AJMC Staff

Home visits can be an important best practice for delivering care to patients with chronic conditions, and a new partnership between Anthem Blue Cross, CareMore Health, and River City Medical Group will launch a new model of care providing comprehensive, home-based services for Medicaid patients in the Sacramento area.

Federal regulators have caught on to a growing trend of clinical trials asking participants to pay to enroll; Canada's main pharmaceutical lobby group is asking the government to respond to US drug importation plans before Canada experiences drug shortages; with more HIV incidence than any other region, the South is turning to telemedicine to treat people living with the infection.

Authorized generics, released by brand-pharmaceutical companies as a way to deal with competition, can be as profitable as, if not more profitable than, brand-name drugs; an increasing reliance on fundraising appeals for healthcare needs can widen existing disparities and distort markets, particularly for prescription drugs; the Trump administration is considering releasing a healthcare plan in the fall.

Using bronchodilators early on in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is increasingly understood to be an important therapeutic intervention to improve quality of life, inhibit disease progression, and allow for greater physical activity. One recent paper sought to compare 2 treatment options with respect to their impact on pulmonary function, health-related quality of life, and physical activity: twice-daily inhalation therapy with aclidinium and once-daily inhalation therapy with tiotropium.

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Hospices will receive a $520 million increase in payments from CMS in fiscal year 2020; urban areas accounted for more drug overdose deaths rates than rural areas in 2016 and 2017; a federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit against a California price transparency law can proceed.

Infant mortality rates in 2017 were not statistically different from those in 2016; a Google algorithm can predict sudden kidney deterioration 2 days in advance; the patent battle over the use of CRISPR genome editing continues.

Tuesday's Democratic presidential debate, the first of 2 days, included disagreements over the viability of Medicare for All; 3 insulin makers received subpoenas from the New York Attorney General over their pricing practices; US News & Report released its 30th Annual Best Hospitals rankings.

US District Judge James E. Boasberg ruled that New Hampshire cannot move ahead with work requirements in exchange for Medicaid coverage; a study looking at 8 flavors of Juul e-liquids found the presence of acetals, irritating chemicals formed from alcohol and aldehydes, in the Crème brûlée flavor; Medicaid expansion advocates are petitioning Florida, Missouri, and Oklahoma to include ballot measures asking voters if they want to allow the federal healthcare program to cover more low-income adults.

Top professionals in neurology will convene in New York City for the first annual International Congress on the Future of Neurology to discuss the latest data and best practices to better inform clinical decision making. The meeting will be held September 27-28 at the InterContinental New York Times Square.

The Trump administration will not give Utah or other states federal funding to partially expand their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act; if a Medicare for all system operates the same way as traditional Medicare, the program would be “wastefully expensive,” authors warn; the creator of the widely used screening test to screen for early signs of cognitive decline is insisting on training for those who administer it.

Therapeutic drug monitoring that includes the measurement of trough concentrations and anti-drug antibodies, along with clinical response, is a tool for clinical decision making.

A recently study of rimegepant, an investigational oral calcitonin gene–related peptide receptor (CGRP) blocker for migraine, resulted in a higher percentage of patients relieved of pain over placebo.

Orphan drug status applies to therapies that will treat fewer than 200,000 patients in the United States.

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Amid a contentious debate, the Senate Finance Committee voted 19-9 to advance legislation introduced by Senators Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, to rein in drug costs in Medicare and Medicaid; a House of Representatives subcommittee accused Juul Labs, maker of the ubiqutious e-cigarette device blamed for a youth vaping epidemic, of targeting children through health promotion activities at about a half dozen schools and summer camps; at their annual meeting this week, governors from around the country are discussing what they will do if a federal appeals court invalidates the Affordable Care Act.

President Trump is preparing an executive order that would slash prices on nearly all drugs sold to Medicare; Allergan has recalled certain breast implants following 573 cases of implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma; a study has found 1 in 4 people intend to use antibiotics without a prescription.

The Senate on Tuesday approved funding for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund through 2090; the FDA is warning a leading marijuana company against illegally selling unapproved products containing cannabidiol (CBD); an implanted HIV drug may someday be able to prevent HIV for up to a year.

House Democrats will unveil a bill to lower drug prices in September; on Tuesday, the Department of Agriculture will unveil regulations to cut food stamp benefits for 3 million people; neither Purdue Pharma nor the FDA will release data about whether reformulated OxyContin, designed to prevent abuse, is actually achieving that goal.

A federal judge upheld the Trump administration's expansion of short-term health insurance plans that lack coverage requirements of the Affordable Care Act; politicians and others call for change after The Washington Post published a government database tracking nationwide opioid distribution along with unsealed court documents showing the role of various companies in the drug crisis; the plight of mentally ill refugees in the mix of detained undocumented immigrants is going unnoticed.

A new initiative seeking to transform healthcare delivery will elevate precision medicine with a focus on cancer, Alzheimer disease, cardiovascular disease, and more.

The authors said their case highlights how t(15; 17) by itself is never sufficient to diagnose acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) without confirmation by other methods.

While obesity is frequently observed in patients with psoriatic disease, it is even more common in those who have only psoriasis alone, researchers said.

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CVS is lauching a clinical trial for a new device that would allow patients with kidney disease to receive dialysis at home; in response to the Trump administration's family planning rule, Planned Parenthood of Illinois will stop accepting Title X funding so providers can discuss abortion as an option when counseling pregnant women; the Environmental Protection Agency will not ban the use of controversial pesticide chlorpyrifos, which has been linked to health issues in infants anf children.

The House voted to repeal the Cadillac tax, which, after being delayed twice, was expected to go into effect in 2022; provisional data releaased by the CDC indicate that drug overdose rates have dropped for the first time in 3 decades; the Center for Science in the Public Interest filed comments with the FDA urging it to take a more active role in regulating marijuana.

Researchers are closing in on a sought after goal of a blood test that can detect posssible signs of Alzheimer disease and other forms of dementia; Planned Parenthood President Leana Wen, MD, has been ousted after 8 months; Abbott Laboratories is ramping up manufacturing capacity for its lower-cost continuing glucose monitor FreeStyle Libre.

Medicare Advantage (MA) plans have overbilled the government by nearly $30 billion the past 3 years alone, and CMS said it is moving forward with plans to attempt to get back $1 billion; the Biden Cancer Initiative is suspending operations while its founder, former Vice President Joe Biden, runs for president; CMS said Medicare will cover acupuncture for some patients with chronic low back pain.

In the event that the Affordable Care Act is overturned, Republic senators are working on a plan to preserve protections for people with pre-existing conditions and allow children to stay on their parents’ health plan until age 26; urinary tract infections (UTI) are increasingly becoming resistant to antibiotics; a study is highlighting how lifestyle choices can impact dementia risk.

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