Respiratory

This week, the top stories in managed care included a study finding key drug prices are soaring; Congress providing funds for coronavirus; alcohol-related deaths rising.

The FDA now requires a boxed warning for montelukast (Singulair) due to the risk of neuropsychiatric events associated with the drug.

Treatment regimens of steroids and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs were effective in reducing the short-term death rate among patients with acute exacerbation of interstitial lung disease (AE-ILD), a complication of idiopathic inflammatory myopathy.

A man in his 50s in Washington state with underlying health conditions became the first fatality from the coronavirus in the United States, and a healthcare worker and a resident from a nursing home in the state are hospitalized, the CDC said Saturday. It is the first reported case in a healthcare worker, the CDC said.

It’s not a question of if coronavirus becomes a worldwide pandemic, but when, the CDC said Tuesday.

By age 3, children involved in the survey developed wheeze, atopy, or asthma—possibly linked to their parents’ use of common household cleaning products.

A decision aid delivered through tobacco quitlines may improve informed decision making about lung cancer screening, according to study findings.

Coverage of our peer-reviewed research and news reporting in the healthcare and mainstream press.

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with 2 authors of a recent study who researched how useful preventive drug lists are for patients with asthma and parents of children with asthma.

Interstitial lung disease requires a multidisciplinary clinical approach, though little is known about effective therapeutic treatments.

Findings of this qualitative interview study suggest promise, but also challenges, with regard to using preventive drug lists to help families manage asthma medication costs.

Infectious disease experts at the University of Maryland School of Medicine recently warned there is an urgent need for the administration of influenza vaccines among detainees at the southern border.

Key features of the lung microbiome (bacterial burden, enrichment with gut-associated bacteria) were found to predict outcomes in critically ill patients, representing a potential therapeutic target for the prevention and treatment of acute respiratory failure, according to study findings.

In a press conference, HHS secretary Alex Azar provided updates on the US government’s response to the 2019 novel coronavirus. He was joined by the director of the CDC, Robert Redfield, MD; the director of CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Nancy Messonnier, MD; and the director of the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci, MD.

The US Surgeon General, Jerome M. Adams, MD, MPH, has released the first report since 1990 that focuses solely on smoking cessation in America. Smoking accounts for the deaths of half a million Americans each year and is the leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the country.

Five issues in healthcare were spotlighted as key developments to watch; FDA to ban all e-cig vape flavors except for menthol and tobacco; Google AI system shown to improve detection of breast cancer through mammograms.

The fluid in e-cigarettes were associated with the near fatal respiratory failure of a teenage boy who was found to have an exaggerated immune response to one of its chemicals while vaping, according to a report published this week by doctors.

New trials are looking at what could be the next therapy or one that layers on top of present therapies to treat lung diseases, said Lisa Lancaster, MD, assistant professor of medicine at Vanderbilt Health.

A clofazimine-containing regimen was found to be well tolerated and potentially effective in patients with rapidly growing mycobacteria infection, especially nonpulmonary and non–Mycobacterium abscessus complex infections, according to retrospective cohort study findings.

Highmark announced this week that its outcomes-based contract with AstraZeneca for the respiratory combination medication of budesonide/formoterol (Symbicort) revealed positive results in improving outcomes for those with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Here are the top 5 articles for the month of October.

Reducing the use of metered-dose inhalers for asthma could shrink the carbon footprint while achieving cost savings if less expensive brands of dry powder inhalers are used, according to new research findings.

Every week, The American Journal of Managed Care® recaps the top managed care news of the week, and you can now listen to it on our podcast, Managed Care Cast.

This week, the top managed care news included the average Affordable Care Act premiums falling 4%; the FDA approving a triple combination treatment for cystic fibrosis; House Republicans releasing part 1 of their healthcare plan.

Lisa Lancaster, MD, assistant professor of medicine at Vanderbilt Health, discusses how sleep apnea is a comorbidity for other lung diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and interstitial lung disease.