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This week, top managed care stories included survey results on oncology practices’ willingness to take on risk; a warning of flu among children in detention centers; study findings establishing a link between circadian rhythm and type 2 diabetes.

The plan represents the latest element of the Trump administration’s comprehensive approach to renal care, which seeks to keep patients from advancing to dialysis. For those who do, the plan promotes transplants and home dialysis options.

There are shortcomings in the ways we have approached value assessment to date, writes the executive director of the Innovation and Value Initiative.

Coverage of our peer-reviewed research and news reporting in the healthcare and mainstream press.

A study shows young adults prefer short-term perks to long-term benefits; $4 million has been stolen from Mississippi's welfare fund; Los Angeles has reported 5 confirmed cases of measles.

When effectively integrated into healthcare systems, well-vetted and scientifically backed healthcare quality measures can have significant impacts on patient health, stressed Shantanu Agrawal, MD, president and CEO of the National Quality Forum, at the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute’s Quality Breakfast on February 6.

Mortality and myelofibrosis varied depending on follow-up duration in this review of patients with polycythemia vera treated with hydroxyurea, and incidences of thrombosis and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) were stable over time.

In a meta-analysis comparison of biologics and oral treatments for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, results suggest that brodalumab, guselkumab, ixekizumab, and risankizumab-rzaa were associated with the highest response rates in both short-term and long-term therapy.

The Patent Trial and Appeals Board delivered a setback to Gilead Sciences, rejecting its attempt to invalidate a pair of Truvada patents owned by the CDC; Merck is spinning off some businesses in order to focus on its oncology drug pembrolizumab, including its biosimilars operations; Republican and Democratic governors are worried that a proposed CMS fiscal accountability rule for Medicaid will reduce access to healthcare.

The most detailed look ever at data for rosiglitazone, the diabetes drug marketed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) as Avandia, shows the one-time blockbuster significantly raises the overall risk of heart problems or cardiovascular death, calling attention to the need for more transparency in data collection.

Anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor natural killer (CAR NK) cells, derived from donor umbilical cord blood, produced a 73% objective response rate in 11 patients with lymphoid tumors who received just 1 dose of the infused therapy, with no occurrences of cytokine release syndrome or neurotoxicity, in preliminary study results out of MD Anderson. Seven patients had a complete remission.

A novel protein misfolding cyclic amplification technology was able to distinguish between 2 progressive neurodegenerative diseases, Parkinson disease (PD) and multiple system atrophy, signaling potential improvements in diagnosis of PD.

The FDA reexamines asbestos testing for talc powders and cosmetics; elderly patients with HIV have high polypharmacy use; the government issues an emergency use authorization for a coronavirus diagnostic.

Researchers determined that patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) present with significant Aqueduct of Sylvius enlargement over time, which may be attributable to regional atrophy changes and ex vacuo expansion of the aqueduct, according to a study recently published in Fluids and Barriers of the CNS.

Three standards—Direct, Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR), and cloud fax—all hold promise for helping healthcare organizations more easily share information.

Researchers discovered a link between circadian clock disturbances in pancreatic cells and type 2 diabetes (T2D), according a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

New targeted therapies like ibrutinib, idelalisib, and venetoclax appear to be highly successful in the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), but investigators say it’s unclear how those therapies impact autoimmune complications of the cancer.

Infectious disease experts at the University of Maryland School of Medicine recently warned there is an urgent need for the administration of influenza vaccines among detainees at the southern border.

The FDA launched a mobile-friendly, interactive database providing information on eligible HIV antiretroviral treatments available; an HIV vaccine trial by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center ended after failing to provide protection from the virus; New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy established a coronavirus task force to manage the state’s preparedness and response to the virus.

A transcriptome-wide association study found 106 genes that may point to the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration, according to results recently published in Scientific Reports.

Using a deep learning–based model to characterize sleep staging, researchers were able to accurately and automatically detect patients with and without obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), but accuracy decreased with increasing OSA severity, according to study findings.

Electronic medical record data showed migraine is associated with a systematic increase in morbidity across the spectrum of the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10), according to a recently published study in The Journal of Headache and Pain.

Among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart failure, stroke, and myocardial infarction were highly associated with an increased risk of death. Mortality risk was more strongly associated with the use of long-acting muscarinic antagonists and N-acetylcysteine compared with the lesser risk from inhaled corticosteroids, beta-blockers, and acetylsalicylic acid, according to study findings.

Cancer cells present in skin lesions resulting from mycosis fungoides originate from the blood, disproving previously held hypotheses regarding the disease’s pathogenesis, according to a study published in the American Society of Hematology’s Blood.

Antiretroviral treatment (ART) is the regimen mainstay for everyone who has HIV, irrespective of infection duration. More than twice as many options for ART were available in 2018 as were offered in 2012—but this did not equal cheaper prices. Between 2012 and 2018, the average wholesale price for initial ART jumped 34% for most people with HIV.

The US declares a public health emergency over the coronavirus outbreak; the FDA approves the first treatment for peanut allergy in children, sold as Palforzia; the Trump administration rejects California's healthcare tax on managed care organizations.

The authors noted that pregnant women are typically excluded from clinical trials investigating the safety and tolerability of HIV medications.

The case study involved a 61-year-old obese Caucasian male with a medical history of smoking, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and sleep apnea who initially presented to the hematology clinic with polycythemia.

Although arterial stiffness in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) increases over time, a greater annual increase may be associated with the severity of emphysema, systemic inflammation, and dyslipidemia, according to study findings.

Migraine was the most common type of headache in patients with hyperprolactinemia.