WTVF News Channel 5 reporter Kim Rafferty covered the Pain Medicine review from Shravani Durbhakula, MD, associate professor of Anesthesiology in the Division of Pain Medicine, that discusses how nitazenes — a class of highly potent synthetic opioids — are rapidly emerging as a major contributor to the overdose crisis. Originally developed in the 1950s but never approved for clinical use, these substances are over 20 times more potent than fentanyl and hundreds to thousands of times more potent than morphine. Other news outlets that have picked up the story include WSMV Channel 4 News, WGNS Radio, ScienceBlog, The Daily Mail, and Science Daily.
William Schaffner, MD, professor of Preventive Medicine, was quoted by several news outlets about public health issues, including KFF Health News and NPR’s “All Thing Considered” (the success and importance of the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns); Huff Post, Nashville Banner (the new COVID vaccine and how to get it); The Epoch Times (CDC advisory committee vote); AARP (high-dose flu shots for older people); WSMV Channel 4 News (Nashville health care leaders encourage flu vaccine); WKRN News 2 (bugs carrying Chagas disease now in Tennessee); and, less seriously, an article at Yahoo News headlined “15 Things You Touch Every Day That Have Never Been Cleaned.”
WTVF News Channel 5 reporter Forrest Sanders covered the 100th anniversary of Medical Center North. He interviewed Donald Brady, MD, Executive Vice President for Educational and Medical Staff Affairs, attended Brady’s presentation on VUMC’s history and shot B-roll at various points of interest in MCN, including the “twilight zone” in the 4th floor B-corridor, the “tuberculosis porch” and the elevator in which a baby was born in 1971.
NPR News, Newsweek and MSN, were among the outlets that interviewed Lee Wheless, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Dermatology, for stories about his study on nicotinamide for skin cancer prevention.
Kristen Gilliland, PhD, director of outreach at the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, was quoted by The Wall Street Journal in an article about pregnant women using cannabis to ease pain and anxiety.
The Independent quoted Peter Martin, MD, professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, from a previous NBC News story, for its story about how alcohol-related deaths have nearly doubled in the U.S. over the past 25 years.
Healio reporter Lucas Laboy interviewed Wei Zheng, MD, PhD, director of the Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center, for a story about his study on the health benefits of walking briskly.
Yahoo News reporter Korin Miller interviewed Aaron Brinen, PsyD, assistant professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, for a story about the parenting lesson behind the “Phillies Karen” drama in which a belligerent baseball fan bullied a father into handing over a home run ball from his son. (background here).
