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What We're Reading: Syphilis Rates Rising; House Democrats and ACA Suit; WHO to Look at Gene Editing
Drug use is fueling record-high syphilis rates around the nation, a CDC report said; the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is allowing House Democrats to defend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in a lawsuit that challenges the law’s constitutionality; the World Health Organization (WHO) is convening an expert meeting in March to develop global standards for the governance and oversight of human gene editing.
Spike in Syphilis Rates Being Fueled by Drug Use
Drug use is fueling record-high syphilis rates around the nation, a CDC report said. The report shows a large intersection between drug use and syphilis among women and heterosexual men. In those groups, reported use of methamphetamine, heroin, and other injection drugs more than doubled from 2013 to 2017, Kaiser Health News reported.
House Democrats Allowed to Defend ACA in Federal Lawsuit
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is allowing House Democrats to defend the Affordable Care Act in a lawsuit that challenges the law’s constitutionality, Politico reported. Democrats voted last month to intervene in the lawsuit. The court also approved requests from 4 states (Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, and Nevada) to join the defense being mounted by a list of blue states.
WHO to Develop Global Standards for Gene Editing Oversight
The World Health Organization is convening an expert meeting in March to develop global standards for the governance and oversight of human gene editing, the Associated Press reported. The panel will examine the scientific, ethical, social, and legal challenges. Last fall, Chinese researcher He Jiankui claimed he altered the DNA of twin girls to make them resistant to HIV, in a move criticized by many scientists.
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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Integrated CKD Care Model Cuts ED Visits by 30%, Boosts Specialized Treatment
April 21st 2025An analysis of an interdisciplinary care model for managing chronic kidney disease (CKD) shows hospital admissions dropped by 26% and emergency department (ED) visits decreased by 30% after clinic initiation.
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