One of the picks for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Robert Malone, MD, is known for his outspoken criticism of mRNA vaccines, particularly for COVID-19. Malone believes the technology is unsafe and has been accused by public health officials of spreading medical misinformation. 

Former American Society of Echocardiography president and well-known cardiac ultrasound pioneer Roberto Lang, MD, died at the age of 73. He helped develop 3D echo technology that is now used by care teams on a daily basis.

SCAI and other healthcare groups want changes made to how healthcare providers are paid after performing office-based lab procedures. "As much as we love delivering care as doctors, if we are losing money doing something, we cannot sustain it," one cardiologist explained. 

The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association—a trade lobby representing pharmacy benefit managers—argues a state law that would force companies to divest from drugstores could leave patients without access to critical medications.

American Medical Association President Bruce Scott, MD, explains some of the key issues facing physicians, including burnout, growing medical staffing shortages, doctors leaving rural areas, increasing patients and declining Medicare payments.

Former American College of Cardiology president Kim Allan Williams, Sr., MD, an ACC delegate to the American Medical Association House of Delegates, discusses an AMA resolution aimed at improving public awareness of low-dose CT lung cancer exams that can screen for coronary artery calcium at the same time. 

The American Society of Nuclear Cardiology made its voice heard, pushing for legislation to repeal Medicare payment cuts and tie payments to inflationary increases. Prior authorization and a proposed tariff on radioisotopes were also discussed.

Clinical guidelines already recommend that these procedures be performed together when applicable. However, researchers noted, it is still not terribly common among today’s surgeons.