“You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.”
— William Wilberforce
Back in March, the Food and Drug Administration took the unprecedented step of allowing COVID antibody tests to flood the market without review. The tests were billed as a critical tool to assess where the virus had spread and who might have immunity. But in the government’s rush to get more people tested quickly, it […]
A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report1 on pregnancy and SARS-CoV-2 infection released on June 26 suggested that pregnant women may be at increased risk for COVID-19 complications. The report was followed by a statement issued by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)2 urging that pregnant and lactating women be […]
Story Highlights There is a long-standing debate over the value versus dangers of electronic stimulation of the brain in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Now, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first prescription-based video game, or “game based digital therapeutic device” for use in children with primary attention or combination […]
An experimental vaccine for COVID-19 is being developed by CanSino Biologics, Inc. of Tianjin, China, in partnership with China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences’ Institute of Biotechnology. A Phase 1 human clinical trial of the COVID-19 vaccine (adenovirus type-5 Ad5-nCoV) has been completed in China involving 108 volunteers, ranging in age from 45–60 years old.1 […]
Hadassah Medical Center in partnership with the Israeli biotechnology company Kamada Ltd. in Jerusalem, Israel treated its first COVID-19 patient with what it described as a “passive vaccine.”1 Reportedly, a young female suffering from several underlying medical conditions, who had been hospitalized for several weeks and intubated, was passively vaccinated by injecting antibodies from a […]
Across town, more urgent care centers and community clinics are offering COVID-19 testing… results as fast as 15 minutes. You can equate it to whether you go to a fast food chain for food or a gourmet restaurant. So there are some out there that run five minutes to 45 minutes or an hour. Those […]
If healthcare workers wear surgical masks, there is good evidence that it limits the spread of respiratory viral infections in hospitals. But there is no clear evidence that surgical masks protect members of the public from getting or passing on these sorts of infections—most likely because of incorrect use. For cloth masks worn by the public, the picture […]
July 4, 2020 marks the 244th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. With much of the country still shut down, large gatherings banned and “non-essential” businesses closed with required masking indoors and outdoors in some states, it is hard to imagine firework displays, neighborhood barbeques and other annual Independence Day traditions being […]
Story Highlights Human trials for a new COVID-19 immunotherapy candidate (SAB-185) that is derived from genetically engineered cow plasma will begin in July 2020. The cows have been genetically engineered to produce human antibodies to fight off COVID-19. Plasma from the cows is expected to assist COVID-19 patients overcome the infection. SAb Biotherapeutics (SAB), a […]
On Mar. 27, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to pharmaceutical and medical devices company Abbott Laboratories, Inc. of Abbott Park, Illinois for a rapid diagnostic test for the SARS-CoV-2 virus known as ID NOW.1 2 3 “We know how important it is to get point-of-care tests out […]