Editor's Note The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 24 updated its safety recall communication from November 6 to add to the voluntary recalls of saline and sterile water medical products associated with Nurse Assist, LLC. The FDA recall notice lists various water-based medical products manufactured by Nurse…

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Editor's Note The US government's sale of the Federal Helium Reserve, a large underground helium stockpile in Amarillo, Texas, has raised concerns about the supply of helium for critical healthcare applications, especially MRI machines, NBC News reported January 25. The Federal Helium Reserve reportedly provides up to 30% of the…

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Editor's Note: Artificial intelligence (AI) leveraging machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP, a subset of machine learning) models can help identify donors with kidneys unsuitable for organ transplant, according to a study published November 1 in Jama Surgery. Despite the unmet need, many deceased-donor kidneys are discarded or…

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Editor's Note:  The U.S. Justice Department is investigating how the healthcare industry is using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to analyze and make decisions using patients’ electronic health records (EHRs), Bloomberg Law reported January 29. So far, DOJ has served subpoenas related to EHRs to at least three major pharma companies:…

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Editor's Note: A successful test of a genetically modified pig liver attached to a brain-dead human body could have significant implications for liver failure patients, the Associated Press reported January 18. Conducted at the University of Pennsylvania, the tested method is similar to kidney dialysis in that the genetically modified…

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Editor's Note: A recent study shows the color of a clinicians’ scrubs is a factor in how patients view clinicians and, by extension, the clinician-patient relationship as well as clinical outcomes. The findings were published January 11 in Jama Surgery. Although previous research has established connections between physician’s attire and…

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Editor's Note:  In a sophisticated new scheme, hackers are stealing the identity of hospital employees in financial roles—such as revenue cycle employees—and then reaching out to the hospitals’ IT help desk in order to reset passwords, receive access codes, and redirect funds.  The American Hospital Association (AHA) sent out an…

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Editor's Note: A recent study suggests artificial intelligence (AI) can be valuable for identifying patients who consumed risky amounts of of alcohol prior to surgery. Findings appeared in the journal Alcohol, Clinical and Experimental Research on January 8. For the study, researchers extracted 3 years of text-based clinical records from…

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Editor's Note: A point-of-care, antimicrobial coating for orthopedic implants could soon make implant-associated infections a problem of the past, UCLA Health reported on January 3. Developed by two UCLA surgeons, the coating is designed to kill or slow the spread of micro-organisms in order to prevent post-surgical infections. According to…

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Editor's Note: Equinoxe Shoulder System joint replacement devices manufactured by Exactech between 2004 and 2021 are at risk of premature wearing or failure due to defective packaging, according to a January 16 safety alert from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The bags used to package the devices were…

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