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Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has clarified its guidance on administration of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, stating that it is safe for people with any history of allergies, but not for those who might have a known history of

Dietary interventions may help in the overall management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but caution is required when interpreting the available data on this, according to Peter Gibson, MD, of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. “This is a very exciting area because there has been a profusion of recent publications on diet and IBD,” he

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory committee recommended on Saturday the recently authorized Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for people age 16 and over in the United States, stating they found it was safe and effective. The agency said it

The first shipments of Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine will “start rolling” on Sunday, with initial shipments moving into the distribution chain by Monday, said a federal official who has helped coordinate the preparation for an expected rapid introduction of this product. But federal officials already are planning ahead in case of hitches with production and distribution,

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for Covid-19 was finally granted Emergency Use Authorization by the US Food and Drug Administration late Friday night for people aged 16 and older. The decision comes following a safety review, months of testing, and intense pressure from the Trump administration, which reportedly told the head of the FDA, Stephen Hahn, MD,

The U.S. healthcare system has increased its greenhouse gas emissions across the last decade, and remains the greatest polluter of any industrialized healthcare system in the world, according to a new study. Greenhouse gas emissions from the U.S. healthcare system rose by 6% across the last decade, with emissions reaching 1,692 kg per capita in

Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in people 16 years of age and older.  The much-anticipated emergency use authorization (EUA) of this vaccine — the first such approval in the United States — was greeted

The FDA publicized a voluntary recall this week of two types of medication that ended up in the same bottles. The pharmaceutical company AvKARE issued the recall after the pills, one currently used for erectile dysfunction and the other, an antidepressant, had been used off label for the same problem, got packaged together by accident.  AvKARE Issues Voluntary Nationwide Recall

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. The mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma complained in a November news conference that the bar to be admitted to one of the city’s hospitals was so high that patients had to be “in danger of collapse” before they could get a bed.

The humble potato chip requires a fairly simple recipe — potatoes, oil and salt. The flavored potato chips? Less humble and at times, more complicated. Last month the FDA issued a warning letter to Frito-Lay, makers of Lays, Doritos, Fritos, Cheetos, Tostitos and Sun Chips after inspecting a manufacturing plant in California. The FDA’s action

About 42% of American adults had obesity in 2017-2018, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data showed. Among adults ages 20 and older, 42.4% were identified as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, while 9.2% had severe obesity, defined as a BMI of 40 or higher, reported Cheryl Fryar, MSPH,

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Federal advisers will vote today on whether Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective enough to merit an emergency use authorization (EUA). The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has put Pfizer’s application before its  Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory

Low plasma transthyretin, also known as prealbumin, is associated with incident heart failure in the general population, new research suggests. In two prospective, population-based studies done in the Danish general population, individuals with very low concentration of plasma transthyretin (at the 5th percentile or lower) had a 1.4-fold to 1.6-fold increased risk of incident heart

A new study has found that a low-fat vegan diet could contribute to better overall health. The study followed just under 250 people for four months. Over the four months, people in the vegan group lost weight, upped their insulin resistance, and lost fat.  The study was conducted by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). The PCRM

Youth depression was tied to increased risk for 66 medical conditions. “It underscores how important it is that these children and teenagers receive the help they need and that medical personnel monitor for subsequent psychiatric and somatic diseases,” said study author Sarah Bergen, PhD, of the Karolinska Institute, in a statement. (JAMA Psychiatry) Google recently

Giving steroids to patients with relapsed/refractory high-grade B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (B-NHL) following chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy may place them at substantially increased risk of infection, suggests a real-world analysis of UK patient data. The analysis also indicated that patients who have undergone multiple prior lines of chemotherapy are also at particular risk after

Sniffles? Sore throat? Chills? Could it be Covid-19? “The reality is, any symptom at all seems to be possible with Covid,” said Kathryn Boling, MD, a family medicine specialist with Mercy Hospital in Baltimore, MD.  Dr. Boling has had patients who thought they had allergies, the common cold, or strep throat – and test positive for Covid-19. “I’m

TORONTO/OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada on Wednesday approved its first COVID-19 vaccine, clearing the way for doses of the Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE shots to be delivered and administered across the country. Canada is the third country after the United Kingdom and Bahrain to give the green light to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Canada has a

The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine for Covid-19 has taken another big step forward after the FDA released the findings of its safety report. This document will provide the information needed for the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, slated to meet this week, to decide whether to grant an Emergency Use Authorization for

A chemotherapy-free investigational combination reduced the risk of disease progression or death versus chemoimmunotherapy with chlorambucil plus obinutuzumab (Gazyva) for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a phase III trial showed. Among over 400 patients in UNITY-CLL, which involved both treatment-naive and relapsed/refractory disease, median progression-free survival (PFS) reached 31.9 months with umbralisib plus ublituximab

The battle lines between anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists are being drawn even sharper as both sides respond to the possibility that Medicare will allow the latter to continue practicing without physician supervision after the pandemic ends. In a request for information posted to the Federal Register on November 25, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid

Can smoking CBD affect someone’s driving? Study authors who published in JAMA asked that question. Their 22 study participants smoked and all did inhale: cannabis with CBD, cannabis with CBD and THC, cannabis with THC alone, and placebo. Each participant then completed eight driving tests. The authors measured the drug’s effects by how much the

An experimental drug reversed age-related declines in memory and mental flexibility in mice, according to a study from the University of California-San Francisco. The study was peer reviewed and published in the open-access journal eLife. It says the drug, called ISRIB, restored cognitive abilities in older mice and rejuvenated brain and immune cells. “ISRIB’s extremely rapid

The U.S. drug supply chain works well in the middle, but the beginning and end leave much room for improvement, according to Stephen Schondelmeyer, PharmD, PhD, of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. “When a manufacturer imports a drug into the U.S. and sells it to wholesalers and then it goes to group purchasing organizations

Thrombophilic patients who have had an ischemic stroke and have a patent foramen ovale (PFO) benefit from having the PFO closed, a new study suggests. “To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest prospective study on recurrent events in hypercoagulable patients with PFO associated embolism,” the authors, led by Kai Liu, MD, Massachusetts

Experts in public health offered quick praise for President-elect Joe Biden’s choice of a noted HIV expert to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, describing this as a key post in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Rochelle Walensky. Image courtesy of Mass. General Hospital Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, chief of the Division of Infectious

A study conducted by the University of North Carolina and City University New York found that the majority of those who developed anxiety during the pandemic were facing financial problems. Nearly half, 45 %, of participants reported loss of income due to the pandemic and 17% reported losing their job. The study, which has not

Depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts may not be recognized in pediatric epilepsy patients and may occur more frequently than previously thought, a single-center study suggested. In a group of children and adolescent epilepsy patients ages 10 and older, 41.2% reflected symptoms of depression, 33.3% showed signs of anxiety, and 10.9% said they had suicidal thoughts,