Allison Inserro

A recent joint American Thoracic Society and the European Respiratory Society statement urged policymakers and clinicians to take seriously the role that inhaled vapors, gas, dust, or fumes have in creating occupational respiratory disease.

Patients with advanced pancreatic cancer linked to germline genetic mutations did not see their disease worsen for an additional 3.6 months when treated with olaparib, but an early interim analysis did not show a statistically significant difference in overall survival (OS), according to study results presented Sunday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting 2019.

Children allergic to peanuts have higher total healthcare costs and consume more healthcare services, including emergency department (ED) visits, and had comorbidities of allergic rhinitis, asthma, and atopic dermatitis, than those without the allergy.

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Thursday released its first set of clinical practice guidelines for pediatric cancer, saying the new acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) guidelines are the first of several planned to address various pediatric cancers.

Researchers in Australia studying thunderstorm-triggered asthma suggested that ways to better stratify at-risk individuals are needed.

The FDA approved ruxolitinib (Jakafi) for another indication, this time for the treatment of steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease in adult and pediatric patients 12 years and older.

The FDA approved a smartphone-controlled medical device that claims to treat migraine.

A computer simulated cost-effectiveness model of fremanezumab for migraine found that it was cost effective versus no treatment. Researchers presented a poster about its cost-effectiveness for the prevention of chronic and episodic migraine at ISPOR 2019.

A study combining ruxolitinib and buparlisib in myelofibrosis showed only a modest benefit compared with ruxolitinib alone, and further studies to see if there is a synergistic effect between the 2 agents will not continue.

A new Commonwealth Fund report details the effects of high premium contributions and out-of-pocket spending relative to income for households with employer-based health insurance.

The upfront prices of potentially curative therapies are terrifying to commercial payers and government payers alike. A panel on the last day of ISPOR 2019 discussed these issues in a session called, “Is Affordability Driving a Need to Revolutionize Drug Pricing?”

During ISPOR 2019 annual meeting, a session featured biosimilar experts who reviewed the current state of affairs and various challenges related to uptake, while also sounding some notes of optimism.

At ISPOR 2019, the concept of real option value—paying for treatment that might keep a patient alive long enough to try a future improved therapy—was discussed.

Representatives from different parts of the healthcare system, as well as an outside observer, weighed in on whether the reports issued by the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) are taking away patient choice.

Panelists at a session of the ISPOR 2019 annual meeting discussed the good and the bad about the quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) metric from their various perspectives.

Medical futurist Daniel Kraft, MD, implored his audience of healthcare stakeholders attending the ISPOR 2019 annual conference to consider the different ways that technology disruption can improve care away from what he called “sick care,” while moderator Clifford Goodman, PhD, of The Lewin Group, moderated a panel that followed about the potential and pitfalls of disruption in healthcare.

Researchers said they discovered a finding that could lead to better treatments for Fanconi anemia (FA), a rare, genetic, pediatric hematologic disorder.

A recent study found that treatment with a systemic JAK1/2 inhibitor was associated with weight gain, the development of obesity, and increased systolic blood pressure.

For people with disabilities, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) helped to reduce uninsurance and healthcare that was delayed or never received, but it did not totally eliminate disparities, according to new research.

A health tracking app that monitors asthma control in children in real time and sends medication reminders successfully reduced emergency department visits as well as the use of inhaled corticosteroids, according to a new study.

In a large survey of patients with migraine taking an oral, acute prescription migraine medication, most had unmet needs, according to survey results presented recently at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.

A recent study assessed patients’ preferred route of administering biologic drugs for severe asthma, as well as their related beliefs and preferences. The authors said convenience and efficacy beliefs about pharmaceuticals are important for physicians to understand in order to share decision making with patients.

Witnesses appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee discussed the need to maintain innovation for new drug discoveries while ensuring patients have access to treatments for chronic diseases as well as potentially curative therapies. In addition, Senator John Cornyn, R-Texas, raised the idea of giving the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) more authority to cut through patent thickets; his office said later he will propose a bill doing just that.

The FDA approved Pfizer’s transthyretin stabilizer tafamidis, the first treatment for cardiomyopathy of wild-type or hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis (ATTR-CM), a rare, incurable disease. Pfizer will sell the oral drugs under the names Vyndaqel and Vyndamax.

Psoriasis might increase the risk of migraine, according to a recently published study, which theorized that the link involves inflammatory processes.

A recent review examined the current evidence regarding risk factors, molecular characterization, and treatment options for myeloproliferative neoplasms.

As expected, HHS Thursday released a final rule implementing a change that would allow healthcare workers to refuse to provide certain services, such as reproductive healthcare, assisted suicide where it is legal, or place children with adoptive families if the parents are gay, lesbian, or transgender, if the service violates their religious or moral beliefs. At the same time, while HHS acknowledged that while some patients may experience some harms from a denial of care, it also proffered a different possibility of how patients could react: they may not mind.

A whistleblower lawsuit against Questcor Pharmaceuticals, which is now a part of Mallinckrodt, alleges bribes and other fraudulent strategies to boost sales of HP Acthar Gel. The drug, first developed in 1952, is approved for 19 different indications, including multiple sclerosis and arthritis.

The House Committee on Rules held a hearing on the Medicare for All bill submitted by Representative Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington.

A genome-wide association study (GWAS) found that childhood-onset asthma was associated with nearly 3 times as many genes as asthma that develops in adults, in which environmental factors play a much bigger role.