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The FDA is considering a second COVID-19 booster dose of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines; use of the unproven COVID-19 therapies hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin has been significantly greater in the highest vs lowest Republican vote share counties; infertility treatments associated with vascular and pregnancy-related complications.

Jacob Sands, MD, who leads the small cell lung cancer research program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, speaks with The American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC®) about the need for more patients who meet the criteria for lung screening to catch cancer before it reaches an advanced stage.

Drugs targeting FGFR mutations, which are seen in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), have generated particular excitement; the authors note that prior to the approval of pemigatinib, the first targeted therapy approved by FDA, only 15% to 25% of patients with CCA were “fit enough to receive second-line chemotherapy.”

The mutation is more common than expected and associated with poor outcomes, according to researchers from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Biden administration officials request additional funding from Congress to manage the global COVID-19 pandemic; New York delays its COVID-19 booster vaccine mandate for health care workers amid staffing shortages; study finds racism affected treatment decisions and led to care disparities among Black patients.

Purva Rawal, PhD, senior advisor and chief strategy officer, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, addressed attendees at the Association for Accessible Medicines' Access! annual meeting, held in Orlando, Florida, February 15-16.

Funmi Olopade, MD, FACP, professor of medicine and human genetics and founding director of the Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics and Global Health at the University of Chicago Medical Center, explains advancements in BRCA testing and how genetic testing has become standard of care.

Stephen Schleicher, MD, MBA, chief medical officer of Tennessee Oncology, discusses the practice's plans to continue providing quality oncology care to its patients after the end of the Oncology Care Model (OCM).

Researchers compared drug costs among hospitals, specialty pharmacies, and physician offices.

Survival was 100% among patients who had COVID-19-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and 83% for those without COVID-19 infection.

Speaking during a webinar presented by the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, experts weighed the pros and cons of employer high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) and outlined steps to address challenges raised.

A survey of patients with sleep apnea and those at high risk for it identified key aspects of the care pathway where patients have preferences that may inform future processes.

Myelodysplastic syndrome has a variety of clinical presentations, including bone marrow fibrosis. Previously, the presence of fibrosis has not been considered in disease risk scoring in MDS, but recent research suggests it may be a valuable risk factor.

Statistically significant associations were not seen between the medication and breast, ovarian, bladder, kidney, gastric, or esophageal cancers, and there was a reduced risk of prostate cancer.

According to researchers, their findings warrant close surveillance of weight and BMI/age z-scores for patients with type 2 spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).

This new subanalysis of data from the Rotterdam Study investigated life expectancy among women and men who live a healthy lifestyle and do or do not have heart failure.

Ted Mikuls, MD, MSPH, Stokes-Shackleford professor of rheumatology, vice chair for research, internal medicine at the University of Nebraska, discusses interventions and treatments that could prevent lower extremity amputation for people with gout.

Ron Do, PhD, associate professor of the Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Iain Forrest, MD-PhD candidate in Dr Do’s lab, explain the importance of their recent study measuring population-based penetrance of pathogenic and loss-of-function clinical variants.

A study published in American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine found that sleep disordered breathing in pregnancy led to a higher risk of both metabolic disease and hypertension up to 7 years post partum.

Vitamin D is thought to have neuroprotective effects and it is usually lacking in patients with Parkinson disease (PD).

This new study aimed to identify metabolic differences in endothelial cells in pulmonary arterial hypertension and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (PH) to aid in the development of novel therapeutic approaches.

Colette Romero, an advocate for eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) awareness, discusses the steps her family went through to find a therapy plan that worked for her son.

The researchers investigated the role that economic evaluation and budget impact analysis plays in reimbursement decisions for nusinersen, collecting data from countries across the globe.

Robert Sidbury, MD, MPH, chief of the Division of Dermatology at Seattle Children's Hospital, discusses risk factors involved in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis and several diagnostic methods.

Data showed erenumab helped improve migraine functional impact when compared with placebo.

James Auran, MD, a professor of ophthalmology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and president of the American Society of Ophthalmic Trauma, lists potential solutions to bolster ophthalmic trauma care in the United States.

Researchers in Italy describe their findings indicating the combination of type 2-high severe asthma and bronchiectasis should be considered an emerging phenotype.

A proposed probe of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) by the Federal Trade Commission did not win enough votes to go forward; California exits the crisis phase of the pandemic; Abbott infant formula has been recalled after 1 death.

Dennis P. Scanlon, PhD, professor of health policy and administration at Pennsylvania State University and editor-in-chief of The American Journal of Accountable Care, discusses his 2021 end-of-year letter calling on health system leaders to learn and innovate in real time.

The CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report also covered varying COVID-19 vaccination coverage among people living with HIV (PLWH) in New York.