Christmas Eve this year brought news of ESPN reporter, Ed Aschoff, dying that day, also his 34th birthday, after being treated for pneumonia. I did not know of him, but soon I was reading his Twitter profile. Earlier in the month he had shared the following: It’s hauntingly sad to read that now. I can […]
Acute Kidney Injury with Concomitant Vancomycin & Pip/Tazo (Vancosyn, Vanczosyn, Vosyn)
Recently, a nephrologist I work with chased me down to ask my opinion of the new and interesting study that concludes concomitant vancomycin and piperacillin-tazobactam (hereforth to be called vancosyn) was more nephrotoxic than concomitant vancomycin and cefepime (vancopime). “Yes, indeed, I have heard the data but which study are you calling new?” I wondered. […]
Coding Sepsis
September is sepsis awareness month and I want to discuss coding sepsis. First I will introduce the concept of medical coding and the definition of sepsis. Skip to half way down for specific coding sepsis examples. What is Medical Coding? Medical coding is the transformation of diagnoses and procedures into a set of universal alphanumeric […]
Surviving Sepsis – A Word to the Wise…
I just read a really awful heart-wrenching story in the New York Times today. It’s the story of Rory Staunton, a 12 year old boy in New York City who presented to his pediatrician’s office on a Thursday ill with fever, vomiting, and leg pain; was sent to the emergency room at NYU Langone where […]
Sepsis Drug XIGRIS withdrawn from worldwide markets for lack of efficacy
In what is breaking news today in the field of medicine, the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly announced that activated drotrecogin alfa (XIGRIS) is to be pulled off all markets including the United States. This drug, intended to treat severe sepsis, has been shown in the new PROWESS-SHOCK trial to be no better than placebo in […]