Why Paxlovid: According to Pfizer’s clinical trial data from 2021 (participants enrolled by 09/29/2021) which it used for FDA approval, subjects who took Paxlovid were 89% less likely to develop severe illness and death from COVID than those taking a placebo. Grain of salt here includes:  In the original study, participants took Paxlovid within 3 […]

Vital Signs: HR and BP Traditionally in medical school we were taught that physiologic changes in pregnancy caused a drop in BP and an increase in HR but generally it was not well-defined if a new range of criteria was required to be considered normal. Emerging data shows that modest changes can be expected with […]

Myasthenia Gravis: Disease Overview Who: Bimodal distribution. Ages 20-40 (female predominance) and 50-70 (male predominance). Increased risk of onset in postpartum period; juvenile and congenital forms possible What: At the NMJ, Ach receptors are blocked by antibodies = decreased muscular contraction. Associated with fluctuating weakness. Home Treatments: Pyridostigmine (AchE inhibitor); +/- glucocorticoids, azathioprine, mycophenolate (immunosuppression) […]

If you’re like me, when you treat hyperkalemia, you make things easy on yourself and open up that HyperK orderset, or think about the mnemonic C BIG K DROP (Calcium, beta-agonist/bicarb, insulin, glucose, Kayexalate (Lokelma actually), Diuretics, ROP (“renal unit for dialysis of patient”). Then you move on with your life, recheck the BMP and […]

Trauma Survey: Burns are trauma, treat these pts as such. Don’t let yourself get distracted by the obvious superficial injuries/wounds and be sure to go down your algorithm so you don’t miss anything. PRIMARY: Airway: Look for signs of active or potential airway compromise/inhalation injury (e.g. soot, edema, or burns on the face, in oropharynx/nares, stridor, AMS). […]