Media Coverage

A new study by E. Brooke Lerner, PhD, professor of emergency medicine and vice chair for research in the Department of Emergency Medicine, found that EMS calls dropped by 26.1 percent between early March and late May, while EMS-attended deaths doubled during that period. “There’s always going to be a risk-benefit ratio, but for those conditions like myocardial infarction (heart attack) and stroke, people just aren’t presenting on time and those are diseases we know that the longer you wait, the less likely you are to have a positive outcome,” Lerner said.

Voters in Clarence, New York, have passed the Board of Education’s proposed $88.2 million budget for the 2020-21 school year. New to the Board of Education will be Joshua J. Lynch, DO, clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine. Lynch received 4,045 votes. Five candidates were vying for three seats on the board; each seat carries a three-year term. The results conclude an unusual election in the history of the town — one in which not a single vote was cast at a physical polling place due to social distancing mandates forced by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

A story reports on the opening of Erie County Medical Center’s new Key Bank Trauma and Emergency Department which doubles its capacity. The story notes that the new center will build on the hospital’s strong partnership with the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and Kaleida Health.

In a story about the national shortage of addiction medicine physicians, the Association of American Medical Schools discusses how the Buffalo MATTERS program, developed by Joshua J. Lynch, DO, clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine, has helped train more emergency medicine physicians and others to treat addiction. “We are doing a better job of opening up students’ minds,” added Lynch, noting that more students are beginning to understand that while they may be specializing in something seemingly unrelated to addiction medicine, if their patients need pain management, they’ll need to understand the potential for addiction.

A story about an opioid summit held in Oneida County mentions that Joshua J. Lynch, DO, clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine, described work in Western New York on reducing overprescribing among physicians and in making better use of medications that help break addictions.

Technology.org reports that UB researchers will study the nutrition practices of emergency medical service workers. The study will examine the on- and off-duty eating habits of EMS providers. The goal is to shed light on the chronic health conditions among EMS compared to the public. Brian Clemency, DO, associate professor of emergency medicine and director of the EMS fellowship in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and David P. Hostler III, PhD, professor and chair of exercise and nutrition sciences in the School of Public Health and Health Professions and  clinical professor of emergency medicine in the Jacobs School, are co-authors of the study. The story was also picked up by EMS1.

News accounts detailed the state Department of Health announcing that it will launch the Buffalo Medication Assisted Treatment and Emergency Referrals, or Buffalo MATTERS, program across New York, and interview Joshua J. Lynch, DO, clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine, who developed the program with others in the Department of Medicine. “If somebody comes in with chest pain, we would never just blow them off and send them home,” he said. “That’s what we used do that for patients with opioid-use disorder. I think we’ve wholeheartedly now realized in the medical community that this is a potentially life-threatening chronic disease.”

Research by Brian Clemency, DO, associate professor of emergency medicine in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and David P. Hostler III, PhD, professor and chair of exercise and nutrition sciences in UB's School of Public Health and Health Professions, will study the nutrition habits of emergency medical workers.

Anthony J. Billittier, MD, clinical associate professor of emergency medicine, has joined Independent Health as executive vice president and chief medical officer, effective June 10.

Joshua J. Lynch, DO, clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine, is interviewed for an article about mixed opinions of the HEALing Communities Study, the Trump administration’s newest plan to fight the opioid crisis by making $350 million available as grants to hospitals or universities to support community partnerships. “The concept of the HEALing Communities study appears promising,” he said. “By aiming to better understand the needs of many communities and working to specifically reduce opioid deaths, this study seems better than others the Trump administration has proposed.”

According to findings by Brian Clemency, DO, associate professor of emergency medicine and director of the emergency medical services fellowship, patients treated with naloxone in the emergency room can be safely released following positive findings of six evaluation criteria. The study, published in Academic Emergency Medicine, was the first to clinically assess and validate a rule regarding the length of observation time necessary before opioid overdose patients can be safely discharged from an emergency department.

Brian Clemency, DO, associate professor of emergency medicine and emergency medical services fellowship director, was interviewed on the podcast “The Skeptics’ Guide to Emergency Medicine.” He discussed findings from a recently published paper concluding that the St. Paul’s Early Discharge Rule may be used to risk stratify patients for early discharge following naloxone administration for suspected opioid overdose.

Research by Brian Clemency, DO, associate professor of emergency medicine, has found that opioid use patients who have been treated with naloxone for overdose and who meet certain clinical criteria can be safely discharged from an emergency department within an hour after treatment.

Research by Brian Clemency, DO, associate professor of emergency medicine, found that opioid use patients who have been treated with naloxone for overdose and who meet certain clinical criteria can be safely discharged from the Emergency Department within an hour after treatment.

BlueCross BlueShield has awarded $2.7 million in grant funding to nine health-based projects across Western New York, including $200,000 to the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences for the expansion of emergency access to medication-assisted treatment for patients with opioid-use disorder as well as rapid referral to long-term treatment.