AJMC Staff

Coverage of COVID-19 tests and treatment bills halted for uninsured; Moderna low-dose vaccine in children under 6 years of age shows promise in early clinical trial findings; Pfizer recalls blood pressure medications due to potential carcinogen.

The special enrollment period for Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage has opened to low-income Americans; the FDA approves the first drug for a rare genetic epilepsy disorder; the National Institutes of Health to launch biomarker testing program for pediatric tumors.

A provisional clinical opinion from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) recommends that patients with advanced cancer with specific genomic alterations undergo genomic sequencing.

Starting July 1, credit-reporting giants will remove certain medical debts; AstraZeneca’s Evusheld was shown to reduce the viral load of subvariants BA.1, BA1.1, and BA.2; about 4% of middle school students and 13% of high school students use some type of tobacco product, according to a report.

FoundationOne CDx has been approved as a companion diagnostic to identify patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 19 deletions or exon 21 alternations eligible for treatment with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

A new COVID-19 response coordinator will replace Jeff Zients; cigarette smoking rates were down in 2020; mental health providers offer telehealth services to Ukraine.

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Medicare Advantage plan members could save $12 billion if enrolled in fee-for-service (FFS) plans instead; Black patients were classified as low priority for intensive care unit (ICU) triage twice as often as other patients; Moderna and Pfizer face lawsuits over potential COVID-19 vaccine patent infringement.

Pfizer and BioNTech requested FDA emergency use authorization for a fourth COVID-19 dose for older adults; postpartum depression rates tripled during early months of the COVID-19 pandemic; anxiety and depression diagnoses among children each increased by roughly 25% since 2016.

Idaho legislature passed Texas-inspired abortion law banning the procedure after 6 weeks of pregnancy; patients who were bedridden with severe cases of COVID-19 had increased risks of anxiety and depression more than a year later; number of deaths by suicide in Japanese women rose for second straight year.

Screening for colorectal cancer is an urgent priority for Americans aged 45 and older; low COVID-19 vaccine uptake was observed among US children aged 5 to 11 years in the first weeks of eligibility; WHO warns of increased alcohol consumption risk due to the pandemic.

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is still a new, rare disease and as such providers would benefit from more education about this condition, said Colette Romero, whose son has EoE.

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A new opinion indicates paying those with substance use disorder to stay clean could be legal; the 2020 Census undercounted some racial minorities; the true global COVID-19 death toll could be 3 times higher than the official tally.

The House passes a $1.5 trillion spending package that does away with pandemic relief and adds the Violence Against Women Act; Purdue awaits a judge’s approval for a $6 billion settlement for its opioid case; redlining laws led to 45 million Americans breathing dirtier air decades after they were removed.

Pfizer will begin phase 2 and 3 trials of its COVID-19 antiviral pill in children 6 years and older; lawmakers respond after e-cigarette companies began using unregulated synthetic nicotine to get around FDA regulation; the American College of Rheumatology released a new guideline on the management of Kawasaki disease.

Data from 2015 show approximately half of US-born adults were exposed to harmful levels of lead as children; Florida’s Department of Health to advise against COVID-19 vaccination for "healthy" children; Black patients remain underrepresented in clinical trials for newly approved drugs despite FDA efforts.

A significant increase has been observed in Texas residents traveling out of state for abortion care; nearly a third of people who previously had COVID-19 cited lingering symptoms up to 1 year after infection; muscle strengthening exercises linked with lower risk of disease and early mortality.

A new settlement is reached in the Purdue Pharma opioid lawsuit; the US Surgeon General sets out to tackle online health misinformation; Florida poised to enact the state's strictest abortion ban yet.

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A bill to provide late-fee warnings to Medicare beneficiaries was introduced; Pfizer is expected to provide 10 million COVID-19 antiviral pills to low- and middle-income nations; a Texas judge halts an investigation into a 16-year-old girl receiving gender-affirming treatment.

NAACOS announced the launch of the ACO REACH Coalition; US lawmakers signed a letter asking PhRMA President Stephen Ubl to explain the cause of drug price increases; of 222 Montana schools, 110 reported at least 1 sink or water fountain with lead levels above 15 parts per billion.

A study finds that lower-dose vaccines given to children aged 5 to 11 years provides less protection against infection; President Joe Biden will announce a major overhaul of nursing home quality during his State of the Union speech; United Nations report highlights need for drastic action to address climate change.

New CDC guidance says that Americans who live in areas with low to medium COVID-19 transmission can stop wearing masks indoors; GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) halts 3 vaccine clinical trials for the respiratory syncytial virus in pregnant women; a scientific advisory panel recommends a major overhaul of the US transplant system.

A recent case report described the successful treatment of 2 young infants with PIK3CA-related overgrowth spectrum using the breast cancer drug alpelisib.

Recent research describes the cascade of neuronal death and the spread of abnormal protein aggregates throughout the brain in Parkinson disease.

Previous research has shown the health effects of obesity, including the decline in lung function. New research highlights obesity is a risk factor for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in premenopausal and postmenopausal women.

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A new lawsuit aims to block a $13 billion health insurance acquisition; the CDC is expected to release updated mask guidelines; the European Medicines Agency supports boosters among teenagers for COVID-19.

Texas' governor orders investigations over providing gender-affirming health care to transgender children; pregnancy-related deaths increased during the pandemic, especially for Black people; data from South Africa confirm that the new Omicron subvariant is more transmissible but not more severe.