AJMC Staff

The American Medical Association and the AARP issue briefs in defense of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), while President Trump is delaying an ACA alternative until after the 2020; top hospitals offer unproven stem cell treatments; the measles outbreak hits a new high.

CMS approves Utah Medicaid work requirements after a federal judge overturns rules for Arkansas and Kentucky; youth suicide risk in Missouri grows with the shift to managed care; CDC says a goal of eliminating tuberculosis by end of 21st century unlikely.

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

An Idaho Senate committee killed a bill that would implement Medicaid work requirements in the state; the FDA is proposing requiring that women receive information on their breast density after a mammogram; and President Trump will reportedly submit a healthcare plan to Congress this year.

Insurer Centene strikes a deal to acquire WellCare, creating a new giant in the healthcare market; a federal jury orders Monsanto to pay over $80 million to a plaintiff whose cancer was found to be caused by a common weed killer; surgeons perform a transplant using a kidney from a living donor with HIV.

HHS Secretary Alex Azar and Attorney General Bill Barr opposed the Trump administration’s support to overturn the Affordable Care Act (ACA) through a federal lawsuit; OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, agreed to pay $270 million to avoid a state court trial in Oklahoma over the company’s role in the spread of opioids over the past 20 years; a New York county is banning unvaccinated children in public places in the wake of a measles crisis that has infected more than 150 people.

Johnson & Johnson and Bayer, who jointly sell the blood thinner drug Xarelto, settled lawsuits that claimed the companies failed to warn about potentially fatal side-effects for $775 million; the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee have planned hearings in the coming weeks over the rising cost of insulin; the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Association called for taxes, warning labels, and advertising curbs on soda in hopes to reduce consumption among children and adolescents.

United Parcel Service (UPS) is planning to test a service that will dispatch nurses to administer vaccines in a patient's home; survey results reveal that the majority of Americans think the government is spending too little on healthcare; and Biogen has halted 2 clinical trials testing an experimental treatment for Alzheimer disease.

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

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, called for stricter oversight of electronic health records (EHRs); Medicaid expansion in Kentucky has led to increases in screening, diagnoses, and survival of colorectal cancer (CRC); contradicting claims from some federal and state officials, the majority of beneficiaries who lost coverage for not complying with Arkansas’ Medicaid work requirements have not found employment.

Some states are rethinking how to compensate hospitals for services, using Medicare reimbursement rates as a benchmark to control costs for state employee health plans; reported cases of mumps are on the rise at Temple University in Philadelphia; the Lancet Commission outlines a new plan for worldwide tuberculosis eradication.

The FDA has approved the first drug specifically developed to treat postpartum depression; a new study links frequent and high-potency marijuana use to psychosis; and the Mississippi Senate has passed its heartbeat abortion ban.

Ohio has received approval from CMS for its Medicaid work requirements; healthcare data breaches in February compromised data from more than 2 million people; a CDC report found 3 ways that patients try to lower their drug costs.

While Alzheimer disease and other brain diseases are similar and cannot be stopped, it's important that families get the right diagnosis in order to get the best care and plan for the future; daily consumption of eggs has been found to slightly increase the risk of heart disease and early mortality; Maine Governor Janet Mills submitted a bill to allow abortions to be performed by medical professionals besides physicians.

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

Between 2000 and 2007, mortality due to dementia more than doubled; the FDA has granted fast-track designation for an opioid antidote from Purdue Pharma, the pharmaceutical company accused of aggressively marketing OxyContin; physicians say prior authorization is interfering with continuity of care.

An international group of scientists has called for a global moratorium on gene-edited babies; proposed guidance would limit the sale of flavored e-cigarettes; and the Senate has invited executives from 5 pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to testify at a hearing on drug prices.

Trump administration proposes fees on e-cigarette industry to fund FDA regulatory oversight; Scientists create bioprinter that allows creation of new skin to treat wounds; Medieval era diseases reappear in unsanitary locations among homeless populations and others.

Robotic surgery remains a widespread practice for cancer treatment while the FDA warns no evidence has been found linking these procedures to safer patient outcomes; more than 2000 migrants in US detention centers quarantined as reported cases of mumps arise; Iowa Supreme Court rules that Medicaid can not deny coverage for sex reassignment surgery.

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

CMS is requesting comment on eliminating regulatory and other barriers that may be impeding interstate health insurance; a study has found a link between secondhand smoke exposure and chronic kidney disease; House Democrats have renewed their push for gun violence research.

Planned Parenthood and the American Medical Association have become the latest groups to sue the Trump administration over rule changes to Title X; an Ohio teen testified before a Senate committee about why he defied his mom and get vaccinated; and a federal judge has ruled that a unit of UnitedHealth Group had implemented policies discriminating against patients with mental health and substance abuse disorders.

The Trump administration is working on a payment model that would favor home dialysis over in-clinic treatment for kidney disease; California is suing the Trump administration over rule changes to Title X; Trump has ordered the creation of a task force to address veteran suicide.

A second patient has been reported to have been cured of infection with HIV since the start of the epidemic; thousands have reported complications to the FDA with medical devices and implants; a 30-person national ethics committee has been appointed in China to oversee high-risk clinical trials.

Some patient advocacy groups opposing Medicare changes have received funding from pharma companies in the past; new techniques allow scientists to target individual cells for analysis; rural nursing homes continue to close.

A recent study measured exhaled breath condensate (EBC) content that contained ultrafine particles (UFP) as a reflection of inflammation and oxidative stress in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and as a marker of exacerbations.

A technology update, a new drug approval, and a drug recall due to more impurities.

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

Senator Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, is working with Democratic colleagues Michael Bennet of Colorado and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire to introduce a bill this month to stop patients from getting surprise medical bills; the FDA warned a major Canadian drug distributor, CanaRx to stop selling unapproved and mislabeled medicines to Americans looking to save money on prescriptions; Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives are trying to keep the chamber united behind narrower proposals aimed at strengthening the Affordable Care Act and lowering drug prices in the wake of the introduction of a Medicare for All bill.

Researchers have confirmed that there is no link between flu shots and miscarriages; a liquid biopsy is as effective as tissue-based testing for identifying treatment for lung cancer; and physicians generate an average of $2 million a year for hospitals.