‘The Public Should Not be Subject to These Quack Medicines’: What We Heard This Week

“The public should not be subject to these quack medicines.” — Jeffrey Klausner, MD, MPH, of Herpes Cure Advocacy, responding to news that FDA warned Amazon for selling unapproved herpes treatments.

“The response has been extremely underwhelming and frankly shameful.” — Jeanne Marrazzo, MD, MPH, former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director, on the federal government’s response to the U.S. measles outbreak.

“Look at the number of lawyers in office. We should have more nurses.” — Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, RN, PhD, president of the American Nurses Association, on the 18 nurses running for Congress in this election.

“Hospitals increasingly recognize that avoiding unnecessary catheter placement and reducing catheter duration are central to patient safety.” — Sanjay Saint, MD, of Northwell Health in Lake Success, New York, discussing findings that U.S. hospitals are increasingly embracing strategies to prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infections.

“When we ask about smoking in the home, we need to ask about vaping, too.” — Brian Jenssen, MD, MSHP, of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, discussing a study of children with asthma who were exposed to vaping and combustible tobacco.

“It’s alarming that it occurs outside of those typical high-risk populations who have pretty profound immunosuppression.” — Joshua Lieberman, MD, PhD, of the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, on the spike in a rare but deadly fungal infection.

“So, is this a life-saving treatment? Potentially.” — Mohamed Khattab, MD, of the University of South Florida in Tampa, discussing dramatic results from a small study of radiosurgical capsulotomy for treatment-resistant depression and suicidal ideation.

“I see a fair number of these patients and we have nothing to offer them.” — Richard Rosen, MD, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, commenting on a study of optogenetic therapy to induce light sensitivity in ocular ganglion cells of patients with advanced retinitis pigmentosa.