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To better understand the characteristics of patients with chronic kidney disease who require hemodialysis or renal transplant, researchers in Brazil evaluated the prevalence of resistance-associated substitutions to direct-acting antivirals in this population who also carry the hepatitis C virus (HCV).

Fibroblasts play a role in the spread of cancer, and a recent study showed that breast tumors can boost their growth by recruiting bone marrow–derived mesenchymal stromal cells to primary breast tumors

HCR ManorCare, the second-largest nursing-home chain, exposed its roughly 25,000 patients to increasing health risks in the 5 years preceding its bankruptcy; Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, is spreading outside of healthcare settings like hospitals and nursing homes and scientists are not exactly sure why; the US government released new autism numbers.

CD7 gene-edited chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells target CD7-positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells while sparing myeloid and erythroid cells and minimizing toxicity, according to the results of a recent study.

Novo Nordisk plans to seek FDA approval for the GLP-1 receptor agonist in the first half of 2019.

There are 5 FDA-approved monoclonal antibody treatments that affect the pathways involved in either the allergic or type 2 inflammatory phenotypes of asthma, and these 5 drugs are the focus of a new report from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER).

Recent research indicates that there are age-associated gender differences seen in the disease burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), with younger women more severely affected.

Rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile idiopathic arthritis increase the risk of preterm delivery (PTD) in pregnant women. Additionally, treatment with corticosteroid can lead to a 2- to 5-fold increased risk of PTD in both groups, independent of disease activity.

A population-based study in Taiwan examined whether or not vitamin D or bisphosphonates affect the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.

AMT-061, an AAV5 vector containing factor IX (FIX)-Padua variant, has been shown to increase FIX activity to threshold FIX levels sufficient to significantly reduce the risk of bleeding events without the risk of adverse immune reactions.

Chronic diseases remain a significant challenge for older Americans, and Humana is using a holistic approach, leveraging value-based reimbursement models, to improve health outcomes and quality measures for the insurer’s Medicare Advantage (MA) members, according to a new Humana report, “The Intersection of Health + Care.”

The British Society for Haematology has released a new updated guideline that offers practical guidance for the management of specific situations and complications of polycythemia vera and outlines management of the diverse types of secondary erythrocytosis.

Despite the increasing focus on the concept of “value” in healthcare, there is lack of consensus on a definition of value. While patient-centricity has been a steady refrain in healthcare, we question whether the values, needs, and preferences of patients have been meaningfully incorporated into value assessments thus far.

This week, the top managed care news included HHS Secretary Alex Azar hinting that the government may get more involved in addressing social needs impacting health; work rules in Arkansas cost thousands their Medicaid coverage; research finds a shorter course of hepatitis C treatment may be just as effective as the full course of treatment.

A recent study found that a combination treatment of glecaprevir and pibrentasvir is both effective and well tolerated in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) who have failed previous therapies.

According to a new study presented at The Liver Meeting, combining universal screening for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) with reflex RNA PCR in pregnant women is more cost-effective than risk-based screening.

With the possible release of 2 therapies for peanut allergies on the horizon, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) is opening up a review looking at the effectiveness and value of these potential treatments and oral immunotherapy (OIT) regimens.

The president of FAIR Health demonstrates the changes in behavioral health coverage over the past decade through the prism of the rise in claims.

During a joint meeting of the FDA’s Anesthetic and Analgesic Drug Products Advisory Committee and Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee, members voted in favor of approval for Mallinckrodt’s MNK-812, an abuse-deterrent formulation of oxycodone.

The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is recommending that clinicians offer the treatment to people at high risk of HIV, which will likely increase access to the treatment for those who need it most.

Greater infection rate, higher white blood cell, monocyte, and absolute neutrophil counts are more significantly associated with severe congenital neutropenia than with patients with idiopathic and recovered neutropenia, according study results.

Patients who have migraine often suffer from coexisting issues, such as sleep difficulties, vertigo, and dizziness. A study evaluating the presence of certain symptoms in patients with migraine indicated that some may have a common pathophysiology.

Even if gene therapies do prove to be cost-effective in providing patients with much-needed treatments for genetic diseases, the question of how to pay for these therapies remains largely unanswered.

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

No significant differences in bone mineral density (BMD) were observed between patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) who received thyroid-stimulating hormone suppression (TSHS) and those who did not, according to a recent study.

The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services announced Tuesday that the newly approved program can begin as soon as April 1, 2019, and will be phased in regionally over several months.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) said this week that care for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is expected to cost the United States $49 billion by 2020, as it recapped its research portfolio to mark World COPD Day 2018.

Developing clearer guidelines for measuring a hospital's orientation toward population health would be a big step towards fundamentally improving population health and changing the relationship between a hospital and its community.

The 2019 outlook for health insurers in the United States looks stable; Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and Representative Ro Khanna, D-California, have released a bill that takes cues from President Donald Trump’s proposal to reduce Medicare drug costs through the use of an international pricing index; older Americans should be aware of what is in their medical records and whether the data are accurate.

A pharmaceutical company proactively reached out to the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of HHS to find out if giving a costly drug for a rare condition—free of charge, in the hope of eventually getting the drug covered by payors—to hospitals would violate federal kickback law, and was told it probably would.