'Only Side Effects Are Good Ones': What We Heard This Week

— Quotable quotes heard by 's reporters

MedicalToday
A female reporter holding two microphones takes notes on a pad

"The only side effects are good ones." -- Dean Ornish, MD, of the University of California San Francisco, discussing an intensive lifestyle intervention that may help slow early Alzheimer's disease.

"We've become a more inclusive organization, a courageous ally to many -- including myself -- who had faced prejudice or discrimination simply because of who they are." -- Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, outgoing president of the American Medical Association (AMA), discussing how the organization has changed over the years.

"I can't say I've ever seen a case in 30 years of doing lactation." -- Pamela Berens, MD, of McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, on lactation anaphylaxis.

"The war on drugs is quite reminiscent of the phrase, 'The beatings will continue until morale improves.'" -- AMA delegate and MD/PhD candidate Ryan Englander, discussing drug decriminalization.

"No matter how durable, the valve will fail." -- Stanley Chetcuti, MD, of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, on how a bioprosthetic valve may not last a lifetime in younger patients.

"Remember that people can be concussed and still test normally on this." -- Kimberly Harmon, MD, of the University of Washington in Seattle, on cognitive testing for concussion.

"All of these overdose clusters that we hear about are really oversedation problems, not death problems." -- Lewis Nelson, MD, of Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in New Brunswick, discussing medetomidine overdoses.

"[Step 3 scores] are not correlated with patient outcomes or clinical skills." -- Dayna Isaacs, MD, MPH, a delegate for the AMA Resident and Fellow Section, discussing the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE).

"This is the first time in medical history that this is happening." -- Giovanni Landoni, MD, of IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan, on how an amino acid infusion before cardiac surgery reduced acute kidney injury occurrence.