Editor's Note The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has designated Defibtech, LLC’s recall of RMU-2000 ARM XR Chest Compression Devices as Class 1, the most severe category indicating serious risk of injury or death. A motor issue could stop  compressions in adults whose hearts suddenly stop, according to the…

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Editor's Note Recent research sheds new light on addressing two of the most pressing problems for surgical care: handoff communication failures and care bias and inequities leading to adverse—and preventable—events.   These problems are the subjects of two separate success stories in the August issue of The Joint Commission Journal…

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Editor's Note A recent study conducted across 185 hospital wards in England highlights the significant impact of nurse staffing levels and staff composition on patient mortality. Published August 19 in JAMA, the study analyzed data from over 626,000 hospital admissions between 2015 and 2020. It found that low staffing levels…

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Editor's Note Evidence is mounting for the use of antibiotics as a valid alternative to surgery for acute appendicitis, including in pediatric cases, the Washington Post reported August 17. The article details how this treatment—described as a “dark secret” by one expert testifying to its use in the 1950s, prior…

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Editor's Note The US Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) has classified a recall of ICU Medical’s Plum 360, Plum A+ and Plum A+3 infusion pumps as Class 1, the most severe category indicating risk of serious injury or death. According to he agency’s August 20 announcement, the company is updating…

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Editor's Note Propofol research published in the journal Neuron has broader implications for enabling more precise, safer doses of anesthesia, according to an August 14 report in Anesthesiology News. According to the article, anesthesiologists tend to use higher doses of anesthetics because they rely on indirect measures, such as heart…

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Editor's Note Uterus transplants are feasible, but the procedure is associated with considerable risks for both patient and organ donor, according to a study published August 15 in JAMA.   Conducted at a large US tertiary care center, the study involved 20 women with absolute uterine-factor infertility—a condition that prevents…

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Editor's Note The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the ongoing mpox outbreak in Africa a global health emergency, according to a CNN article published a day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned about increasing activity for seasonal respiratory virus parvovirus B19. WHO issued the emergency…

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Editor's Note For diabetic patients with obesity and chronic kidney disease (CKD), metabolic bariatric surgery could protect the kidneys better than therapy with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA), according to research published in the September issue of the Annals of Surgery. Conducted at a large US health system, the study…

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Editor's Note The Affordable Care Act , abortion and contraception, LBGTQ health, prescription drug prices—presidential candidates Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, and Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, have vastly different positions these and other healthcare issues. KFF Health News has published a detailed comparison in the form of a side-by-side…

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