Redlinger, Robert Y., 1963-

Musgrove, Peter

Fletcher, Seth, 1979-

Haberlin, Heinrich

Stapleton, Geoff

Santhanagopalan, Shriram, author

Moe, Espen

Suppes, Galen J., author

Gipe, Paul

Bashirzadeh Tabrizi, Amir, author

Interview with Michael E. Pichichero, MD, author of Combined Tetanus, Diphtheria, and 5-Component Pertussis Vaccine for Use in Adolescents and Adults, published in the June 22/29 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association. Summary Points: 1. Need: The combined tetanus-diphtheria 5-component pertussis vaccine is needed; There has been a 300% increase of pertussis among US adolescents in the last three years. 2. Safety: The combined tetanus-diphtheria 5-component pertussis vaccine is safe, as the reactions are the same as the tetanus vaccine. 3. Universal: On June 30, 2005, the American Academy of Pediatrics (ASAP), America Academy of Family Physicians (AFAR), and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACID) all recommended the universal use of the combined tetanus-diphtheria 5-component pertussis vaccine or its competitor vaccine for adolescents.

Interview with Judith K. Ockene, PhD, MEd, author of Symptom Experience After Discontinuing Use of Estrogen Plus Progestin, published in the July 13 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association. Summary Points: 1. Of the women who stopped E plus P, 21.2% had menopausal symptoms (hot flashes or night sweats) after stopping study medication compared to 4.8% of women who were on placebo. 2. Of the women who had menopausal symptoms when they started the study (about 12%) and were in the active hormone group, over 50% had a recurrence of symptoms after they stopped MHT compared to 21% of placebo users who had a recurrence of symptoms. 3. Women in the E plus P group reported higher rates of pain or stiffness (36.8%) after they stopped study medication compared to women who had been on placebo (22.2%). 4. Women who had symptoms after they stopped study medication reported using a wide range of strategies to manage symptoms and a large proportion found the strategies to be helpful.

This Viewpoint proposes a framework for international cooperation among governments and organizations to replace competition and hoarding with equitable global distribution of COVID-19 therapeutics and vaccines as they are developed.

This Viewpoint proposes that universal respiratory precautions in the operating room—use of respirators with face masks and eye protection—could protect staff from possible coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection and facilitate resumption of elective surgeries canceled during the first wave of the pandemic.

We hasten to assure our readers that a piece of my mind...is not intended as a sounding board for peevish gripes, nit-picking beefs, or sundry assortments of righteous indignation, which are usually prefaced by an angry “let me give you a piece of my mind.” Nor is this section of The Journal meant to be a podium for pompous preachments and ex cathedra pronouncements. Nor again is it designed to be a forum for half-baked speculations and warmed-over hypotheses. Least of all is a piece of my mind envisaged as a jamboree of jokes and a shivaree of limericks.

Meeting basic food and shelter needs of a growing population and catering to the insatiable consumer demands of people profoundly influences the quality of our environment. President Nixon observed that many of our present social problems may be related to the fact that we have had only 50 years in which to accommodate the second 100 million Americans. To provide for the increasing needs and demands of people, we are polluting our air, soil, and water. Unchecked population growth, people pollution, is not merely a problem, it is a paradox. It is an issue that is intimately private and yet inescapably public.

In this narrative medicine essay, a primary care physician describes his patient’s struggle with obesity, sees himself in his patient, and wonders if his own struggles with weight loss impede his patient’s efforts to lose weight.

In this narrative medicine essay, a resident physician recalls the joy she felt while learning the formal language of medicine as a student and anticipates the lifelong joy of learning to interpret that language in ways most helpful for her patients.