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Update on VAM 2020 issued by SVS
The Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) has placed members on notice that the Vascular Annual Meeting (VAM) slated for June 17–20 in Toronto looks increasingly “unlikely” in the shadow of the coronavirus outbreak. Writing on SVSConnect, the online community of…
Call for older physicians to be protected from COVID-19
Hospitals and government health departments should give careful consideration to the protection of older physicians and nurses in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a viewpoint published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Peter I.…
CMS announces temporary waivers that include expansion of telehealth coverage
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a series of temporary regulatory waivers and new rules designed to help the U.S. healthcare system respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal agency announced. The actions cover increasing hospital…
‘Desperate times require desperate measures,’ SVS Town Hall on COVID-19 hears
The imperatives of preserving personal protective equipment (PPE) in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic were given a robust airing during a Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) Town Hall on the specialty’s early experiences with the coronavirus strain. Some of…
SVS builds COVID-19 resource page for members
The Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) understands this is a very trying time for its members and hopes to provide help through various resources. On the SVS website, there is now a new COVID-19 member resources page where helpful links…
COVID-19 special: How to be a doctor at the end of the world
Vascular Specialist medical editor Malachi Sheahan III, MD, is no stranger to national and international emergencies—from New York City during both the 1990s AIDS crisis and the terrorist attack on 9/11, to New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Here,…
Integrity of clinical trials should be ‘preserved’ in face of COVID-19
Efforts and resources should be directed toward continuing randomized clinical trials in spite of the specter of the coronavirus pandemic. This is because of the potential of such studies to help millions of people suffering from debilitating chronic diseases, according…
Vascular surgeons will survive these ‘troubled waters,’ says SVS president
The Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) is a “solidly built bridge” across the troubled waters of the coronavirus pandemic, president Kim Hodgson, MD, today proclaimed. The path to the other side of the current COVID-19 crisis may not be clear…
Prominent Seattle hospital issues COVID-19 clinical practice guidelines for vascular surgery
A prominent hospital operating on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic in Washington state has released a set of clinical practice guidelines for vascular surgery. They were put together by Benjamin W. Starnes, MD, professor and chief in the division…
Physician-developed respirator device offers one possible solution to PPE shortages
Surgeons and other healthcare professionals aren’t hanging around waiting for depleted personal protective equipment (PPE) to be replenished. Amid COVID-19-related shortages, ingenuity, creativity and craftsmanship have come to the fore. Social media swirl with tales of healthcare professionals fashioning and…