Patient Safety & Outcomes

The CDC made several additions to its list of underlying medical conditions associated with a higher risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes in an Oct. 14 update, including certain lung diseases and mental health conditions. 

News that Colin Powell, the country's first Black secretary of state, died from COVID-19 complications after being fully vaccinated led to some reports questioning the effectiveness of vaccines. 

As the pandemic continues, there's still a lot unknown about COVID-19, particularly in patients whose symptoms persist, recur or reappear four or more weeks after first being infected.

More than half of COVID-19 survivors experience at least one symptom six months or more after initially recovering from the illness, a systematic review involving 250,351 COVID-19 survivors found. 

The medical-surgical unit at Clarksburg, W.Va.-based Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center has been shut down following an assessment of patient safety records, officials said Oct. 13, according to ABC affiliate WBOY-TV.

Many of the country's more than 250 organ transplant centers have recently moved to require COVID-19 vaccination for both organ recipients and donors, Kaiser Health News reports. 

Many hospitals are reporting an influx of patients who delayed care during the pandemic and now require acute care for their worsening conditions. This demand is placing extra stress on organizations already facing capacity issues amid a surge in COVID-19…

Some surgeons are rethinking the informal, yet widespread practice of requiring patients with alcoholic liver disease to be sober for six months before they can join a waitlist for a liver transplant, Kaiser Health News reported Oct. 12.

Faced with a crisis in pediatric mental health, Children's Health, a leading pediatric healthcare system in North Texas, partnered with Philips to develop an innovative behavioral health solution for pediatric patients who displayed intense aggression and anxiety.

Since late August, the CDC has seen a 12 percent jump in reports of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, a rare but serious immune response linked to COVID-19 infection, according to an Oct. 11 CNN report.