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A recent review provides insight into the clinical progression of treatment-naive patients with spinal muscular atrophy type 3 who have lost ambulation.

Patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and obesity had a reduced risk of major adverse liver outcomes and major adverse cardiovascular (CV) events after they underwent bariatric surgery compared with patients who did not have surgery.

The European Commission gave its stamp of approval for Vumerity (diroximel fumarate), developed by Biogen, as an oral treatment for patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS).

Using cell cultures from pediatric patients with neuroblastoma, researchers performed drug-response testing and investigated correlations between copy number and cytotoxicity of drug treatment.

Patients with asthma were found to have a more than 3-fold greater risk of developing narcolepsy than those without asthma, with use of inhaled corticosteroids indicated to decrease risk.

Moderna requests an EUA for its COVID-19 booster for all adults; the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating claims regarding data for Cassava Sciences’ Alzheimer drug; Florida legislators approved a bill barring private companies from issuing COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

Investigators drew insights about consumers’ health care shopping behavior by analyzing use of an online price transparency tool.

Wanting more data on the benefits of sacubitril/valsartan vs renin angiotensin system inhibitor background therapy, investigators conducted a large randomized study among persons with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).

Zhonglin Hao, MD, PhD, of the Markey Cancer Center at the University of Kentucky, answers questions about recently approved therapies in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and current trials examining new treatment options.

Jonathan Silverberg, MD, PhD, MPH, associate professor of dermatology, director of clinical research and patch testing, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, explains efficacy and safety implications of JAK inhibitor use for atopic dermatitis.

The forum will focus on PBMs’ disproportionate influence over the treatment of patients with cancer, as well as drug pricing and patient cost sharing.

Writing in The Lancet, researchers discuss disparities in type 1 diabetes care on the 100th anniversary of the discovery of insulin.

Data outline prevalence of COVID-19 breakthrough and long haul infections among patients with rheumatic diseases.

Pfizer has granted a second license to allow its COVID-19 pill to be manufactured and sold in developing countries; a bipartisan group argues against the No Surprises Act; the battle over the 340B discount program continues.

Phase 3 findings of the DISCOVER-2 trial presented at the 2021 American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting indicated that guselkumab (Tremfya) provided long-term improvement in joint manifestations, disease activity, and physical function among patients with psoriatic arthritis who had no prior biologic treatment.

Anti-CD20 disease-modifying therapies, including rituximab and ocrelizumab, were found to increase the risk of hospitalization and intensive care unit admission in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) who develop COVID-19, investigators concluded in this new study.

Pain and fear/anxiety were the most common barriers to anti–vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy for neovascular age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema. Another study found that those conditions had a significant impact on patients’ quality of life and Medicare costs.

The findings showed that between 2009 to 2016, 76% of the 122 patients included in the study were on sick leave a year following their allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT).

Sandoz, Lupin, and Biocon Biologics representatives at the Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM) GRx+Biosims conference said that drug price rebates hinder biosimilar competition.

Prior to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), patients experienced a decrease in health-related quality of life (HRQOL), which was further impaired during and immediately after CAR T therapy.

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with MeiLan K. Han, MD, MS, the author of a book released this month called Breathing Lessons: A Doctor’s Guide to Lung Health. Han, a pulmonologist, gives an inside tour of the lungs and how they work, zooms out to examine the drivers of poor respiratory health, and addresses policy changes that are needed to improve lung health.

Robert A. Gabbay, MD, PhD, chief scientific and medical officer at the American Diabetes Association, explains the Health Equity Now initiative and how it shines a light on health disparities.

Researchers have found a second reported case of an immune system potentially curing a person of HIV; US premature birth rates are on the rise in minority groups; most Americans say mental health professionals should be first responders to mental health and suicide situations.

Investigators found that increased heart rate correlated with a decline in the ability for the kidneys to function at 48 weeks after a patient receives a kidney transplant, according to results presented at the 2021 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions.

In both blood and urine samples, patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and renal involvement were found to have higher levels of interleukin-35 compared with patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and no known renal involvement.

Bleeding is a risk with all antiplatelet drugs, whose effects pose a problem when patients need surgery or suffer a traumatic injury. A fast-acting reversal agent would make the drug safer to use.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) management should take into account patients’ comorbidities, according to a poster presented at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy Nexus 2021 meeting. Another poster validated the use of the COPD Treatment Ratio as a measure of exacerbation risk.

Adriaan Voors, MD, professor of cardiology and director of the Heart Failure Clinic, University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands, addresses the lack of prescribing for sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors during hospitalization for acute heart failure by highlighting their benefits and that they are part of guideline-directed treatment.