 French) Hemodialysis Catheters (Mahurkar QPlus) as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of a potential catheter hub defect that may cause…

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Editor's Note The Biden administration announced on January 30 that it will end the COVID-19 national and public health emergencies on May 11, the January 31 APnews reports. The move gives healthcare providers and other stakeholders about 100 days to prepare for the termination. The national and public health emergencies…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 27 announced that it is proposing to ease blood donation restrictions by focusing on behavior rather than gender and sexual identity. Under current rules, the FDA allows donations from gay and bisexual men if they haven’t had sex with another…

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Editor's Note This study led by researchers from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, finds that characteristics of patients’ neighborhoods and hospitals where they received treatment were both associated with postoperative mortality. This analysis included 1,898,829 Medicare beneficiaries from all neighborhood types undergoing one of five common surgical procedures in…

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Editor's Note State Boards of Nursing are investigating those who allegedly bought fraudulent nursing degrees and diplomas as part of a widespread scheme to fast-track the process to take the National Council Licensure Examination, the January 27 Becker’s Hospital Review reports. Twenty-five individuals have been charged by the Justice Department…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 27 posted an addition to the Class I recall by LivaNova (TandemLife) of its LifeSPARC System Controller. The addition to the recall provides information about a software update now available to address the previous software malfunction and recall. The System…

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Editor's Note A study done by investigators from Yale, Harvard, and the University of California-San Francisco, published on January 10 in JAMA, found that “many medical devices subject to recall had received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval based, in part, on the products’ similarities to earlier devices,” Healthcare Purchasing…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 25 identified the recall by Datascope/Gettinge of its Cardiosave Hybrid and Rescue Intra-Aortic Balloon Pumps (IABPs) as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of the risk that blood may enter the pump through a damaged balloon…

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