Editor's Note The biggest obstacle to achieving 100% vaccination rate in the US is no longer whether vaccines will be manufactured fast enough, or if there will be enough for the country’s population, Lisa Doggett, senior medical director at HGS AxisPoint Health, told Health Leaders March 8. “Rather, it's concerns…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration, on March 9, identified the recall by Medtronic of its TurboHawk Plus Directional Aherectomy System as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of the risk of the guidewire in the catheter moving downward or prolapsing when force is applied…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 3 posted the recall by B. Braun Medical Inc of its nationwide recall of five lots of 0.9% Sodium Chloride for Injection USP 250 ml in Excel. The recall was initiated because of fluid leakage or low fill volume of…

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Editor's Note This study from the University of Chicago finds an association between social determinants of health measures and COVID-19 mortality rates that varied across racial and ethnic groups and community types. Among 3,142 counties in the study, 531 were identified as concentrated longitudinal-impact counties. Of these, 347 (11%) had…

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Editor's Note After 7 years, ANSI/AAMI has updated its standard for cleaning and storing medical devices, such as flexible bronchoscopes and various endoscopes. The updated standard, “ANSI/AAMI ST91:2021, Flexible and semi-rigid endoscope processing in health care facilities,” addresses new technologies and concerns about device cleanliness and patient safety. “ANSI/AAMI ST91:2021…

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Editor's Note This study from the University of California, Los Angeles, finds that Blacks had the largest percentage increase in overdose mortality rates in 2020, overtaking the rates among Whites for the first time since 1999. Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Center for…

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Editor's Note OR Manager recently reported on the new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations on when masks should be worn by the public. According to the new guidelines, the CDC now recommends the general public wear masks only in communities with a "high" level of COVID-19, which…

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Editor's Note The American College of Rheumatology and the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons, on February 28, released a summary of their updated guideline for the “Perioperative Management of Antirheumatic Medication in Patients with Rheumatic Diseases Undergoing Elective Total Hip or Total Knee Arthroplasty.” The guideline, which is…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on February 25, issued new recommendations on when masks should be worn by the public. Under the new guidelines: In communities with “low” or “medium” levels of COVID-19, masks are not recommended for the general public, which is now more…

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Editor's Note According to a February 28 Politico article, titled “Want a COVID-19 vaccine exemption? It can be as easy as copy and paste,” hospital executives are starting to doubt the integrity of religious exemption requests, Becker’s Hospital Review reports. According to the Politico article, submitting a religious exemption is…

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