An ongoing dialogue on HIV/AIDS, infectious diseases,
April 26th, 2024
Hey, Insurance Companies and Pharmacies — Stop Messing Around with the Price of Cheap Generic Drugs
If you’re practicing medicine these days, you’ve likely experienced some version of this painfully annoying scenario. You prescribe a generic medication, one that’s inexpensive. Your patient goes to the pharmacy, and the pharmacist says that it requires a prior approval. They leave without getting their meds. Here’s a recent example from one of my patients (details […]
March 14th, 2010
MRSA Bacteremia Question Redux — and the “Answer”
As noted here, I recently had to answer a question on management of MRSA bacteremia as part of an every-10-year cycle of test-taking. (For more on that joyous process, read this interesting debate here in the New England Journal of Medicine.) The question seemed to have no obvious right answer, so I did what one is explicitly allowed to […]
March 5th, 2010
Test Question on MRSA Bacteremia
I just happened to be taking a test the other day — something I do for fun every now and then, say every 10 years or so — and I came across this question (slightly condensed/changed to protect the innocent): Man with history of IDU admitted with fever, has bacteremia due to MRSA (MIC 2 mcg/mL […]
December 31st, 2008
Free Antibiotics!!!
Yes, the northeast supermarket/pharmacy chain Stop & Shop will now offer antibiotics — for free. (And they are not the first. Take a look at this amazing advertisement.) Says Stop & Shop’s “consumer advisor” Andrea Astrachan: Stop & Shop pharmacies are committed to improving the health and wellness in our communities during the winter season when families are susceptible to coughs, […]
October 18th, 2008
Back to School, Day 2
During the course, often the best questions and anecdotes come during the breaks. Here are a few: Tons of questions about our favorite nemesis, MRSA. What works for chronic carriers? How do you manage family members who you suspect would be culture-positive (and the source of recurrences), but are not your patient? What if the vet […]
Paul E. Sax, MD
Contributing Editor
NEJM Journal Watch
Infectious Diseases
Biography | Disclosures | Summaries
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