Not only does intraoperative opioid waste have serious environmental, regulatory, and financial costs, but it can also threaten the quality of patient care and safety. Fortunately, implementing strategies like ready-to-administer syringes with small doses can improve surgical protocols, patient outcomes, and overall healthcare efficiency. Joining Dr. Charles Turck to discuss how we can address and prevent the critical impacts of opioid waste is Dr. John Hertig, Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice and Department Chair at Butler University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

Over 35 million people in the United States suffer from some form of chronic kidney disease, but many of them lack the support and education to navigate their condition and receive the best possible care. After her daughter was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease, Kelly Helm discovered the many obstacles associated with management and treatment. Hear from Kelly as she sits down with Dr. Gates Colbert to share what she’s learned as a parent, caregiver, and advocate. Kelly is the Executive Director of Patient Engagement at NephCure, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and empowering patients with rare kidney diseases.

Current colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates are low, putting patients at risk of developing more advanced disease and even increased mortality. Primary care physicians play a critical role in reversing this troubling trend, which is why Dr. Charles Turck speaks with Ms. Sarah Enslin about strategies for improving adherence to CRC screening in the primary care setting. Ms. Enslin is a physician assistant at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, New York.

The United States Preventative Services Task Force endorses multiple screening options for patients at average-risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). These options include colonoscopy, multi-target stool DNA, and the fecal immunochemical test. However, performance data for non-endorsed options like multi-target stool RNA and blood-based screening tests have recently been published. That’s why a recent poster presented at the 2024 Digestive Disease Week conference compared the benefit-to-harm ratio for guideline-endorsed versus non-endorsed CRC screening tests. Tune in to learn more about the findings and their implications for CRC screening.

For patients at average risk of colorectal cancer (CRC), the United States Preventative Services Task Force recommends screening with either the multi-target stool DNA test or fecal immunochemical test. But in light of new performance data that compared a multi-target stool DNA test and a fecal immunochemical test, a poster presented at the 2024 Digestive Disease Week conference re-evaluated the benefits and harms associated with each test. Tune in to learn more about the findings and their implications for CRC screening.

Approximately 40 percent of the eligible U.S. population are not up to date with their colorectal cancer (CRC) screenings, which inspired this study that was presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2024 to help eliminate the colonoscopy backlog with stool-based CRC screening options. To learn the details of this study and how we can incorporate the findings into practice, join Dr. Jennifer Caudle as she speaks with Dr. Mark Fendrick, Professor of Internal Medicine in the School of Medicine and Professor of Health Management and Policy in the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan.

The United States has seen its largest increase in syphilis cases in the past five years. And with increases prevalent in every region, along with a shortage of medication, additional surveillance strategies and importation resources are necessary. Dive in for a discussion on the challenges and strategies to combat the spread of syphilis with Dr. Ina Park, Professor of Family Community Medicine at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine.

Malignant hyperthermia is an inherited disorder primarily recognized by anesthesia professionals. And since this condition can have significant consequences on a patient’s health, including their likelihood of surviving surgery, it’s important to know how to diagnose and treat malignant hyperthermia emergencies in operating room settings. Join Dr. Charles Turck as he dives deeper into this topic with Dr. Henry Rosenberg, a member of the Board of Directors of the Malignant Hyperthermia Association of the United States.

The future therapeutic landscape for food allergy prevention is looking clearer as a drug typically used to treat hematologic malignancies has shown to prevent systemic anaphylaxis to allergens and increase patients' tolerance to peanuts. Along with this, other therapies are also in development for allergy treatment. To learn more, join Dr. Charles Turck as he dives deeper into this study and its findings with Dr. Melanie Dispenza, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Daily oral therapy can have low adherence, which is why the field of long-acting formulations is rapidly advancing. Tune in to hear Dr. Charles Flexner discuss how long-acting regimens can address this problem of adherence and help patients living with HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, and other infectious diseases. Dr. Flexner is a Professor of Medicine of Pharmacology, Molecular Sciences, and International Health at Johns Hopkins University, and he also presented a session on this exact topic at the 2024 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.

If left untreated, chronic kidney disease (CKD) can progress to end-stage renal disease, requiring dialysis or kidney transplant as the only treatment options. So communicating this to patients, along with chronic conditions that could contribute to this are key. To learn more about raising awareness of the causes of CKD and to help slow the progression, join Dr. Mary Katherine Cheeley who’s speaking with Dr. Iroegbu, Co-Author of the article published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing, titled “An Integrative Review: Chronic Kidney Disease Awareness and the Social Determinants of Health Equity,” and T32 Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.