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The FDA is cracking down on a loophold drug companies use to avoid the requirement that they study products in children; a new study finds nearly 6 in 10 Hispanic adults cite a language or cultural barrier that makes it difficult for them to communicate with healthcare providers; a judge has ordered Wisconsin to pay for gender reassignment surgery for 2 Medicaid recipients.

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

This week, the top managed care stories included CMS reversing its decision to suspend the risk adjustment payment program; out-of-pocket costs and copayment accumulators put an HIV prevention drug out of reach for patients; research finds geography can determine posttreatment imaging for women with breast cancer.

Researchers found that people who suffer from chronic migraine experience visual quality of life impacts comparable to other neoro-opthalmic disorders.

A new study published in Nature Biotechnology found that by attaching a kind of cytokine “backpack” to T-cells through the use of a nanoparticle gel enhanced their efficacy in treating tumors in mice.

Health plans continue to show interest in expanding outcomes-based contracts, according to an Avalere Health study that also found cardiovascular diseases, infectious diseases, and oncology represent the most common therapeutic areas to have these contracts.

As people living with HIV now have a normal life expectancy, thanks to antiretroviral therapy, the burden of comorbidities is on the rise, and more than half of deaths in the patient population are attributable to these comorbidities.

The largest genomewide association studies ever completed for osteoporosis identified 899 loci, or regions, in the human genome associated with low bone mineral density, 613 of which have not yet been discovered. The Stanford University School of Medicine researcher who made the finding said that widespread genetic screenings could predict a person's future risk of osteoporosis and bone fracture.

Close to 200 organizations wrote to CMS and HHS this week to express concerns with the Trump administration’s plans to cut millions of dollars from the Affordable Care Act’s marketing and outreach budget, saying that they are “frustrated by CMS’ assertions that the need for these services has decreased as the number of uninsured or underinsured Americans continues to grow.”

CMS announced a raft of proposed changes, including expanding its site-neutral payments between what Medicare pays for at physicians’ offices and off-campus hospital clinics, where rates are higher because of added hospital facility fees. The agency is also extending 340B drug discounts to off-site hospital clinics.

The House voted to delay an Affordable Care Act health insurance tax until 2021 and expand Health Savings Accounts; in a large clinical trial, an Alzheimer drug reduced plaques in the brains of patients and slowed the progression of dementia; after leaving high-profile positions in government and at healthcare organizations, more big names in healthcare are ending up at Google's companies instead of universities.

An FDA advisory committee voted 16-3 against recommending GlaxoSmithKline’s mepolizumab (Nucala) as an add-on treatment to inhaled corticosteroid-based maintenance treatments to reduce flare-ups in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

A study published in the journal Radiology has found that lower susceptibility in the thalamic and higher susceptibility in the basal ganglia, measured using quantitative susceptibility mapping, was associated with patients with MS and MS disease progression.

During a webcast hosted by the Network for Excellence in Health Innovation, panelists highlighted how their health systems have acted as anchor institutions and embraced community development—through strategic partnerships—in order to address challenges facing their populations.

Depression has been associated with poorer outcomes for patients who have acute coronary syndrome (ACS), including myocardial infarction. Now, new research indicates that treating depression may improve long-term cardiac outcomes for patients with ACS.

KEYNOTE-048, a phase 3 trial studying pembrolizumab (Keytruda) as a first-line treatment for patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) whose tumors overexpress PD-L1, has met a primary end point of overall survival.

A recent study investigated the associations of migraine with pain symptoms among outpatients with major depressive disorder during a 10-year period, finding that migraine treatment should be integrated into treatment for depression to improve patients’ pain symptoms and health-related quality of life.

The Trump administration said it will restart the risk adjustment payment program just weeks after suspending the payments; the first pill in a decade has been approved to treat pain caused by endometriosis; Eli Lilly executives said during the second quarter earnings call that the idea of importing drugs from abroad was “the wrong road to go down.”

When a patient experiences an adrenal crisis associated with Addison disease (primary adrenal failure), hydrocortisone and fluid resuscitation must be given immediately in order to prevent hypotensive shock and death. A recent clinical audit evaluated healthcare professionals’ management of adrenal crisis, and found that there is a clinical need to improve the acute management of this life-threatening condition.

A second biosimilar to Amgen’s Neupogen, which treats neutropenia, has been approved in the United States. The FDA approved Pfizer’s filgrastim-aafi, which will be sold under the brand name Nivestym. Zarxio (filgrastim-sndz) was the first filgrastim biosimilar approved by the FDA in 2015.

Despite pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) being crucial for preventing new HIV infections and working toward an end to the epidemic, the treatment is still out of reach for many.

A study of over 35,000 women with early-stage breast cancer found that where you live makes a difference in terms of what kind of posttreatment imaging is received, due to geographic variation.

Researchers recently aimed to develop a predictive model to identify patients at risk of developing severe COPD exacerbations, finding that for every 2 patients identified to be at risk of severe flare-up of disease, 1 patient may experience a severe exacerbation.

Data-broker companies are mining your credit card purchases, social media habits, online surveys, store loyalty programs, and other bits of information to create your profile and sell to companies interested in making inferences about your health status; 2 months after President Trump released a plan to lower drug prices, most Americans haven’t even heard about it; the United States Senate approved the president's latest pick to lead the troubled Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), confirming Robert Wilkie as the next secretary 86 to 9.

Findings from the Foundation for Government Accountability did not net out those who would be eligible for exemptions under CMS rules.

If all states passed their own health insurance mandates similar to ones in New Jersey and Massachusetts, close to 4 million more Americans would have health insurance, and premium costs would drop an average of nearly 12%, according to a recent report from The Commonwealth Fund and the Urban Institute.

Adam Boehler, director of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation, is taking on an additional role as the senior advisor for value-based transformation and innovation. He represents the last departmental appointment as part of HHS Secretary Alex Azar's 4 priority areas.

Coal worker’s pneumoconiosis (CWP), commonly called black lung, is making a return, especially in central Appalachia, according to a recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health.

A new research study, published in JAMA Cardiology, aimed to further confirm a previous correlation between asthma and atrial fibrillation (AF) and to determine if the degree of asthma control affected the risk of developing AF.

The Trump administration is proposing to pay doctors who take Medicare basically the same amount for office visits regardless of reason; the pending sale of Mission Health to HCA Healthcare reflects a national trend as hospitals consolidate at an accelerating pace and the cost of healthcare continues to rise; a closer look at 5 ideas in President Trump's plan to lower drug prices.