Diabetes

The drug fills a void for patients with chronic kidney disease, including those with diabetes, who have high potassium levels.

Wound care specialists, who treat burn victims and diabetics with foot ulcers, say the move to end coverage if a dressing is made of more than 50% honey by weight is arbitrary and makes no sense from a medical standpoint. A final LCD is pending.

Standard treatment for type 2 diabetes has been to use oral therapy until the disease progresses, but researchers are rethinking that approach.

Arkansas was recently found to have an obesity rate of 35.9%, but the new plan does not call for any mandates, only incentives for schools and businesses.

What we're reading, October 16, 2015: judge rules orphan drugs do not need to be sold at discount under 340B, hospitals can use resources at their disposal to overcome the "weekend effect," and AstraZeneca's diabetes combination drug fails to win FDA approval.

The analysis by Anthem Inc, has identified a need for more widespread implementation of these interventions aimed at reducing healthcare utilization.

Significantly, GAO made no recommendations on an issue that is one of the more volatile ones in Congress. That doesn't mean there won't be efforts to rein in limits on sodium and other items that make up school lunches, since most of the complaints about a 2010 law have come from districts represented by Republicans.

The standard test for osteoporosis does not do a good job of predicting fractures in T1D.

Relying only on data may fail to account for the effects of smoking.

After 2 years, those drinking red wine had improved "good" cholesterol and other benefits.

A new report found that while geographic gaps narrowed, they will likely persist because state policies to not expand Medicaid will mean the poor will continue to turn 65 with health issues having gone unaddressed.

With Express Scripts' coverage starting Monday, here's some background on Praluent and Repatha.

Taking aim at payment models for patients on dialysis is the latest attempt to target high-cost areas of Medicare spending.

Intense lobbying and charges of bias surround the late efforts to influence what goes into the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. A recommendation from an advisory committee to eat less red and processed meat has fueled most of the controversy.

The PBM declined to list what discounts it had negotiated, but said it expected to spend $750 million on this cholesterol-lowering class in 2016.

The recent overview of obesity from the Trust for America's Health revealed extremely high percentages of Native Americans are overweight and obese, especially in states where they live in remote locations.

The evidence of weight-loss improving overall well-being and predisposition to chronic as well as acute conditions is mounting. We now need coverage policies that can help patients take advantage of weight loss procedures.

The PCSK9 drugs are stirring up a lot of attention, primarily around how to restrict access. But, no one is talking about how to best manage the patient's needs.

A study reports that despite the steady growth in hospital-based palliative care programs, access is sketchy and is driven by geographic location and hospital ownership.

The technique deploys several strategies to reduce cancer risk. It is being evaluated in mouse models but researchers are already looking ahead to human studies.

An earlier plan from Governor Gary Herbert that was paid for with existing state funds was rejected by the legislature. The current plan would add 95,000 Utahns to Medicaid, with hospitals paying most of the state's share after 2017.

Researchers say the results may help physicians better target screening for obese youth.

Researchers in China and the United States have developed a predictive model capable of forecasting which patients will account for either small or large proportions of healthcare resource utilization in the next 6 months.

All 3 methods caused patients to lose weight, but 2 were more likely to produce remission in type 2 diabetes.

A study published in BMJ measured the prevalence, annual compensation, and beneficial stock ownership of directors from publicly traded healthcare companies who had academic affiliations.