AJMC Staff

Tennessee is set to become the first state to transition its Medicaid program to a block grant; a federal judge has blocked cuts to Medicare rates for 340B hospitals but did not grant permanent injunction; Senator Elizabeth Warren has unviled a plan to combat the opioid epidemic that would spend $100 billion over 10 years.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed a "heartbeat" abortion bill into law as legal battles over abortion continue across the nation; a new CDC study found that most pregnancy-related deaths could be prevented; lawyers of former NFL players are fighting a rule that limited retired players to attending physicians within 150 miles of their homes for dementia diagnoses.

Federal prosecutors have reached a $17 million settlement with Acadia after Medicaid fraud allegations; rates of heart failure–related deaths are on the rise among adults between 35 and 64 years old; the FDA has asked manufacturers of sunscreen to review the safety of the chemicals used in their products after a new study found that many of the ingredients in sunscreen may be absorbed into the bloodstream upon use.

The FDA has shut down a program that concealed medical device records for over 2 decades; more than 1000 Ebola-related deaths in 2 trading cities have been reported; Germany considers fining parents of school-age children who are not vaccinated for measles.

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Insys Therapeutics’ founder and 4 executives have been found guilty for participating in a scheme that bribed doctors to prescribe its addictive painkiller and misled insurers to pay for the drug; the FDA has approved the first vaccine against dengue fever with some restrictions; Senator Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, has released a $100 billion to combat addiction and improve mental health care.

The Trump administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) is urging federal courts to strike down the entire Affordable Care Act; a Florida hospital is suing Aetna over the insurer’s Readmission Payment Policy; diabetic amputations disproportionately affect black and Latino individuals.

Progressive House Democrats press for a more aggressive remedy than arbitration to reduce drug prices; FDA permits the sale of a new cigarette alternative; use of methamphetamine surges in some parts of the United States.

The move comes a month after FDA issued a Complete Response Letter on the drug, despite pleas from patient advocates to approve a new treatment option in type 1 diabetes.

A federal judge has recused himself from a UnitedHealthcare proton therapy lawsuit; researchers are trying to develop a lifetime flu vaccine; researchers create an inexpensive 3D printed microscope for medical diagnostics in developing countries.

Nearly 700 people at California State University and the University of California, both in Los Angeles, were still in quarantine over the weekend after possibly being exposed to measles; the world’s largest seller of cancer drugs, pharma company Roche Holding AG, will lose its top spot with competition from lower-cost drugs, namely biosimilars; findings from a new study showed that blood pressure regulation at or below 130/80 mm Hg lowered the risk of heart attack, stroke, or other complications in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Sarcoidosis has rarely been reported with polycythemia vera (PV), an acquired myeloproliferative neoplasm characterized by mutant Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) signaling leading to erythrocyte overproduction. In a recent article in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, physicians report on the case of a female patient with PV and sarcoidosis.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is scheduled to release a report on single-payer healthcare next week; a federal judge in Washington state blocked a Trump administration rule that was set to take effect May 3 and would have stripped Title X funding from providers who refer patients for abortions; the University of Southern California (USC) is losing national accreditation for a joint-run fellowship in cardiovascular disease, run with Los Angeles County, after being dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct.

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The World Health Organization recommends little to no screen time for children under age 5; senators urge HHS to ensure that government patents on the HIV prevention drug Truvada are properly licensed; New York City health officials have confirmed 31 new cases of measles in less than a week.

A US District Judge will issue an injunction for family planning physician gag rule, a major pharmaceutical distributor faces criminal charges for its role in the opioid epidemic, and a record number of homeless individuals have been dying in California.

Google and its sister companies are making substantial investments towards artificial intelligence in healthcare; the Trump administration seeks to remove protections for transgender individuals that allow equal access to healthcare; researchers identified 104 high-risk schizophrenia genes.

Tests are scheduled to commence April 23rd for a malaria vaccine; the FDA has approved the first generic nasal spray for opioid overdose reversal; scientists have discovered a new broad-spectrum, arsenic-based antibiotic.

Washington is set to become the first state to offer long-term care benefits for those who pay into the program; a genome-wide polygenic score can predict the odds of obesity; and Montana is moving to reauthorize Medicaid expansion with the addition of community engagement requirements.

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Dozens of doctors and other medical professionals have been charged with exchanging opioids and other drugs for sex and cash; the first 2 patients in the United States have been treated with CRISPR; doctors have cured infants of immunodeficiency syndrome using gene therapy made from HIV.

A first-of-its-kind law in Tennessee will limit the language lawyers can use in ads seeking to sue drug makers; consumers spend significantly more on healthcare in the week after they get their tax return; New Hampshire has seen 79 new cases of hepatitis A since November.

The investment fund spun off from the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation will start at $50 million and will be self-sustaining, focusing on early-stage biotech companies.

The FDA creates an advisory list for dietary supplements; researchers in Israel bio-printed a small-scale heart with human tissue and blood vessels; patient advocates lobby to lift a ban on a controversial fertility treatment.

The CDC says a serious, recent Escherichia coli outbreak has been linked to consumption of ground beef; while President Trump announced a task force to address high rates of veteran suicides, 3 veterans killed themselves last week on Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare properties; a CDC report reveals Kratom-related overdose deaths are higher than previously thought.

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Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection rates are increasing among women under age 40 who haven't received the HPV vaccination; Ride Aid will stop the sale of e-cigarettes over the next 90 days; the Ohio governor signed a ban on abortion after a detectable heartbeat with no exceptions for pregancies resulting from rape or incest.

The findings represent the first in a new wave of renal outcomes trials in the sodium glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor class, a game-changing group of type 2 diabetes drugs with many benefits beyond lowering blood glucose.

Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, has reintroduced a Medicare for All bill while other Democrats eye an alternative; the Trump administration is appealing a federal judge's decision to toss out Medicaid work requirements in Kentucky and Arkansas; AIDS activists are pushing CDC to force Gilead to give the agency royalties for Truvada.

The American College of Physicians has updated their breast cancer screening guidelines to recommend that women of average risk of breast cancer get a mammogram at age 50 and every other year; the FDA advised clinicians against aburptly halting opioid prescribing for patients with chronic pain; New York’s mayor declared a public health emergency over the state’s measles outbreak.