AJMC Staff

The Biden administration and drug manufacturers are looking at different ways to keep free access to COVID-19 vaccines; mifepristone remains available without new restrictions while a court battle continues; the goal to reduce HIV in the US by 2030 may fall short, some warn.

Globally, people lost confidence in the importance of routine childhood vaccines against lethal diseases like measles and polio, a survey finds; advocates say that the proposed price of about $50 a kit for naloxone could be too expensive; Bipartisan Senate legislation introduced this week would cap insulin at $35 per month for those with private insurance.

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The White House intends to nominate Monica Bertagnolli to run the National Institutes of Health (NIH); Supreme Court asks for more time to decide if mifepristone use will have more restrictions, and providers look to misoprostol as an alternative; House Republicans presented a proposal to require certain low-income Americans to work or risk losing Medicaid coverage.

The practice is OneOncology's 16th partners overall and its first in Florida.

People 65 years and older and those with weakened immunity are eligible for additional COVID-19 boosters; some health insurers are beginning to cover telehealth abortion; apps are enticing nurses to take gig work beyond employees.

Results for ribociclib, ponatinib, brexucabtagene autoleucel, and allo-HCT.

In breast cancer, approval for elacestrant and a new indication for sacituzumab govitecan; approval for pirtobrutinib for mantle cell lymphoma.

President Joe Biden signs order to boost care worker compensation and support caregivers; social media adds are fueling weight loss medication demands; an investigational metabolic modulator has been shown to mitigate fatigue in patients with long COVID.

Lung transplant carried out by a robot may reduce postsurgery pain; Audit finds Utah’s prison health care system has been noncompliant; Possible debt negotiation will limit Supplemental Nutrition Food Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

Attendees at the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) 2023 Spring Conference heard presentations about using electronic health records to identify cases of Clostridioides difficile earlier, as well as an update about infection control strategies.

Governor Ron DeSantis signs 6-week abortion ban in Florida; Juul will pay Washington, DC, over $15 million as part of a settlement alleging the company marketed its products to teens; death counts attributed to malnutrition more than doubled from 2018 through 2022, with most deaths occurring to Californians 85 and older in 2022.

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Judges reverted steps to make abortion pill mifepristone more accessible, but it is still available; Cigna Group will be offering an option for members that allows more visibility into manufacturer drug pricing and discounts; new research on Parkinson disease could lead to new diagnostics and treatments.

Animal tranquilizer xylazine has been designated an “emerging drug threat”; the White House is planning ways to implement safeguards to protect patient privacy; in 2021, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) reached a record high, the CDC finds.

Autism is being diagnosed more often in girls; cancer medication shortages mean some patients may die before receiving treatment; new CMS policies aim to reach underserved populations.

A federal ruling could undermine the framework of FDA drug approvals; Florida’s warning on COVID-19 vaccines omits key data; uninsured patients with cancer struggle to find care.

Affordable health care and drug use are the top 2 concerns of Americans; a new electronic records system set to be rolled out to multiple hospitals within the Department of Veterans Affairs has been suspended; the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to measure certain hazardous chemicals extending beyond plant property lines.

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Regional Cancer Care Associates (RCCA) has entered into a strategic relationship with The US Oncology Network, effective April 1, 2023.

CMS finalizes plans to decrease overpayments to Medicare Advantage insurers; an experimental respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine is highly effective in infants when given to pregnant women; obesity may be influenced by different brain factors between men and women.

The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) 2023 Annual Meeting took place last month in New Orleans, Louisiana, and The American Journal of Managed Care® was there to cover the latest news—catch up on what you may have missed.

Johnson & Johnson designated over $8.9 billion to settle talcum powder lawsuits; a new report from the World Health Organization says that 1 in 6 adults globally are affected by infertility; a new study looks beyond the body mass index of pregnant mothers to identify risk factors for their children being obese.

The National Cancer Plan is being implemented as part of the Cancer Moonshot aims; inflation and higher spending are driving up monthly plan premiums under the Affordable Care Act; millions of people may lose Medicaid coverage after pandemic protections end.

Rates for reimbursement cuts will be lower than expected within Medicare Advantage plans; financial safety nets, in the form of Social Security and Medicare, are likely to be unable pay full benefits; CDC teams experience symptoms similar to East Palestine, Ohio, residents following train derailment

More adults are being prescribed medication for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; Gun injuries soared early in the COVID-19 pandemic; Studies link mysterious hepatitis outbreak in children to infection from adeno-associated virus 2.

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Payers are looking to roll back on paperwork requirements for prior authorization (PA); CMS and Medicare Advantage (MA) insurers battle over new regulations; Johnson & Johnson (J&J) falls behind Pfizer and GSK for vaccine approval.

The FDA approves over-the-counter (OTC) naloxone that will be available in late summer; the World Health Organization (WHO) might consider obesity drugs “essential” in upcoming review; the WHO updates COVID-19 vaccine recommendations.

Ten states remain that have not expanded Medicaid and they are unlikely to do so; FDA was aware of contaminated infant formula months before the most recent recall; Sen. Tammy Duckworth asks the Federal Trade Commission to investigate AmeriSourceBergen over its distribution practices around the brand-name of mifepristone (Mifeprex).