Scientists may have discovered one of the mysterious reasons behind why some children have recurrent tonsillitis (RT) when they have a strep infection, finding there may be a genetic predisposition in some people, according to a study published in Science Translational Medicine Wednesday.
Why it matters: There are an estimated 600 million cases of strep globally and 750,000 tonsillectomies performed in the U.S., mostly caused by RT. It can greatly disrupt children's education, force parents to miss work, and in developing countries without large amounts of antibiotics, it can lead to dangerous acute rheumatic fever or rheumatic heart disease.
The Trump administration is approving Medicaid work requirements but isn't requiring states to assess the impacts of those policies on their programs, the Los Angeles Times' Noam Levey reports. That appears to violate Obama-era rules that govern the program.
The big picture: Of the 17 states that have sought federal permission to add work requirements to their Medicaid programs, 9 have not included estimates of how many people would lose their coverage as a result.
This week, the FDA warned heart doctors that patients who had received a newer type of heart pump, called the Impella RP, were dying at much higher rates in the real world than in initial clinical trials.
Why it matters: Experts have long said medical devices that pose the most risk and treat complex conditions need stricter regulation. But the development around this heart device also shows how a lack of rigorous testing causes confusion about whether devices are beneficial and working as intended.
Biogen's blockbuster drug Tecfidera is on the hot seat after federal patent judges ruled today that competing drug maker Mylan "demonstrated a reasonable likelihood" that one of the drug's main patents can be thrown out.
Why it matters: Biogen has faced a lot of patent challenges over Tecfidera, a pricey multiple sclerosis drug that registered $4.3 billion in sales in 2018. But if the board's final decision next year invalidates the Tecfidera patent in question, cheaper generic versions of the drug could hit the market as soon as 2021 instead of 2028.
President Trump wants Congress' help enacting his agenda on drug pricing, but members of Congress aren’t sure yet whether they want to provide it.
Driving the news: "I am asking the Congress to pass legislation that finally takes on the problem of global freeloading and delivers fairness and price transparency for American patients," Trump said last night. "We should also require drug companies, insurance companies, and hospitals to disclose real prices to foster competition and bring costs down."
