From MedPage Today:
- Baseline Joint Symmetry Predicts RA Treatment Success. In early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) the most important single predictor of achieving an absolute or a relative patient-perceived pain improvement (PPSI) after 6 months of treatment is baseline symmetrical arthritis.
- How Good Is Healthcare for Kids? Depends on Your ZIP Code. Instead of establishing a federal gold standard for children’s health, the Department of Health and Human Services has allowed states to choose from a menu of benchmark plans, a decision that runs contrary to the recommendations from the Institute of Medicine.
- Wise Buy? TAVR in Elderly, High Risk Patients. In an article in The Atlantic in October, the medical ethicist Ezekiel Emanuel, 57, wrote that he hopes to die at 75, when he says he will decline medical procedures that might prolong his life.
- Opioid Linked to Low Blood Sugar. The mild opioid tramadol was associated with an increased risk of hospitalization for hypoglycemia.
