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Patients in low-income countries receive similar antenatal care coverage as patients in high-income countries. However, they receive inequitable quality of antenatal care for 3 essential services: blood pressure monitoring, urine and blood tests, according to a study published in Lancet Global Health.

While team-based approaches to primary care transformation provide benefit to patients with chronic illness by reducing acute care utilization, it may lead to higher use among healthier patients.

The FDA will revamp the process for approving most medical devices, which has long been criticized by experts for failing to catch problems with risky implants and related products; the $69 billion merger between CVS and Aetna is expected to close Wednesday after New York signed off on the deal; the Government Accountability Office (GAO) will investigate whether members of President Donald Trump’s private club in Florida improperly influenced the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Back pain is a leading cause of disability, and the proportion of adults over age 65 who have back pain is increasing in the United States, particularly among women. Now, research has demonstrated that persistent back pain is also linked with an increased risk of death in older women.

CMS said Monday it is easing restrictions on how Medicare Part D manages the 6 protected drug classes that must be included in those plans, is taking action on pharmacy rebates, and is allowing step therapy in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, all in an effort to force lower drug prices.

FDA has recently approved 2 new treatments for patients age 75 and older who are newly diagnosed with AML and have other chronic health conditions or diseases that may mean they cannot use intensive chemotherapy.

Findings showed that children in primary care who received guidance on managing their weight over a year did as well as those who received treatment in major research clinics. The results are encouraging, given the rise in obesity around the globe.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) has been reported to be associated with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) in 5% to 48% of MPN patients. Now, authors of the largest PH study in patients with Philadelphia chromosome-negative MPN have concluded that the prevalence of PH is lower than has been previously reported.

To better understand the characteristics of patients with chronic kidney disease who require hemodialysis or renal transplant, researchers in Brazil evaluated the prevalence of resistance-associated substitutions to direct-acting antivirals in this population who also carry the hepatitis C virus (HCV).

HCR ManorCare, the second-largest nursing-home chain, exposed its roughly 25,000 patients to increasing health risks in the 5 years preceding its bankruptcy; Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, is spreading outside of healthcare settings like hospitals and nursing homes and scientists are not exactly sure why; the US government released new autism numbers.

CD7 gene-edited chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells target CD7-positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells while sparing myeloid and erythroid cells and minimizing toxicity, according to the results of a recent study.

Novo Nordisk plans to seek FDA approval for the GLP-1 receptor agonist in the first half of 2019.

There are 5 FDA-approved monoclonal antibody treatments that affect the pathways involved in either the allergic or type 2 inflammatory phenotypes of asthma, and these 5 drugs are the focus of a new report from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER).

Recent research indicates that there are age-associated gender differences seen in the disease burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), with younger women more severely affected.

Rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile idiopathic arthritis increase the risk of preterm delivery (PTD) in pregnant women. Additionally, treatment with corticosteroid can lead to a 2- to 5-fold increased risk of PTD in both groups, independent of disease activity.

A population-based study in Taiwan examined whether or not vitamin D or bisphosphonates affect the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.

AMT-061, an AAV5 vector containing factor IX (FIX)-Padua variant, has been shown to increase FIX activity to threshold FIX levels sufficient to significantly reduce the risk of bleeding events without the risk of adverse immune reactions.

Chronic diseases remain a significant challenge for older Americans, and Humana is using a holistic approach, leveraging value-based reimbursement models, to improve health outcomes and quality measures for the insurer’s Medicare Advantage (MA) members, according to a new Humana report, “The Intersection of Health + Care.”

The British Society for Haematology has released a new updated guideline that offers practical guidance for the management of specific situations and complications of polycythemia vera and outlines management of the diverse types of secondary erythrocytosis.

Despite the increasing focus on the concept of “value” in healthcare, there is lack of consensus on a definition of value. While patient-centricity has been a steady refrain in healthcare, we question whether the values, needs, and preferences of patients have been meaningfully incorporated into value assessments thus far.

This week, the top managed care news included HHS Secretary Alex Azar hinting that the government may get more involved in addressing social needs impacting health; work rules in Arkansas cost thousands their Medicaid coverage; research finds a shorter course of hepatitis C treatment may be just as effective as the full course of treatment.

A recent study found that a combination treatment of glecaprevir and pibrentasvir is both effective and well tolerated in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) who have failed previous therapies.

According to a new study presented at The Liver Meeting, combining universal screening for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) with reflex RNA PCR in pregnant women is more cost-effective than risk-based screening.

With the possible release of 2 therapies for peanut allergies on the horizon, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) is opening up a review looking at the effectiveness and value of these potential treatments and oral immunotherapy (OIT) regimens.

The president of FAIR Health demonstrates the changes in behavioral health coverage over the past decade through the prism of the rise in claims.

During a joint meeting of the FDA’s Anesthetic and Analgesic Drug Products Advisory Committee and Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee, members voted in favor of approval for Mallinckrodt’s MNK-812, an abuse-deterrent formulation of oxycodone.

The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is recommending that clinicians offer the treatment to people at high risk of HIV, which will likely increase access to the treatment for those who need it most.

Greater infection rate, higher white blood cell, monocyte, and absolute neutrophil counts are more significantly associated with severe congenital neutropenia than with patients with idiopathic and recovered neutropenia, according study results.