2628 Wilhite Court, Suite 201
Lexington, KY 40503
PH: (859) 278-0569 FAX: (859) 277-3919
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James Borders, MD
LMS President 2021
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Value of Palliative Care
James Borders, MD
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In my inaugural address, I lamented the fact that, in America, we are culturally slow to recognize and accept death as a normal part of life. Because of this, we often administer uncomfortable, dehumanizing, and expensive counter-measures to avoid death despite times when a patient’s comorbidities and overall downhill health trajectory should be obvious to the treatment team. The large number of very elderly or chronically ill patients admitted to the hospital with no advance directives supports this assertion. A very recent article published in the Journal of Palliative Medicine detailed research on 356 adults over age 65 to identify the prevalence of what is referred to as the “treatment burden” during the last three years of life. Treatment burden is defined as the difficulties arising when the treatment workload overwhelms one’s ability to take on treatment activities at the end of life. Based upon this definition of this cohort of patients with multiple chronic conditions, 43% had treatment burden, with some evidence to suggest that the likelihood was increased if one belonged to a racial minority, had cancer, or suffered from depression or anxiety.
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Welcome New Members:
Ima Ebong, MD
Matthew Langenberg, MD
Karim Rasheed, MD
Lawrence Shirley, MD
Robert Summe, MD
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Register TODAY!
2021 KMA Virtual Annual Meeting, "Better Together: Transforming the Landscape of Care"
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The New Normal
By Dale Toney, MD, KMA President
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While there are certainly still remnants visible, society is starting to return to what life looked like before the COVID-19 pandemic. Capacity restrictions and mask mandates in Kentucky expired just over a week ago, and stores, restaurants, and travel looks much like it did pre-pandemic.
For physicians, however, things aren’t back to ‘normal’ just yet. There are still many protocols in place in our hospitals and clinics to keep our staff and patients safe, and likely will be for some time. Only 44% of Kentuckians are fully vaccinated. And then of course we are still navigating the mental and emotional toll the pandemic took on all of us, but particularly on health care workers who were on the front lines and those who lost friends, family, and colleagues to the virus.
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UK Begins Recruitment for Moderna Vaccine in Young Children
By Hilary Brown, UK HealthCare
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The University of Kentucky is one of 90 sites in the U.S. and 10 sites in Canada selected to participate in KidCOVE, a national trial by Moderna to test the safety and effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine in children age 6 months through 11 years old. The vaccine, called mRNA-1273, may protect young children from getting sick if they come into contact with SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.
A vaccine that prevents COVID-19 disease and SARS-CoV-2 virus transmission among children will be a crucial public health tool in curbing the pandemic. Using its vaccine currently given to adults, Moderna has committed to researching a safe and effective vaccine to protect people of all backgrounds and ages, including children less than 12 years of age. This pediatric research study will define an age-appropriate dose, test the vaccine’s effectiveness, and monitor any potential side effects in children, collecting information to ensure safe use.
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For More Information about the Physician Wellness Program CLICK HERE
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