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Lexapro (Escitalopram) Side Effects: What You Should Know
Lexapro (escitalopram) is a widely used SSRI that commonly triggers mild side effects such as nausea, insomnia, and headaches during the first week of treatment. Most of these effects diminish after one to two weeks, but patients are advised not to stop the medication abruptly because withdrawal symptoms can arise. The drug also carries serious risks, including serotonin syndrome, bleeding when combined with blood thinners, and an FDA black‑box warning for increased suicidal thoughts in young adults. Proper dosing, monitoring, and patient education are essential to balance benefits with safety.
Scientists Link Childhood Stress to Lifelong Digestive Issues
A study published in Gastroenterology demonstrates that stress during early life rewires gut‑brain pathways, increasing the risk of chronic digestive disorders. Mouse experiments showed sex‑specific motility changes and identified separate neural, hormonal, and serotonin mechanisms. Large human cohorts—over 40,000 Danish...
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How Long Does Hydrocodone Withdrawal Last?
Hydrocodone remains the most prescribed opioid in the U.S., with 83.6 million prescriptions in 2017 and 6.3 million misusers. Withdrawal typically starts 8–24 hours after the last dose, peaks on days two to three, and subsides within a week for most patients. Symptoms...
AI Tool Reduces Time to Prepare Discharge Summaries
Fraser Health has deployed an artificial‑intelligence tool within its Meditech Expanse platform to automate discharge summary creation. The pilot, involving roughly 60 clinicians, cut average drafting time from 12.5 minutes to 5.5 minutes per patient. Users report the draft‑and‑review workflow...
OpenText Applies AI to Faxing
OpenText unveiled its AI‑powered Fax Aviator at HIMSS, aiming to modernize healthcare fax workflows. The solution claims up to 85% labor savings by automating extraction, classification, and routing, and can process 2‑3 times more faxes without additional staff. Features such...
Warning that NHS Digital Reform Could Lead to Burnout
Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s NHS digital transformation faces warnings of nurse burnout. A Society of Occupational Medicine study of 339 nurses found digital technology stress significantly drives emotional exhaustion and burnout. While AI and digital tools can improve disease management...
Brain Scans Reveal a Bipolar-Like Link to Childhood Trauma in some Depressed Patients
An Italian neuroimaging study of 260 inpatients found that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with poorer white‑matter integrity, especially in patients with bipolar disorder. In bipolar patients, higher exposure to physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect correlated with widespread...
InspireMD Inc (NSPR) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Inspire Medical Systems reported a 12% rise in fourth‑quarter revenue to $269 million and a 14% increase for the full year, reaching $912 million, driven by both existing and new center growth. The company widened its 2026 revenue outlook to $950‑$1 billion, reflecting...
Xoma Royalty Corp (XOMA) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Zymeworks reported Q4 2025 revenue of $106 million, up from $76.3 million, while net loss narrowed to $81.1 million as operating expenses fell. The company highlighted Phase III zanidatumab data showing median PFS over one year and overall survival beyond two years in first‑line...
Protalix Biotherapeutics Inc (PLX) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
West Pharmaceutical reported Q4 2025 revenue of $850 million, up 7.5% reported and 3.3% organically, pushing full‑year net sales past $3 billion with 4% organic growth. Adjusted EPS rose 12% to $2.04 and free cash flow surged 70% to $469 million for the...
Scottish Parliament Votes Against Legalising Assisted Dying After Emotional Debate
The Scottish Parliament rejected the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill, voting 57 to 69 against it. The legislation would have made Scotland the first UK nation to legalise assisted dying, featuring strict safeguards such as dual‑doctor certification and...
‘Time of Crisis’: Nursing Home Giant PACS’ CEO on Emerging Stronger From a Federal Investigation
PACS Group reported a $5.29 billion revenue in 2025, marking almost 30% year‑over‑year growth and expanding to 323 facilities in 17 states. CEO Jason Murray said the internal billing investigation is closed, while a federal probe continues without adding new risks....
FTC Monitoring How Drug Companies React to Patent Cliff, Official Says
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced it is closely monitoring how pharmaceutical companies respond to the upcoming patent cliff affecting numerous blockbuster drugs. FTC antitrust director Dan Guarnera said the agency’s “laser focus” on healthcare will target any anticompetitive conduct...
More LPNs, Fewer RNs: Nursing Home Unionization Reshapes Staffing but Not Quality
Unionization in U.S. nursing homes has altered staffing mixes without affecting overall care quality. Six years after a union vote, facilities added 0.34 LPN hours per resident day (4.2 % increase) while RN hours dropped 0.041 per resident day (9.1 % decline),...
Zymeworks to Present Clinical and Preclinical Data on ADC Programs Including Novel RAS ADC Platform at AACR Annual Meeting
Zymeworks will present Phase 1 data on its folate‑receptor‑alpha ADC ZW191 and preclinical results for a novel pan‑RAS inhibitor ADC platform at the AACR Annual Meeting. The oral presentation will detail dose‑escalation safety and efficacy in advanced solid tumours, while...
ORIC® Pharmaceuticals Announces Preclinical Rinzimetostat (ORIC-944) Presentations at the 2026 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting
ORIC Pharmaceuticals announced that two preclinical abstracts on its PRC2‑targeting agent rinzimetostat (ORIC‑944) have been accepted for poster presentation at the 2026 AACR Annual Meeting. The data show rinzimetostat, an allosteric EED inhibitor, maintains potency against EZH1‑overexpressing complexes and key...
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PATIENT CARE: National Health Laboratory Service System Out of Action, Causing ‘Massive Disruptions’ to Health Facilities
On 17 March the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) in South Africa lost access to its TrakCare information system after a power outage at its Johannesburg head office, revealing the absence of backup power. NHLS provides diagnostic pathology for over 80 %...
Sutter Health, Allina Explore Merger With Eye on Digital Health
Sutter Health and Allina Health have signed a Letter of Intent to merge, creating a nonprofit system that spans Northern California, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The combined entity will include 39 hospitals, over 400 care sites, 18,000 physicians and 88,000 staff,...
Hospices’ Challenging 2026 Outlook
Hospice providers face a turbulent 2026 outlook as regulatory scrutiny intensifies, staffing shortages deepen, and demand for end‑of‑life care surges. CMS has placed Georgia, Ohio, Arizona, California, Nevada and Texas under enhanced oversight to combat fraud, casting a shadow over...
Study Finds GLP-1 Drugs Can Help Curb SUDs
A BMJ study of more than 600,000 Veterans Affairs patients with type‑2 diabetes found that glucagon‑like peptide‑1 (GLP‑1) drugs significantly lowered the risk of developing substance‑use disorders, including alcohol, cannabis, nicotine, cocaine and opioids. The analysis compared GLP‑1 therapy with...
Ultraprocessed Food Again Linked to Higher CVD Risk: MESA
A new analysis of the Multi‑Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) links each additional daily serving of ultra‑processed food to a 5.1% rise in incident cardiovascular disease (CVD). Participants in the highest consumption quintile faced a 66% higher CVD risk compared...
House Bill Would Exempt Health Care Workers From $100,000 H-1B Visa Filing Fee
On March 17, 2026, House members introduced the bipartisan Physicians and the Healthcare Workforce Act, which would waive the $100,000 H‑1B filing fee imposed on foreign‑trained health‑care workers by a 2025 presidential proclamation. The legislation also bars any new H‑1B...
AHA Advertorial Highlights How Hospitals Serve Communities
The American Hospital Association (AHA) placed an advertorial in The Wall Street Journal on March 17, emphasizing that hospitals are the heart of U.S. communities because they deliver care whenever and wherever needed. The piece outlines current challenges—rising costs, system complexity,...
Desperate Parents Calling Pharmacies for Meningitis Jab as Stocks Run Low
Parents in England are scrambling to secure meningitis vaccinations for their children after a deadly outbreak in Kent that has claimed two lives and left 13 seriously ill. The surge in demand has exhausted vaccine inventories, leaving many pharmacies unable...
Infants Continue To Die In Banned Inclined Sleepers
Inclined infant sleepers were banned in the United States in 2019 after the Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled millions of units following multiple infant deaths. A March 2026 study in Pediatrics found that 51 infants died in these products between...
AI Tool Predicts Alzheimer’s Disease with Nearly 93% Accuracy Using Brain Scans
Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute created a machine‑learning model that scans MRI images and achieved 92.87% accuracy in distinguishing Alzheimer’s disease or mild cognitive impairment from healthy brains. The algorithm highlighted volume loss in the hippocampus, amygdala and entorhinal cortex...
What to Expect on TRT?
An individual with mid‑range testosterone (488 ng/dL) plans a TRT protocol of 160 mg testosterone cypionate split twice weekly and 50 IU hCG weekly. They seek guidance on expected physiological changes, timeline, potential side effects such as hair loss, and whether the hCG...
Clinical Trial Results Support Use of Weekly Extended-Release Buprenorphine for Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder During Pregnancy
A NIH‑backed multicenter trial of 140 pregnant adults found that weekly injectable extended‑release buprenorphine achieved significantly higher rates of illicit opioid abstinence than daily sublingual buprenorphine, while also reducing serious maternal adverse events. The study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine,...
As Healthcare Technology Grows, Gaining Clinicians' Trust Is Vital
Healthcare technology is accelerating, but clinicians’ trust remains the linchpin for successful deployment. Senior Executive Changemaker Awardee Kassaundra McKnight-Young stresses that vendors must partner closely with clinicians to build reliable, workflow‑friendly tools. Such collaboration aims to streamline clinical processes and...
Changemaker Awardee: Innovation Starts with Listening to Care Teams
Kassaundra McKnight‑Young, Chief Nursing Informatics Officer at Zebra Technologies, urges emerging healthcare leaders to partner directly with bedside clinicians. She stresses that understanding clinicians’ day‑to‑day technology needs is essential for creating people‑centered solutions. By listening to care teams, leaders can design...
New Portable Electrocardiogram Lets EMTs Diagnose Heart Attack
Kern County Public Health has deployed a new AI‑enabled, five‑lead portable electrocardiogram that delivers 12‑lead diagnostics to EMTs. Within weeks of the Feb. 1 rollout, Hall Ambulance EMTs used the device to identify a myocardial infarction in a home patient, enabling...
This Grocery Chain Is Offering Free GLP-1 Starter Kits
ShopRite’s parent Wakefern is distributing free "Wellness Your Way" GLP‑1 starter kits to customers who fill their first GLP‑1 prescription at in‑store pharmacies. The blue mailer includes a diet guide from a registered dietitian, sample protein shake and collagen powder,...
FastFinance: Hospital Building Surge; AI-Coding Study Pushback
Health systems are set to spend a record amount this year on new hospital construction, outpacing budgets for outpatient clinics and ambulatory surgery centers. The Health Resources and Services Administration projects a 39% increase in demand for long‑term care workers...
Doctors Say Court Ruling Can’t Undo RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Damage
A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s sweeping revisions to U.S. vaccine recommendations, reinstating the broader childhood immunization schedule. Over the past year, the administration removed six vaccines from routine schedules and placed vaccine skeptics on advisory panels, fueling...
Understanding AI Inferencing at the Edge in Healthcare
Lenovo announced three new servers at CES 2026 designed for AI inferencing at the edge, specifically targeting healthcare environments. The devices enable large language models to run locally on low‑power hardware, cutting latency and avoiding cloud round‑trips. By processing sensor and...
Hospitals Are Here for Patients: Making Care More Accessible and Affordable
Hospitals serve as community health anchors, offering 24/7 care for routine, emergency, and specialized needs. They are tackling rising costs by boosting efficiency, expanding preventive programs, and leveraging digital tools such as telehealth and electronic health records. Despite these efforts,...
Smokeless Nicotine Seen as 'Bridge' For Military Members, Veterans Quitting Cigarettes
The Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs are promoting smokeless nicotine as a transitional tool to help service members and veterans quit combustible cigarettes. About 30% of active‑duty personnel use tobacco, roughly twice the civilian rate, prompting a new joint...
Transient but Transformative: Sanofi’s mRNA CAR-T Enters in Vivo Race
Sanofi unveiled pre‑clinical data for an in‑vivo CAR‑T platform that delivers mRNA via lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) and a CD8‑targeting VHH nanobody, eliminating the weeks‑long ex‑vivo manufacturing step. The approach achieved tumor suppression in mice with less than 5% liver uptake...
Can AI Manage an Entire Medical Decision Process?
Researchers placed the multimodal LLM Gemini Pro 2.5 into the BodyInteract acute‑care simulation and evaluated it across four emergency scenarios. The AI stabilized patients and completed cases at rates comparable to, and often faster than, more than 14,000 medical‑student runs, with diagnostic...
Study Shows 3-Hour Night Fast Improves Heart Health, Blood Pressure, and Blood Sugar
A Northwestern University study involving 39 overweight adults found that abstaining from food for at least three hours before bedtime improves cardiometabolic markers without altering calorie intake. Over a seven‑and‑a‑half‑week trial, participants who kept a 3‑hour night fast showed lower...
NFMT East 2026: Where Germs Are Hiding in Facilities
At NFMT East 2026, experts warned that germs hide in overlooked facility zones such as drains, soft furnishings, and automated dispensers, posing health risks and operational disruptions. They emphasized a "recipe" approach—integrating people, process, and technology—to achieve effective pathogen control....
Bicycle to Lay Off 30% of Staff, Pivot Away From Padcev Challenger
Biotech firm Bicycle Therapeutics announced it will lay off roughly 30% of its workforce, about 86 employees, as it deprioritizes its experimental ADC zelenectide‑pevedotin. Regulators expressed doubts that the Phase 2 Duravelo‑2 trial data will support accelerated approval for metastatic bladder...
PR Firm News: Sachs Media Launches SachsHEALTH
Sachs Media announced the launch of SachsHEALTH, a dedicated health‑care and life‑sciences PR division that combines public affairs, research, digital advocacy and creative services to run multi‑state policy campaigns. The new unit is led by chief strategy officer Ryan Cohn...
15 Questions for Optum’s Dr. Robert Hall
Optum’s medical director Dr. Robert Hall warned that age‑related muscle loss and chronic comorbidities dramatically complicate workers’ compensation injury recovery. He highlighted how common medications such as NSAIDs can be dangerous for older claimants with heart, kidney or blood‑pressure issues,...
Autologous versus Allogeneic: How Cell Therapy Development Is Changing in Oncology
Autologous CAR‑T therapies dominate the current market but face logistical and clinical challenges. Patients must undergo leukapheresis, endure long vein‑to‑vein times, and often need bridging therapy, which can cause adverse events. To address these issues, companies are shifting toward off‑the‑shelf...
At-Home Testing and Diagnostics: Powering Preventive Health
At‑home diagnostic kits are moving preventive health from clinic‑based testing to consumer‑driven monitoring, with companies like Randox Health offering laboratory‑grade panels that can be ordered online, sampled at home, and processed in certified labs. These kits enable users to establish...
FDA Warns Telehealth Companies Over Marketing of Compounded GLP-1 Weight-Loss Drugs
On February 20, 2026, the FDA issued warning letters to 30 telehealth companies for misleading claims about compounded GLP‑1 weight‑loss drugs such as semaglutide and tirzepatide. The agency highlighted that compounded products are not FDA‑reviewed for safety, efficacy, or quality,...
Allegro Pediatrics Saves Money, Gains Better Documentation with AI Scribe
Allegro Pediatrics, a 100‑provider pediatric group near Seattle, adopted Greenway Health’s AI‑powered ambient voice scribing to automate clinical note creation. The system listens to patient encounters, generates draft notes within the EHR, and lets physicians edit and sign off, eliminating...
How AI Vocal Biomarkers Are Turning Speech Into a Vital Sign
AI-driven vocal biomarkers are emerging as a rapid, non‑invasive method to screen for a wide range of neurological and mental‑health conditions. Research validates their ability to identify mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s, depression, anxiety, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis and Huntington’s disease from...
Sudan Clinics Face Stock-Out in Weeks Due to Middle East War, NGO Says
Save the Children warns that essential medicines for Sudan’s government‑run clinics could be exhausted within two weeks because the Middle East war has blocked key shipping routes. About $600,000 of drugs are stranded in Dubai, and rising freight costs—up 25‑30%...