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The Trump administration is considering narrowly defining gender as a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth; Medicare for All and single payer healthcare are suddenly popular, but what it means to the politicians embracing the terms are not exactly known; the Trump administration is expected to try to expand religious and moral exemptions for covering birth control in employer health insurance plans.

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) in the Medicare Shared Savings Program vary considerably in how they treat men with newly diagnosed prostate cancer, according to a study that assessed whether the level of engagement in ACOs by urologists could affect rates of treatment, overtreatment, and spending in prostate cancer care.

The EVI1 gene may be single-handedly at fault for acute myeloid leukemia, according to research published in Nature Communications.

A recent study looked to use real-world data to support the value of pathway regimens designed to create high-quality, affordable treatment in breast cancer care.

Neuromuscular blocking agents, or muscle relaxants, are often used in surgery to prevent muscles from moving when a patient is unconscious. A recent study found that the use of neuromuscular blockers during general anesthesia is associated with an increased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications.

The first trial to examine the impact of a self-management behavior-modification program combined with bronchodilator therapy and exercise training on exercise capacity and physical activity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) showed positive results, according to a recently published study.

Women with HER2-positive early breast cancer with small tumors have similar disease-free survival and lower risk of cardiac toxicity with a 9-week course of adjuvant trastuzumab compared with those treated for 1 year, according to a study presented at the ESMO 2018 Annual Congress. A second study showed that a 6-month course of adjuvant trastuzumab was cost-effective compared to 12 months.

While mental health diagnosis can be associated with an increased use of emergency department (ED) visits, prior patient visit patterns were also associated with higher future ED use.

A review of migraine and cluster headache emphasizes how their shared pathophysiological pathways may be important for identifying future treatments.

A retrospective cohort study by compared different osteoporosis preventative-medications and found that selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERM) had better hip and major fracture risk reductions than alendronate, while strontium ranelate (SR) had poorer hip and major fracture risk reduction than alendronate.

Switchable chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells with a switch directed towards human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has similar efficacy as conventional HER2 CAR T cells while also having a greater control over treatment toxicities.

Researchers developed and validated a risk score to predict febrile neutropenia in cycles 2 to 6 of chemotherapy.

Health experts are questioning the practice of allowing private insurers to manage public Medicaid contracts; doctors and scientists are urging a halt to a taxpayer-funded, $63 million medical trial based in part on the work of prominent Harvard Medical School scientist Piero Anversa; a Michigan pharmacist who refused to refill a woman’s miscarriage medication because he claimed he was a “good Catholic male” is no longer with Meijer.

With its new FDA approval, Hemlibra (emicizumab-kxwh), a bispecific factor IXa- and factor X-directed antibody, has become the first prophylactic treatment for patients with hemophilia A with or without factor VIII inhibitors.

The October 2018 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®) includes studies on diabetes outcomes, the effect of feedback reports on physician behavior, accountable care organization performance, and more. Here are 5 findings from the research published in the issue.

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

This week, the top managed care news included the Trump administration unveiling plans to include drug prices in television ads; CMS touted Medicare Advantage at the beginning of open enrollment for Medicare; research found Medicare beneficiaries who live in housing with support services stay out of the hospital.

For chronic sciatica, a recent study said that while gabapentin (GBP) and pregabalin (PGB) are both effective, GBP was found to be superior with fewer and less severe adverse events.

This series of pharmacoeconomics posts will explore the meaning of $100,000/quality-adjusted life year (QALY) and why it might matter to these 4 P’s: patients, payers, providers, and pharma. Part 2 puts ICER into context so it can be applied to decision-making.

An event hosted by the American Enterprise Institute highlighted companies in the private sector that are working on novel ways to transform healthcare and bring better value to patients.

A population-level roll-out of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV in men who have sex with men resulted in a 25% reduction in HIV diagnoses in just 1 year.

The midterm election is less than a month away, and a new poll tracking how Americans view healthcare issues finds that a majority of voters in 2 bellwether states—Nevada and Florida—prefer a candidate who supports keeping the Affordable Care Act (ACA)'s protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

Researchers have created a database that shows how 409 different tumor cells respond to 122 therapies, which will allow clinical trials to proceed for this aggressive blood cancer.

Previous studies have noted a lower quality of care in for-profit nursing homes, but those studies have typically focused on individual clinical effects. A new study looking at a broader list of neglect found that residents in for-profit homes are almost twice as likely to experience adverse health problems from substandard care.

UnitedHealthcare has announced it is listing 3 biosimilars as preferred drugs; Express Scripts has decided it will cover Eli Lilly’s and Amgen’s migraine drugs and will not cover Teva Pharmaceutical's drug; black men are more likely to get and die from prostate cancer compared with white men, but they are underrepresented in prostate cancer research because of a general distrust of the healthcare system.

A study has found no evidence that bleomycin plus granulocyte-stimulating factor (G-CSF) increases the risk for bleomycin-induced pulmonary toxicity in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma.

Last week, Bristol-Myers Squibb announced results from the phase 3 CheckMate -331 trial that investigated nivolumab (Opdivo) versus the current standard of care, chemotherapy, in the treatment of patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) who relapsed following platinum-based chemotherapy. The trial found that nivolumab did not significantly increase overall survival compared with chemotherapy.

Medicare beneficiaries who live in housing that offers supportive social services use the hospital less than seniors who live in the same neighborhoods in housing without such amenities.