Credit: BMC
Boston - A national group of pediatric addiction medicine experts have released newly-established principles of care for young adults with substance use disorder. Led by the Grayken Center for Addiction at Boston Medical Center, the collection of peer-reviewed papers was developed to guide providers on how to treat young adults with substance use disorder given their age-specific needs, as well as elevate national discussions on addressing these challenges more systematically.
Published in
Pediatrics, the 11-paper supplement is the result of a convening of national experts in the treatment of young adults to determine the most important principles to address when caring for this unique population of patients with substance use disorder. Consensus was reached that each of the six principles of care convey a commitment to compassion, therapeutic optimism and social justice.
Convalescent plasma, donated by people who have recovered from COVID-19, is being studied to see if it can help prevent infections and worsening of symptoms.Omar Marques/Getty
Little-noticed groups of medical researchers are racing to find treatments for COVID-19 in its early stages, hoping to keep infected people out of the hospital with everyday remedies like antidepressants or vitamins.
Instead of seeking new drugs, the researchers are pulling common generics off pharmacy shelves, and even eyeing the nutritional-supplement aisles, in search of agents with proven safety and, perhaps, hidden superpowers.
And theyâre pioneering a new approach to medical research â mail-order clinical trials, in which patients can take the medication and monitor its effects without leaving home.
New law honoring Laura Levis aims to improve hospital access, avert another tragedy
By Priyanka Dayal McCluskey Globe Staff,Updated January 13, 2021, 3:28 p.m.
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Laura Levis, with her husband Peter DeMarco.
More than four years after Laura Levis collapsed outside the locked door of a hospital emergency room and later died, a new law in her name aims to prevent another such tragedy.
Massachusetts House and Senate lawmakers enacted the law in the final hours of their formal session last week, and Governor Charlie Baker plans to sign it Friday.
The measure known as âLauraâs Lawâ requires the state Department of Public Health to set standards for access to hospital emergency rooms, including appropriate lighting and signage to direct people to the ER, and security and monitoring of all ER entrances.
A doctor researched the safety of the COVID-19 vaccinations not only to counsel his patients and staff but also to make his own decision about whether to get the vaccine.