‘Wait a Minute. Isn’t This the Same Drug?’: What We Heard This Week

“I said, ‘Wait a minute. Isn’t this the same drug?'” — Erick Turner, MD, of Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, discussing the FDA’s approval of a depression drug that had more negative than positive studies.

“I hate to say cure — but maybe we’ve cured patients.” — Stephen Schuster, MD, of Penn Medicine in Philadelphia, after nearly a third of patients with aggressive, untreatable lymphomas remained cancer-free a decade after a single dose of CAR T-cell therapy.

“Messages increased more than 150% during the last 6 years, and that has huge implications for healthcare.” — Michal Mankowski, PhD, of NYU Grossman School of Medicine, highlighting a post-2020 surge in patient portal messages.

“We’re not the only ones thinking this is the better way to go.” — Syerra Lea, DO, of Banner Health in Gilbert, Arizona, speaking about a group of over 240 physicians and advanced practice providers voted to unionize.

“We’re desperate for data.” — Martin Leon, MD, of New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City, warning of a critical blind spot regarding the real-world performance of transcatheter aortic valve replacements.

“This study provides evidence that treatment of CIN2 … may be safely delayed.” — Li Cheung, PhD, of the National Cancer Institute, discussing a trial showed that delaying cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 (CIN2) treatment by 6 months carried no excess cancer risk at the 3-year mark.

“There’s far better evidence for no antibiotics in uncomplicated diverticulitis.” — Jesse Sutton, PharmD, of the Minneapolis VA Health Care System, discussing data that showed nearly every diverticulitis patient in a retrospective cohort study received guideline-discordant antibiotics.

“Super movers appear to represent an exceptional aging phenotype.” — Joe Verghese, MD, MS, of the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University in New York, on data showing fast-walking adults 80 and older had lower risks of cognitive impairment.