‘There’s Just No Place That’s Deemed to Be Safe’: What We Heard This Week

“There’s just no place that’s deemed to be safe.” — Ryan Mire, MD, president of the American College of Physicians, who practices medicine near Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, where a shooting took place Monday.

“You should not have to get healthcare with a side of bias.” — Ashley Denmark, DO, MS, CEO and founder of Project Diversify Medicine, discussing the selection of Tamia Potter as Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s first black female neurosurgery resident and the need for more diversity among clinicians.

“No alcohol is best.” — Timothy Brennan, MD, MPH, of the Addiction Institute of Mount Sinai in New York City, commenting on updated research debunking the idea that daily low-level drinking may help protect against all-cause death.

“It’s a huge win for patients.” — Rebecca Arend, MD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, after two phase III trials showed dramatic improvement in progression-free survival after combining immunotherapy with standard chemotherapy for patients with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer.

“There’s a shortage of child psychiatrists.” — Jacob Ballon, MD, MPH, of Stanford University in California, commenting on the surge of pediatric hospitalizations for mental health diagnoses, most of which involved self-injury or attempted suicide.

“Long COVID can manifest with a range of features diagnostic of FND [functional neurological disorder].” — Alberto Espay, MD, MSc, of the University of Cincinnati, discussing cases of FND after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

“The average child requiring an ICU bed in 2023 is very different than the average child who required an ICU bed 10 or 20 years ago” — Elizabeth Killien, MD, MPH, of Seattle Children’s Hospital, on the increasing complexity of pediatric ICU cases over the past two decades.

“He literally saved my life.” — Kayla Quinones, 33, discussing how her 7-month-old baby unknowingly provided the final push to get addiction treatment.

“Is this something that gives us the opportunity to create radiation oncology support groups?” — Paul DiSilvestro, MD, of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, reacting to a study showing no benefit from adding radiation therapy to chemotherapy for locally advanced endometrial cancer.