February, 2024

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Vote now in STAT Madness 2024

STAT

Welcome to STAT Madness, a bracket-style contest to find the best innovation in science and medicine. Click on each matchup for a short summary of each school’s pioneering research. Then pick your favorites. Help us crown a champ!

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Behind the breakthrough cancer therapy that just won a historic FDA nod

PharmaVoice

The first-of-its-kind TIL therapy for solid tumors developed by Iovance Biotherapeutics won FDA approval last week.

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High sensitivity cardiac troponins for ED chest pain evaluation (2022 ACC pathway)

ALiEM - Pharm Pearls

How do we best use high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) to risk stratify patients with symptoms concerning for an acute myocardial infarction (AMI)? The 2022 American College of Cardiology (ACC) pathway provides timely guidance [1]. We help you translate this to your clinical practice, by illustrating with a case. Time to know your hs-cTn better.

Hospitals 276
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Unlocking the Perfect Fit: Your Ultimate Guide to Selecting the Ideal Pharmacy School

Pharmacy Is Right For Me

Selecting the ideal pharmacy school involves weighing numerous factors, as no single institution suits everyone. By prioritizing your preferences, you can effectively streamline your list of prospective schools. You may ask yourself, “What are the factors I should consider when choosing a pharmacy school program?” Well, the answer to that will be different for each person.

Hospitals 246
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Navigating Payroll Compliance: Future-Proofing Payroll in an Evolving Regulatory Landscape

Speaker: Jennifer Hill

Payroll compliance is a cornerstone of business success, yet for small and midsize businesses, it’s becoming increasingly challenging to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of federal, state, and local regulations. Mistakes can lead to costly penalties and operational disruptions, making it essential to adopt advanced solutions that ensure accuracy and efficiency.

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Positive results for MAIA’s SCLC treatment published in Nature Communications

Pharma Times

The aggressive type of cancer accounts for 13% of all lung cancer cases worldwide

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STAT+: Here are the cancer drugs Pfizer thinks could reignite investors’ interest

STAT

Pfizer spent more than four hours Thursday laying out its oncology program to investors. But the company also spent some time talking about the effects of the Inflation Reduction Act on its pipeline. The drug giant, which is facing investor dissatisfaction after a year in which its stock dropped 44%, said it would be focusing on drugs that are based on proteins, not small molecule pills as it has traditionally developed.

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‘Brain fog’ is one of Covid-19’s most daunting symptoms. A new study measures its impact

STAT

Of all the lingering symptoms of long Covid , difficulty focusing and thinking, known as brain fog , may be the most frightening and baffling. A new study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, which looks at how much cognition is impaired in the months after a coronavirus infection, shows that Covid-19’s impact can be measured in the equivalent of IQ points.

Hospitals 363
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STAT+: White House to hold a listening session on reforming pharmacy benefit managers

STAT

In a bid to combat prescription drug costs, the White House will hold a listening session on Monday in search of ways to reform pharmacy benefit managers , according to people familiar with the plans. The list of attendees includes representatives from the federal government and industry, who are expected to provide insights into how the largest pharmacy benefit managers determine which medicines are covered by insurers and employers, as well as prices that are paid at pharmacy counters.

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STAT+: A ‘vaccine-like’ version of Wegovy is on the drawing board at Novo Nordisk

STAT

LEXINGTON, Mass. — New obesity drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound are currently taken once a week, indefinitely. But what if they could be taken once a year instead, like a vaccine? That’s a question that Novo Nordisk, the pharma company behind Wegovy, is exploring as it faces increased competition from other drugmakers aiming to develop similar GLP-1-based treatments for obesity.

Vaccines 363
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From Diagnosis to Delivery: How AI is Revolutionizing the Patient Experience

Speaker: Simran Kaur, Founder & CEO at Tattva Health Inc.

The healthcare landscape is being revolutionized by AI and cutting-edge digital technologies, reshaping how patients receive care and interact with providers. In this webinar led by Simran Kaur, we will explore how AI-driven solutions are enhancing patient communication, improving care quality, and empowering preventive and predictive medicine. You'll also learn how AI is streamlining healthcare processes, helping providers offer more efficient, personalized care and enabling faster, data-driven

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Opinion: Medicare Advantage is bad for patients and bad for investors

STAT

In 2023, enrollment in Medicare Advantage, the version of Medicare run by private insurers, surpassed 50% of eligible beneficiaries for the very first time. Going by this headline, or perhaps the predictable flood of advertisements for plans during the fall’s open enrollment period, you might be fooled into thinking 2023 was MA’s best year yet.

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Cholera vaccine shortage reaches worst point yet, with experts fearing deadly outbreaks

STAT

An unprecedented shortage of cholera vaccine has public health experts fearing that a recent surge of outbreaks across developing countries will only worsen, a situation they argue is as regrettable as it was avoidable. At least 16 countries in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean are dealing with cholera outbreaks. According to the latest report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control , between Dec. 23 and Jan. 23, nearly 50,500 people contracted cholera and nearly 500 died.

Vaccines 363
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STAT+: UnitedHealth cyberattack cripples pharmacies’ and hospitals’ ability to process insurance claims

STAT

Hospitals, pharmacies, and other health care providers are getting stuck in an insurance processing logjam after UnitedHealth Group disclosed a cyberattack within a recently acquired subsidiary that serves as a central hub for payments across the industry. The cyberattack and subsequent system outage within UnitedHealth’s Change Healthcare has caught the attention of federal law enforcement agencies.

Hospitals 363
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Florida policy set amid measles outbreak alarms vaccination proponents

STAT

A Florida state policy set amid a measles outbreak in Broward County has vaccination proponents aghast, with many saying it leaves unvaccinated children especially vulnerable to the highly contagious disease. In a letter dated Tuesday about an outbreak at Manatee Bay Elementary School in Weston, located northwest of Miami and west of Fort Lauderdale, the state’s surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, said that while it is normal policy to tell unvaccinated children to stay home during an outbrea

Vaccines 364
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Why Every Small Business Needs an HCM Solution: A Comprehensive Guide

Managing HR tasks like payroll, compliance, and employee data can overwhelm small businesses. That’s where a Human Capital Management (HCM) solution comes in. Our eBook, Why Every Small Business Needs an HCM Solution: A Comprehensive Guide , shows how an HCM system automates tedious processes, ensuring your business stays compliant and efficient. You’ll learn how to simplify payroll, eliminate costly errors, and empower your employees with self-service tools.

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NIH study of ME/CFS points to immune dysfunction and brain abnormalities at core of long-dismissed disease

STAT

Alison Sbrana was in the belly of an opera when her life changed. Down in the pit, surrounded by fellow orchestra members, she’d been straining to play her flute for half the show. As performers overhead enveloped the audience in arias, Sbrana felt like the Hulk was pulling on the tendons in the right side of her neck. “I begged anybody for meds at intermission,” she said.

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Meet the fetal surgeon forging CRISPR’s next frontier: curing diseases in the womb

STAT

SAN FRANCISCO — Outside, the August sun wasn’t yet visible through the thick folds of fog blanketing the San Francisco skyline. Its warmth did not reach the operating room tucked into the sprawling Parnassus Heights hospital complex. In there, the light was all cold and blue fluorescence washing over the sea of scrub caps huddled around an anesthetized young woman on a gurney.

Hospitals 363
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STAT+: Obesity treatment from Boehringer Ingelheim, Zealand Pharma succeeds in study in liver condition MASH

STAT

LONDON — A drug in development as a weight loss treatment succeeded in a Phase 2 study in a serious liver condition, its developers said Monday, as the competition in the broader obesity medicine field pushes ahead. The drug, survodutide, is being developed by the privately held German firm Boehringer Ingelheim and the Danish biotech Zealand Pharma.

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Presidential age debate obscures a simple fact: Some cognitive skills improve as we get older

STAT

When a psychology professor in Michigan looked through his data on interpersonal conflict a decade ago, he discovered something unexpected. The study , which examined differences across cultures and age groups, seemed to show Americans got wiser as they got older. Richard Nisbett was used to research showing poorer mental skills among elderly adults, but his work found they were better at recognizing multiple perspectives, encouraging compromise, and acknowledging the limits of their own knowled

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Position Your Pharmacy for Expansion

Speaker: Chris Antypas and Josh Halladay

Access to limited distribution drugs and payer contracts are key to pharmacy expansion. But how do you prepare your operations to take the next step? Meaningful data: Collect and share clinical data regarding outcomes, utilization, and more Reporting: Limited distribution models require efficient tracking and reporting systems Workflows: Align workflows with specific pharma and payer contractual requirements For in-depth, expert insights on pharmacy expansion, watch this webinar from Inovalon.

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Opinion: The Alabama IVF ruling uses faux scientific language to justify a religious position

STAT

Imagine having 15 miscarriages. Maybe you can shrug off the first one or two and keep trying to have children, to create a family. But soon every positive pregnancy test brings a sense of dread, of sad inevitability. Your body becomes your enemy.

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Opinion: New CMS rules will throttle access researchers need to Medicare, Medicaid data

STAT

Groundbreaking research more than a decade ago showed that almost one-fifth of people enrolled in Medicare were being readmitted within 30 days after being discharged from the hospital, harming patients and increasing costs. That study led to a sea change in health care. The government started closely monitoring readmission rates and imposing fines on hospitals with high rates.

Hospitals 363
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STAT+: Scientists take a (small) step toward universal antivenom

STAT

Antivenom, like Mexican Coke or grandma’s cookies, is still made the old-fashioned way. In antivenom’s case, the recipe is straightforward: Pump a horse full of sub-lethal doses of venom from various local snakes, wait for them to develop an immune response, tap their blood, purify out antibodies, bottle, and freeze. This vampiric, century-old process still reigns because of the unique scientific challenge posed by snake venoms.

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Phage therapy: Researchers sharpen another arrow in the quiver against antibiotic resistance

STAT

Lynn Cole was in a never-ending cycle of getting recurrent blood infections. And no antibiotic drugs managed to kill off her zombie-like bacteria. “It just got so frustrating over the years because we couldn’t find the source, so we couldn’t figure out how to treat it and prevent it from happening,” said Mya Cole, Lynn’s daughter.

Hospitals 363
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Best Practices to Streamline Compensation Management: A Foundation for Growth

Speaker: Joe Sharpe and James Carlson

Payroll optimization can be one of the most time-consuming and complex factors of small business management. Yet, organizations that crack the code on streamlining employee compensation often discover innovative avenues for growth. With the right strategies in place, outsourcing and streamlining payroll processes can result in substantial time and resource savings.

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STAT+: In ‘major milestone,’ FDA approves first cell therapy for solid tumors

STAT

Nearly four decades after its first conception, the first TIL therapy, an immunotherapy that harvests cancer-fighting immune cells from the patient’s own body, received accelerated approval from the Food and Drug Administration for advanced melanoma. The therapy, called Amtagvi or lifileucel from Iovance, is the first cell therapy approved for a solid tumor.

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Opioid cravings were reduced by anti-obesity drug in small study

STAT

DENVER — The GLP-1 medication liraglutide significantly reduced opioid cravings in a small analysis presented on Saturday. It is the first randomized controlled trial to test anti-obesity drugs against opioid addiction, which kills around 80,000 people in the U.S. each year. Among 20 patients for opioid use disorder, those on liraglutide experienced a 30% reduction in opioid cravings over the three-week study, with this effect evident at even the lowest liraglutide dose, according to

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Amid measles outbreaks, U.K. launches vaccination ad campaign to boost childhood immunizations

STAT

LONDON — Facing a growing outbreak of measles, the U.K. has unveiled an advertising campaign aimed at boosting vaccination rates in children, which have steadily fallen over the past decade and took an even greater dip during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The campaign, starting March 4, features children talking about their lack of protection from infections like measles and whooping cough if they’re not vaccinated.

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STAT+: FTC says pharmacy benefit managers are stonewalling requests for information

STAT

A much-anticipated inquiry by U.S. antitrust regulators into pharmaceutical industry middlemen has been stymied because the companies have failed to provide many of the documents that, in some cases, were requested as far back as June 2022. The inquiry was begun by the Federal Trade Commission in response to the role that pharmacy benefit managers play in the cost of prescription medicines.

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Enhance Healthcare Efficiency With Top Payroll & HCM Services

Running a healthcare facility requires precision and care, not just for patients but also for your staff. Our guide, "A Buyer’s Guide to Payroll & HCM Services," helps healthcare providers choose the best provider. Efficient payroll management ensures timely, accurate payments, critical for maintaining staff morale and trust. Compliance support helps navigate complex healthcare regulations and avoid costly fines.

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STAT+: Experts say scale of Change cyberattack shows risk of centralized claims processing

STAT

Change Healthcare’s recent cyberattack has hospitals, doctors’ offices, and pharmacies across the country reeling as they struggle to process claims and bill patients. Experts told STAT it’s a glaring example of the risk of consolidation in health care. Change, which is owned by UnitedHealth Group, is one of the nation’s largest insurance claim processing hubs.

Hospitals 363
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Juul’s internal playbook opens a rare window into influence in Washington

STAT

WASHINGTON — A new trove of internal emails and other documents from the e-cigarette maker Juul reveals the company’s extensive behind-the-scenes efforts to promote its interests in Washington — a rare insight into the otherwise opaque methods corporations use to influence the government. It’s well documented that Juul spent significant sums on registered lobbyists and political donations back in 2018 and 2019, when the head of the Food and Drug Administration declare

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More than 1 billion people have obesity, including 159 million young people, study estimates

STAT

More than 1 billion people — or one in eight people worldwide — are now estimated to have obesity, a new study finds. Obesity rates grew particularly fast among children and teens, quadrupling from 1990 to 2022, the latest year the analysis looked at, while rates among adults more than doubled. That comes to 159 million children and teens with obesity, and 879 million adults, according to the study, published Thursday in the Lancet and conducted by the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration

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