GAO Will Investigate Orphan Drug Program
Spurred by a request from 3 US senators, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) will investigate potential abuses of the Orphan Drug Act. According to Kaiser Health News, the senators are concerned that incentives to develop products to treat rare diseases may not be working as intended. They have pointed to the high price tags attached to approved orphan drugs. The GAO still has to determine the full scope of the investigation, and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) expects the investigation to begin in 9 months.
US Infant Death Rates Decline
Over the last 10 years, the infant mortality rate in the United States has declined 15%. The promising trend is good news for the country, which has had a rate of infant deaths that was much higher than other comparable nations, reported STAT. Colorado, Connecticut, South Carolina, and Vermont were particularly successful with infant death rates declining more than 20%. Initiatives implemented by these states, such as advances in care for babies born with a low birthweight or sending nurses to new mothers’ homes to help them care for newborns, are likely the reason that more babies are surviving.
Smoking Rates Down by 2.5%
While there is more work to be done, a 2005 global tobacco treaty has helped reduce the smoking rate worldwide by 2.5%. However, the decline is still behind the pace called for in the treaty, which asked participating countries to implement practices such as high tobacco taxes and smoke-free public spaces, according to Reuters. Smoking trends varied across the countries studied: there was a decline in the rate in 90 countries, an increase in 24 countries, and no change in 12 countries. However, countries that implemented more measures of the treaty saw greater reductions.
NCCN Guidelines Update Adds Momelotinib Below Ruxolitinib for High-, Low-Risk Myelofibrosis
January 23rd 2024Momelotinib was given category 2A and 2B status for patients with high- and low-risk myelofibrosis (MF) and MF with anemia. However, ruxolitinib retains a higher category of recommendation as a treatment for patients with MF.
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Oncology Onward: A Conversation With Dr Shereef Elnahal, Under Secretary for Health
April 20th 2023Shereef Elnahal, MD, MBA, under secretary for health at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), sat for a conversation with our hosts Emeline Aviki, MD, MBA, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Stephen Schleicher, MD, MBA, Tennessee Oncology, that covered the cancer footprint of the VHA.
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Interventions Needed to Increase DMT Uptake in Sickle Cell Disease
December 26th 2023A recent study found that uptake of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) has been low among patients with sickle cell disease, suggesting that more interventions that consider individual patient characteristics are needed to improve adoption.
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Exploring Payer Coverage Decisions Following FDA Novel Drug Approvals
May 3rd 2022On this episode of Managed Care Cast, Ari D. Panzer, BS, lead author and researcher, then at Tufts Medical Center—now at Duke University—discusses the findings from his team’s investigation into coverage decisions by health plan insurers of the 66 drugs approved by the FDA in 2018.
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Exagamglogene Autotemcel Meets End Points in Severe Sickle Cell Disease, β-Thalassemia
December 7th 2023Two posters set to be presented at the 65th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting & Exposition met their primary and secondary end points regarding exagamglogene autotemcel therapy for sickle cell disease and β-thalassemia.
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