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HHS Secretary Alex Azar declares a public health emergency in California over ongoing wildfires; a new formulary from Express Scripts will encourage drug makers to move away from paying rebates and instead keep list prices low; part of Oscar Health’s expansion efforts has brought the insurer to Florida, but the company has said its efforts are being “stymied” by Florida Blue.

It is already well established that patients with COPD have exacerbations during winter as well as during heat waves in the summer months, and researchers in Germany sought to see which patient groups might be potentially more vulnerable to the effects of climate change in order to see who might need targeted care.

While obesity is a risk factor for cancer and can promote cancer growth and recurrence, research published this week has found that, paradoxically, obesity can make checkpoint inhibitors more effective in treating cancer.

Research presented at The Liver Meeting, held by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, found high rates of adherence, treatment completion, and sustained virologic response among patients infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) who inject drugs. These findings led authors to recommend inclusion of this subset of patients in HCV treatment programs.

Facing the threat of impending US regulatory action, Juul Labs said Tuesday it would voluntarily stop selling certain flavors of its flavored e-cigarettes in retail stores on a temporary basis, but would continue to sell them online, and plans to improve its age-verification system.

As a result of increased prevention and improved medical treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD), and despite increasing rates of obesity and diabetes, cancer has gradually surpassed CVD as the leading cause of death in high-income counties. However, CVD is more likely to be the leading cause of death in low-income counties.

Treatment with the investigational drug crizanlizumab (SEG101) reduced pain in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) who were experiencing vaso-occlusive crisis according to posthoc results of the phase II SUSTAIN study published online in The American Journal of Hematology. The study found that more than twice as many patients with SCD treated with crizanlizumab did not experience a VOC compared with those treated with placebo.

Patients with blood cancers are burdened with higher costs than patients with other cancers, and spending in blood cancers does not return to precancer levels, according to a new study from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

In a speech to the National Association of Medicaid Directors, HHS Secretary Alex Azar said CMS is giving states more flexibility to enact inpatient mental health treatment for Medicaid beneficiaries, reversing a rule known as the "IMD exclusion.”

A law overhauling how the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) allows patients to seek outside care is falling behind in implementation; new government guidelines about physical activity say adults need a minimum of 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity physical activity, or at least 22 minutes a day; more judges around the country are mandating outpatient psychiatric interventions, including therapy and medication, instead of hospitalizations.

Patients with transfusion-dependent thalassemia (TDT) and osteoporosis who were treated with denosumab had greater increases in bone mineral density in the femoral neck and lumbar spine, as well as lower pain scores and bone resorption biomarkers, compared with placebo, according to the results of a phase 2b trial.

If the trial is successful, venglustat could be the first treatment to target the mechanism of action in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (PKD), which affects 120,000 people in the United States.

An estimated 25,000 Americans who are at high risk for developing lung cancer would be saved annually through low-dose computed tomography (CT) scans, but only 5% of people who qualify are screened. In an effort to increase the number of people getting screened, the American Lung Association (ALA) and the American Thoracic Society (ATS) unveiled a Lung Cancer Screening Implementation Guide during Lung Cancer Awareness Month.

Between 1999-2000 to 2014, the use of IV fluids, dopaminergic receptor antagonists prochlorperazine/metoclopramide, ketorolac, and dexamethasone increased while the use of narcotics decreased.

Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and the Broad institute of MIT and Harvard recently identified specific states of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells that are associated with patient response to checkpoint immunotherapy for melanoma.

Retraction and republication: The JAMA article referenced in this story was retracted and republished on October 8, 2019. Please refer to the updated findings here.

Systemic lupus erythematosus, characterized by systemic inflammation in multiple organs, has a higher probability of being diagnosed in women who experienced emotional or physical abuse when growing up, according to a study presented at the 2018 American College of Rheumatology (ACR)/The Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals Annual Meeting.

A landmark moment in the world’s efforts to respond to the Ebola crisis is set to begin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as clinical trials of an experimental therapy begin; after the National Rifle Association (NRA) posted a mocking tweet to physicians about gun violence, doctors responded in kind on Twitter; House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said she is "staying on as Speaker" to protect the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The Global Burden of Disease Study has ranked low back pain as a leading cause of disability worldwide, and the Lancet Low Back Pain Series Working Group has recommended that researchers and policy makers develop and implement strategies to identify and educate patients with low back pain who are at risk of persistence of pain and disability.

Data and collaboration are necessary ingredients to succeed in the transition to value-based care models, and the money saved under these models will create room to pay for unconventional therapies and services in healthcare, according to panelists at The Institute for Value-Based Medicine meeting in Seattle, Washington.

A new study in Chest has identified a correlation between electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and asthma symptoms in youth. The association was independent of cigarette smoking and ENDS use and exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke.

Many headache specialists are not satisfied with the care their patients receive in the emergency department (ED), demonstrating the need for more standardized protocols for ED visits by patients with known headache disorders, according to a new study.

Results presented at the American Heart Association in Chicago provided the strongest evidence to date on what heart failure specialists have discussed for several years now: the possibility that SGLT2 inhibitors might be used to prevent heart failure in patients with type 2 diabetes.

A recent review of alendronate for the treatment of glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIO) found that it significantly increased bone mineral density of the lumbar spine and femoral neck in patients with GIO, but does not appear to reduce the risk of fractures.

The FDA approved revefenacin (Yupelri), the first once-a-day nebulized bronchodilator for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Family-centered pediatric advance care planning increased and maintained agreement about goals of care longitudinally, which lowered adolescents’ physical symptoms and suffering.

A survey of nearly 700 people, each with at least $35,000 in household income, found that more than half of respondents are concerned about their ability to pay a medical bill of less than $1000, with 35% being concerned about paying a medical bill under $500.

Researchers recently reported findings from a study designed to determine patient attitudes about mammographic reporting of breast arterial calcification (BAC), result of the BAC communication, and subsequent action.