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A phase III randomized trial, with results being presented in June at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, found the addition of nelarabine to standard chemotherapy regimen in patients with T-cell malignancies can improve disease-free survival rates.

The FDA has approved an expanded indication for Gilead Science’s emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (Truvada) to reduce the risk of HIV in at-risk adolescents. Truvada for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) was first approved for the use in adults in 2012.

This week, the top managed care stories included President Donald Trump's plan to drive down drug prices; the FDA approved the first biosimilar of the year; a study found rapid uptake of PD-1 agents after FDA approval.

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

Overcoming the challenges to a holistic approach to opioid recovery is critical to engaging patients safely and comfortably, and to supporting sustained recovery. Here are 5 elements that contribute to a successful integrated approach.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, expressed concerns about a version of a "right-to-try” bill in the House of Representatives; the Trump administration Friday is set to reinstate rules prohibiting clinics that receive federal funding from providing abortions or referring patients to places that do; the National Institutes of Health has frozen a highly criticized, $100 million, 10-year study of moderate drinking backed by the alcoholic beverage industry.

The FDA has approved Amgen and Novartis’ erenumab-aooe, marking the first approved calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) inhibitor for the prevention of migraine in adults. The treatment will cost 30% less than expected.

Deprivation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with increased emergency healthcare use, healthcare costs, and mortality rates, according to research.

An analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation of the 2017 financial performance of health insurers found that last year was their best year selling individual-market health insurance since the Affordable Care Act was put into place, even without the cost-sharing subsidies that they lost in the fourth quarter.

Completion of the recommended 3 doses of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine showed differences between sexes, with fewer girls and women finishing the series within 1 year as compared to boys and men, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health.

CMS has approved a 5-year extension of Maryland’s all-payer model, expanding the approach across the health system starting January 1, 2019.

Organizers of the project said it aims to build a better set of data on hypoglycemia that will help researchers and clinicians understand the condition, predict it, and gauge its cost.

While immune checkpoint inhibitors significantly improve overall survival in both sexes, the magnitude of benefit is dependent on sex, according to new study findings.

A new law in Vermont would allow the state to import drugs from Canada, but it needs to be certified by HHS; the House passes a bill to expand veterans' access to private care; the FDA has approved the first nonopioid to treat opioid withdrawal symptoms.

Chronic migraine is associated with pain, psychiatric, and endocrine/neurological comorbidities, as well as sleep disorders.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an incurable, progressive lung disease that was most recently in the news for taking the life of former First Lady Barbara Bush. Last fall, researchers gathered for 2 days to discuss and explore research needs and opportunities related to the impact of female sex and gender on lung and sleep health maintenance and management of lung diseases and sleep disorders, of which COPD is one of the best-known examples.

The authors write that these differences among Veterans Affairs (VA) populations could reflect variability across the medical centers in terms of quality of care, adherence to evidence-based treatment and screening guidelines, access to urgent care, posthospitalization care protocols, chronic disease management, and access to specialty care, social work services, and behavioral health care.

The FDA has drafted new recommendations on the development of drugs to treat pediatric patients with HIV meant to be applied on a global scale.

The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) released a draft scoping document on new biologics for severe asthma. Public comment on the draft is open until June 5.

The Trump administration confirms it will not approve state requests to impose lifetime limits on Medicaid benefits; a significant number of young adults are providing long-term care for older loved ones and are more likely to be stressed by the caregiving than older counterparts; 5 more states file lawsuit against Purdue Pharma for its alleged role in the opioid epidemic, and Florida files lawsuit against multiple painkiller makers and drug distributors.

A group of healthcare organizations have come together to advocate for policies that support independent practices moving to risk-based care models.

The Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018, as proposed in the House of Representatives, would make the program more complicated to administer for states, impose new mandates, and take away program flexibility, while leaving low-income households at risk of losing so-called food stamps, now called Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, according to a new research report.

The FDA has approved Pfizer’s epoetin alfa-epbx (Retacrit), a biosimilar to epoetin alfa (Epogen), marking the first biosimilar approval of 2018 and the first biosimilar erythropoiesis-stimulating agent approved in the United States.

A new study published in JAMA showed that although estimates of prescription medication use for children and teens fell overall from 1999 to 2014, patterns differed by types of medications, with drugs for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), asthma, and contraception all increasing. Use of antibiotics, antihistamines, and upper respiratory combination medications decreased.

Massachusetts General Hospital has received a $750,000 human clinical trial grant to explore the use of positron emission tomography imaging of inflammation to serve as a biomarker for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis diagnosis and clinical trials.

Democrats are eager to run on healthcare in the 2018 midterm elections; the Virginia State Senate convened for a procedural move that put the state budget bill before the finance committee as a battle over Medicaid expansion continued; in separate letters sent to HHS Secretary Alex Azar, more than 200 Democratic lawmakers from the House and Senate warned against making changes to a federal family planning program for low-income Americans,

The HHS secretary took on critics who said the plan went too easy on pharma and touted provisions that he said would change incentives that have worked in favor of companies and against patients.

Another organization has announced a plan for making health coverage affordable, following a spate of similar proposals like “Medicare for All” and “Medicare Extra for All” and in the wake of continued efforts by the Trump administration to nibble away at the Affordable Care Act (ACA).