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What We're Reading: Flu Shots Fell; Meth Use Rises; Altria Pulls e-Cigarette Products
Fewer than 4 out of 10 adults received influenza vaccinations last winter, the lowest rate in 7 seasons; methamphetamine use is rising across the United States, but it is overshadowed by opioids and fatal overdoses; tobacco giant Altria will stop selling e-cigarette “pods” and will pull almost all its flavored products from the market in an attempt to help curb teen vaping.
Adult Flu Vaccination Rate Fell to Lowest Levels Last Season
Fewer than 4 out of 10 adults received influenza vaccinations last winter, the lowest rate in 7 seasons, The Washington Post reported. The CDC said it is a likely reason that the 2017-2018 season was the deadliest in decades. Vaccination coverage among adults was 37.1%, a decrease of 6.2 percentage points from the previous season.
Methamphetamine Use Surging Again
Methamphetamine use is rising across the United States, but it is overshadowed by opioids and fatal overdoses, NPR reported. The drug is stronger and cheaper than it used to be, and is now the product of Mexican drug cartels that are mass-producing high-quality quantities of the drug and pushing it into markets where it was previously unknown. Even in rural communities ravaged by decades of experience with the drug, meth is on the upswing thanks to its relatively low price, availability, and a shortage of treatment options.
Altria Pulling e-Cigarette Pods, Flavored Tobacco Products From the Market
Tobacco giant Altria will stop selling e-cigarette “pods” and will pull almost all its flavored products from the market in an attempt to help curb teen vaping. The Hill noted that e-cigarettes make up just a fraction of Altria’s sales, so it has much less to lose than a company like dominant player Juul, which only makes e-cigarettes. Altria, which makes Marlboro and Virginia Slim cigarettes, also said it supports federal legislation to raise the legal smoking age to 21. The company is the first to pull the pods as the FDA is cracking down on e-cigarette manufacturers amid a huge increase in teen vaping.
Urticaria Diagnosis Challenged by Overlapping Pruritic Skin Conditions
April 23rd 2025Urticaria is complicated to diagnose by its symptomatic overlap with other skin conditions and the frequent misclassification in literature of distinct pathologies like vasculitic urticaria and bullous pemphigus.
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New Research Challenges Assumptions About Hospital-Physician Integration, Medicare Patient Mix
April 22nd 2025On this episode of Managed Care Cast, Brady Post, PhD, lead author of a study published in the April 2025 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care®, challenges the claim that hospital-employed physicians serve a more complex patient mix.
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Personalized Care Key as Tirzepatide Use Expands Rapidly
April 15th 2025Using commercial insurance claims data and the US launch of tirzepatide as their dividing point, John Ostrominski, MD, Harvard Medical School, and his team studied trends in the use of both glucose-lowering and weight-lowering medications, comparing outcomes between adults with and without type 2 diabetes.
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ACOs’ Focus on Rooting Out Fraud Aligns With CMS Vision Under Oz
April 23rd 2025Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are increasingly playing the role of data sleuths as they identify and report trends of anomalous billing in hopes of salvaging their shared savings. This mission dovetails with that of CMS, which under the new administration plans to prioritize rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse.
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