11/15
Public Health
Eleventh state enacts law to protect victims of child sex abuse
Marci Hamilton, a professor of practice and founder and CEO of the nonprofit think tank CHILD USA, helped draft the original New York legislation more than 15 years ago and has been working ever since to push it through.
Embracing a community’s practice to promote the measles vaccine
Mimicking a news-sharing custom common among ultraorthodox Jewish communities, two Penn Nursing students created and placed posters around a Jerusalem neighborhood, employing a mystical technique that assigns a numerical value to each Hebrew letter.
The single word most associated with negative hospital reviews
A Penn Medicine research team found that the word “told” was tied to almost 20 percent of poor reviews, pointing to the value points patients and their loved ones’ place on communication in health care settings.
Opioids and hepatitis C: How OxyContin fed a new epidemic
A new study from LDI senior fellow Abby Alpert, with David Powell and Rosalie Pacula, links OxyContin reformulation to a national epidemic of hepatitis C, which kills more than 20,000 Americans a year and infects tens of thousands more.
To get smokers to quit, tap into their biology
How quickly nicotine clears the bloodstream determines which treatment will work best, a tool scientists at Penn Medicine are using to advance the field of tobacco research.
Community outreach at Penn Medicine
Community outreach is an integral component of Penn Medicine’s three-part mission of research, patient care, and education, and countless members of the Health System family reach out on an individual basis.
The art of talking about science
Paul Offit of Penn Medicine and CHOP offers five tips for better communicating tough scientific topics to the public—and standing up for science in the process.
Risk and healthy behavior in the American adaptation of a telenovela
Researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center compare the CW Network show “Jane the Virgin” and the original Spanish-language telenovela “Juana la Virgen” and find an increase in risky adolescent behavior in the adaptation.
‘Enhanced Recovery’ protocol reduces opioid use in spinal surgery patients
A new study shows that a comprehensive “Enhanced Recovery After Surgery” protocol for spine and peripheral nerve surgery patients significantly reduces opioid use.
One-third of gun injuries in America are treated in non-trauma centers
New research suggests ways to expand efforts beyond trauma centers to prevent recurrent gun injuries.
In the News
Got canker sores? Try switching your toothpaste
Richard Wender of the Perelman School of Medicine says that canker sores often start with a minor trauma to the mucosal lining, like a sharp edge on a tooth or a pair of prickly braces.
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FDA Study finds infectious H5N1 bird flu virus in 14% of raw milk samples
Patrick E. Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center says it is important that anyone planning to consume raw milk be aware that doing so can make you sick and that pasteurization reduces the risk of milk-borne illnesses.
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Colorado has the most cases of bird flu among dairy cows in the U.S.
The School of Veterinary Medicine has developed a bird flu vaccine that is to be tested by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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This Juneteenth, we must invest in our future as well as remember our past
Victor Roy, an incoming assistant professor at the Perelman School of Medicine, writes that “baby bonds” could help mitigate the worsening racial wealth gap.
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Column: How a blunder by a respected medical journal is fueling an anti-vaccine lie
Jeffrey S. Morris of the Perelman School of Medicine says that even with a 100% effective vaccine, there would have been high levels of morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 in 2021.
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RFK Jr.’s vaccine misinformation campaign started after he ignored a Philly doctor
Paul Offit of the Perelman School of Medicine and Melanie Kornides of the School of Nursing comment on Robert F. Kennedy’s misinformation campaign against vaccines.
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