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University of Iowa Participating in COVAIL Trial on Covid-19 Vaccine Boosters
University of Iowa Health Care is participating in a multi-center Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating various additional COVID-19 vaccine boosters. It’s the COVID-19 Variant Immunologic Landscape (COVAIL) trial, sponsored by the National Institute of Allery and Infectious Disease (NIAID). The trial “will test new and existing booster vaccines in various combinations to see which ones…
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Jim’s Only Kidding Endlessly
Title: Jim’s Only Kidding Endlessly It has been a little over 3 weeks since my retinal detachment surgery. I got a scleral buckle and didn’t need a vitrectomy in which you get a gas or oil bubble placed and have to keep your head down which would have made it even easier for me to…
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Not Ambivalent I’m A Hawkeye
I searched the web for a picture of ambivalence and had a tough time finding one. The featured image comes close. The reason I’m ambivalent is because of a conflict I have about the Iowa Hawkeye football program, which is currently the subject of a lawsuit by former African American players compared to the University…
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ACIP Meeting on Covid-19 Vaccines and Boosters Held on April 20, 2022
I got to listen to some of the presentations yesterday during the ACIP meeting on Covid-19 vaccines and boosters. My impression is that there seems to still be some discussion about what the most important goals of the vaccination program. Is it to prevent severe disease, hospitalization, and death? Or is it to prevent infection…
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Looking Back on Gunslingers and Chess Masters
I was looking at an early version of the handbook of consultation-liaison psychiatry that eventually evolved into what was actually published by Cambridge University Press. I wrote virtually all of the early version and it was mainly for trainees rotating through the consult service. The published book had many talented contributors. I and my department…
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Second Covid-19 Booster Jab Done
Yesterday I got the second Covid-19 booster jab. Sena got hers shortly before I did. The pharmacy was practically deserted. Nobody is waiting in line to get this one, evidently. Sena and I are now 4 for 4 jabs with no end in sight unless somebody comes up with a new vaccine that’ll last longer…
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Will A Stone Float On Water?
I told the little story about a postop nurse asking me a CAM-ICU question (Will a stone float on water?) after I got back to the recovery room following my retinal detachment surgery last week. I got that one right by answering “No.” But for a split second—I had to think about it. Sena was…
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They Did Learn How to Check for Delirium!
Here’s another oldie but goodie blog post, “It’s Survey Time.” It’s a blast from the past (May of 2011) but it needs a short introduction on why I’m reposting it. So, I’m about a week out from my surgery for a detached retina. I’m doing pretty well. I keep thinking about a question a nurse…
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The Path to Asapiprant: Perspiration or Inspiration?
I just found a University of Iowa Health Care announcement about a potential novel treatment to protect older patients from the ravages of Covid-19 infection. According to the announcement: “An experimental drug that counters immune aging, effectively prevents death in older mice with severe COVID-19, suggesting it may have potential as a therapy to protect…
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The Connection Between The University of Iowa and Factitious Disorder
I found another old blog post, Thoughts on Munchausen’s Syndrome, which reminded me of a psychiatric disorder I saw probably more frequently than most psychiatrists unless they are consultation-liaison specialists. I wrote it in June of 2011. I still don’t understand the disorder and I doubt anyone else does either. The interesting connection to Iowa…
Go Retire Psychiatrist 