Pub Date : 2021-05-21DOI: 10.1080/01947648.2021.1914476
Sarah J. Diekman
Objectives: To inform hospital infection control, risk management, hospital administrators, and healthcare workers about a new and surprising threat to infection control: air-powered costumes Background: Air-powered costumes use a small motor to create positive pressure within the costume This mechanism is similar to Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR) 1 However, unlike a PAPR the air-powered costume does not filter the incoming air through a HEPA filter Nor does it capture the air inside a contained space and filter it before it is released into the environment The affect is that droplets from the person in the costume or from air that is drawn into the costume, which would normally be too heavy to travel farther than 6 feet, are aerosolized by traveling through the turbulent blower These small particles can easily penetrate the thin fabric that makes the costume This creates an infection control problem by aerosolizing the particles and then propelling them with the force of positive pressure " Case Description: In January of 2021, a Covid-19 outbreak in San Jose, CA, was contact traced back to a surprising source On Christmas day, a worker wishing to lift spirits, unknowingly spread Covid-19 via an air-powered Christmas tree costume The worker did not have symptoms of SARS-COV-2 and did not know they were infected The result is tragic In San Jose, at least 60 people were infected, and one person died " Conclusion: This case manifests a tragic outcome to what was meant to be a benevolent action All evidence points to lack of information guiding this well-intentioned action What was meant to decrease the stress and burden of the pandemic, became a greater stress and burden Tragically with a loss of life and unknown morbidity Further, there is the potential for a psychologic toll on the person who thought they were helping others, only to learn that they had harmed them Given that these costumes in hospitals are rare, further tragedies such as this one should be preventable Covid-19 is not the only pathogen that could theoretically be spread by this mechanism Hospital should have a policy that restricts the use of these costumes Education about the danger of these costumes should be provided to staff Given that personal may act by finding replacement, risk management and infection control should create an adequate policy to address the mental health needs of staff and patients, while maintain appropriate infection control Now that there is documentation of this methods of pathogenic spread, hospitals may face liability if they fail to establish a reasonable policy and education regarding turbulent flow air-powered costumes
{"title":"Turbulent Airflow Costume Compromises Occupational Safety and Infection Control: A Hospital Risk Management Case Report","authors":"Sarah J. Diekman","doi":"10.1080/01947648.2021.1914476","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01947648.2021.1914476","url":null,"abstract":"Objectives: To inform hospital infection control, risk management, hospital administrators, and healthcare workers about a new and surprising threat to infection control: air-powered costumes Background: Air-powered costumes use a small motor to create positive pressure within the costume This mechanism is similar to Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR) 1 However, unlike a PAPR the air-powered costume does not filter the incoming air through a HEPA filter Nor does it capture the air inside a contained space and filter it before it is released into the environment The affect is that droplets from the person in the costume or from air that is drawn into the costume, which would normally be too heavy to travel farther than 6 feet, are aerosolized by traveling through the turbulent blower These small particles can easily penetrate the thin fabric that makes the costume This creates an infection control problem by aerosolizing the particles and then propelling them with the force of positive pressure \" Case Description: In January of 2021, a Covid-19 outbreak in San Jose, CA, was contact traced back to a surprising source On Christmas day, a worker wishing to lift spirits, unknowingly spread Covid-19 via an air-powered Christmas tree costume The worker did not have symptoms of SARS-COV-2 and did not know they were infected The result is tragic In San Jose, at least 60 people were infected, and one person died \" Conclusion: This case manifests a tragic outcome to what was meant to be a benevolent action All evidence points to lack of information guiding this well-intentioned action What was meant to decrease the stress and burden of the pandemic, became a greater stress and burden Tragically with a loss of life and unknown morbidity Further, there is the potential for a psychologic toll on the person who thought they were helping others, only to learn that they had harmed them Given that these costumes in hospitals are rare, further tragedies such as this one should be preventable Covid-19 is not the only pathogen that could theoretically be spread by this mechanism Hospital should have a policy that restricts the use of these costumes Education about the danger of these costumes should be provided to staff Given that personal may act by finding replacement, risk management and infection control should create an adequate policy to address the mental health needs of staff and patients, while maintain appropriate infection control Now that there is documentation of this methods of pathogenic spread, hospitals may face liability if they fail to establish a reasonable policy and education regarding turbulent flow air-powered costumes","PeriodicalId":44014,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":"5 1","pages":"19 - 20"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87881583","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-05-21DOI: 10.1080/01947648.2021.1914481
Samia Mouaki-Benani, A. Sheikh, Joseph P. Hardy, W. Havins
Prescribing Patterns of XR-Naltrexone for Treating OUD by Nevada Addiction Specialists Samia Mouaki-Benani, OMS-II; smouaki@student.touro.edu Ansab Sheikh, OMS-II; asheikh5@student.touro.edu Joseph P. Hardy, MD, Associate Dean for Clinical Education Weldon Havins, MD, JD, LLM, FCLM Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine Background: The Opioid crisis is a nationwide epidemic with devastating consequences to American communities and public health. In 2018, 46,802 (70%) of all overdose deaths in the United States, and 372 drug overdose deaths in Nevada, were opioid-related. Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is an effective “whole-patient” approach to the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD), combining medications with behavioral therapy and counseling. There are three FDAapproved medications indicated for opioid dependency: naltrexone, methadone, and buprenorphine. Treatment centers rarely offer naltrexone (XR-NTX, or Vivitrol available in injectable extended release form) compared with opioid agonist treatments. The goal of this study is to quantify prescribing patterns of MAT to treat OUD in Nevada and to understand the reasons addiction specialists do or do not prescribe it. Methods: A survey was created with questions designed and sent to practicing Nevada addiction specialists, including physicians (MD and DO), physician assistants, and nurse practitioners in the state of Nevada (Nevada Addiction Specialists hereafter), by mail. Results: Of 309 Nevada Addiction Specialists surveyed, 34 (11%) responded. Almost half (47%) of responding addiction specialists in Nevada prescribed XR-NTX, yet only 9% of OUD patients were treated with XR-NTX. The leading reasons addiction specialists prescribed XRNTX were the frequency of injections and the non-addictive nature of the drug. The leading reasons for not prescribing XR-NTX were its detoxification requirement (35% of respondents), accessibility (29%), and price (24%). Of the Nevada addiction specialists who did not prescribe XR-NTX, 28% were unfamiliar with the drug. Conclusion: The survey results suggest that XR-NTX is appropriate for only a small subset of patients with OUD, as indicated by the CDC and other studies. XR-NTX has potential in highly motivated patients that are 2021 American College of Legal Medicine JOURNAL OF LEGAL MEDICINE 2021, VOL. 41, NO. S1, 27–28 https://doi.org/10.1080/01947648.2021.1914481 willing to abstain from opioid use during the detox period, those willing to pay the higher cost, and patients in the criminal justice system. There may be a need for increasing awareness and education of MAT options earlier in medical training to bridge the gap in knowledge related to the treatments available for patients with OUD. The generalizability of this study is limited by the small number of respondents. References available upon request 28 ABSTRACT
内华达成瘾专家Samia Mouaki-Benani研究xr -纳曲酮治疗OUD的处方模式smouaki@student.touro.edu Ansab Sheikh, OMS-II;asheikh5@student.touro.edu Joseph P. Hardy,医学博士,临床教育副院长Weldon Havins,医学博士,法学硕士,FCLM Touro University of Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine背景:阿片类药物危机是一种全国性的流行病,对美国社区和公共卫生造成了毁灭性的后果。2018年,美国46,802例(70%)药物过量死亡和内华达州372例药物过量死亡与阿片类药物有关。药物辅助治疗(MAT)是一种有效的“全患者”治疗阿片类药物使用障碍(OUD)的方法,将药物与行为治疗和咨询相结合。有三种fda批准的药物用于治疗阿片类药物依赖:纳曲酮、美沙酮和丁丙诺啡。与阿片类激动剂治疗相比,治疗中心很少提供纳曲酮(XR-NTX,或注射缓释形式的维维特罗)。本研究的目的是量化内华达州MAT治疗OUD的处方模式,并了解成瘾专家开或不开MAT的原因。方法:设计了一份调查问卷,并通过邮件发送给内华达州的执业成瘾专家,包括医生(MD和DO)、医师助理和执业护士(以下简称内华达州成瘾专家)。结果:在接受调查的309名内华达州成瘾专家中,34名(11%)做出了回应。内华达州几乎一半(47%)的成瘾专家开了XR-NTX,但只有9%的OUD患者接受了XR-NTX治疗。成瘾专家开出XRNTX的主要原因是注射的频率和药物的非成瘾性。不开XR-NTX的主要原因是其解毒要求(35%的受访者)、可及性(29%)和价格(24%)。在没有开XR-NTX处方的内华达州成瘾专家中,28%的人不熟悉这种药物。结论:调查结果表明,正如CDC和其他研究表明的那样,XR-NTX仅适用于一小部分OUD患者。XR-NTX在高度积极的患者中具有潜力,2021年美国法律医学学院法律医学杂志2021年,第41卷,NO。S1, 27-28 https://doi.org/10.1080/01947648.2021.1914481在戒毒期间愿意放弃阿片类药物使用的人,愿意支付较高费用的人,以及刑事司法系统中的患者。可能需要在医疗培训中尽早提高对MAT选择的认识和教育,以弥补与OUD患者可用治疗方法相关的知识差距。本研究的普遍性受到调查对象较少的限制。参考文献可根据要求提供
{"title":"Prescribing Patterns of XR-Naltrexone for Treating OUD by Nevada Addiction Specialists","authors":"Samia Mouaki-Benani, A. Sheikh, Joseph P. Hardy, W. Havins","doi":"10.1080/01947648.2021.1914481","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01947648.2021.1914481","url":null,"abstract":"Prescribing Patterns of XR-Naltrexone for Treating OUD by Nevada Addiction Specialists Samia Mouaki-Benani, OMS-II; smouaki@student.touro.edu Ansab Sheikh, OMS-II; asheikh5@student.touro.edu Joseph P. Hardy, MD, Associate Dean for Clinical Education Weldon Havins, MD, JD, LLM, FCLM Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine Background: The Opioid crisis is a nationwide epidemic with devastating consequences to American communities and public health. In 2018, 46,802 (70%) of all overdose deaths in the United States, and 372 drug overdose deaths in Nevada, were opioid-related. Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is an effective “whole-patient” approach to the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD), combining medications with behavioral therapy and counseling. There are three FDAapproved medications indicated for opioid dependency: naltrexone, methadone, and buprenorphine. Treatment centers rarely offer naltrexone (XR-NTX, or Vivitrol available in injectable extended release form) compared with opioid agonist treatments. The goal of this study is to quantify prescribing patterns of MAT to treat OUD in Nevada and to understand the reasons addiction specialists do or do not prescribe it. Methods: A survey was created with questions designed and sent to practicing Nevada addiction specialists, including physicians (MD and DO), physician assistants, and nurse practitioners in the state of Nevada (Nevada Addiction Specialists hereafter), by mail. Results: Of 309 Nevada Addiction Specialists surveyed, 34 (11%) responded. Almost half (47%) of responding addiction specialists in Nevada prescribed XR-NTX, yet only 9% of OUD patients were treated with XR-NTX. The leading reasons addiction specialists prescribed XRNTX were the frequency of injections and the non-addictive nature of the drug. The leading reasons for not prescribing XR-NTX were its detoxification requirement (35% of respondents), accessibility (29%), and price (24%). Of the Nevada addiction specialists who did not prescribe XR-NTX, 28% were unfamiliar with the drug. Conclusion: The survey results suggest that XR-NTX is appropriate for only a small subset of patients with OUD, as indicated by the CDC and other studies. XR-NTX has potential in highly motivated patients that are 2021 American College of Legal Medicine JOURNAL OF LEGAL MEDICINE 2021, VOL. 41, NO. S1, 27–28 https://doi.org/10.1080/01947648.2021.1914481 willing to abstain from opioid use during the detox period, those willing to pay the higher cost, and patients in the criminal justice system. There may be a need for increasing awareness and education of MAT options earlier in medical training to bridge the gap in knowledge related to the treatments available for patients with OUD. The generalizability of this study is limited by the small number of respondents. References available upon request 28 ABSTRACT","PeriodicalId":44014,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":"19 1","pages":"27 - 28"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78952833","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-05-21DOI: 10.1080/01947648.2021.1914473
Eric H. Chai, D. Chan, W. Havins
{"title":"In-State Retention of Physicians in Nevada Residency Programs","authors":"Eric H. Chai, D. Chan, W. Havins","doi":"10.1080/01947648.2021.1914473","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01947648.2021.1914473","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44014,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":"1 1","pages":"11 - 12"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89290088","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-05-21DOI: 10.1080/01947648.2021.1914492
S. Tun, H. Luong, W. Havins
Encouraging Online Voter Registration of Nevada Physicians A Challenge in Apathy? Sein Tun, MS, OMS-II; stun@student.touro.edu Hao Luong, MS, OMS-II; hluong2@student.touro.edu Weldon E Havins, MD, JD, LLM, FCLM, Emeritus Professor Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine, Henderson, Nevada Voting is the most basic way a citizen can have his or her voice heard. It is also one of the easiest ways for an individual to participate in changing or maintaining the legislation. Voting registration and participation can allow citizens to have a direct impact on the healthcare system, which is an essential aspect of policy making within the United States’ political system. Physicians are the most equipped with knowledge about the healthcare system, therefore, there is a need to increase voting amongst physician populations. Physicians’ votes and influence on health policy impact not only the medical community but their patients as well. To improve the healthcare system for both physicians and their patients, the candidates chosen to become legislators must align with the views held by their constituents. As registered voters and constituents of an Assemblyperson and a Senator, physicians can actively voice their concerns and ideas that could potentially contribute to new and improved legislation. However, the first and most important step in getting involved is to register to vote. When compared to other higher education professionals such as lawyers, physicians are less active in politics. This needs to be improved because healthcare policy contributes to a large portion of political discussion. In order to promote physician engagement in politics, there must be promotion of registration to vote. One benefit is that it is especially easy to register now because it can be done conveniently online. This study aims to improve physician voter registration outcomes by identifying physicians in Clark County who are not registered voters and contacting them to discuss the importance of voting and how to register online. However, because of limited information available from the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) and the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners (NBOME) databases, the only feasible method of contact to physicians is through mailing physical letters to their work offices. The method utilized in this study is not effective because it lacked sufficient time to allow the letters to be received by physicians before the data was 2021 American College of Legal Medicine JOURNAL OF LEGAL MEDICINE 2021, VOL. 41, NO. S1, 47–48 https://doi.org/10.1080/01947648.2021.1914492 analyzed. Although this study could not prove that mailing letters to the physicians’ office of practice is an adequate method, it did show that approximately 74% of physicians in Clark County are registered voters, which is of higher percentage than the general population of Nevada. Nonetheless, this number does not account for other variables that may influen
{"title":"Encouraging Online Voter Registration of Nevada Physicians - A Challenge in Apathy?","authors":"S. Tun, H. Luong, W. Havins","doi":"10.1080/01947648.2021.1914492","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01947648.2021.1914492","url":null,"abstract":"Encouraging Online Voter Registration of Nevada Physicians A Challenge in Apathy? Sein Tun, MS, OMS-II; stun@student.touro.edu Hao Luong, MS, OMS-II; hluong2@student.touro.edu Weldon E Havins, MD, JD, LLM, FCLM, Emeritus Professor Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine, Henderson, Nevada Voting is the most basic way a citizen can have his or her voice heard. It is also one of the easiest ways for an individual to participate in changing or maintaining the legislation. Voting registration and participation can allow citizens to have a direct impact on the healthcare system, which is an essential aspect of policy making within the United States’ political system. Physicians are the most equipped with knowledge about the healthcare system, therefore, there is a need to increase voting amongst physician populations. Physicians’ votes and influence on health policy impact not only the medical community but their patients as well. To improve the healthcare system for both physicians and their patients, the candidates chosen to become legislators must align with the views held by their constituents. As registered voters and constituents of an Assemblyperson and a Senator, physicians can actively voice their concerns and ideas that could potentially contribute to new and improved legislation. However, the first and most important step in getting involved is to register to vote. When compared to other higher education professionals such as lawyers, physicians are less active in politics. This needs to be improved because healthcare policy contributes to a large portion of political discussion. In order to promote physician engagement in politics, there must be promotion of registration to vote. One benefit is that it is especially easy to register now because it can be done conveniently online. This study aims to improve physician voter registration outcomes by identifying physicians in Clark County who are not registered voters and contacting them to discuss the importance of voting and how to register online. However, because of limited information available from the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) and the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners (NBOME) databases, the only feasible method of contact to physicians is through mailing physical letters to their work offices. The method utilized in this study is not effective because it lacked sufficient time to allow the letters to be received by physicians before the data was 2021 American College of Legal Medicine JOURNAL OF LEGAL MEDICINE 2021, VOL. 41, NO. S1, 47–48 https://doi.org/10.1080/01947648.2021.1914492 analyzed. Although this study could not prove that mailing letters to the physicians’ office of practice is an adequate method, it did show that approximately 74% of physicians in Clark County are registered voters, which is of higher percentage than the general population of Nevada. Nonetheless, this number does not account for other variables that may influen","PeriodicalId":44014,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":"170 1","pages":"47 - 48"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86050818","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-05-21DOI: 10.1080/01947648.2021.1914475
Sarah J. Diekman
The Potential Risk of Shift Work Leading to Diabetes: A Logistic Regression Analysis of an Open Data Set Sarah J. Diekman, MD, JD, MS, (sdiekman1@jhu.edu) Occupational Environmental Medicine Resident, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD Introduction: The body of sleep epidemiology studies was scant leading into the 1980s. After the 1980s, tens of thousands of studies of sleep epidemiology have emerged. The increased interest correlated in part with a public interest in reducing motor vehicle accidents. As the public started to see accidents that were associated with sleep deprivation, the public wanted to know more about sleep and motor vehicles. Another reason for the increased interest in sleep is that the general public was finding sleep problems to be common and this resulted in pressure on the scientific community to find out why. Over the past 30 years, international data shows that the average night sleep has decreased by 18min per night (Ferrie et al.). Currently, the CDC recommends that adult sleep 7 or more hours per each 24-hour period to maximize health and wellbeing.(CDC Data and Statistics Sleep and Sleep Disorders) Sleep disturbance has been implicated in nearly every chronic disease: cardiovascular disease, hypertension, inflammation, obesity, diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance, and psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety and depression (Ferrie et al.). OSHA’s community recommendations includes strategies to reduce the major environmental risk of work induced sleep deprivation. OSHA recommends that the workplace consider a normal work shift be a work period of no more than eight consecutive hours during the day, five days a week with at least an eight-hour rest in between shifts. Periods that allow for less sleep should be considered to be unusual (Extended Unusual Work Shifts). State, local, and federal governments have various laws addressing sleep and motor vehicle operation. Professional drivers are most often affected by these laws. Further the airline industry also regulates sleep. These laws are a balance of the business interest for workers to be more productive, the workers interest to make an adequate pay-check, and the interest of public safety (Åkerstedt and Wright). Research Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine whether an association exists between shift work and diabetes. The target population was workers affected by swing shifts. There was no data source that directly 2021 American College of Legal Medicine JOURNAL OF LEGAL MEDICINE 2021, VOL. 41, NO. S1, 15–17 https://doi.org/10.1080/01947648.2021.1914475 inventoried this population, so sleep below the CDC recommended 7 hours was used as a surrogate for the shortened sleep seen in shift work. The actual study population was the general population of India where the researchers conducted their original study. Methods: The hypothesis that was tested was whether there was an association between chronic sleep deprivation and
{"title":"The Potential Risk of Shift Work Leading to Diabetes: A Logistic Regression Analysis of an Open Data Set","authors":"Sarah J. Diekman","doi":"10.1080/01947648.2021.1914475","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01947648.2021.1914475","url":null,"abstract":"The Potential Risk of Shift Work Leading to Diabetes: A Logistic Regression Analysis of an Open Data Set Sarah J. Diekman, MD, JD, MS, (sdiekman1@jhu.edu) Occupational Environmental Medicine Resident, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD Introduction: The body of sleep epidemiology studies was scant leading into the 1980s. After the 1980s, tens of thousands of studies of sleep epidemiology have emerged. The increased interest correlated in part with a public interest in reducing motor vehicle accidents. As the public started to see accidents that were associated with sleep deprivation, the public wanted to know more about sleep and motor vehicles. Another reason for the increased interest in sleep is that the general public was finding sleep problems to be common and this resulted in pressure on the scientific community to find out why. Over the past 30 years, international data shows that the average night sleep has decreased by 18min per night (Ferrie et al.). Currently, the CDC recommends that adult sleep 7 or more hours per each 24-hour period to maximize health and wellbeing.(CDC Data and Statistics Sleep and Sleep Disorders) Sleep disturbance has been implicated in nearly every chronic disease: cardiovascular disease, hypertension, inflammation, obesity, diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance, and psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety and depression (Ferrie et al.). OSHA’s community recommendations includes strategies to reduce the major environmental risk of work induced sleep deprivation. OSHA recommends that the workplace consider a normal work shift be a work period of no more than eight consecutive hours during the day, five days a week with at least an eight-hour rest in between shifts. Periods that allow for less sleep should be considered to be unusual (Extended Unusual Work Shifts). State, local, and federal governments have various laws addressing sleep and motor vehicle operation. Professional drivers are most often affected by these laws. Further the airline industry also regulates sleep. These laws are a balance of the business interest for workers to be more productive, the workers interest to make an adequate pay-check, and the interest of public safety (Åkerstedt and Wright). Research Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine whether an association exists between shift work and diabetes. The target population was workers affected by swing shifts. There was no data source that directly 2021 American College of Legal Medicine JOURNAL OF LEGAL MEDICINE 2021, VOL. 41, NO. S1, 15–17 https://doi.org/10.1080/01947648.2021.1914475 inventoried this population, so sleep below the CDC recommended 7 hours was used as a surrogate for the shortened sleep seen in shift work. The actual study population was the general population of India where the researchers conducted their original study. Methods: The hypothesis that was tested was whether there was an association between chronic sleep deprivation and","PeriodicalId":44014,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":"39 1","pages":"15 - 17"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83077026","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-05-21DOI: 10.1080/01947648.2021.1914493
C. Wyant, Taylor Cornwell-Hinrichs, Joseph P. Hardy, W. Havins
Investigating the Relationship Between Opioid Prescription Frequency and Deaths From Illicit Opioids Cara Wyant, OMS-II Taylor Cornwell-Hinrichs, MPH, MLIS, OMS-II Joseph P. Hardy, MD, Associate Dean of Clinical Education Weldon Havins, MD, JD, LLM, MA, Emeritus Professor Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine In accordance with the global opioid epidemic, the CDC issued guidelines for practitioners prescribing opioids for chronic pain. In response to these guidelines and to the opioid epidemic itself, Nevada issued restrictive legislation on practitioners prescribing opioids: SB 459, AB 474, and AB 239. To investigate the relationships between opioid legislature and opioidrelated death rates, data was obtained from the Nevada Board of Pharmacy and the Clark and Washoe County medical examiner offices. The data demonstrate that there was a significant decrease in prescriptions following the legislation; however, there was no correlation between the legislation and overall rate of opioid-related deaths because there was a subsequent and dramatic rise in deaths from illicit opioids. This suggests that more patients switched to the use of heroin and/or fentanyl as a result in limiting legal opioid prescribing power. A Spearman correlation was calculated (-0.04) and a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the time periods of the legislation implementation and the county. There were no interactions between the two counties and law; so, both counties experienced the same trends following these laws. To compare opioid-related deaths to opioid prescription rate for each time period, a t-test with law as the only factor was conducted with combined data from both counties (SB 459 p1⁄4 0.744; AB 474 p1⁄4 0.640; AB 239 p1⁄4 0.704). No significance was found. The COVID-19 Stay at Home order has statistically increased opioid-related deaths (p1⁄4 0.010), albeit it is unknown if this increase is due to Nevadans selfmedicating in response to work stoppages and financial stress, inability to see a practitioner in person, or restrictions involving addiction clinics during the pandemic. The goal of Nevada’s three opioid prescription bills was to reduce the rate of Nevadans dying from opioid overdoses, yet more Nevadans are dying from opioids now than before the bills passed. We recommend three provisions that will allow providers to confidently prescribe appropriate 2021 American College of Legal Medicine JOURNAL OF LEGAL MEDICINE 2021, VOL. 41, NO. S1, 49–50 https://doi.org/10.1080/01947648.2021.1914493 pain management for their patients without fear of sanction from another licensing board’s misunderstandings, allow providers to humanely manage their patients’ legitimate pain, and limit unintended consequences where patients are forced to seek out illicit opioids to control their pain and inadvertently die in the process. These are our recommendations: (1) Base law requirements on guidelines provided by professional or governmen
调查阿片类药物处方频率与非法阿片类药物死亡之间的关系Cara Wyant, OMS-II Taylor Cornwell-Hinrichs, MPH, MLIS, OMS-II Joseph P. Hardy, MD,临床教育副院长Weldon Havins, MD, JD, LLM, MA, Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine名誉教授根据全球阿片类药物流行,CDC发布了从业人员处方阿片类药物治疗慢性疼痛的指南。为了响应这些指导方针和阿片类药物的流行,内华达州颁布了关于开具阿片类药物处方的从业人员的限制性立法:SB 459、AB 474和AB 239。为了调查阿片类药物立法与阿片类药物相关死亡率之间的关系,从内华达州药房委员会以及克拉克和瓦肖县法医办公室获得了数据。数据表明,立法后处方显着减少;然而,立法与阿片类药物相关死亡率之间没有相关性,因为非法阿片类药物导致的死亡人数随后急剧上升。这表明,由于限制了阿片类药物的合法处方权,更多的患者转而使用海洛因和/或芬太尼。计算Spearman相关(-0.04),并采用双向方差分析(ANOVA)比较立法实施与县的时间段。这两个国家和法律之间没有互动;因此,这两个国家都经历了遵循这些法律的相同趋势。为了比较每个时间段阿片类药物相关死亡与阿片类药物处方率,对两县的合并数据进行了t检验,法律是唯一的因素(SB 459 p1⁄4 0.744;AB 474 p1 / 4 0.640;AB 239 p1 / 4 0.704)。没有发现显著性。2019冠状病毒病居家令在统计上增加了与阿片类药物相关的死亡人数(p1 / 4 0.010),尽管尚不清楚这一增加是由于内华达州人为应对停工和经济压力而自我用药、无法亲自去看医生,还是疫情期间涉及成瘾诊所的限制。内华达州三项阿片类药物处方法案的目标是降低内华达人因过量服用阿片类药物而死亡的比例,然而,与法案通过之前相比,现在死于阿片类药物的内华达人更多了。我们建议三条规定,使提供者能够自信地开出适当的2021年美国法律医学学院法律医学杂志2021年,第41卷,NO。S1, 49-50 https://doi.org/10.1080/01947648.2021.1914493对患者的疼痛管理,而不必担心另一个许可委员会的误解,允许提供者人道地管理患者的合法疼痛,并限制患者被迫寻求非法阿片类药物来控制疼痛并在此过程中无意中死亡的意外后果。以下是我们的建议:(1)以医学为导向的专业或政府机构提供的指导方针为基础的法律要求;(2)首先以教育为纪律,然后以制裁为纪律;(3)通过非常熟悉提供者执业范围的实体来执行要求,例如内华达州医学检验委员会和内华达州骨科医学委员会。应要求提供参考资料。50文摘
{"title":"Investigating the Relationship Between Opioid Prescription Frequency and Deaths From Illicit Opioids","authors":"C. Wyant, Taylor Cornwell-Hinrichs, Joseph P. Hardy, W. Havins","doi":"10.1080/01947648.2021.1914493","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01947648.2021.1914493","url":null,"abstract":"Investigating the Relationship Between Opioid Prescription Frequency and Deaths From Illicit Opioids Cara Wyant, OMS-II Taylor Cornwell-Hinrichs, MPH, MLIS, OMS-II Joseph P. Hardy, MD, Associate Dean of Clinical Education Weldon Havins, MD, JD, LLM, MA, Emeritus Professor Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine In accordance with the global opioid epidemic, the CDC issued guidelines for practitioners prescribing opioids for chronic pain. In response to these guidelines and to the opioid epidemic itself, Nevada issued restrictive legislation on practitioners prescribing opioids: SB 459, AB 474, and AB 239. To investigate the relationships between opioid legislature and opioidrelated death rates, data was obtained from the Nevada Board of Pharmacy and the Clark and Washoe County medical examiner offices. The data demonstrate that there was a significant decrease in prescriptions following the legislation; however, there was no correlation between the legislation and overall rate of opioid-related deaths because there was a subsequent and dramatic rise in deaths from illicit opioids. This suggests that more patients switched to the use of heroin and/or fentanyl as a result in limiting legal opioid prescribing power. A Spearman correlation was calculated (-0.04) and a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the time periods of the legislation implementation and the county. There were no interactions between the two counties and law; so, both counties experienced the same trends following these laws. To compare opioid-related deaths to opioid prescription rate for each time period, a t-test with law as the only factor was conducted with combined data from both counties (SB 459 p1⁄4 0.744; AB 474 p1⁄4 0.640; AB 239 p1⁄4 0.704). No significance was found. The COVID-19 Stay at Home order has statistically increased opioid-related deaths (p1⁄4 0.010), albeit it is unknown if this increase is due to Nevadans selfmedicating in response to work stoppages and financial stress, inability to see a practitioner in person, or restrictions involving addiction clinics during the pandemic. The goal of Nevada’s three opioid prescription bills was to reduce the rate of Nevadans dying from opioid overdoses, yet more Nevadans are dying from opioids now than before the bills passed. We recommend three provisions that will allow providers to confidently prescribe appropriate 2021 American College of Legal Medicine JOURNAL OF LEGAL MEDICINE 2021, VOL. 41, NO. S1, 49–50 https://doi.org/10.1080/01947648.2021.1914493 pain management for their patients without fear of sanction from another licensing board’s misunderstandings, allow providers to humanely manage their patients’ legitimate pain, and limit unintended consequences where patients are forced to seek out illicit opioids to control their pain and inadvertently die in the process. These are our recommendations: (1) Base law requirements on guidelines provided by professional or governmen","PeriodicalId":44014,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":"27 1","pages":"49 - 50"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88853928","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-05-21DOI: 10.1080/01947648.2021.1914479
Proma Mazumder, Crystal Yung, C. Vanier, Joseph P. Hardy
Indirect effects associated with forced or voluntary changes in behaviors due to COVID-19 are largely unknown Fear of COVID-19 infection may cause patients to avoid medical care for other conditions, and government directives have forced major lifestyle disruptions The purpose of this study was to analyze deaths at home (DaH) relative to gender, age, ethnicity, location, and cause of death to understand the indirect effects of COVID-19 on mortality rates in Nevada DaH increased 25% in Nevada during April 2020 (27 9;95% confidence interval: 26 3, 29 5 deaths per 100,000) compared to mean DaH during April the previous four years (22 3 mean deaths per 100,000) The increase was driven by males, people aged 65-74, and residents of the Las Vegas area There was no trend related to ethnicity Causes of death that increased in 2020 were diabetes mellitus (109%), nutritional deficiencies (860%), non-transport accidents (50%), and as-yet unknown causes (863%)
{"title":"Increased Deaths-at-Home in Nevada During the COVID-19 Pandemic","authors":"Proma Mazumder, Crystal Yung, C. Vanier, Joseph P. Hardy","doi":"10.1080/01947648.2021.1914479","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01947648.2021.1914479","url":null,"abstract":"Indirect effects associated with forced or voluntary changes in behaviors due to COVID-19 are largely unknown Fear of COVID-19 infection may cause patients to avoid medical care for other conditions, and government directives have forced major lifestyle disruptions The purpose of this study was to analyze deaths at home (DaH) relative to gender, age, ethnicity, location, and cause of death to understand the indirect effects of COVID-19 on mortality rates in Nevada DaH increased 25% in Nevada during April 2020 (27 9;95% confidence interval: 26 3, 29 5 deaths per 100,000) compared to mean DaH during April the previous four years (22 3 mean deaths per 100,000) The increase was driven by males, people aged 65-74, and residents of the Las Vegas area There was no trend related to ethnicity Causes of death that increased in 2020 were diabetes mellitus (109%), nutritional deficiencies (860%), non-transport accidents (50%), and as-yet unknown causes (863%)","PeriodicalId":44014,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":"101 1","pages":"24 - 25"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86639655","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-05-21DOI: 10.1080/01947648.2021.1914489
Ryliezl Abby Reyes, Stephanie Quan, Joseph P. Hardy, W. Havins
{"title":"Nevada Healthcare Boards: Violations of Public Record Act and Inaccessibility of Licensee Information","authors":"Ryliezl Abby Reyes, Stephanie Quan, Joseph P. Hardy, W. Havins","doi":"10.1080/01947648.2021.1914489","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01947648.2021.1914489","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44014,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":"22 1","pages":"39 - 40"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83950930","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-05-21DOI: 10.1080/01947648.2021.1914490
Ali Said, L. Sánchez, M. Olek, Weldon Havins
{"title":"Emerging Neuralink Brain Machine Interface Technology: An Oversight Proposal to Address the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications","authors":"Ali Said, L. Sánchez, M. Olek, Weldon Havins","doi":"10.1080/01947648.2021.1914490","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01947648.2021.1914490","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44014,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":"81 1","pages":"40 - 41"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91227072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-05-21DOI: 10.1080/01947648.2021.1914469
Stephanie N Bernardo, Kylie Zeng, W. Havins
BACKGROUND: Since the COVID-19 outbreak began in Wuhan China, countries across the world have been forced to take unprecedented measures to combat it. While some countries are still grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, others have fared better and have established relative normalcy quickly. The rapid transmission rate of the virus has shown a greater need for efficient and technologically modern containment measures. The use of digital tools to facilitate strict containment measures in countries that have faired well against the COVID-19 pandemic has sparked both interest and controversy. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we compare the precautions taken against the spread of COVID-19, particularly the use of digital tools in contact tracing, and propose policies that could be utilized in the U.S. for future COVID-19 waves or pandemics. METHODS: COVID-19 death rates data were obtained from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) accessed through the Our World in Data database, and were evaluated based on population size per 100,000 from December 31, 2019 to September 6, 2020. All policies and measures enacted were obtained from their respective governmental websites. RESULTS: We found a strong association between lower death rates per capita and countries that implemented early mask use and strict border control measures that included mandatory quarantine using digital tools. There is a significant difference in the number of deaths per 100,000 when comparing Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore versus the U.S., Spain, and Italy. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our research, it is evident that early intervention with the use of digital tools has a strong correlation for containing COVID-19. Infection rates and subsequent deaths in Italy, Spain, and more specifically the U.S. could have been much lower with early mask use and, more importantly, timely border control measures utilizing modern digital tools. Thus, we propose that the U.S. execute the following national policies should a public health emergency be declared: (1) Immediately establish a National Command responsible for enacting strict mandatory guidelines enforced by federal and state governments, including national mask use. (2) Mandate civilian cooperation with health officials in contact tracing and quarantine orders. Incoming travelers to the U.S. and those quarantined will be required to download a contact tracing app. We acknowledge the countries we studied differ in their cultures, political systems, and reporting criteria for COVID-19 deaths. Further research may need to be conducted to address these limitations; however, we believe that the proposed policies could protect the American public.
背景:新冠肺炎疫情在中国武汉爆发以来,世界各国被迫采取前所未有的防控措施。虽然一些国家仍在与COVID-19大流行作斗争,但其他国家的情况较好,并迅速建立了相对正常的状态。该病毒的快速传播速度表明,更需要采取有效和技术现代化的遏制措施。在应对COVID-19大流行表现良好的国家,利用数字工具促进严格的控制措施既引发了兴趣,也引发了争议。目的:在本研究中,我们比较了针对COVID-19传播所采取的预防措施,特别是在接触者追踪中使用数字工具的情况,并提出了可在美国用于未来COVID-19浪潮或大流行的政策。方法:2019年12月31日至2020年9月6日,从欧洲疾病预防控制中心(ECDC)通过Our World in data数据库获取COVID-19死亡率数据,并根据每10万人的人口规模进行评估。所有制定的政策和措施均来自各自的政府网站。结果:我们发现,较低的人均死亡率与实施早期口罩使用和严格边境控制措施(包括使用数字工具强制隔离)的国家之间存在密切关联。台湾、韩国、新加坡与美国、西班牙、意大利相比,每10万人中死亡人数相差很大。结论:根据我们的研究,显然使用数字工具进行早期干预与遏制COVID-19具有很强的相关性。在意大利、西班牙,特别是美国,如果早期使用口罩,更重要的是,及时采取利用现代数字工具的边境控制措施,感染率和随后的死亡率本可以低得多。因此,我们建议美国在宣布公共卫生紧急情况时执行以下国家政策:(1)立即建立一个国家指挥部,负责制定由联邦和州政府执行的严格强制性指导方针,包括全国口罩使用。(2)在接触者追踪和检疫令方面与卫生官员进行民事合作。到美国的入境旅客和被隔离的人将被要求下载接触者追踪应用程序。我们承认,我们研究的国家在文化、政治制度和COVID-19死亡报告标准方面存在差异。可能需要进行进一步的研究来解决这些限制;然而,我们认为拟议的政策可以保护美国公众。
{"title":"Proposal for Using Digital Tools in Mitigating a Pandemic: Lessons Learned from COVID-19","authors":"Stephanie N Bernardo, Kylie Zeng, W. Havins","doi":"10.1080/01947648.2021.1914469","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01947648.2021.1914469","url":null,"abstract":"BACKGROUND: Since the COVID-19 outbreak began in Wuhan China, countries across the world have been forced to take unprecedented measures to combat it. While some countries are still grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, others have fared better and have established relative normalcy quickly. The rapid transmission rate of the virus has shown a greater need for efficient and technologically modern containment measures. The use of digital tools to facilitate strict containment measures in countries that have faired well against the COVID-19 pandemic has sparked both interest and controversy. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we compare the precautions taken against the spread of COVID-19, particularly the use of digital tools in contact tracing, and propose policies that could be utilized in the U.S. for future COVID-19 waves or pandemics. METHODS: COVID-19 death rates data were obtained from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) accessed through the Our World in Data database, and were evaluated based on population size per 100,000 from December 31, 2019 to September 6, 2020. All policies and measures enacted were obtained from their respective governmental websites. RESULTS: We found a strong association between lower death rates per capita and countries that implemented early mask use and strict border control measures that included mandatory quarantine using digital tools. There is a significant difference in the number of deaths per 100,000 when comparing Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore versus the U.S., Spain, and Italy. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our research, it is evident that early intervention with the use of digital tools has a strong correlation for containing COVID-19. Infection rates and subsequent deaths in Italy, Spain, and more specifically the U.S. could have been much lower with early mask use and, more importantly, timely border control measures utilizing modern digital tools. Thus, we propose that the U.S. execute the following national policies should a public health emergency be declared: (1) Immediately establish a National Command responsible for enacting strict mandatory guidelines enforced by federal and state governments, including national mask use. (2) Mandate civilian cooperation with health officials in contact tracing and quarantine orders. Incoming travelers to the U.S. and those quarantined will be required to download a contact tracing app. We acknowledge the countries we studied differ in their cultures, political systems, and reporting criteria for COVID-19 deaths. Further research may need to be conducted to address these limitations; however, we believe that the proposed policies could protect the American public.","PeriodicalId":44014,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":"82 1","pages":"3 - 4"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90890397","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}