Trump Issues Controversial Order on Vaccines, Suggests Autism Link
President Trump signed an executive order that shrinks the number of universally recommended vaccines for children, calls for splitting up the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) shot, and says each vaccination should occur at a separate medical visit. Speaking about the order at the Oval Office on Monday, Trump repeatedly suggested the number or timing […]
Trump Officials Propose New Scrutiny of Food Additives and Ingredients
U.S. health officials on Monday proposed a rule change that would require food manufacturers to notify regulators before introducing new ingredients or additives into processed or packaged foods. The proposal would change a decades-old policy that advocates have called a regulatory loophole, blaming it for allowing thousands of unvetted ingredients into the U.S. food supply. […]
CDC Warns of Severe Arboviral Disease With B-Cell Drugs
Introducción The CDC on Tuesday warned doctors about the risk for severe arboviral neuroinvasive disease in patients on B cell-depleting or modulating agents, calling out anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies in particular. Datos críticos Published case reports indicate an overall mortality of about 40% for patients on anti-CD20 antibodies with arboviral neuroinvasive disease, and neurologic sequelae were […]
Trump Administration Weighs Overhaul of Doctor Payments in Medicare
The Trump administration is looking into alternatives to the current fee-for-service-based payment system for physicians who treat Medicare patients. The request for informationopens in a new tab or window issued on July 14 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) noted that the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) coding system, on which the Medicare […]
Weekly self-injection improves generalized myasthenia gravis symptoms
Clinical takeaway: For adults with AChR antibody–positive generalized myasthenia gravis, once-weekly subcutaneous gefurulimab produced clinically meaningful improvements within weeks. Longer-term data are still needed to establish durability and safety beyond 6 months. Although several targeted therapies are available for AChR antibody-positive generalized myasthenia gravis, many require IV administration, repeated infusion visits, or daily dosing. Gefurulimab […]
FDA approves another blood-based colorectal cancer test
Clinical takeaway: For average-risk patients who won’t screen any other way, a blood test is better than no screening. Counsel them that it catches most cancers but few precancers, and that a positive result still requires colonoscopy. Colorectal cancer is one of the most preventable cancers, yet up to 60 million Americans are overdue for […]
Brain Worm Culprit in Woman’s Hallucinations, Incoherent Speech
A previously healthy 52-year-old woman entered the emergency department with a 4-month history of headaches and visual hallucinations. For the past month, her speech was incoherent. When she reached the hospital, the patient was awake and alert, but unable to follow simple commands. Her speech was fluent but nonsensical, with paraphasic errors and impaired naming […]
CAR T-Cell Therapy in Pregnant Autoimmune Patients: Safe for Baby?
So far, pregnancies among the first women treated with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for autoimmune rheumatologic diseases have proceeded without any concerns, researchers reported. With 14 pregnancies occurring in 13 patients, all have been “uncomplicated” and the treatment’s effectiveness doesn’t seem to have been compromised, according to Georg Schett, MD, of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität in […]
FDA Committee Votes Down Duchenne Drug
An FDA panel said that trial data did not provide substantial evidence showing that investigational deramiocel was effective in treating cardiomyopathy among patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. In a 9-3 vote, the FDA’s Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee said deramiocel did not meet the cardiac endpoint, though the primary outcome of the drug’s […]
Antihistamines for Eczema: A Critical Review
Antihistamines hold only a slight benefit for atopic dermatitis (eczema) and shouldn’t be routinely used in management, a network meta-analysis concluded. Moderate to Severe Eczema Findings For moderate to severe atopic dermatitis, adding a first-generation H1 antihistamine had no significant impact on severity of the condition or itch severity compared with placebo, found Derek K. […]