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My latest Mayo Clinic Proceedings philatelic vignette is now online, about the "Dear Doctor" postcards of the 1950s & 1960s. Most were from Abbott Labs, touting sodium pentothal. Author link with 50 days free access to the article" authors.elsevier.com/a/1kN0a5qq8bf7I #MedTwitter #Deltiology

Article by Dr. Jason Liebowitz about #VEXAS syndrome and somatic mosaicism in The Atlantic (paywalled): theatlantic.com/health/archive…

Reviewing edits to consents for multicenter studies highlights how IRBs lose the plot. Their mission is to protect the rights & welfare of patients. Why is language in a consent form that was acceptable to 25 major centers not acceptable to the 26th? It just slows needed studies.

Graduate student AnneSteensma was the winner of last week's plasmidsaurus art contest! Congrats to Anne!

A stream runs through the woods behind our home; this morning “frost flowers” decorated the surface.❄️ I’ve never noticed them before. They can form on on chilly, windless days when the air is much colder than surface ice. Water vapor rising up from the surface quickly refreezes.

Both 5% albumin and IVIG are currently in shortage (fda.gov/vaccines-blood…) - but hey, screw everyone who has a real clinical need like severe autoimmune disease and neuropathy so you can do your uncontrolled longevity experiment, right?

When reports emerged in 2023 of T cell secondary malignancies in CAR-T treated pts, mechanism was unclear. New MSKCC report NEJM describes LV construct integration into TP53. Likely v rare event but does inform debate about using CAR-T early vs later. nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…

DOGE Elon Musk approach feels like a surgeon trying to remove a small tumor using a saw instead of a scalpel, without pre-op imaging or taking a patient history, and also removing organs that aren’t diseased but that they just don’t like. And with med students doing the procedure

Axillo-subclavian thrombosis is a rare subtype of deep vein #thrombosis (DVT). Most commonly these clots develop in people who’ve had venous catheters or devices, but can also be seen in young athletes who have repetitive overhead arm movements. Hope he recovers quickly & fully!

I submitted a textbook chapter on myelodysplastic syndromes in October 2012, during Obama's first term, and it still hasn't been published. I am beginning to think that one may be a lost cause.🤪

My latest medical history/philately article just posted Mayo Clinic Proceedings: about revenue stamps for "Father Mathew Remedy", advertised as “the most powerful and wholesome tonic ever,” curing “every fever, dyspepsia, and torpidity of the liver." Free link: authors.elsevier.com/a/1ki6a5qq8fRsb

Since #methyleneblue is having a moment, this is how it (or the similar supravital stain, brilliant cresyl blue) highlights hemoglobin H inclusions in red blood cells - makes them look like blue golf balls. Also how reticulocytes were once counted, before flow cytometry took

I like that clonal hematopoiesis is now so widely recognized that it can just be abbreviated “CH” on the cover of ⁦Journal of Clinical Oncology⁩ and readers will know what it means, like CLL and BR and FOLFIRI and mCRC 😊

In times of uncertainty, I find myself drawn to reading mathematics - picked this up ⁦Wellesley Books⁩ recently. In a world in which we hear many influential people tell lies and spin false narratives, there is something deeply appealing about truths of logic & structure.

"When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers." -Kikuyu proverb

I had to check the calendar: it’s St Patrick’s Day, not April Fools Day. Did nature really run an article decrying unpaid labor in academia?!🤪 “First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.” Matthew 7:5

I had a minor surgical procedure last month on my 3rd and 4th toes, and just got a letter from my insurance that the 3rd toe was approved, but not the 4th toe. No explanation given. Poor little guy not only gets no roast beef, I have to pay out of pocket for his health care!

Red-breasted merganser in Boston Harbor yesterday, sporting an electric hairstyle.