Respiratory

The latest indication makes nintedanib the first treatment for people with chronic fibrosing interstitial lung diseases.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a London hospital, 10 days after being diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Also Monday, the CDC released a preliminary report about how COVID-19 is affecting children in the United States.

The changes are aimed at helping hospitals increase their capacities for the sickest patients; expand the pool of local healthcare providers who are available to work; eliminating ordinary paperwork and documentation requirements; expanding Medicare coverage for respiratory-related devices and equipment for any medical reason; and expanding telehealth in Medicare by covering more than 80 additional services.

The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC® ) interviewed Martha Gulati, MD, cardiologist at Banner – University Medicine Heart Institute, on findings of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) levels in relation to cardiovascular outcomes and smoking cessation with e-cigarettes. These studies are part of the 2020 American College of Cardiology / World Congress of Cardiology Virtual Experience.

The bill includes $100 billion for hospitals; some are concerned that the bill, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, does not go far enough, particularly for Medicaid.

The number of cases of COVID-19 nationwide moved past the 20,000 mark, of which more than half are in New York state, a fact that Gov. Andrew Cuomo said was a function of the state testing more people.

Healthcare providers should revisit disaster response policies to incorporate telemedicine systems to address some of the unique challenges posed by infectious disease outbreaks such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

As the COVID-19 pandemic upends daily life and economies across the globe, investigators are hurrying to test and develop potential treatments for the coronavirus, with some showing promise and others being ruled out.

The Trump administration asked Congress for billions in COVID-19 assistance for Americans while a report said government responses in both the United States and the United Kingdom were suddenly being influenced by a grim analysis forecasting half a million to over 2 million deaths if the virus is allowed to run rampant without nonpharmaceutical interventions—ie, social isolation.

President Donald Trump on Friday declared the novel coronavirus a national emergency, which unlocks billions of dollars in federal funding to fight the disease’s spread. He also announced the creation of a website to direct symptomatic individuals to drive-through testing locations.

Twenty-one people aboard a cruise ship carrying more than 3500 people off the California coast tested positive for the new coronavirus, but only 46 people overall have been tested, and federal officials are trying to bring the ship to a non-commercial port. COVID-19 (which stands for coronavirus disease 2019) passed a global milestone; SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease, has infected more than 100,000 worldwide.

This week, the top stories in managed care included a study finding key drug prices are soaring; Congress providing funds for coronavirus; alcohol-related deaths rising.

The FDA now requires a boxed warning for montelukast (Singulair) due to the risk of neuropsychiatric events associated with the drug.

Treatment regimens of steroids and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs were effective in reducing the short-term death rate among patients with acute exacerbation of interstitial lung disease (AE-ILD), a complication of idiopathic inflammatory myopathy.

A man in his 50s in Washington state with underlying health conditions became the first fatality from the coronavirus in the United States, and a healthcare worker and a resident from a nursing home in the state are hospitalized, the CDC said Saturday. It is the first reported case in a healthcare worker, the CDC said.

It’s not a question of if coronavirus becomes a worldwide pandemic, but when, the CDC said Tuesday.

By age 3, children involved in the survey developed wheeze, atopy, or asthma—possibly linked to their parents’ use of common household cleaning products.

A decision aid delivered through tobacco quitlines may improve informed decision making about lung cancer screening, according to study findings.

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

Interstitial lung disease requires a multidisciplinary clinical approach, though little is known about effective therapeutic treatments.

Findings of this qualitative interview study suggest promise, but also challenges, with regard to using preventive drug lists to help families manage asthma medication costs.

Infectious disease experts at the University of Maryland School of Medicine recently warned there is an urgent need for the administration of influenza vaccines among detainees at the southern border.

Key features of the lung microbiome (bacterial burden, enrichment with gut-associated bacteria) were found to predict outcomes in critically ill patients, representing a potential therapeutic target for the prevention and treatment of acute respiratory failure, according to study findings.

In a press conference, HHS secretary Alex Azar provided updates on the US government’s response to the 2019 novel coronavirus. He was joined by the director of the CDC, Robert Redfield, MD; the director of CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Nancy Messonnier, MD; and the director of the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci, MD.

The US Surgeon General, Jerome M. Adams, MD, MPH, has released the first report since 1990 that focuses solely on smoking cessation in America. Smoking accounts for the deaths of half a million Americans each year and is the leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the country.

Five issues in healthcare were spotlighted as key developments to watch; FDA to ban all e-cig vape flavors except for menthol and tobacco; Google AI system shown to improve detection of breast cancer through mammograms.

The fluid in e-cigarettes were associated with the near fatal respiratory failure of a teenage boy who was found to have an exaggerated immune response to one of its chemicals while vaping, according to a report published this week by doctors.

New trials are looking at what could be the next therapy or one that layers on top of present therapies to treat lung diseases, said Lisa Lancaster, MD, assistant professor of medicine at Vanderbilt Health.

A clofazimine-containing regimen was found to be well tolerated and potentially effective in patients with rapidly growing mycobacteria infection, especially nonpulmonary and non–Mycobacterium abscessus complex infections, according to retrospective cohort study findings.

Highmark announced this week that its outcomes-based contract with AstraZeneca for the respiratory combination medication of budesonide/formoterol (Symbicort) revealed positive results in improving outcomes for those with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).