HIV

What We’re Reading, July 13, 2016: Humira faces competition from a biosimilar; Washington, DC, campaigns to raise awareness on anti-HIV PrEP pills; and veterans may have been incorrectly diagnosed for traumatic brain injury...or not.

The Department of Justice has found that the Nevada Department of Corrections has been discriminating against inmates with HIV and with disabilities, according to a letter of findings issued.

The number of new HIV infections and the HIV transmission rate both decreased from 2010 to 2015, but still fell well short of the goals set by the Obama administration in 2010.

The arrival of direct-acting antivirals to treat hepatitis C virus raised unprecedented policy questions in healthcare. This new drug class was initially met with alarm over cost and barriers to the cure, despite the potential for long-term savings, and represents one of a number of topics explored in a special issue of The American Journal of Managed Care.

CDC also published a separate study that found more people in the United States now die from hepatitis C than die from HIV or any other infectious disease. The report comes as The American Journal of Managed Care publishes a special issue on policy concerns over patient access to new therapies that cure HCV.

The authors examine real-world hepatitis C virus cure rates with direct-acting antivirals among patients coinfected with HIV.

Single-tablet regimens are associated with higher adherence rates, decreased hospitalizations, and a higher proportion of patients with undetectable viral load compared with multiple-tablet regimens in patients with HIV/AIDS.

What we're reading, March 15, 2016: Bernie Sanders proposes a prize fund to spur drug development for HIV/AIDS; one news outlet is going to court to unseal documents related to OxyContin's marketing; and report highlights the emotional trauma healthcare providers face after making a serious medical error.

Detecting acute HIV infections is important because this infection contributes disproportionately to the transmission of HIV and highly contagious.

The 32-year-old was arrested on charges related to his prior work as a hedge fund manager.

Anthony S. Fauci, MD, of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, co-authors an article that calls for broader use of ART to bring about the end of AIDS, more than 30 years after the dawn of the pandemic.

Early sign-ups are strong under ACA; new food safety rules become final; report finds poor access to HIV drugs.

In addition to risk for liver damage, people with hepatitis C may also have an increased risk of heart disease, according to a new Johns Hopkins study published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

A study published in the journal AIDS and Behaviour found community-based HIV prevention programs resulted in $6.5 billion in savings to Ontario's healthcare system.

A randomized clinical trial conducted across at 215 sites in 35 countries has established that earlier antiretroviral treatment benefits all HIV-infected individuals.

Despite ample health research showing that needle exchanges can reduce the spread of disease, the ban on federal funding of these programs has remained mostly intact since 1988.

The Kaiser Health Tracking Poll found Americans strongly support ensuring that those with chronic conditions like cancer, HIV, and mental illness can have access to affordable drugs, and this sentiment was shared across partisan lines.

Aetna Inc. has agreed to reduce out-of-pocket payments for most HIV and AIDS medicines after pressure from an advocacy group, revising coverage that had some patients paying $1000 a month for the drugs.

Modeling data discussed at a press conference at the 2015 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections showed that delaying HCV treatment, consequent to the high cost of the newer antiviral regimens, could prove fatal in patients coninfected with HIV.

Although one of the central features of the Affordable Care Act was eliminating discrimination based on preexisting conditions, there is evidence insurers have found ways to dissuade high-cost patients from enrolling in their plans.

The plaintiff, John Doe, alleges that not having access to a community pharmacist will limit his ability to gain counseling on potential drug interactions. United Healthcare settled a similar action earlier in 2014. Consumer groups have also alleged discrimination against HIV patients by insurers over drug access in Florida.

The FDA will recommend in 2015 to lift the lifetime ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men. However, the agency will keep in place a one-year ban after homosexual activity.

On World AIDS Day, advocates mark "the beginning of the end" of the pandemic. In the United States, 2014 has been marked by battles between patient advocacy groups and some payers over the price of generic HIV drugs on exchanges under the Affordable Care Act.

An investigation into 2012 Medicare claims for HIV-infected patients unearthed payment for prescriptions that were filled up to 32 days after the patient's passing.