Opinion | ‘Frankly, It’s a Travesty’: What We Heard This Week

“Frankly, it’s a travesty that in the middle of a pandemic we have such poor access to rapid testing.” — Carlos del Rio, MD, of Emory University in Atlanta, about the high cost of rapid COVID tests.

“Are patients treated appropriately? The answer is no.” — Elan Guterman, MD, of the University of California San Francisco, reporting that paramedic treatment of status epilepticus patients rarely followed expert guidelines.

“This is an eye-opening study and very important to help understand the use and possible misuse of opioids in cirrhotic patients.” — David Bernstein, MD, of Northwell Health in Manhasset, New York, discussing opioid prescribing in patients with cirrhosis.

“Anything that is a risk to the public is a concern to us.” — Maryann Alexander, PhD, RN, chief officer of nursing regulation at the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, explaining a policy brief addressing nurses who spread misinformation.

“It is not a substitute for changes either in policy or pulling other levers that could provide people with more financial security when it comes to their healthcare costs.” — Neale Mahoney, PhD, of Stanford University, on how 955 Mississippians were cleared of their medical debts.

“Results like these have not been seen before in this class of glaucoma interventions.” — Iqbal “Ike” Ahmed, MD, of the University of Toronto, on benefits seen for patients with glaucoma who were treated with a microstent during cataract surgery.