Healthcare workers have 40 percent lower odds of COVID with respirators vs. surgical masks
By
Alicia Lasek
Aug 17, 2022
Despite cumulative exposure, healthcare workers in 2020 and 2021 were 40% less likely to contract COVID-19 when they wore respirators rather than surgical masks, investigators say.
Alzheimer’s blood biomarkers not ready for primary care use, expert panel decides
By
Alicia Lasek
Aug 18, 2022
An international group of clinicians and researchers have agreed that Alzheimer’s disease blood biomarkers are a significant breakthrough, but are not yet ready for general clinical and primary care...
Clinical briefs for Thursday, Aug. 18
By
Alicia Lasek
Aug 18, 2022
Full vaccination ahead for LTC? New regulations, boosters complicate upcoming flu and COVID shots … 40 states now cover around-the-clock Medicaid HCBS as provided in assisted living … New COVID booster...
FDA approves over-the-counter hearing aids, no exams required
By
Alicia Lasek
Aug 17, 2022
The Food and Drug Administration has established a new category of over-the-counter hearing aids that don’t require oversight by audiologists for purchase, according to a final rule announced Tuesday.
Use of common sleep meds nosedives, with 86 percent drop in oldest adults
By
Alicia Lasek
Aug 17, 2022
The use of sleep medications among Americans dropped by 31% just prior to the pandemic, with the steepest decline among adults aged 80 and older, investigators report.
ACEP accredits all of San Diego hospital ERs as ‘senior-friendly’
By
Alicia Lasek
Aug 17, 2022
San Diego county is the first to receive geriatric emergency department accreditation for all of its hospitals from the American College of Emergency Physicians, officials say.
Clinical briefs for Wednesday, Aug. 17
By
Alicia Lasek
Aug 17, 2022
Makers of new class of schizophrenia drug expect to file for FDA approval … Precancerous skin lesions common among Medicare beneficiaries: study … Triple therapy halves mortality in patients with severe...
Use of common hospice drugs varies widely by state, highlighting limited guidance
By
Alicia Lasek
Aug 16, 2022
Antipsychotics prescribing rates, for example, ranged from 62% for hospice beneficiaries in Oregon to 15% in Oklahoma, investigators say. Five states topped the prescriptions list.
Nearly 40% of older adults look to unconventional medicine to ease symptoms: study
Aug 16, 2022
Older adults are flocking to integrative medicine, but few discuss their choices with a healthcare provider, a new study finds.
Variant-adapted COVID shot approved in U.K.; Novavax requests U.S. booster nod
By
Alicia Lasek
Aug 16, 2022
Novavax wants its U.S. vaccine authorization to extend to a booster shot, and the U.K. has approved a two-component vaccine that directly tackles the omicron variant.