Rahul Ganatra

Rahul Ganatra

@rbganatra.bsky.social

Medical Attending and Director of CME at VA Boston | Critical Appraisal enthusiast @thecurbsiders.bsky.social & Journal Watch. Easily fascinated. Views mine, but I'll share.

395 Followers 221 Following 69 Posts Joined Sep 2023
5 months ago

100%

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5 months ago

Ooh I've never considered that aspect of it before. That sounds deserving of its own story. I bet there's all kinds of therapies that just got grandfathered in

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5 months ago

Impossible

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5 months ago

Serum ammonia level determination in known cirrhosis

Universal secondary SBP prophylaxis (caveat, guidelines still recommend this)

Universal Abx prophylaxis after UGIB in cirrhosis (same caveat)

Is docusate high-stakes enough? I know it's true but its so blah

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5 months ago

Lol

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5 months ago

It feels like critical appraisal is about to have a bit of a moment... let's do it right, people!

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5 months ago
Screenshot of article excerpt: Highmark refused to pay for the emergency medical treatment for the colon infection. In a bizarre twist, that denial letter listed her husband as the patient but made reference to the care of a newborn, not that of a 52-year-old man having a mental health crisis.

“It was determined,” the letter said, “that your newborn does not meet the criteria for coverage of an inpatient hospital admission.”

“This is when I really start to think they’re just denying,” she recalled. “They’re not even looking. They’re just ‘deny, deny, deny.’”

One insurance denial for Teressa's husband stated, “your newborn does not meet the criteria for coverage.”

“This is when I really start to think they’re just denying,” she recalled. “They’re not even looking. They’re just ‘deny, deny, deny.’”

➡️ Full story: www.propublica.org/article/ment...

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6 months ago
Preview
“Just Let Me Die”: After Insurance Repeatedly Denied a Couple’s Claims, One Psychiatrist Was Their Last Hope After a North Carolina man attempted suicide twice, his wife tried to get him help at an inpatient clinic. But their insurance provider refused to cover the treatment, deeming it “not medically necess...

After a North Carolina man attempted suicide twice, his wife tried to get him help at an inpatient clinic.

But their insurance provider refused to cover the treatment, deeming it “not medically necessary.”

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6 months ago

Thanks so much, Moises! We loved having you and I personally learned a lot!

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6 months ago

Question for folks in medicine and science:

What are some of the best invited editorials you have ever read?

What made them so good?

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6 months ago

Lots of gold in this list!

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6 months ago
Post image

🥞 #496 Hotcakes are here! 🩺
www.thecurbsiders.com

We’re diving into:
🌿 CBD-induced liver injury
💉 IV iron for HFrEF
🛏️ Bedtime BP meds
✋ Carpal Tunnel & RA
❤️ FDA approval of finerenone for HFpEF

✨ featuring @paulnwilliams.bsky.social @rbganatra.bsky.social, Dr. Nora Taranto, Dr. Matthew Watto

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6 months ago
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ChatGPT tends to ignore retractions on scientific papers Study finds the chatbot doesn’t acknowledge concerns with problematic studies

“The study authors asked GPT 4o-mini to evaluate the quality of 217 papers. The tool didn’t mention in any of the reports that the papers being analyzed had been retracted or had validity issues.

In 190 cases, GPT described the papers as world leading, internationally excellent, or close to that”

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6 months ago

Congratulations, Joel!! Well-deserved!

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7 months ago

I have definitely made arguments that, in retrospect, were not persuasive enough. Someone telling me why they weren't persuaded would be very useful!

(I thought that was a more constructive response than "I'm not convinced! 😂)

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7 months ago
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After Years of Anger Directed at C.D.C., Shooting Manifests Worst Fears

"Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who oversees the CDC, did not make a statement the day of the shooting.

Late the following morning, more than 30 minutes after posting photos of fishing with his family, Kennedy posted condolences on his official X account..."

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/09/u...

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7 months ago

I agree, it feels like we are living through a big shift in how people search for medical information.

I remember learning about using MeSH terms to search PubMed in medical school- how far we've come !

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7 months ago

Fewer than 10% of published observational studies in this sample used DAGs to justify confounder selection.

This is a huge missed opportunity for both readers and researchers.

DAGs are invaluable in research design and critical appraisal.

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7 months ago

“I can tell you personally, hot dogs are very slippery,” the fire chief said. “I did not know that.”

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7 months ago
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Electroreception in treehoppers: How extreme morphologies can increase electrical sensitivity | PNAS The link between form and function of an organism’s morphology is usually apparent or intuitive. However, some clades of organisms show remarkable ...

Why do treehoppers look so weird?! Our latest paper, out this week in @pnas.org, suggests a perhaps unexpected reason - static electricity ⚡ We show that treehoppers can detect the electrostatic cues of predators and that their crazy shapes may boost their electrosensitivity! doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

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7 months ago

Im not sure why bluesky has me permanently tuned in to the Paul Williams show, but I'm here for it!

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7 months ago

I mean, you have identified two of (im guessing) many important causes for the observation that many fewer people prescribe buprenorphine than could - very valuable!

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7 months ago

Though I also wonder what else, besides prejudice and stigma, contributes to this "not my area" problem. Intimidation? Inertia? Suspicion of new drugs?

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7 months ago

Great point Paul. I am reminded of physicians I worked with over the years who never really made it a priority to learn about HIV medications.

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7 months ago

🤣

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7 months ago
Preview
Bill Hader Eating Popcorn GIF Alt: Bill Hader Eating Popcorn GIF

Updated CAP and UTI guidelines??? Yes please!

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7 months ago
Diagnosis and Management of Community-acquired Pneumonia. An Official American Thoracic Society Clinical Practice Guideline | American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine | Articles in P...

🔥🔥Just published 🔥🔥
ATS CAP guidelines 2025
Diagnosis and Management of Community-acquired Pneumonia. An Official American Thoracic Society Clinical Practice Guideline
Free access pdf #IDsky#EMIMCC
www.atsjournals.org/doi/10.1164/...

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7 months ago

Being an old gray-hair in medicine is an art.

You need some additional distinctive schtick, for example:
- bialys
- oysters
- unnerving glances
- RR of 30

I bet you know who all of those people are.

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7 months ago
A bottlenose dolphin wearing a marine sponge on its nose to forage while swimming in Shark Bay, Australia.

Bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay, Australia, use sponges on their beaks while hunting fish to protect them from sharp rocks while they forage at the expense of echolocation. Only about 5% of the population has mastered this culturally transmitted skill! 🧪

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

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