-
Heeeeeere’s Arnie—at the FDA Advisory Committee Meeting
I got a big kick out of Acting Chair of the FDA’s Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee. Dr. Arnold Monto at the FDA meeting last month for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine booster. Everybody else did too, I bet. They all called him Arnie. I’m looking forward to seeing Arnie in action again this…
-
Thoughts on Transplant Psychiatry
I see in the news that organ transplant centers have removed a few patients from wait lists because they refuse COVID-19 vaccines. It may seem odd, but this reminds me of an even more difficult situation in organ transplantation. What do you do about those who just refuse organ transplant altogether? I used to be…
-
Get This Book: Every Deep-Drawn Breath
I just got Wes Ely’s new book, Every Deep-Drawn Breath. You do need to buy this book to learn about delirium, Post-Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS) and what Dr. Ely and colleagues are doing to prevent it. PICS is a syndrome patients suffer after being hospitalized with severe medical illness in critical care units. It includes…
-
Rather Fight Than Switch?
I wonder how many baby boomers remember those TV cigarette commercials featuring an actor holding a smoke, sporting a black eye and saying “I’d rather fight than switch.” I guess they ran those ads from the 1960s to 1981. I think of those commercials when I read the news. There are a couple of Iowa…
-
Proof of Simulated Reality—Or Cool Camera Trick?
I watch the History Channel TV show “The Proof is Out There” hosted by Tony Harris. Early this year (I think January), an episode featured a snapshot showing a woman who’s mirror reflection didn’t match her facial expression. It was striking. The question was whether this proved we live in a simulated reality (think of…
-
ACIP Meeting on COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters: Day Two
It must have been after 8:00 PM last night that the FDA posted the COVID-19 Booster EUA authorization. The ACIP took that ball and ran with it all day long. Today was the second day of the ACIP meeting and the committee covered a lot of ground and ran over the schedule by more than…
-
ACIP Meeting on COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters: Day One
This was the first day of the Advisory Council on Immunization Practices (ACIP) on COVID-19 vaccine boosters. I was struck by how organized it was. I was also struck by the statement by one presenter that they’re still waiting for a final decision from the FDA on the issue. I thought they made that last…
-
More COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Sausages This Week?
I saw a nice summary by Stat News of last Friday’s FDA Advisory Committee meeting on Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine booster. They indicate the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) are meeting this coming Wednesday and Thursday to fine-tune the FDA recommendations, which was a messy affair. I have been checking the ACIP web site frequently…
-
Watching Sausages, Laws, and FDA Advisory Committee Decisions Being Made
Sena and I watched the FDA Advisory Committee live streamed meeting yesterday on whether or not Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine booster should be given full licensure. You know, there’s a much-discussed question about who actually made the following quote: “Laws are like sausages; better not to see them being made.”—often attributed to Otto Von Bismarck although…
-
The Monsters
Sena and I got our annual flu shots last week, and I also got a pneumonia vaccine. We’ve been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 since earlier in the year. Now we’re waiting for the word on whether we’ll need COVID-19 vaccine boosters. We’ll probably know more about that by the end of the week after the…
Go Retire Psychiatrist 