Medical Journal July 2021 Digital Edition
July 16, 20211 min
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Regular session of the 87th Texas Legislature
July 16, 20218 min
BY Allison Shelton and Colleen Byrom, Brown & Fortunato, P.C. On May 31, 2021, the regular session of the 87th Texas Legislature concluded after beginning on January 12, 2021. After months of committee meetings, deliberations, and votes the Legislature passed a total of 1,073 bills. A significant number of these bills will have a direct impact on physicians, hospitals, and other providers within the health care industry. For example, HB 3459 introduced a “gold card”...
“Topping Out” ceremony for new O’Quinn Medical Tower marks historic milestone for Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center
July 16, 20216 min
With the hoisting of a commemorative steel beam covered in hundreds of hand-written signatures, Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center today celebrated the completion of the concrete structure in the ongoing construction of the O’Quinn Medical Tower at the McNair Campus. The traditional “topping out” ceremony was attended by hospital leaders and board members from St. Luke’s Health, Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine, along with a host of individuals involved in...
CDC, OSHA, and EEOC guidance combine with federal court dismissal of lawsuit provides healthcare employers a clearer path forward
July 16, 202110 min
BY A. Kevin Troutman, Partner, Fisher Phillips During the past few weeks, regulatory and legal developments seem to be providing more clarity for healthcare and other employers who are working through what they hope will be the final stages of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently updated their guidance, demonstrating tremendous confidence in the importance and effectiveness of COVID-19...
BY Victor S. Sierpina, MD, ABFM, ABIHM, Director, Medical Student Education Program, WD and Laura Nell Nicholson Family Professor of Integrative Medicine, Professor, Family Medicine University of Texas Distinguished Teaching Professor Primary care is indeed primary. It is the foundation of our health care system. Those who have a primary care doctor have fewer hospital days, better care of chronic disease, improved screening, and immunization rates, and overall improved health. A root cause of health...
Time is of the essence for health care coverage and vaccination
July 16, 20216 min
Special to Medical Journal – Houston By TED SHAW, President/CEO, Texas Hospital Association When the gavel fell on Memorial Day to wrap the 2021 legislative session, we knew that lawmakers would return to the capital city for at least one special session. Gov. Greg Abbott convened state lawmakers earlier this month to address a number of his priorities that did not pass during the regular session. A directive to prohibit the delivery or mailing...
Results from the multi-cohort Phase I/II Novel immunotherapy combination produces durable response in frontline metastatic melanoma
July 16, 20215 min
A Phase II cohort from the international PIVOT-02 study has shown the combination of interleukin-2 (IL-2) pathway agonist bempegaldesleukin (BEMPEG) plus nivolumab is safe and produces a deep, durable response in previously untreated metastatic melanoma patients by researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The Food and Drug Administration awarded Breakthrough Therapy designation to the combination of BEMPEG and nivolumab in 2019 for previously untreated metastatic melanoma. The publication also includes an...
Two board-certified neurologists have joined the staff at Houston Methodist Neurology Associates-Clear Lake, bringing the group to three physicians and expanding the level of service available to Bay Area patients. Bingzhong Chen, M.D., Ph.D., joined Dr. Vijayakumar in June in Medical Office Building 1 at 2060 Space Park Drive, Suite 104, on the Houston Methodist Clear Lake Hospital campus. Chen has a broad range of clinical expertise with a focus on treating headaches/migraines, epilepsy, vertigo,...
Drug doubles down on bone cancer, metastasis
July 16, 20215 min
Bone cancer is hard to treat and prone to metastasis. Research teams at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine have a new strategy to attack it. Chemist Han Xiao, Rice and biologist Xiang Zhang at Baylor and their labs have developed an antibody conjugate called BonTarg that delivers drugs to bone tumors and inhibits metastasis. Their open-access study shows how Xiao’s pClick technology can be used to link bone-targeting antibodies and therapeutic molecules. In...
SARS-CoV-2 can infect testes, UTMB researchers find
July 16, 20213 min
Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch have found SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in the testes of infected hamsters. The findings could help explain symptoms that some men with COVID-19 have reported and have important implications for men’s health. As the pandemic goes on, clinicians are finding that COVID-19 affects more than just the lungs. Some patients have reported testicular pain and some reports have shown decreases in testosterone, a key hormone...