Health Care Delivery

Survey highlights widespread opposition to Alabama's law restricting in vitro fertilization (IVF) access; investigation focuses on potential anticompetitive practices; Medicare weighs options for implementing a new program to deliver healthy meals to seniors with chronic conditions.

This most recent analysis from the CheckMate 9LA trial provides 4-year follow-up data on patients with stage IV metastatic/recurrent non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) randomized to treatment with nivolumab plus ipilimumab and chemotherapy vs chemotherapy alone.

Patients with congestive heart failure and/or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who had more quarterly primary care visits had lower rates of hospitalizations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fabiola Molina, MD, MHS, is a practicing hospitalist and assistant professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine and Yale New Haven Hospital. An immigrant from Mexico, her experiences straddling 2 worlds, while attempting to navigate with her family the complicated safety-net system for health care in Texas, were key influences to her ardent focus on health equity.

In this final part of our interview with James Robinson, PhD, MPH, he underscores the need for employer education about the health plans they offer, fostering managed competition among hospital systems to drive down costs, and innovation in financing drug development.

This week's news from the Center on Health Equity and Access discusses racial disparities in prostate cancer outcomes, the impact of access to cancer care on racial gaps in CLL/SLL outcomes, the effects of 340B programs on drug pricing and health care disparities, the role of mental illness in maternal mortality rates, and racial bias and diagnosis disparities in bipolar disorder.

Other viral infections, including Epstein-Barr virus and hepatitis C, have already been linked with primary hepatic lymphoma, the authors said.

In honor of Black History Month, Leesha Ellis-Cox, MD, MPH, sheds light on the racial disparities in mental health care and the prevalence of misdiagnosis.

This study was the first of its kind to explore how taking statin medication affects blood vessel function and exercise response in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), although the cohort only included 16 patients.

Among patients with heart failure (HF), those taking dapaglifozin or empaglifozin had a 30% odds reduction in HF hospitalization, 14% odds reduction in cardiovascular mortality, and a 10% odds reduction in all-cause mortality compared with patients taking placebo.

Data are scarce regarding the benefits of strength training for muscular dystrophies, for which there are no cures.

A meta-analysis on complement inhibitors in the management of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) reveals an association between these interventions and positive treatment outcomes.

A nationwide analysis reveals a significant drop in cancer diagnoses, highlighting an urgent need for a catch-up in screening efforts.

For chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies (CAR T) approved to treat B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders and multiple myeloma, more data are needed on the effects of posttreatment myeloid neoplasms to optimize patient counseling, risk stratification, and surveillance.

Strengthening parity in insurance coverage of mental and physical health care benefits is critical for addressing the maternal mental health crisis.

Despite the widespread practice of delaying or modifying chemotherapy treatment for patients with COVID-19, the investigators wrote that there are no clear data indicating the benefit of this practice.

Andrew Ress, MD, discusses the novel integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the skin cancer treatment landscape.

Changing High-Risk Asthma in Memphis through Partnerships significantly decreased health care use related to asthma among children.

A bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) study found a casual relationship between sleep-related phenotypes (SRPs) and gut microbiota.

Insurers grapple with expanding overage for weight loss medications; a new analysis reveals a potential correlation between COVID-19 vaccinations and various adverse effects (AEs); reshaping Medicaid programs remains an ongoing debate about ensuring health care access.

Douglas K. Marks, MD, is a breast medical oncologist and director of the Clinical Trials Office, Perlmutter Cancer Center, NYU Langone Hospital—Long Island, as well as associate professor in the Department of Medicine at NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine. As a phase 1 clinical trialist, he sees both patients with breast cancer and those who are looking to receive innovative treatments for their early-stage disease.

Carrie Kozlowski, OT, MBA highlights 3 key trends shaping the future of health care: a focus on health equity with actionable strategies for equitable access to care, a transition toward responsible AI utilization, and a push to maximize the potential of patient data while addressing privacy concerns.

A meta-analysis of 3 case-controlled MS studies showed an association between susceptibility to multiple sclerosis (MS) and the vitamin D pathway.

Different levels of risk for HIV exist in the different subtypes of intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Discontinuation of asthma drug leaves patients in search of alternative; FDA’s approach to artificial intelligence (AI) raises opportunities and challenges; landmark FDA approval signals hope for millions with severe food allergies.

Researchers said these findings confirm that zilebesiran can significantly reduce serum angiotensinogen levels, leading to sustained reductions in blood pressure over a 24-hour period, even 6 months post-treatment, though more research is needed for longer-term use.

This week in health equity and access includes challenges for independent physicians due to Medicare cuts, inequities in access to State Health Insurance Assistance Program counseling, a study on patient experiences in national health plans, strategies for building trust in cancer care, and increasing breast cancer rates in young Black women.

Pain screening in young patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) has demonstrated benefits for the administration of integrative health and medicine modalities for pain management.

Carrie Kozlowski, OT, MBA, chief operating officer and cofounder of Upfront Healthcare, explains how the company emphasizes personalized engagement to overcome technological, cultural, and social barriers while Medicaid disenrollment rates are increasing.