All News

House Democrats introduced a bill that aims to protect the patient protections enshrined in the Affordable Care Act.

Earlier this week, the FDA released a draft guidance document titled, "Rare Diseases: Natural History Studies for Drug Development” with the intention of informing both the design and implementation of natural history studies that can be used to support the development of safe and effective treatments for rare diseases.

The Department of Justice now backs the ruling from a district court judge in Texas that said the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA) is invalidated without the individual mandate, which was removed when Congress reduced the penalty to $0.

Johnson & Johnson and Bayer, who jointly sell the blood thinner drug Xarelto, settled lawsuits that claimed the companies failed to warn about potentially fatal side-effects for $775 million; the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee have planned hearings in the coming weeks over the rising cost of insulin; the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Association called for taxes, warning labels, and advertising curbs on soda in hopes to reduce consumption among children and adolescents.

Medical practices are leaving money on the table by not producing clean medical claims. Incremental improvement can improve cash flow and reduce accounts receivable days, important metrics to determine the health of a medical practice.

Here are 5 interesting findings from the March 2019 issue of AJMC®.

A review of studies assessing the impact of telemonitoring on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) outcomes resulted in mixed findings.

United Parcel Service (UPS) is planning to test a service that will dispatch nurses to administer vaccines in a patient's home; survey results reveal that the majority of Americans think the government is spending too little on healthcare; and Biogen has halted 2 clinical trials testing an experimental treatment for Alzheimer disease.

Recently published consensus recommendations discuss analytical antiretroviral treatment interruption (ATI), including who can be included and excluded and when to restart antiretroviral therapy (ART).

This week, the FDA sent out an alert to various healthcare professionals and the public to warn about the risks associated with the investigational use of venetoclax (Venclexta) for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma (MM). The alert is based on data from the ongoing phase 3 BELLINI trial evaluating the drug for this treatment.

A recent study found that patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms living in the United Kingdom, as well as their doctors, felt more burdened by the disease than other patients and providers in other parts of the world.

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

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, called for stricter oversight of electronic health records (EHRs); Medicaid expansion in Kentucky has led to increases in screening, diagnoses, and survival of colorectal cancer (CRC); contradicting claims from some federal and state officials, the majority of beneficiaries who lost coverage for not complying with Arkansas’ Medicaid work requirements have not found employment.

Researchers found that a prescription for healthy food can improve health outcomes for beneficiaries in Medicare and Medicaid.

This week, the top managed care news included new primary prevention guidelines that could increase the use of some diabetes drugs; the FDA expanded criteria for which patients can take part in clinical trials; a summit on value-based insurance design showed the need for tough conversations with stakeholders.

For SGLT2 inhibitors and a fish oil capsule, there was plenty of good news; for aspirin, not so much. A recap of the American College of Cardiology's 68th Annual Scientific Session, held March 16-18, 2019, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Medicaid work requirements could have a severely negative effect on hospital finances, reducing total revenues, raising uncompensated care costs, and decreasing operating margins.

A report from the Urban Institute examined changes in Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace rating regions from 2017 to 2019.

Some states are rethinking how to compensate hospitals for services, using Medicare reimbursement rates as a benchmark to control costs for state employee health plans; reported cases of mumps are on the rise at Temple University in Philadelphia; the Lancet Commission outlines a new plan for worldwide tuberculosis eradication.

OnabotulinumtoxinA (Botox) showed a sustained reduction in headache-day frequency and significant improvement in quality-of-life measures in patients with chronic migraine followed for 2 years, according to a recent study looking at real-world effects.

If approved the oral form of semaglutide would be the first pill in the GLP-1 receptor agonist class.

In one of his final interviews in his last few weeks as commissioner, Scott Gottlieb, MD, discussed where the FDA stands on its continued push against the tobacco industry as well as what we can expect next from Gottlieb.

The findings show that patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma who had continuous systemic treatment had average monthly emergency department costs that were $100 lower than those with interrupted treatment.

Patients with high-risk breast cancer who receive a 21-gene assay genomic test may be able to avoid chemotherapy and ultimately save a significant amount of money.

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) had lower medication adherence when taking 3 inhalers compared with 2, suggesting that reducing the number of inhalers for these patients may improve adherence.

The majority of new HIV infections have been found to be transmitted by individuals who are unaware that they have HIV or by those who know they have HIV but are not receiving treatment to suppress their infection.

The FDA has approved the first drug specifically developed to treat postpartum depression; a new study links frequent and high-potency marijuana use to psychosis; and the Mississippi Senate has passed its heartbeat abortion ban.