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Appeals court affirms decision to place a hold on the Biden administration's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for large employers; rising Medicare premiums linked with controversial Alzheimer drug; 3 states expand COVID-19 booster shot eligibility to all adults.

COVID-19 prompted CMS to make major adjustments to the Medicare Advantage (MA) Star Ratings System, resulting in better-than-average performance for nearly all plans. However, these changes were temporary, and MA plans will have to reset their strategies for 2023 and beyond.

A wide-ranging discussion sought to bring greater urgency to achieving health equity during the 2021 American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions.

Ian J. Neeland, MD, FACC, FAHA, is co-director of the Center for Integrated and Novel Approaches in Vascular-Metabolic Disease for University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute and director of the UH Center for Cardiovascular Prevention, in the Cleveland, Ohio, area. He summarized a talk he gave at the 2021 AHA Scientific Sessions, “Disrupted Sleep in Diabetic Vascular Complications."

James Auran, MD, a professor of ophthalmology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and president of the American Society of Ophthalmic Trauma, outlines the benefits and challenges of transferring ophthalmic care to outpatient facilities.

At the 2021 AHA Scientific Sessions, the lead author of DREAM-HF said evidence of the treatment's benefit among patients with elevated inflammation is positive news, and shows a need for further study.

Despite ample trial evidence that empagliflozin is effective across a broad spectrum of chronic heart failure, some doctors had been reluctant to prescribe in an acute hospital setting for safety reasons. EMPULSE findings presented at the 2021 AHA Scientific Sessions address this concern.

Michael Dorsch, PharmD, MS, describes just-in-time adaptive interventions and microrandomized trials in mHealth, which he discussed at the 2021 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions.

Anne Barmettler, MD, an associate professor of ophthalmology, visual sciences, and plastic surgery at Montefiore Medical Center discusses patient feedback on Tepezza (teprotumumab) for thyroid eye disease.

Cynthia Rice, JDRF chief mission strategy officer, says Medicare coverage of continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) without requiring finger sticks takes a burden off people with type 1 diabetes.

The field of ophthalmology had already been moving toward telehealth and artificial intelligence (AI) before the COVID-19 pandemic, but these changes are being accelerated now, making it crucial for ophthalmologists to learn to adapt.

Leon Herndon Jr, MD, a glaucoma specialist, ophthalmologist, and professor of ophthalmology at the Duke University Eye Center, discusses how a patient’s age can affect their glaucoma symptoms and treatment.

Genetic profiling in recurrent and advanced breast cancer can yield actionable, smoking-gun biomarkers, Stanford Cancer Institute pathologists explained at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network 2021 Virtual Congress: Biomarkers in Solid Tumors.

A session at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions covered the data behind concerns about mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 and myocarditis. Then, leaders from Pfizer and Moderna discussed opportunities the technology offers.

Aaron Lee, MD, an associate professor of ophthalmology at University of Washington, describes how artificial intelligence (AI) is used in ophthalmology now and how it could be utilized in the future.

Focusing therapeutic trials on 1 subtype of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can help lead to smaller, targeted studies, which in can help advance precision medicine, said Don Sin, MD, FRCP, MPH, a professor of respiratory medicine at the University of British Columbia and head of the Centre of Heart Lung Innovation, St. Paul’s Hospital.

Emergency department utilization for nonemergent ophthalmic conditions is on the rise in the United States, but presentation types vary significantly based on patient demographics, according to 2 posters presented at the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) 2021 meeting.

An overview of the latest clinical news in Parkinson disease reported across MJH Life Sciences™.

Victoria Ly, MD, MPH, explains the results of her study on follow-up among students in Arkansas who failed their vision screening tests.

A retrospective observational cohort study of patients ranging in age from infants to adults provides real-world evidence that nusinersen is safe and effective for those with SMA1.

Judith Lavrich, MD, and Jordan Hamburger outline findings from their research on virtual school and children's eye health.

In this new study from China, investigators aimed to clarify anxiety- and depression-like symptoms and behaviors among women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

The drug sensitivity test-guided treatment was associated with significant improvements in the patient’s condition after 8 weeks.

A safety analysis of 6 trials found zanubrutinib has a toxicity profile consistent wth other Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors.

According to the study authors, a growing number of findings from preclinical studies have suggested a focus on immunometabolism to modulate alloreactive donor T cell responses to control graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and promote graft-versus-tumor effect.

The real-world visual acuity gains in age-related macular degeneration (AMD) after treatment have been inferior to those seen in clinical trials, explained a speaker during the American Academy of Ophthalmology 2021 meeting.

Data about prescribing preferences and protective effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists in diabetes were presented on the opening day of the 2021 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, held in a virtual format.

Clyde W. Yancy, MD, MSc, of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, explains the connections between health care equity and advances in treatment for heart failure and how the United States' policy and science agenda can address them.

Khadijah Breathett, MD, MS, FACC, FAHA, FHFSA, is an assistant professor in the University of Arizona College of Medicine--Tucson, Division of Cardiology. She is presenting a talk at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions, "COVID-19 as a Catalyst to Address Disparities in Cardiovascular Outcomes and Inequities in Cardiovascular Care Delivery.”