ASTRO survey: Fewer patients despite enhanced safety measures at radiation oncology clinics

ARLINGTON, Va., May 20, 2020 – Despite facing challenges such as limited access to personal protective equipment (PPE) following the COVID-19 outbreak, radiation oncology clinics quickly implemented safety and process enhancements that allowed them to continue caring for cancer patients, according to a new national survey from the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). All…

Behavioral disorders more common in children exposed to maternal antenatal corticosteroids

Maternal antenatal corticosteroid treatment is standard care when there is a risk for preterm delivery. The treatment improves the prognosis of babies born preterm. However, a new study conducted by experts from the University of Helsinki, University of Oulu and THL Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare shows that children exposed to maternal antenatal corticosteroid…

The Time for ‘The Talk’ Is Now

As a palliative care doctor in the Covid-19 era, I meet many families struggling to make decisions for loved ones who become too sick, too fast, to make their own health care choices. Recently, the son of a critically ill patient asked that we postpone major decisions about his father’s care until he had improved…

W.H.O. Members Reject Trump’s Demands but Agree to Study Its Virus Response

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s angry demands for punitive action against the World Health Organization were rebuffed on Tuesday by the organization’s other member nations, which decided instead to conduct an “impartial, independent” examination of the W.H.O.’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. In a four-page letter late Monday, Mr. Trump had threatened to permanently cut off…