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AJMC® presents the results of our online poll of the top healthcare stories of 2019.

In a news brief published by AHIP, initiatives employed by health insurance providers AmeriHealth Caritas, Geisinger, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, and UPMC plan to address issues ranging from the opioid crisis to behavioral healthcare access.

On Friday, December 20, President Trump signed 2 spending packages totaling $1.4 trillion to fund the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year. The package allows federal funds to be allocated to the National Institutes of Health and CDC for the purpose of conducting research on gun violence for the first time in 2 decades.

Two new classes of drugs that offer significant clinical benefits for patients with diabetes and heart failure dominated medical conferences in 2019. Meanwhile, ovarian cancer guidelines were updated to add new therapies and the intersection of consumer health technology and cardiology also took over headlines. Read on for more.

Hospital and advocacy group opposition to state public options could foretell trouble for national single-payer efforts; electronic health records (EHRs) present new opportunities for fraud; the FDA has approved the first generic versions of apixaban (Eliquis).

Patient feedback is quickly becoming a vital component of the FDA’s regulatory decision-making process for drug applications.

The FDA approved [fam-] trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki, which will be marketed as Enhertu; preliminary CMS numbers show that 8.3 million people enrolled in coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) from November 1 to December 17, about 2% fewer than last year; Sutter Health agreed to pay $575 million to settle claims of anticompetitive behavior brought by the California state attorney general as well as unions and employers.

A higher rate of adverse effects in patients with mantle cell lymphoma can create an economic burden for those who are commercially insured, the authors noted.

The company presented updated phase 1 results for a revamped version of bb2121 that point to sustained responses for patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

As more patients with cancer survive, the risk of cardiac complications due to the effects of therapies has become a concern to oncologists and cardiologists alike.

Nanopore technology, still in its developmental phases, could be used to detect predictive biomarkers for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to a recent study.

People who sleep 9 or more hours a day, take midday naps lasting more than 90 minutes, or have poor sleep quality may be at an increased risk of stroke, according to study findings.

Social inequalities are created before the onset of the illness, rather than after it, according to researchers.

A recently published study amassed real-world evidence from patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), concluding that “there has been a closing of the gap in COPD prevalence among both genders.”

The drug, HU-308, is aimed at treating levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID). The animal study showed that it was as effective as amantadine, the only available treatment for dyskinesias; combining HU-308 with amantadine was also more effective than either drug used alone.

Current categories of classifying psoriasis, such as mild, moderate, or severe, do not consider past treatments or involvement of special areas, leading to undertreatment, a report said.

This week, top managed care news included a federal appeals court overturning the individual mandate; the Trump administration unveiling a plan to import low-cost drugs; FDA approving a popular fish oil pill to prevent heart attacks and strokes.

A new analysis says allowing beneficiaries in Medicare Part D to benefit from drug manufacturer rebates shows that they could save $29 billion. But if another proposal is chosen, they would save less, and taxpayer costs would rise.

Novartis hopes to distribute Zolgensma, its pricey spinal muscular atrophy drug, via lottery; Merck receives FDA approval for its Ebola vaccine, Ervebo; a new law in California hopes to resurrect compassionate use cannabis programs.

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

The federal goverment proposed to allow states to import drugs from Canada, but many obstacles lie before its passing; FDA targeting e-cigs that have been linked to teen addiction with no attributable benefit among smoking cessation; inclusions and exclusions in the federal spending package set to be passed by Congress this week

A new sponsor will award a Massachusetts-based organization up to $25,000.

Findings of a review analyzing the association between cigarette smoking and multiple sclerosis (MS) highlight numerous detrimental effects the habit has on those with the disease. The review, published in the Journal of the America Medical Association (JAMA) Neurology, collected data from studies published between 1965 and 2018.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is an inherited condition in which mutations in genes that encode the sarcomere proteins in the heart cause an abnormal thickening of that muscle, with no known cure. In black patients, HCM is usually diagnosed at a younger age and accompanied by a greater burden of symptomatic heart failure. These patients, however, are not well represented in surveys of the condition, which tend to focus on white patients.

On behalf of the Hellenic Headache Society, a group of Greek researchers reported a consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of adult migraines in The Journal of Headache and Pain on December 13.

The National Business Group on Health released its list of healthcare trends to watch in 2020, highlighted by growing employer initiatives on high quality, high value healthcare, and an increased focus on mental health issues.

A federal appeals court today struck down the individual mandate—the heart of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that requires everyone to have health coverage and lays the groundwork for a risk pool that is more balanced between the sick and the healthy, the young and the old.

Sleep fragmentation, which is defined by low sleep efficiency, was linked with higher odds of migraine onset on day 1, according to study findings published this week.