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While 1 in 5 Americans say they have a food allergy, 1 in 10 actually do; a patient with a rare form of brain cancer is the first patient to be treated under the Right to Try Law; and federal data show significant variation in fertility rates around the country.

During the 37th Annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, California, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, offered details on the addition of a new office of drug development science that he said will bring more structure to the drug review process.

A new study comparing 2 risk stratification models found that the Clinical Index of Stable Febrile Neutropenia (CISNE) Model is useful for identifying low-risk patients with febrile neutropenia, but the combination of the CISNE Model with the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer Risk Index Score may help emergency physicians cope with febrile neutropenia more confidently.

A phase 2 trial demonstrated that the regimen of rituximab, bortezomib, bendamustine, and dexamethasone is a viable treatment option for older patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), and highlighted the usefulness of using minimal residual disease (MRD) to guide early and late clinical decisions.

When to begin maintenance therapy for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with either a single drug, or a combination of long-acting bronchodilators, is not always clear. A new study looking at whether baseline symptomatic status influences response to treatment suggests that patients with more severe dyspnea benefit more from a combination of tiotropium/olodaterol than tiotropium alone.

For the 25th consecutive year, the cancer mortality rate in the United States has declined, according to The American Cancer Society’s annual report on cancer rates and trends. The overall 27% drop in mortality rate translates into 2.6 million fewer deaths from cancer between the years 1991 and 2016.

New York City is expanding health coverage to 600,000 uninsured residents; a transparency rule requiring hospitals to post prices online is confusing patients; and Eli Lilly has purchased Loxo Oncology in what some are calling a massive bet on cancer genetic.

In the past year, there have been tremendous advancements in precision medicine, and the big upfront investments are starting to come to fruition, according to panelists at the 37th Annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, held January 7-10 in San Francisco, California.

A recent report by The Commonwealth Fund found no consistent set of subgroups for high-need, high-cost patients managed by accountable care organizations (ACOs), but it did suggest methods by which segmenting the sickest and most costly patients could help drive improved care outcomes.

The chief executive officer and president of CVS Health said the integration of CVS and Aetna is well underway—even while it complies with a US district court that is reviewing the deal—more than a month after the acquisition closed.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is one of the world’s top drivers of chronic disease burdens, the chief executive officer of ResMed told the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, as he explained the company’s strategy to help meet unmet needs using digital connectivity and data analytics.

Using state-level surveillance data of reported HIV and syphilis cases among men who have sex with men (MSM), researchers found a widely disparate impact of HIV and syphilis among black and Hispanic MSM compared with white MSM.

José Baselga, MD, who resigned his position as the chief medical officer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center after failing to disclose millions of dollars in payments from drug companies, is joining AstraZeneca as its head of research and development in oncology; the end of the Affordable Care Act tax penalty on those without health insurance could roll back recent coverage gains for Hispanics, young people, the healthy, and the poor; rural hospitals are forming partnerships with home health agencies in order to survive.

For patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), upper extremity (UE) impairment is not uncommon, and patients with primary progressive MS tend to have a higher prevalence of UE dysfunction and greater impairment.

Patients with migraine, patent foramen ovale (PFO), and atrial septal aneurysm (ASA) have more frequent ischemic brain lesions, migraine with aura, and larger PFO sizes than patients with migraines and PFO without ASA, according to the results of a recent study.

Research and regulatory gaps in the use of marijuana will only grow unless the scientific community and policy leaders fill the void, according to a commentary series in Annals of Internal Medicine on marijuana’s rising availability.

Bristol-Meyers Squibb (BMS) and Celgene kicked off the 37th Annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference by discussing their leading drugs, near-term launches, and early pipeline assets.

This week, companies are showcasing digital health at conferences in Las Vegas and San Francisco, but when it comes to alleviating disease burden or the cost of care for vulnerable populations, the promise of digital health is not yet fulfilled, according to a study published in Health Affairs.

Mental health advocates are lobbying Congress to help them get schizophrenia classified as a brain disease like Parkinson or Alzheimer disease, instead of as a mental illness; the annual Consumer Electronics Show, which begins this week in Las Vegas, has become an increasingly popular place for health technology firms looking for publicity in the $7 trillion global medical industry; the Trump administration warned scientists doing biomedical research at American universities that Chinese spies may be trying to steal and exploit information.

The initial trial made news because the results were at odds with ACCORD. This new analysis highlights the need for personalized diabetes care, especially among older adults.

While a common genetic mutation among patients with polycythemia vera (PV) is V617F in exon 14 of the Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) gene—which activates the tyrosine kinase—it has been reported that patients with V617F-negative PV have mutations in exon 12 of JAK2. Exon 12 mutations are involved in approximately 3% of patients with PV, and these patients often have reduced erythroblasts in the bone marrow and hypercellular bone marrow.

People living with HIV are at a greater risk for incident heart failure, with those with higher viral loads and lower CD4+ T cell counts having the greatest risk.

A recent prospective phase 2 study sought to investigate autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation as a therapeutic intervention in multiple sclerosis (MS).

A recent study looking at the impact of recent exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) on hospitalized patients who also have coronary artery disease (CAD) found that COPD was was independently associated with additional risks of complications after percutaneous coronary intervention.

Hospitalized patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who tested positive for the flu and were unvaccinated had worse death rates and more severe illness than those who were vaccinated, according to a recent study.

Pediatric patients with early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma who are treated with chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy, known as combined modality therapy, have an improved 5-year survival rate compared with patients treated with chemotherapy alone.

A meta-analysis of 17 studies finds that botulinum toxin (Botox) is superior to placebo for the prophylactic treatment of chronic migraine.

This week, the top managed care news included a government shutdown affects healthcare; Democrats take control of the House; and The American Journal of Managed Care® names its most influential person in healthcare.