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The Senate passed a massive opioid bill 99-1, but public health experts and first responders are concerned it won’t do enough to stop the crisis; pharmaceutical companies with manufacturing plants in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia put emergency plans in place last week as Hurricane Florence bore down to avoid shortages of drugs and vaccines; the cannabis industry is booming, and one of the fastest growing group of users are people over age 50.

Lower socioeconomic status is associated with poor survival in lymphoma.

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.

CMS said that it is proposing to reduce regulations on hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers in a move it estimates will save $1.12 billion annually as part of its “Patients Over Paperwork” initiative.

The FDA announced a new, 4-pronged approach to the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), as it unveiled a 2019 strategic plan that envisions innovative payment strategies in an effort to spur pharmaceutical companies to develop new antibiotics.

Researchers pinpointed the characteristics of asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) overlap (ACO) causing a greater disease burden than either condition alone.

The approval comes 6 months after the 2 companies fist made an announcement of the proposed merger.

The survey of more than 340 women revealed an overwhelming belief that people with migraine are dismissed as exaggerating their symptoms and that employers don't understand the burden of migraine on their employees.

Last week, the FDA granted priority review to a new supplemental Biologics License Application for pembrolizumab (Keytruda) as a monotherapy for first-line treatment of locally advanced or metastatic nonsquamous or squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients whose tumors express PD-L1 without EGFR or ALK mutations.

Twice-yearly magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to find early breast cancers in women with a high genetic risk are more effective than 1 mammogram, study says.

The study by the National Institute on Aging produced a few surprises and was stopped early when aspirin showed no benefit.

Patient and advocacy groups filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration’s plan to let people buy short-term health insurance that doesn’t comply with the Affordable Care Act; members of the federal Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission advisory panel expressed concerns that 4350 low-income people in Arkansas had lost Medicaid coverage because they failed to show they were complying with new work requirements; half as many people tried heroin for the first time in 2017 as in 2016, but marijuana use grew.

Children of Hispanic ethnicity have a higher risk of developing neurotoxicity when they are treated with methotrexate for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) compared with non-Hispanic white children.

There is an association between an individual’s perceptions of community safety and adverse respiratory health among populations with exposure to high air pollution, according to new research.

A National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) working group dedicated to analyzing current challenges under existing policy and treatment paradigms presented their findings and recommendations at an NCCN Policy Summit in Washington, DC.

As the term “value” has become a norm in healthcare, specifically in oncology, panelists at a National Comprehensive Cancer Network policy summit offered perspectives on where we are now in delivering high-quality cancer care under value-based payment models.

A 12-month, late-stage study of romosozumab in men aged 55 to 90 years with osteoporosis found that it increased spine and hip bone mineral density (BMD) and was well tolerated.

A recent study has discovered that B cells mediate spontaneous T cell proliferation through the HLA-DR15 haplotype, and this interaction between T cells and B cells may serve as a key factor in understanding the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS).

A descriptive, observational study in Switzerland implemented an interprofessional medication adherence program (IMAP) in patients with HIV. The framework for the implementation of services in pharmacy (FISpH) model is described and formulated for other healthcare facilities and professionals to evaluate and execute for themselves.

A recent report from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) investigated the current state of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy and future strategies to consider as the novel immunotherapy evolves and is used in the treatment of more patients.

Research has shown nonemergency medical transportation can be essential for patients in rural areas, as well as the poor, elderly, and chronically ill. In a Health Affairs blog post, authors from CareMore Health show how the company has found success with Lyft after a pilot program it ran in 2016.

A recent study has found that prolonged auras are common and are phenotypically similar to other auras. Based on the observed duration of aura symptoms, the researchers suggest reconsidering the use of the term “prolonged aura."

A study investigating the genetic determinants of fracture risk identified 15 genetic determinants of fracture, which also influenced bone mineral density. Among the clinical risk factors considered, only bone mineral density demonstrated a major causal effect on fracture, while genetic predisposition to lower levels of vitamin D and estimated calcium intake from dairy were not associated with fracture risk, according to the results.

With a focus on social determinants, the September 2018 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®) yields new insights on the health effects of food insecurity, health literacy, language barriers, and more. Here are 5 findings from the research published in the issue.

This week, the top managed care news included medical groups asking CMS to halt or slow down its plans to cut physician reimbursement for evaluation and management services; the Senate weighs a package of bills to combat the opioid epidemic; new research shows the Affordable Care Act pushed the uninsured rate down to 10%.

José Baselga, MD, the chief medical officer of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, resigned after it was reported that he failed to disclose any industry ties in 60% of the nearly 180 papers he had published since 2013; an idea to give a push to the president’s plan to disclose drug prices on television was sunk this week by House Republicans; transgender adolescents attempt suicide at a much higher rate than young people whose gender identity matches the sex on their birth certificates.

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

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) released this week new treatment guidelines for patients for 2 uterine cancers, endometrial cancer, the most common gynecologic cancer, and a rare cancer called uterine sarcoma.

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have found that preventing a mutated protein from leaving the nucleus and traveling to the cytoplasm of the cell can help inhibit the growth of leukemic cells in acute myeloid leukemia.

An early review of the second performance period of the Oncology Care Model (OCM) seems to show improvements over the first period.