The assessment of pain along with its treatment is being questioned as some worry the current approaches to measuring pain on a scale of 0 to 10 have contributed to the nation's prescription drug epidemic. John Farrar, MD, PhD, and Jeanmarie Perrone, MD, share their perspectives on the best ways to assess and treat pain.

Reuters reported on a recent study showing that people with psoriasis may be at increased risk of calcium buildup in the arteries – an indicator of heart disease risk – comparable to that of people with diabetes. Joel M. Gelfand, MD, MSCE, who was not involved in the research, was quoted.

Victims of violence are at relatively high risk of returning to the ER within two years of an initial visit, according to a recent Penn study. “Our findings highlight the potential for housing stability, behavioral-health and substance abuse programs to break cycles of violence," said senior author M. Kit Delgado, MD, MS.

Reuters reported on a recent study showing that while patients and families say they value comfort, having time with family, and death not being prolonged, these values often don’t align with the treatment they expect at the end of life. Scott D. Halpern, MD, PhD, was quoted.

CBS Boston reports on a clinical trial that leverages kidneys infected with hepatitis C, potentially making many new organs available.  “We’re giving [patients] the opportunity to have a transplant but we’re also treating them for a new infection they didn’t have. So that’s the trade-off,” commented Peter Reese, MD, MSCE.

The hot flashes and night sweats of menopause don't play out the same for all women, new research shows. Mary Sammel, ScD, suggested in HealthDay that the findings could help women know what to expect in general. “The patterns are more varied than we thought,” Sammel said.

The Perelman School of Medicine and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia will co-direct a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Prevention Epicenter site to help develop and test new methods to prevent infections in health care. The Epicenter will be co-led by Ebbing Lautenbach, MD, MPH, MSCE, and Jeffrey Gerber, MD, PhD, MSCE.

New York Magazine assesses the effectiveness of at-home fertility tests, what they reveal about a woman's ovarian reserve, and what critical information they might miss. “I understand the desire to characterize [fertility] with a test, but I also think it's such a sophisticated, complicated thing to capture that it needs to be treated as such,” says Samantha Butts, MD, MSCE.

Current health laws may stop low-income patients from getting vital screenings for colon cancer, according to a commentary co-authored by Chyke A. Doubeni, MD, MPH.

Research from David Goldberg, MD, MSCE, and colleagues is highlighted in The Atlantic. Their recent paper shed light on a previously unidentified source of disparity in liver transplantation: transplant centers vary widely in the organs they accept, leaving many of the sickest patients to die while awaiting a life-saving organ.