Articles related to Cardiology

Medical malpractice lawsuits are extremely common: Almost 50% of physicians aged 55 and older have been sued. Of the 7% of the medical liability claims that eventually did go to trial, 88% were won by the defendants. In other words, suits are common but wins by plaintiffs are uncommon. What are most doctors being sued for? Here is a list of the seven top causes of medical malpractice lawsuits.

According to the results of a new clinical trial published in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), a simple treatment that combines four heart medicines in one pill—a “polypill”—was able to cut the risk of heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular events by 21% in people at risk of heart disease, and by 31% when taken with aspirin. But is it a “terrible idea,” as one physician puts it?

The first doses of COVID-19 vaccines will be arriving in a few weeks, both of which use messenger RNA (mRNA) technology to induce an immune response. Biologically, mRNA is transcribed from DNA and travels into a cell’s cytoplasm where it is translated by ribosomes into proteins. For those who want more information on the history and science of mRNA vaccines and therapeutics, here’s a primer.

The year 2020 has been long and trying, and MDLinx conducted a COVID-19 survey of US physicians and found that nearly half of doctors are rethinking their careers. Still, it is important to consider that many physicians still find joy and fulfillment in practicing medicine. But who are the happiest? Here is what the Medscape Physician Lifestyle & Happiness Report 2020 had to say.

The British Medical Journal’s executive editor, Kamran Abbasi, pens a commentary about DANMASK-19, the first trial of mask use during COVID-19 and its controversial “negative” results. Abbasi claims that disagreement among experts, especially about interpretation of a study, is a common occurrence and “the usual business of science,” but the influence of social media has created a major challenge for science.

From MedPage Today comes this story about Cliff Willmeng, a registered nurse who was fired from United Hospital in St. Paul, MN, in May 2020. Willmeng believes the hospital board is investigating his conduct due to his standing up for his own safety and that of other nurses when he pressed for hospital scrubs over using and reusing his own, fearing he may bring the virus home.