Sarepta Therapeutics has started screening participants for a Phase 3 clinical trial to test its gene therapy candidate SRP-9003 in children with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2E; wastewater testing points to a new COVID-19 infection wave fueled by the JN.1 variant; most patients on anti-obesity medications kept at least some weight off up to a year after they stopped taking them.
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Study Highlights Need for Additional Caregiver Support in Higher-Risk MDS
January 23rd 2024The study, which pulled self-reported data from online bulletin boards across the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom in 2020, found that the degree of burden varied based on patient disease stage, among other factors.
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What We’re Reading: CAR T Therapy Warning; Child Flu Cases; Alzheimer Blood Test
January 23rd 2024Pharmaceutical companies required to update prescribing information for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies; Texas dashboard reports a 40% increase in pediatric flu cases; a blood test shows high accuracy for Alzheimer disease biomarkers.
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What We’re Reading: Global Pandemic Accord; New Abortion Initiatives; Cervical Cancer Increasing
January 22nd 2024Meeting the 2024 deadline for an international agreement on pandemic response may not happen; the Biden administration announces measures to counter restrictive state laws on abortion; cervical cancer incidence declines as more women receive the human papillomavirus vaccine.
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The new Innovation in Behavioral Health (IBH) Model is designed to test for improving outcomes for adults with mental health and substance use disorder; patients with long COVID show prolonged activation of the immune system’s complement system after an acute infection; scientists now believe our bodies benefit most when our sleep is consistent, not just long.
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CMS has announced new federal rules that require health insurers to streamline requests to cover treatments; nearly 50,000 veterans used the emergency suicide prevention program launched by the Department of Veteran Affairs in 2023; the FDA recently authorized the first artificial intelligence (AI)-powered medical device to help doctors detect the most common forms of skin cancer.
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What We’re Reading: Health Insurance Premiums; Drug Price Hikes; Postpartum Depression Pill Access
January 17th 2024Families with workplace health insurance may have missed out on $125,000 in earnings over the past 3 decades due to rising premiums; so far, there have been about 600 drug price hikes in January; experts worry that minority and low-income people will not have easy access to zuranolone, the first FDA-approved postpartum depression pill.
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What We’re Reading: Saving Rural Hospitals; Rising Drug Prices; Global Tobacco Use Declines
January 16th 2024New program seeks to revitalize struggling rural health care facilities; NIH director advocates for actions to address unaffordable medications; WHO reveals significant drop global tobacco use
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What We’re Reading: ACA Enrollment Increase; Adult ADHD Surge; High Rent Health Effects
January 11th 2024Health insurance enrollment through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance marketplace has broken a record for the third consecutive year; attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) treatment prescriptions for adults surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing to lingering shortages; paying high rent can shorten your lifespan.
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What We’re Reading: Doctor Payment Cuts; Menopause Drug; Student Mental Health Support
January 10th 2024Congress is being urged to reverse a cut to physicians’ Medicare payments; Bayer announced encouraging results on Monday of 2 phase 3 trials for its nonhormonal drug candidate meant to treat hot flashes; more students are turning to online mental health support rather than school counselors.
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What We’re Reading: Mask Mandates Return; Sugary Drink Sales Decline; WIC Program Problems
January 8th 2024COVID-19 subvariant JN.1 accounts for about 62% of US cases, resulting in mask mandates being reinstated in cities across the United States; sugary drink sales fell dramatically across 5 US cities after implementing taxes on them; it is difficult for Special Supplement Nutrition Program for Women and Children (WIC) participants to find approved items.
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What We’re Reading: Canadian Drug Imports; Drug-by-Mail Delivery; Hydroxychloroquine-Related Deaths
January 5th 2024The FDA announced it is allowing Florida to import medications in bulk from Canada at far lower prices than those offered in the United States; health insurance companies are revamping their technology to encourage more people to get their medications through the mail; nearly 17,000 patients with COVID-19 may have died after taking hydroxychloroquine during the first pandemic wave.
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What We’re Reading: Rising Hospital Care Costs; New Antibiotic; Disenrolled Medicaid Beneficiaries
January 4th 2024The average direct cost for hospital treatment for patients with COVID-19 in the United States rose by 26% from 2020 to 2022; scientists have developed a new type of antibiotic to treat a deadly bacteria resistant to most current antibiotics; a survey conducted for Utah state officials gave some clues as to why millions of Americans lost Medicaid coverage last year.
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What We’re Reading: Drug Price Increases; FDA Approvals Rise; Abortion Pill Demand Surge
January 3rd 2024Drugmakers are expected to increase prices on more than 500 drugs early this month; the FDA approved nearly 50% more novel drugs in 2023 than in 2022; the number of Americans who were not pregnant and wanted abortion pills increased by nearly 10 times after the Supreme Court’s 2022 Roe v Wade decision leaked.
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What We’re Reading: Mental Hospitals for Addiction; Insulin Price Cap; e-Cigarette Crackdown
January 2nd 2024Lawmakers contemplate the return of mental health institutions in response to the drug crisis; new measures to rein in insulin prices take effect; FDA intensifies efforts to curb the teen vaping epidemic.
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What We’re Reading: Health Data Breaches; Medicaid Grassroots Groups; PCP Shortage Impact
December 22nd 2023As many as 116 million patients were impacted by large health data breaches this year; grassroots groups have begun leading the push to re-enroll patients denied Medicare coverage for bureaucratic reasons; a nationwide shortage of primary care clinicians is causing more distrust in the health care system.
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More than 15.3 million Americans enrolled in health insurance under the Affordable Care Act for 2024, which is a 33% increase from last year; emergency contraception sales in the United States may spike by around 10% in the new year; top Biden administration officials met with prominent civil rights and public health leaders on Tuesday amid the decision to delay the menthol cigarette ban.
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The FDA approved the first test to assess opioid addiction risk; Americans are using more cold and allergy medicines to mask any related symptoms to return to work and social gatherings, but may be overtreating themselves in the process; Rite Aid will be banned from using artificial intelligence–powered facial recognition technology for 5 years under a proposed Federal Trade Commission settlement.
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What We’re Reading: Inflation Penalties; Melanoma Vaccine; Respiratory Vaccine Coverage
December 15th 2023A vaccine is showing promising results in treating melanoma; the Biden administration will implement inflation penalties on dozens of drugmakers to reduce out-of-pocket costs for Medicare recipients; the CDC issued an alert urging health care providers to increase immunization coverage for influenza, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
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The rate of invasive pneumococcal disease in children plummeted by 72% from 2002 to 2021; health care spending in the United States rose 4.1% in 2022 to $4.5 trillion; roughly two-thirds of Americans who have a mental health condition were unable to access treatment in 2021 despite having health insurance.
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What We’re Reading: Childhood Obesity Counseling; Humana Lawsuit; AI Use Concern
December 13th 2023The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended that children with obesity receive intensive counseling at age 6 to promote healthy diet and exercise habits; a new survey found that the majority of American patients are wary of their doctors using artificial intelligence (AI); a class-action lawsuit was filed Tuesday against health insurer Humana for using an AI algorithm that systemically denies seniors rehabilitation care recommended by their doctors.
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