Specialty Focus 6/6/23: Medicare to broaden coverage of Alzheimer's drugs + New COVID variant spreading throughout U.S.

June 6, 2023 | Volume XII | Issue 23

Medicare to broaden coverage of Alzheimer's drugs after full FDA approval, with restrictions

Heather Landi reports for Healthcare Dive:

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) outlined plans Thursday to broadly cover a new class of Alzheimer’s drugs once the medications get full approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The new proposal does require patients to participate in registries that collect data.

The first drug potentially covered by the expanded plan, Eisai’s Leqembi, could be granted full approval from the FDA as soon as this summer.

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Rule Temporarily Extends Flexibilities in Prescribing Controlled Substances via Telemedicine Created During Public Health Emergency

The Health Law Offices of Anthony C. Vitale

Just days before the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) was about to expire on May 12, The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) issued a temporary rule that extends flexibilities for prescribing controlled substances via telemedicine.

More than 38,000 public comments were made in response to a proposed rule issued on March 1 that no longer would allow telehealth providers to prescribe controlled substances if the patient never had an in-person examination, subject to limited exceptions. Another proposed rule would expand the instances in which doctors could prescribe buprenorphine, used in pain and withdrawal management.

Filed in the Federal Register, the temporary rule issued on May 11, gives practitioners another six months to prescribe controlled substances via telemedicine without having to evaluate the patient in person.

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Lung cancer pill cuts risk of death by half, study

The Guardian reports:

A pill taken once a day cuts the risk of dying from lung cancer by half, according to “thrilling” and “unprecedented” results from a decade-long global study.

Taking the drug osimertinib after surgery dramatically reduced the risk of patients dying by 51%, results presented at the world’s largest cancer conference showed.

Lung cancer is the world’s leading cause of cancer death, accounting for about 1.8 million deaths a year. The results of the late-stage study, led by Yale...

New COVID variant spreading throughout U.S., experts say

WSAV3

A new COVID variant with some scary symptoms is gaining traction throughout the United States.

The variant is called Arcturus, it’s responsible for a growing share of new COVID infections and often starts with an eye infection – or pinkeye.

It’s a descendant of the Omnicron variant – which has been the most dominant strain of COVID.

Watch the video HERE.

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