COVID-19

Coverage from the 64th Annual American Society of Hematology Meeting and Exposition, December 10-13, 2022, New Orleans, Louisiana.

With the public health emergency soon coming to an end, people covered by Medicaid will encounter new barriers, discusses Dennis Scanlon, PhD, professor of health policy and administration, Penn State University.

The Biden administration has said it would give 60 days notice before ending the public health emergency, which was set to end April 11, and the national emergency was set to end March 1.

Affordable Care Act health care sign-ups are breaking records; updated COVID-19 boosters are proving successful against new variants; GenBioPro, which manufactures mifepristone, has filed suit regarding the constitutionality of a state abortion drug ban.

Patients who received nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir (Paxlovid) had lower risk of both hospitalization within 14 days and death within 28 days compared with patients who did not receive the treatment.

The most common symptoms of long COVID include fatigue, anxiety and depression, shortness of breath, sleep disturbances, and heart palpitations.

A new analysis has determined the cost-effectiveness of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid), granted emergency use authorization by the FDA, across various scenarios of vaccination status and risk for severe disease.

A study found evidence to suggest that political opinion does not significantly shape people’s perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic from a local standpoint.

Nurses in New York City reach agreement and end strike; hospitals benefiting from volunteer staff may be breaking labor laws; most lingering COVID symptoms will heal on its own, study finds.

President Joe Biden expected to renew COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) one more time; Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer are denied by the Supreme Court; funding for the 988 mental health helpline expands inclusivity efforts.

State courts in South Carolina and Idaho ruled in opposite ways on abortion bans; virtual COVID-19 diagnostic and treatment launches in community; generic methylphenidate medication shortages negatively impact ADHD treatment.

There are still barriers to mental health care, in both the medical and outside worlds, noted Debra Delaney, MSN, FNP-BC, primary care nurse practitioner at ChristianaCare’s Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute.

2022's most-read news about the pandemic included the impact of COVID-19 on patients with asthma, the Biden administration's plans to advance vaccination and other initiatives, information about when SARS-CoV-2 is at its most infectious, and more.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were clear in the US national health care expenditure analysis of spending last year, as federal spending dropped, but health care use rebounded in 2021.

Approximately 5.5 million people have enrolled in health care coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace for 2023; the Gavi alliance is debating the end of the worldwide vaccine sharing initiative; the White House is now tracking nonfatal opioid overdoses.

According to the most recent data from FAIR Health, COVID-19 telehealth diagnoses declined in 3 of the 4 census regions in the United States.

During an Institute for Value-Based Medicine® event held in New York City, Samyukta Mullangi, MD, MBA, fellow in medical oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discussed how disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic are ushering in health care delivery reform.

The study of real-world evidence (RWE) found nearly 9 in 10 patients in a highly vaccinated cohort avoided hospitalization within 15 days of treatment for COVID-19.

The retrospective study evaluated outcomes in patients prescribed nirmatrelvir-ritonavir, as well as the management of drug interactions by clinical pharmacists prescribing the regimen.

High levels of interleukin (IL)-26 levels correlate with an exaggerated inflammatory response that signifies severe cases of the disease, according to researchers.

Telehealth diagnoses in the South and West regions of the United States saw a reduction in COVID-19 diagnoses.

A listeria outbreak has been linked to deli meats and cheeses; the World Health Organization announced that there has been a 90% drop in recent deaths in COVID-19 globally compared with 9 months ago; Eli Lilly was ordered to pay $176.5 million in a US migraine drug patent trial.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will give cancer claims priority when a new law takes effect in January 2023; Pfizer is looking to use its COVID-19 profits to grow other blockbusters; the probable loss of Medicaid coverage for millions next year is setting off debate.

COVID-19 was ranked in the top 5 diagnoses through telehealth in the Midwest, Northeast, and West regions as well as nationally in the month of April, coinciding with an increase in COVID-19 cases.

Panelists of an AHIP 2022 session discussed how future policy, infrastructure, and investment strategies in public health will reinforce the efforts already made during the pandemic, with partnerships and engagement key to optimize innovation.