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What we're reading, March 30, 2016: the Supreme Court asks for more information in birth control case; Americans display lack of knowledge about Zika virus; and China provides an opportunity for drugs that fail to make it to market elsewhere.

Sales peaked when this year's high school graduates were born, and have been declining ever since.

Among pediatric patients with cancer, fever and neutropenia continue to be a common and potentially life-threatening complication of chemotherapy.

Even in a society where an increasing number of men are taking on caregiver roles for family members in hospice, vast gender differences between female and male caregivers still persist today.

What we're reading, March 29, 2016: the Obama administration is expected to announce new measures to combat opioid addiction; cholesterol test results from Theranos could throw off doctors' decisions; and Republicans aren't talking as much about Obamacare on the campaign trail.

The value-based care initiative comes at a crucial time for the safety-net hospital: the vast majority of pregnancies are covered by Medicaid and some are covered by charity care. The latter funding source is being cut in the proposed New Jersey state budget.

A study presented at the 47th Society of Gynecologic Oncology meeting held in San Diego, found that women with ovarian cancer who received statin therapy in tandem with their cancer treatment had better survival.

A study has found that 7 determinants of ideal cardiovascular health are also associated with slowing down the decline in cognitive performance in multiethnic population.

The cancer drug, best known as a game-changer for chronic myeloid leukemia, lowers insulin resistance through a similar mechanism as TZDs without the negative effects.

Pointing out that high drug prices are access barriers, the Congressmen have urged the government agencies to hold a public hearing to address the issue.

It is imperative that we gather more mature data on a much larger number of patients to accurately assess efficacy, safety, potential harms, durability of response, and impact on disease progression and overall survival of the new immunotherapy treatments.

A study among terminal cancer patients in Japan found that those with a prognosis of days or weeks survived longer when cared for at home.

The Affordable Care Act’s cost-sharing reductions vary by plan making the out-of-pocket costs for the qualifying patients very different.

After The New York Times reported the nature of the ties between Coca-Cola and the Global Energy Balance Network, the University of Colorado returned a $1 million donation it had received.

What we're reading, March 28, 2016: Covered California mishap with insured consumers' tax forms; Ted Cruz needs to outline his Obamacare replacement plan; and Google's life sciences startup runs into trouble.

New data-based tools need to be developed with the end user in mind in order to be made more effective, Eric Schneider, MD, MSc, senior vice president for policy and research at The Commonwealth Fund, said at the AcademyHealth National Health Policy Conference.

Researchers say that stress gets less attention than diabetes, smoking, or high cholesterol even though it's just as important a risk factor in predicting who will have a cardiovascular event.

The mains why Americans are less satisfied with their health system compared with people in other countries is their concern and uncertainty about being able to access “most preferred care.”

This week's top managed care stories include a lawsuit between Anthem and Express Scripts, trouble with Medicare's bidding program for diabetes test strips, and the cost of reporting quality measurements.

Despite price inflation of at least 20% on more than one-third of brand-name medications in 2015, Express Scripts reported slowed increases in overall drug spending.

Data showed that patients coming to the world-famous hospital for a heart attack grew younger, sicker, and more obese from 1995 to 2014. Because the researchers have not yet reported socioeconomic status, it is hard to know whether the findings reflect broader trends.

Promoting healthier lifestyles, prevention, and population health are themes of the upcoming meeting of cardiologists in Chicago, which will take place April 2-4, 2016.

Sync for Science-a collaboration between the National Institutes of Health, Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, and Harvard Medical School-will allow patients to access their own health data, which they can then share with researchers involved in the initiative.

In a survey conducted by a sales and marketing firm, oncologists, oncology nurses, and oncology administrators have expressed displeasure with the customer experience rendered by oncology manufacturers.

Study authors found that women whose mammograms revealed calcium buildup in breast arteries were highly likely to have coronary arterial calcification. This "practice changing" finding could allow doctors to spot early heart disease in women where it otherwise would have been missed.

Overall, the healthcare industry in the United States is getting better at acknowledging social determinants involved with health, but housing for Medicaid patients remains an issue, explained J. Mario Molina, MD, president and CEO of Molina Healthcare.

What we're reading, March 25, 2016: Congress went on its spring recess without voting on Zika emergency funding; HealthCare.gov has more than 300 cybersecurity incidents; and Indiana's Medicaid expansion model has caught the attention of other conservative states.

Giving consumers prices so they can shop around for the best value for nonemergency healthcare appears to have only a modest effect on reducing healthcare spending.

Individuals with Medicare Advantage plans have lower hospitalization rates than those with traditional fee-for-service Medicare plans.

It looks like 2016 is shaping up to be the most pivotal year in healthcare policy in a long time.