Think in terms of months, not weeks, write medical ethicist Ezekiel Emanuel, Susan Ellenberg, PhD (biostatistics) and Michael Levy, PhD (epidemiology) in a New York Times opinion piece. We need to stop picturing that ubiquitous “flatten the curve” chart and start imagining a roller coaster.

Why are so many patients dying after lung transplants? A new study led by Jason Christie, MD, MSCE, aims to identify risk factors for chronic lung allograft dysfunction, the top cause.

Michael Levy, PhD, argues that a last-minute amendment weakens Philadelphia’s plan to stop being the nation's No.1 most bedbug infested city. Bedbugs are difficult to eliminate from homes, but they are not so difficult to control in a city, he writes. With the proper push, Philadelphia could turn around the epidemic.

"Our study showed that transplants with HCV-infected kidneys are now routinely performed at many centers, and they are functioning well at one year after transplant," said study co-leader Peter Reese, MD, MSCE.

Chronically ill people, especially, are at risk in hot weather, comments Sean Hennessy, PharmD, PhD. His team has found some protective measures: heart failure patients who take diuretics, for instance, are more likely to survive hot temperatures if they also take potassium supplements.

President Trump recently signed an executive order aimed at improving the care of kidney patients. In an interview, Nwamaka D. Eneanya, MD, MPH, commented that a goal of having 80% of patients with end-stage kidney disease use home dialysis or receive a transplant would be a monumental change.

Why are bed bugs on the rise in cities like Philadelphia, and what dangers do they pose? Michael Z. Levy, PhD, comments as part of this live radio show.

For years, we have questioned whether risks are higher for patients whose blood pressure seems to spike only at the doctor's office. A new study led by Jordana Cohen, MD, MSCE, says the answer is emphatically yes.

For nearly 20 years, eGFR equations have helped clinicians screen for kidney disease and care for patients. But the problems of racial classification related to eGFR have not been closely examined, write authors Nwamaka D. Eneanya, MD, MPH; Wei (Peter) Yang, PhD; and Peter P. Reese, MD, MSCE.

“If you have a proactive legislation that incentivizes landlords and everyone to treat for bed bugs promptly, you can really decrease the number of bed bugs quickly,” Michael Z. Levy, PhD, commented about a study he worked on with lead author Sherrie Xie, a graduate researcher in epidemiology.