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Tara Vail is the Chief Operating Officer of HST Pathways and serves on the Board of the California Ambulatory Surgery Association.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells are a patient’s own, harvested and reengineered to attack specific malignant cells. They were initially developed using knowledge gleaned from allogeneic stem cell transplants: that donor mature immune cells can attack healthy cells in the recipient patient.

The newly sworn in FDA commissioner faces tobacco regulation challenges; CMS announces changes in hospital quality ratings; soldiers with traumatic brain injuries are more likely to develop mental health disorders.

Researchers from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) estimate that if hospital unit prices matched physician office (PO) prices of cancer drugs, holding drug mix and treatment intensity constant, commercial insurers would have saved $9766 (45%) per user of these medicines in 2016, with statistically significant relative differences ranging from 128.3% (nivolumab) to 428% (fluorouracil).

Researchers in Canada determined that a treat-and-extend regimen of administering ranibizumab to patients with neovascular age-related macular disease produced comparable results to a monthly dosing administration, according to a study published in JAMA Ophthalmology.

Key features of the lung microbiome (bacterial burden, enrichment with gut-associated bacteria) were found to predict outcomes in critically ill patients, representing a potential therapeutic target for the prevention and treatment of acute respiratory failure, according to study findings.

Body mass index (BMI) and low vitamin D are causal factors for multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a recent study published in Neurology Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation.

HHS will announce its Medicaid fixed-payment block grant proposal on Thursday; the United States reiterates its offer to send a team to China to help with the coronavirus outbreak; Maryland legislators renew their fight over medically assisted suicide.

Researchers exhibit recent advances in the basic characteristics of interleukin (IL)-24, a member of the IL-20 family of cytokines associated with pro-inflammatory autoimmune disorders such as psoriasis, arthritis, and inflammatory bowel diseases, as a catalyst in the pathogenesis of allergic skin inflammation.

In a press conference, HHS secretary Alex Azar provided updates on the US government’s response to the 2019 novel coronavirus. He was joined by the director of the CDC, Robert Redfield, MD; the director of CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Nancy Messonnier, MD; and the director of the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci, MD.

Participants in Last Gift, an end-of-life HIV research program from UC San Diego, donate their blood and their bodies so researchers can uncover all the places that HIV hides, to both fight the disease and stop it. Before each autopsy, the following is read: “From our first breath to our last, each of us tells a unique story. Here, we honor our Last Gift participants for their altruism to further research into HIV and the human condition. We take this moment of silence to honor their gifts and express our gratitude for all the discoveries their selfless donations will yield.”

The American Medical Association Foundation announced a national fellowship program to promote best practices and shared outcomes for the LGBTQ community; the FDA issued guidances promoting development of gene therapy products; the CDC announces 110 possible cases of coronavirus in the United States.

Ipsen, a French pharmaceutical company based in Paris, announced it has paused studies conducted on a drug used to treat Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressive (FOP).

New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a lawsuit filed against 2 former chief executive officers of Turing Pharmaceuticals, now known as Vyera Pharmaceuticals: “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli, currently serving a 7-year sentence in federal prison for securities fraud, a crime that took place before the launch of Vyera, and his business partner Kevin Mulleady.

CMS said it is expanding coverage of next generation sequencing (NGS) for use as a diagnostic for patients with germline breast and ovarian cancer, paving the way for Medicare beneficiaries to receive more personalized medicine. However, an advocate said the wording of CMS' decision could actually limit testing access for some women with breast or ovarian cancer.

Heart failure (HF) taxes the American healthcare system by a total of $39.2 billion to $60 billion each year. This amount is expected to increase up to 20% by 2030 and total $70 billion. Worldwide, HF has been diagnosed in 26 million individuals, and this number is rising.

In study findings demonstrating differentially expressed genes (DEGs) among healthy patients and those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), researchers show that key genes CYP1B1, VEGFA, BCL2, and CDKN1A may have significance in analyzing the development and progression of COPD.

For the first time, scientists obtained high-definition images of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptors, enabling future research into treatments for type 2 diabetes, according to a study published in Nature Communications.

Patients with early-onset Parkinson disease may have been born with disordered brain cells that mishandled dopamine for decades, according to a study released Monday.

Chinese health authorities are testing an HIV drug, lopinavir and ritonavir, as a potential treatment for the new coronavirus; a debate is growing over the efficacy of the sole drug approved to prevent preterm birth; the Trump administration threatens to withhold Califonia’s federal funding due to its abortion coverage requirements.

Following cataract surgery, a submicron formulation of loteprednol etabonate (LE) gel, 0.38% administered three times daily (TID), is safe and effective for treating ocular inflammation with minimal risk of intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation, according to study findings.

Researchers recently discovered a sensitive and specific biomarker that may enable early diagnosis, treatment, and public awareness of spotted fever rickettsial infections, including Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF), according to a study published in the American Journal of Pathology.

Extracting lung function measurements from electronic health record (EHR) data through an automated tool, such as Microsoft SQL Server’s full-text search feature, may be efficient and improve the number of values available, leading to improved phenotyping of patients with COPD, according to study findings.

The authors write that the drug's apparent cardioprotective effects in the angiotensin II stressed mice—the decreased fibrosis, reduced inflammation and oxidative stress—all merit further study.

Researchers compared the cost-effectiveness of ninetedanib to pirfenidone for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and found nintedanib to be more cost-saving than pirfenidone, according to study findings.

The literature review examined randomized controlled trials for craniosacral therapy (CST) in patients with migraine and other conditions that cause pain.

The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) published a draft evidence report on crizanlizumab (Adakveo), voxelotor (Oxbryta), and L-glutamine (Endari) for sickle cell disease, as well as a draft scoping document on valoctocogene roxaparvovec, an investigational gene therapy, and emicizumab (Helimbra) for hemophilia.

Amid the disappointment that the Camden Coalition's "hot spotting" efforts did not reduce hospital readmissions, we note how a well-read 2007 paper in our archives showed that expenditures on disease management do not always produce a return on investment.