December 31, 2020
TCTMD’s Daily Dispatch, summing up COVID-19 research and policy news was our most-clicked story in December bookmark it! We’re keeping it up until this darn pandemic is behind us. A mix of COVID-19 and more cardiology-related content made up the remainder of December’s most-read. Several feature stories from our Envision Change series also made the list.
December 21, 2020
Doctors put their own lives on the line in 2020, and in this tumultuous year which saw a global pandemic, a deeply divided United States, plus eroding public confidence in science they have been inspired to do something they’ve shied away from in the past: speak out.
The desire to take a stand on something that’s not strictly “medical” is a relatively new phenomenon for the profession, where clinicians of all stripes have long been urged to keep their lives and views to themselves. The advent of social media, however, has provided a place to speak out within their private circles and, more broadly, about issues that impact their patients’ health and lives.
December 17, 2020
When the 5-year results from the controversial EXCEL trial were published earlier this year, it revived an old and divisive stent-versus-surgery debate but it also rekindled questions about how clinical trials are funded. In addition to concerns over trial endpoints and reporting, some physicians complained that EXCEL and other device trials like it can’t be trusted because of the role of the manufacturer in funding the research.
This story is part of
Envision Change
, an end-of-2020 series imagining a different future for cardiology, medicine, research, and health. SEE ALSO: Transforming Clinical Research, Remaking Medicine, Heroes to Human.
The pros and cons of commercial funding in clinical research are well documented, and endless ink has been spent examining the ties between investigators and sponsors and the impact on clinical trials. But what’s the alternative? In a year when so many other aspects of cardiology practice and research have been upe
December 14, 2020
In a world indelibly changed by COVID-19 more than 72 million confirmed cases and 1.6 million deaths, and counting people and institutions have proven adaptable and resilient: look no further than the development of vaccines and the rollout now underway.
That achievement would not have been possible without improvements and acceleration in the clinical research enterprise, something also seen within cardiology research, which had to respond quickly once it became clear that COVID-19 was affecting not just the lungs, but also the heart and other organs.
This story is part of
Envision Change, an end-of-2020 series imagining a different future for cardiology, medicine, research, and health. SEE ALSO: Funding the Future, Remaking Medicine, Heroes to Human.
December 10, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has stressed hospitals and healthcare like nothing else this past century. Physicians themselves have fallen ill or died, passed the infection to their loved ones, and weathered grief, burnout, suicides, furloughs, and financial losses. As case numbers and fatalities continue to mount, some doctors are pinning their hopes on the notion that the pandemic has rocked the foundation of medicine, deconstructing and reinventing standard procedures in ways that could improve care down the road. That by providing a footing for new ideas, new technology, new voices, and new ways of working, COVID-19 could change the practice of medicine.