What We’re Reading: Drug Shortage Impacts Cancer Treatment; Consequences for Medicaid Money Misuse; Helping Children With Mental Illness

Drug Shortage Affects Ovarian Cancer Treatment

Patients with ovarian cancer are among the groups most affected by the drug shortages as the most effective platinum drugs carboplatin and cisplatin are in limited supply, according to Stat News. Both drugs have been hard to keep stocked for months in most cancer centers, as 93% reported carboplatin shortages and 70% reported cisplatin shortages. Although there are alternatives to platinum drugs in ovarian cancer treatment, none work as well as carboplatin in combination with the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel, especially when the treatment could be curative. Patients have described a significant physical and emotional toll from needing to use less-than-optimal alternatives.

Governments Look to Punish Hospitals Redistributing Medicaid Money

The Biden administration may punish hospitals violating federal law by making private arrangements to reimburse themselves for taxes that help fund coverage for low-income patients, according to KFF Health News. Federal regulators explained that hospitals disregarded the proposed enforcement plan released May 3 by CMS that designated the money for facilities treating low-income patients, instead redirecting it to ones that provide little to no Medicaid-covered services. The government’s most recent proposal against this secret but widespread practice requires states to monitor the use of Medicaid money in hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care providers to make sure it is not redistributed. However, some Medicaid experts predict this plan could fail or face immediate challenges in court if adopted.

Doctors Ask for Help Treating Children With Mental Illness

Emergency medicine providers and pediatricians pleaded for additional support and resources due to the number of children and teenagers with mental health concerns presenting to emergency departments nationwide, according to NBC News. The article covered a joint policy statement from the American College of Emergency Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Emergency Nurses Association released Wednesday. In the statement, the groups call for increased access to mental health services in local communities to prevent the need for emergency care. Although emergency physicians can address mental health issues at the surface level, the groups write, they typically do not have the resources to do so over long periods.