Editor's Note The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has designated the recall of Hologic Inc.’s BioZorb Marker a class 1, indicating a risk of serious injury or death. BioZorb is an implantable radiographic marker used to mark soft tissue (such as breast tissue) for future medical procedures. Provided sterile…

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Editor's Note The largest scale analysis so far available comparing surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) to longer-term percutaneous devices for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) supports the comparable long-term safety and efficacy of the latter procedure. According to a May 15 report in Medical Xpress, the findings raise important considerations for valve…

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Editor's Note A joint letter from the American Medical Association (AMA) and more than 100 medical organizations asks Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra to confirm that providers do not bear responsibility for legal reporting requirements for information stolen in the Change Healthcare cyberattack, including personal patient data.…

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Editor's Note Only 46% of parents and 33% of teenagers believe receiving the latest COVID-19 vaccine was important, according to survey results presented by at a May 2-6 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting in Toronto, Canada.   According to a May 9 Helio report on the findings, the survey is the…

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Editor's Note A $50 million initiative to develop cybersecurity tools for hospitals aims to protect providers and patients alike from ransomware, according to a May 20 report in Becker’s Health IT. The Universal PatchinG and Remediation for Autonomous DEfense, or UPGRADE, program was launched the same day by the Advanced Research…

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Editor's Note Building on previous evidence favoring thrombectomy even in high-risk cases, the prospective randomized LASTE trial finds the surgical procedure could reduce mortality and improve funcational outcomes in patients with acute stroke and large infarct of unrestricted size. Medpage Today reported the news May 8. Originally published in the…

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Editor's Note The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has classified recalls of Abbot’s HeartMate 3 Left Ventricular Assist System (LVAS) implant kits and Phillips Respironics' Trilogy Evo ventilators as class 1, the most serious category indicating risk of serious injury or death. Used while waiting for recovery, a transplant,…

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Editor's Note According to the annual Sentinel Event Data Report, The Joint Commission received 1,411 reports of sentinel events—an event not related to the natural course of an illness or condition that causes severe harm, permanent harm or death—in 2023. Of that total, 96% of events were voluntary self-reported by…

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Editor's Note The more diverse the surgical team, the better the outcomes for patients and the lower the cost of care, according to a study of more than 700,000 operations at 88 hospitals in Ontario, Canada. Published May 15 in the British Journal of Surgery, findings show that surgeon-anesthetist teams…

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Editor's Note Recent research suggests that minimizing the risk of perioperative pulmonary aspiration in diabetic patients does not require different fasting instructions. However, at least one expert has questioned the results, and widespread glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists for the treatment of both type 2 diabetes and weight loss can…

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