Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

ADHD Stimulants Present Risk of Weight Loss in Young Children

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced updates to the labeling of all extended-release stimulant medications indicated for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) because of a known risk of significant weight loss in children under 6 years of age. Clinically significant weight loss (at least a 10% decrease in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention weight percentile) was observed in both short- and long-term studies with extended-release stimulants. The revised labeling will apply to extended-release …

Student Athletes in Florida Must Have ECG Before Playing Sports

A new Florida law now requires that all high school student-athletes receive an electrocardiogram (ECG) before they can participate in school sports programs. Florida is the only state with an ECG requirement as part of sports physicals for students, but others may follow if more high-profile young athletes are treated for sudden cardiac arrest on the sidelines—such as basketball player Bronny James and football player Damar Hamlin. In Florida, youth athletes must be tested in …

Shocking Number of Rural Hospitals At Risk of Imminent Closure

Nearly 800 rural hospitals across the United States are struggling financially with as many as 40% facing the immediate threat of closure, according to an analysis by the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, which reviewed the most recent hospital cost reports submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services through June 2025. The center’s report categorizes rural hospitals into 2 levels of financial risk: those generally at risk; and those in immediate …

Two States Have Now Adopted ‘Physician Associate’ Title

Maine this month enacted legislation to change the professional title typically known as “physician assistant” (PA) to “physician associate.” It is the second state to do so; Oregon adopted the physician associate designation in April 2024. A 2-year advocacy campaign led by the Maine Academy of Physician Associates helped to influence the change, according to a press release. Nationally, the American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA) voted in 2021 to adopt “physician associate” as the …

Vaccinate Mom During Pregnancy To Reduce The Risk Of Infant Influenza

A retrospective cohort study of 245,498 infants born within the Kaiser Permanente system in Northern California between 2011 and 2022 found that maternal influenza vaccination during pregnancy significantly reduces the risk of infant influenza in the first 6 months of life, as published in Obstetrics & Gynecology. Overall, maternal vaccination was associated with a 44.4% reduction in influenza incidence among infants (95% confidence interval, 31.4–54.9%). Effectiveness varied by timing of the vaccine. Vaccination during the …

Deadly Falls For Older Adults Increase Significantly

In 2023, the unintentional-fall death rate for U.S. adults aged 65 years and older was 69.9 per 100,000, with those over age 85 seeing the highest increases in fall mortality over the previous 10 years, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). From 2003 to 2023, death rates for men 65 and older increased sharply from 14.3 per 100,000 population in 2003 to 24.7 in 2023, and the rate …

Triple-Combination Medication Approved For Treating Hypertension

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new polypill that combines telmisartan, amlodipine, and indapamide for the treatment of hypertension in adults, including use as an initial therapy. This is the first FDA-approved triple-combination medication indicated for initial use in patients who are likely to require multiple drugs to reach their blood pressure goals, according to a press release from manufacturer George Medicines. Most patients with hypertension ultimately need 2 or more medications …

Which States Have The Most ED Visits?

A new Kaiser Family Foundation analysis ranking states according to the number of emergency department (ED) visits found that West Virginia had the highest number of ED visits (596 per 1,000), while Nevada had the fewest (226 per 1,000) in 2023. The organization analyzed the most recent available community hospital data from the 1999-2023 American Hospital Association Annual Survey and compared it to population reports from the Census Bureau. Below are the top 10 states …

Only A Quarter of Moms Say Their Mental Health Is Excellent

From 2016 to 2023, self-reported mental health among U.S. mothers declined substantially, with the percentage of moms reporting excellent mental health falling by more than 12 percentage points from 38% to approximately 26%. At the same time, those who self-reported fair/poor mental health increased by 3.5 points from 5.5% to 8.5%. The study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine and included more than 198,000 U.S. mothers with children aged 17 years and younger. Physical health …

Global Heat Forecasts Project More Record Breaking Years

In the next 5 years, there’s an 80% chance the summer heat will break global annual temperature records once again. A new forecast from the World Meteorological Organization and the U.K. Meteorological Office warns of rising temperatures as well as extreme weather incidents such as wildfires, strong hurricanes and heavy rains. They also predict that the annually averaged global mean near-surface temperature for each year between 2025 and 2029 will be between 1.2°C (2.2°F) and …

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