Allison Inserro

The number of infants born through caesarean section (C-section) almost doubled between 2000 and 2015—from 12% to 21% of all births—according to The Lancet. The surgery is still unavailable for many women in low-income countries and regions, yet is overused in many middle- and high-income settings, said the journal, which published a series of papers on the topic Thursday.

CMS said Thursday that the average 2019 premium charged for the silver level of health insurance in the exchanges set up by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) dropped slightly for the first time since 2014, and Seema Verma, who heads CMS, credited the actions of the Trump administration for the lower premiums.

Giving zoledronate every 18 months for 6 years reduced the risk of fragility fractures—both vertebral and nonvertebral—in older women with hip bone mineral density indicating osteopenia, a recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine reported.

A medical social network for physicians said it has compiled data that pinpoint the top 50 metropolitan areas where shortages of oncologists are expected to occur in the coming years. Doximity said the findings in its 2018 National Oncologists Workforce report are drawn from retirement trends, the percentage of state-trained specialists, and the prevalence of breast cancer.

A new study examining the effect of high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) on low-income adults with multiple chronic conditions found that almost half had a family out-of-pocket (OOP) healthcare burden exceeding 20% of family disposable income.

Here are 5 things to know about antimicrobial resistance (AMR), one of the most urgent threats to public health.

An audit feedback intervention is an approach used to help providers translate evidence into behavior change, and at ID Week, 1 abstract showed that it helped reduce antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory infections (ARIs). Another report showed that antibiotic prescribing rates for ARIs at medical centers operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have steadily declined since 2010. ID Week is an annual conference focused on many different infectious disease topics.

This week, infectious disease specialists from different organizations are meeting in San Francisco for ID Week, an annual conference focused on many different infectious disease topics and their intersection with cancer, HIV, respiratory diseases, and more. Two abstracts presented results about what is needed to prevent complications in cancer care, one about patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with prolonged neutropenia, and one examining the frequency of antimicrobial complications following initiation of palliative chemotherapy.

Although what is known about the impact of rising minimum wages on health is just beginning, the research that is available points to some important health benefits, according to a new policy brief in Health Affairs. And, a possible new source of data to mine could arise over the next few years, stemming from Amazon's announcement this week that it will raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour for its employees in the United States.

Patient adherence to medication is a complex issue, particularly so for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A recent study finds that adherence is related to need perception and to the functional severity of the disease.

On the heels of various reports that have highlighted the challenges of treating back pain, Palmer College of Chiropractic and Gallup released their fourth annual survey of attitudes about and experiences with chiropractic care. The 2018 Gallup-Palmer College of Chiropractic Annual Report: Managing Neck and Back Pain in America is the latest effort by the college to see if public perceptions of chiropractic care match the ones held internally.

Improvements in chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, approved last year by the FDA for leukemias and lymphomas, were a focus of a session by a National Cancer Institute (NCI) researcher who spoke at the CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference taking place in New York City this week.

Nobel Prize winner James Allison, PhD, pioneering T-cell researcher, said the award represents the triumph of science and shows the value of research, even if it does not immediately lead to a scientific or commercial success.

A single leukemia cell was able to reproduce and cause a deadly relapse of pediatric B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) after it had bonded with the leukemia-targeting chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) lentivirus and infused back into a patient. The case of the cell that became resistant to CAR T-cell therapy was published in the journal Nature Medicine Monday.

Black women are more likely to be diagnosed at a later stage of breast cancer in part due to barriers to timely screening mammography, a study reported, leading to a disparity in mortality and survival outcomes.

Local leaders from northern New Jersey heard national best practices of social determinants of health at the Building a Culture of Health conference.

Readmission rates for Medicare patients with 6 major diseases were statistically higher among for-profit hospitals compared with nonprofit or government hospitals, according to a new study.

Hospital groups and other organizations and individuals sent blistering comments to CMS expanding its site-neutral payments between what Medicare pays for at physicians’ offices and off-campus hospital clinics, where rates are higher because of added hospital facility fees. It is also extending 340B drug discounts to off-site hospital clinics.

The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) found enough evidence that biologics provide a benefit over the usual standard of care for patients with moderate to severe asthma, the organization said in a draft evidence report released Tuesday. However, since biologics cost much more than other pharmaceutical treatments, ICER said the 5 drugs it reviewed did not meet its usual cost-effectiveness thresholds.

A recent study found that statin use reduced the risks of osteoporosis, hip fracture, and vertebral fracture in stroke patients by 30% to 40%, and a dose-effect relationship was observed between statin cumulative defined daily doses and decreased risks of osteoporosis and fractures.

Over the first 7 months of 2018, there were 96 price hikes for every price cut, an Associated Press (AP) analysis reported, although there were fewer and smaller price hikes than in years past.

Hip fractures (HF) are one of the most common injuries seen in emergency departments among the elderly, but quality care measures for hip fractures are lacking. To that end, a recent report sought to identify optimal quality indicators (QI) for clinical use, but researchers found gaps that need to be addressed.

In the United States, a woman age 30 to 70 years of age has a 1 in 8 chance of dying from a noncommunicable disease (NCDs), putting the nation on par with low and middle-income countries, and setting it apart with Iceland among high-income countries, according to a report published Thursday in The Lancet.

A new issue brief from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation reports on healthcare and recovery efforts 1 year after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands (USVI), with residents still struggling to regain what they lost, a lack of capacity due to damaged facilities or lack of staff, and financing woes that will make moving forward difficult if they are not addressed.

A Mayo Clinic team critiqued the 2018 update to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease guidelines, recommending several changes to the next update.

Despite efforts over the past decade to wring more value from healthcare in an effort to contain spending, healthcare spending as measured by those with employer-sponsored health insurance rose by 44% over the past decade, according to a new analysis from the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI).

A study found that testosterone replacement therapy reduced the risk of respiratory hospitalizations in men with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The bill is part of President Donald Trump's blueprint to rein in prescription drug prices, and advocates see it as a small step in the right direction.

Researchers examining how well integrated practice units (IPU) are implemented across 7 cancer centers in Europe found there was no clear, consistent strategy for developing and implementing IPUs, in an analysis that focused mostly on breast cancer clinical pathways.

A phase 2 clinical trial of a surgical procedure called targeted lung denervation to open blocked airways in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) showed that it reduced problems associated with the disease.