November 2021

Validating immunogenic SARS-CoV-2 peptides for novel T cell therapeutic approaches

November 15, 20212 min

T cell responses against SARS-CoV-2 may provide durable protection against infections, and T cells targeting the virus may be useful for COVID-19 treatments. To best utilize T cells for prevention and treatment, it is critical to understand the viral targets, or peptides, that T cells recognize. To date, researchers have relied on in silico methods to predict immunogenic viral peptides, but little has been done to experimentally validate predicted targets. Researchers led by Ke Pan,...

Legal Affairs

CMS reminds hospitals of EMTALA obligations following passage of Texas Heartbeat Act

November 15, 20218 min

By Allison Shelton and Colleen Byrom, Brown and Fortunato On September 1, 2021, the highly debated Texas Heartbeat Act (“Heartbeat Act”) went into effect. In short, Texas’s new law prohibits a physician from knowingly performing or inducing an abortion if the physician has “detected a fetal heartbeat for the unborn child . . . or failed to perform a test to detect a fetal heartbeat,” and the abortion is not necessitated by a “medical emergency.”...

Hospital Headlines

Serial radiation therapy is safe and effective as alternative treatment to systemic therapy for kidney cancer

November 15, 20217 min

In a new single-arm study, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center researchers reported that radiation therapy as monotherapy is a safe and effective non-invasive treatment for oligometastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Led by Chad Tang, M.D., assistant professor of Radiation Oncology, the MD Anderson RCC Oligometastasis Phase II trial is the first study to investigate and report the use of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) as an alternative treatment to standard-of-care systemic therapy...

HR Insights

An employer’s preparedness for DOL audits could significantly mitigate exposure for wage and hour violations

November 15, 202117 min

By John Skousen, Partner, Fisher Phillips The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has the authority, through the Wage-Hour Division (WHD), to conduct inspections of workplaces and wage-hour audits. DOL audits can lead to enforcement actions against employers found to be in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and related statutes governing wage payments. The FLSA provides the WHD, through record audits and related inspections, to engage in “discovery” used to establish liability in...

Financial Perspectives

PCAOB rule to determine auditors it cannot inspect is approved as SEC official stresses ability to inspect ‘completely’

November 15, 20217 min

The SEC issued an order approving a framework the PCAOB will use in determining registered accounting firms in a foreign location that the board is unable to inspect or investigate completely because of positions taken by local authorities. As part of its oversight activities, the SEC must sign off on any significant standards and rules the PCAOB adopts before they become effective. The rulemaking responds to the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable (HFCA) Act. During a...

Integrative Medicine

Physical activity reduces risk of severe COVID symptoms and hospitalization

November 15, 20216 min

By Victor S. Sierpina, MD “Do or do not. There is no try.” -Yoda If there were a pill as good as physical activity, it would be a blockbuster. We have long known the benefits of exercise, as little as 150 minutes a week, on improving risk and outcomes of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and even cancer. Now, we can add our new buddy COVID-19 to the list. In a study...

THA

More options, new savings: Get your patients covered now

November 15, 20215 min

By Ted Shaw, President/CEO, Texas Hospital Association Health care providers are in the best seat ever to encourage their patients to sign up now for health care coverage through the federal marketplace at HealthCare.Gov. Open enrollment began Nov. 1 for health plans for next year. With more options, new savings, and more time to get enrolled, the outlook has never been better to add Texans to the coverage rolls. Those who already have insurance through...

Moving On Up

Houston Methodist Clear Lake Hospital welcomes oncologist Dr. Natasha Hirani

November 15, 20212 min

Houston Methodist Clear Lake Hospital is pleased to welcome Natasha Hirani, D.O., a board-certified medical oncologist, to its medical staff. Dr. Hirani joins Jitesh Joshi, M.D., at Houston Methodist Oncology Partners at Clear Lake, located in Suite 300 of Medical Office Building 2 on the hospital campus. Houston Methodist Oncology Partners is a QOPI® Certified Practice, awarded to providers that demonstrate defined quality and safety standards in the administration of cancer care. Dr. Hirani earned her...

Moving On Up

Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital welcomes gastroenterologist Svetang Desai, M.D.

November 15, 20212 min

Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital is pleased to welcome gastroenterologist Svetang Desai, M.D., who will begin seeing patients in December. Desai is joining Houston Methodist Gastroenterology Associates at Sugar Land, located in Medical Office Building 1, Suite 250 on the Houston Methodist Sugar Land campus. Desai earned his medical degree at the University of Tennessee, Health Science Center, in Memphis, Tennessee. He completed his internal medicine residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas....

Medical Journal November 2021 Digital Edition

November 15, 20211 min

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