December 10, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has stressed hospitals and healthcare like nothing else this past century. Physicians themselves have fallen ill or died, passed the infection to their loved ones, and weathered grief, burnout, suicides, furloughs, and financial losses. As case numbers and fatalities continue to mount, some doctors are pinning their hopes on the notion that the pandemic has rocked the foundation of medicine, deconstructing and reinventing standard procedures in ways that could improve care down the road. That by providing a footing for new ideas, new technology, new voices, and new ways of working, COVID-19 could change the practice of medicine.
More than 1 in 8 women who undergo mastectomy with reconstruction for breast cancer treatment or prophylaxis become persistent users of controlled substances, according to a retrospective cohort study.
Women who receive mastectomy and reconstructive surgery as part of breast cancer treatment may face the risk of developing persistent use of opioids and sedative-hypnotic drugs, according to data presented at the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 8-11.