Anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody CM313 for systemic lupus erythematosus: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase Ib/IIa trial

Agreement:  I Agree Body:  Dear Editor Excellent piece with coverage of the full range of potential benefits and risks. It fails to address the need to get a second opinion from an independent source. I was diagnosed and treated for a time as having COPD. I was referred to a pulmonary specialist on the basis of a history of exposure very early in life to a chain smoking grandfather. I finally sought and received a referral to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where a team of experts decided that I didn’t have COPD. Rather, I was wolfing my…

Agreement:  I Agree Body:  Dear Editor James Titcombe’s opinion article on the need to rethink the scandal narrative around NHS maternity services correctly highlighted the reality that patient safety is messy, pressured and variable. Fear, defensiveness and the need to fix drives knee jerk recommendations to implement and measure. We argue that such repeated regulation also has an emotional impact that is rarely discussed but strongly felt in maternity services. Maternity units have faced almost continuous review: Ockenden, Kirkup, East Kent, and a series of national reports, safety schemes, and assurance frameworks. Each adds new recommendations, usually with good…

Illustration of carotid artery stenting JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A major international study led by Mayo Clinic researchers and funded by the National Institutes of Health found that for people with severe carotid artery narrowing who haven’t experienced recent stroke symptoms, a minimally invasive procedure called carotid artery stenting, combined with intensive medical therapy, significantly lowered stroke risk compared with medical therapy alone. Traditional surgery (carotid endarterectomy) did not show the same benefit. The research is published in The New England Journal of Medicine. The Carotid Revascularization and Medical Management for Asymptomatic Carotid Stenosis Trial (CREST-2) is the largest study…