Editorial  October 25, 2023 Vitamin C for Patients With COVID-19: More Evidence of Lack of Efficacy in Patients With Sepsis Craig S. Jabaley, Craig M. Coopersmith JAMA. Published online October 25, 2023. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.18592 Vitamin C is an essential nutrient, functioning as an antioxidant, immunomodulator, and cofactor for numerous enzymes. Vitamin C represents the definitive treatment for scurvy, which results from vitamin C deficien...

Editorial  October 25, 2023 Sigh Breaths for Trauma Patients Receiving Mechanical Ventilation: Take a Deep Breath Giacomo Bellani, Antonio Pesenti JAMA. Published online October 25, 2023. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.21744 Occasionally, newspapers report positive stories of animal species believed to be extinct, only to be discovered alive and repopulating their habitats.1 In this issue of JAMA, Albert and colleagues2 assessed the rol...

The Promise of Artificial Intelligence in Critical Care Computer-based technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) applications like ChatGPT and DALL-E, are being increasingly used and can mimic human capabilities, even passing medical board examinations. Retrospective studies have shown that machine learning (ML) applications are especially valuable in the ICU due to their diagnostic and prognostic capabilities, leveraging the vast amount of available dat...

Viewpoint  September 29, 2023 COVID-19 Therapeutics for Nonhospitalized Patients—Updates and Future Directions Kara W. Chew, Preeti N. Malani, Rajesh T. Gandhi JAMA. Published online September 29, 2023. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.19542 Antiviral therapeutics for COVID-19 in nonhospitalized patients prevent progression to severe illness, hospitalization, and death. Despite their proven benefit, utilization of these therapies remains low. This Viewp...

Editorial  October 25, 2023 β-Blockers in Patients With Sepsis: Putting the Puzzle Together, Piece by Piece Steven M. Hollenberg JAMA. Published online October 25, 2023. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.20455 Challenging conventional wisdom is important and frequently useful. Septic shock is a form of distributive shock in which hypotension results from vasodilation.1 Although myocardial performance may not always be entirely normal, a phenomenon t...

Invited Commentary  September 20, 2023 New Technology and Bile Duct Injuries Liane S. Feldman, L. Michael Brunt JAMA Surg. Published online September 20, 2023. doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2023.4404 Thirty-five years ago, the rapid adoption of laparoscopic cholecystectomy ushered in the minimally invasive surgical revolution. Combining 2 preexisting and safe operations, this transformative innovation nonetheless resulted in unexpected patient harms: ...

Editorial  October 14, 2023 Acute Kidney Injury With Empirical Antibiotics for Sepsis Steven Y. C. Tong, Balasubramanian Venkatesh, Erin K. McCreary JAMA. Published online October 14, 2023. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.18591 Sepsis describes life-threatening organ dysfunction due to a dysregulated host response to infection. It is a global health priority affecting 55 million people worldwide causing 11 million deaths annually.1 Failure to init...

Comment & Response  September 18, 2023 Xuebijing Injection for Sepsis Treatment: When Will It Be Approved Outside of China? Tianyang Hu JAMA Intern Med. Published online September 18, 2023. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.4398 To the Editor A recent study by Liu and colleagues1 reported a reduction in 28-day mortality in patients with sepsis treated with Xuebijing (XBJ), a Chinese medicine compounded injection, compared with plac...

Surgical Stabilisation of Rib Fractures in Chest Wall Injury A new study compared the effectiveness of surgical stabilisation of rib fractures (SSRF) to non-operative management in cases of severe chest wall injury. The effectiveness of SSRF has been demonstrated in patients with clinical flail chest and respiratory failure. However, the impact of SSRF on outcomes in cases of severe chest wall injuries without clinical flail chest remains uncertain. This stud...

Editorial  September 12, 2023 Blood Transfusion and Brain Amyloidosis: Should We Be Worried? Steven M. GreenbergJAMA. 2023;330(10):921-922. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.14522 Is misfolding of the amyloid β peptide—the primary constituent of senile plaques in Alzheimer disease and toxic cerebral vessel wall deposits in cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA)1—contagious? Data from experimental and clinical sources argue that prion-like transmission of amyloid β mi...