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Not only do pharmacy benefit managers profit thousands of percent using spread pricing, but the spreads are growing; support for Medicare for all is growing among Democrats in Congress, but it's still unclear how such a drastic chage would impact the complex American healthcare system; while precision medicine has great potential, it still has far more failures than successes, but that isn't usually discussed.

Using whole-exome sequencing and evaluating germline mutations, researchers have discovered novel mutations in several genes among patients with essential thrombocythemia and primary myelofibrosis, which could influence the treatment they receive.

A retrospective analysis of data from patients with severe asthma who participated in the COBRA trial identified key clinical characteristics that may help clinicians recognize patients who may benefit from additional targeted drug therapy, such as benralizumab.

Health insurance coverage gains created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) caused the number of the uninsured in the United States to fall from 17% in 2013 to 10% in 2016, according to a new analysis from the Urban Institute. The report said the reductions were even more striking in states that expanded Medicaid.

Over 14,600 comments poured into CMS to meet a deadline to comment about proposed changes to its 2019 physician fee schedule for Medicare, with many physician organizations and individuals asking the agency to halt or slow down its plans to cut physician reimbursement for evaluation and management services. While some groups cheered some of the changes—such as broader coverage for telehealth and other digital monitoring—most expressed many concerns.

Two studies presented at the PAINWeek conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, took a look into the prevalence of acute medication use and overuse among migraineurs, as well as rates of medication discontinuation due to lack of efficacy or side effects.

While the rate remains unchanged from 2016, there was an observed shift from prescription opioids to other drugs and dangerous drug combinations.

The Senate appears ready to pass a package of opioid bills this week; Michigan is asking for the Trump administration’s approval for work requirements for Medicaid; the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a 2017 ruling that blocked enforcement of a Missouri law that kept the state from enforcing new regulations on doctors providing abortions.

With the expansion of Medicaid, eligible, low-income people living with HIV were transferred from the Ryan White Program to Medicaid, causing concern for interrupted access to care and treatment.

At a full-day event in Newark, New Jersey, drug enforcement officials came together with community leaders to brainstorm diverse approaches to the opioid crisis that are focused on preventive interventions at home, in the community, in schools, and at workplaces, as well as to learn from best practices that have been implemented in other states.

In an indirect treatment comparison of 3 drugs for severe eosinophilic asthma, GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) mepolizumab, marketed as Nucala, reduced exacerbations by 34% to 45% compared with reslizumab or benralizumab. The results were published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

A new payment model bridges services in the clinical setting and the community to improve outcomes for patients with substance use disorder.

In 2015, the 20 mg/mL dose of the product was approved in the United States as the first generic version of the drug glatiramer acetate and was a fully substitutable generic that was approved for all indications of the dose.

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s chief executive emailed all staff telling them they “need to do a better job” of disclosing industry relationships in the wake of a published report that the cancer center’s chief medical officer failed to disclose his extensive industry ties; the remedy to balance billing (the surprise bills patients receive after their insurance plan has paid the contracted amount with a provider) may lie at the federal or state level or possibly the courts; marijuana health research applications are stalled at the Drug Enforcement Administration, 2 years after it began taking the requests.

According to treatment recommendations from the European LeukemiaNet and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, patients with high-risk polycythemia vera (PV) should receive cytoreductive medication together with standard treatments for low-risk PV: phlebotomy and low-dose aspirin.

Patients with multiple myeloma (MM) who are enrolled in a Medicare Part D plan or other creditable prescription drug coverage have better survival than patients without prescription drug coverage. According to a study in Journal of Clinical Oncology, this improved survival seemed to be a result of patients having access to all treatment options.

Patients with asthma with certain genotype combinations demonstrate more intense symptoms when combined with a close proximity to roadways, suggesting that traffic-related air pollution exposure may affect the likelihood of asthma diagnosis and exacerbations.

A recent study using data from the Women’s Health Initiative dataset discovered that a higher fracture risk was associated with higher mortality in multiple myeloma (MM) in postmenopausal women.

Autoimmunity plays a role in the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a recent genome study.

GammaCore Sapphire, the newest version of gammaCore—a noninvasive vagus nerve stimulator—is now available in the United States to treat patients with migraine and episodic cluster headache.

A team of multi-institutional clinicians and scientists have recently published the first-ever guidelines for the evaluation and treatment of perimenopausal depression, endorsed by the International Menopause Society, in Menopause and the Journal of Women’s Health.

Since the formation of the nonprofit generic drug company in January, the company has grown to 7 health systems and has named its chief operating officer. Orignally announced as Project Rx, the company will now be named Civica Rx.

Access to care is not enough to improve care and prevent deaths; expansion of health coverage has to be paired with investments to create high-quality health systems, according to a study in The Lancet.

Twice-yearly treatment with denosumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody, may be associated with increased bone mineral density (BMD) among patients who receive adjuvant aromatase inhibitors (AIs) therapy, according to a recent study.

Airports provide multiple sites of risk to contract respiratory viruses, with plastic security screening trays posing the highest potential risk, according to new research published in BMC Infectious Diseases.

A new study found no differences in long-term outcomes associated with 2 different approaches to administering trastuzumab (Herceptin) with neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer. Receiving the combination sequentially rather than concurrently eliminates the known cardiac toxicities associated when chemotherapy and HER2 therapy are given at the same time, researchers said.

Approximately 43% of patients using the Migraine Buddy app reported experiencing anxiety and/or depression during at least 1 migraine attack.

This week, the top managed care stories included a study on the impact physician burnout is having on care quality; the latest Affordable Care Act showdown took place in a Texas courtroom; the share of employers offering health coverage increased for the first time since 2008.

There has been little progress in improving levels of physical activity worldwide, according to new research from the World Health Organization. Here are 5 findings about physical activity and health, worldwide.

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