Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Poor Vision Associated With Falls and Fractures

A study published in JAMA Ophthalmology showed an increased risk of falls and fractures in older patients with 3 common eye diseases. Researchers found those with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma, and cataracts—when compared to individuals who do not have those conditions—experienced an increased risk of falling as well as high-impact and low-impact fractures in the hip, spine, forearm, skull, facial bones, pelvis, ribs, sternum, and lower leg. When studying incidents of falling against a cohort …

Kids With Multiple Prescriptions Experience Adverse Drug Events

With more pharmaceutical products on the market for children, parents may be wary of having their kids take more than one drug at a time. A recent study in Pediatrics found 21.4% of children receiving Medicaid in the United States who took multiple prescription drugs in 2019 experienced adverse events stemming from drug interactions. Researchers studied drug-drug interactions (DDIs) for 781,019 patients under age 18 who took 2 or more outpatient prescriptions. The drugs most …

Syphilis Cases Rise 80%—10 Times More Newborns Diagnosed

According to a newly released Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, 207,255 total syphilis cases were documented in the United States in 2022, representing a nearly 80% increase in just 5 years. Although cases hit historic lows in 2000 and 2002, the trendline has climbed steeply since. Cases in nearly every demographic group and region increased, CDC says. Even more concerning, 3,755 cases of congenital syphilis were recorded among newborns in 2022, which represents more …

Protective Effect Against HPV Seen in Vaccinated Generation

New long-term data shows the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine introduced in 2006 to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer in women is having its intended effect. An observational study of 447,845 women in Scotland born between 1988 and 1996 revealed there were no cases of cervical cancer found among those who received the vaccine at age 12 or 13—even if the patient did not receive all 3 of the recommended doses. Those who were immunized …

COVID-19 Elevates Risk of Digestive Conditions

Insights on a number of health conditions potentially triggered by or exacerbated by COVID-19 continue to surface in the literature. Researchers have found a higher risk of digestive disorders in COVID-19 survivors when comparing them to a contemporary group (who lived at the same time as the COVID-19 group), and a historical group (whose data was sourced from a time period prior to October 2019). Analysis of the BMC Medicine study presented in CIDRAP show …

AAP Cautions Against Use of Weighted Baby Blankets

Heavy, weighted blankets—marketed as comforting bedding indulgences for adults and even infants—are producing the latest word of caution among pediatricians and product safety experts. Last year, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) warned that weighted blankets should never be used for babies, and in a recent news article in the Washington Post, the chair of the AAP’s task force on sudden infant death syndrome cautioned that even a small amount of pressure on a newborn’s …

Providers Slow to Consider Buprenorphine For Addiction Treatment

Buprenorphine—used to treat opioid use disorder—is the only drug that ever came with federal limits on the number of patients a provider could care for. It also came with restrictions on the types of clinicians who could prescribe it. Rules requiring the so-called “x-waiver” for prescribing clinicians were ultimately repealed in December 2022. Since then, providers have been able to offer buprenorphine to any number of patients who need addiction treatment and a path to …

Antiviral Use Higher Than Years Past

Flu season continues, and providers in several US markets are seeing surges in respiratory-virus-related visits. Meanwhile, new data also shows a year-over-year increase in antiviral prescriptions to treat influenza, according to a news report in Fierce Healthcare, leveraging data from Evernorth Research Institute (a Cigna subsidiary). Analyzing pharmacy claims for 32 million people, researchers noted an uptick in antiviral prescriptions in the weeks following Thanksgiving 2023 when compared to a similar time period during past …

Popular Osteoporosis Drug Increases Risk of Hypocalcemia

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently added a boxed warning to the osteoporosis drug denosumab (Prolia) due to the heightened risk of severe hypocalcemia in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD). The agency’s decision, based on new evidence and a JAMA review, notes that denosumab increases the risk of severe hypocalcemia compared to bisphosphonates, particularly in CKD patients on dialysis. Severe hypocalcemia can manifest with symptoms like confusion, seizures, irregular heart rhythm, fainting, …

JN.1 Notorious For High Infection Rates But Less Illness Severity

The JN.1 variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus appears to be more contagious than other members of the Omicron family, driving indicators of infection levels and COVID-19 illness. Even so, this currently circulating variant seems to produce a more mild illness with less need for medical attention. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as reported in JAMA Network shows emergency department visits for COVID-19 are down 21% this year, and the percentage of …