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Friday, May 5, 2017
[Morning Rounds by Megan Thielking]
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Good morning, and happy Friday. STAT reporter Andrew Joseph here with the latest in health and medicine to round out your week.
Health care reform moves to the Senate
They finally did it<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=e69c2be0d6&e=4aad33fd68>. After several false starts, Republicans pushed their plan to repeal and replace parts of the Affordable Care Act through the House Thursday in a 217 to 213 vote, with 20 Republicans voting no on the measure. But the Senate is going to change the bill substantially, and the fight for its passage there could be just as difficult as it was in the House. To appeal to their conservative flank, House Republicans removed some protections for people with pre-existing conditions in their bill. Those provisions, as well as the bill’s deep cuts to Medicaid and changes to essential health benefits<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=5362953c2e&e=4aad33fd68>, are facing resistance<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=cc5eed8bda&e=4aad33fd68> from some moderate Republicans in the Senate.
Review: Antipsychotics effective for schizophrenia
A new review<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=ca18b4bf77&e=4aad33fd68> has found that antipsychotics are effective for treating psychosis caused by schizophrenia and don't have long-term negative effects. Researchers decided to analyze existing preclinical and clinical evidence of antipsychotics because of some concerns in recent years about the lasting consequences of the drugs, including relapses of psychosis and cognitive losses. But the researchers, writing in the American Journal of Psychiatry, conclude that the drugs are effective treatments and that discontinuing treatment poses other risks. Some important notes: The study was focused on the psychosis caused by schizophrenia, and antipsychotics are often prescribed off-label to patients with other mental illnesses and behavioral issues. The authors of the study also disclosed having received research funding from pharmaceutical companies.
Scientists compete to build a retina in a dish
The National Eye Institute has launched a new competition, with more than $1 million at stake, to encourage teams to design human retina organoids — mini 3-D models of retinas that can be used in the lab. Current lab-made imitations of human retinas, crafted from stem cells, don't well capture the complexity of the tissue. More sophisticated organoids could serve as an improved model for studying retinal cells — both healthy and diseased — and to investigate treatments. Got your eye on the prize? More details here<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=e81f751a91&e=4aad33fd68>.
Inside STAT<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=03d5a00b87&e=4aad33fd68>: The opioid salesman who became addicted
[https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f8609630ae206654824f897b6/images/eb1dcb69-1103-4138-a89e-78ef619126af.jpg]
(mike reddy for STAT)
Jeffrey Pearlman, a former district sales manager for Insys Therapeutics, was indicted in February for allegedly participating in an illegal campaign to convince doctors to prescribe Subsys, a prescription form of the powerful opioid fentanyl. Emails show he once threatened to stop paying a nurse speaking fees if she didn’t boost drug sales. But Pearlman had a secret: He was addicted to opioids, and was taking the company’s own product. STAT’s David Armstrong has Pearlman’s story<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=2783729352&e=4aad33fd68>, and what it says about the danger and shortcomings of the drugs Pearlman was selling.
Lab Chat: A new use for immunotherapy?
A new study catalogs the vast array of immune cells surrounding early-stage lung cancers — discovering that even nascent tumors evoke immune changes. By mapping those responses, scientists may be better able to direct new immunotherapy treatments at early-stage cancers. It also suggests that immunotherapy, typically given to patients with later-stage cancers, could be an effective treatment early on. I spoke to Dr. Miriam Merad of Mount Sinai, one of the authors of the study<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=4e30f5dd4f&e=4aad33fd68>, about the findings.
What did your study look at?
What we ask here is how early these immune changes occur, how early immunosuppression is established, and how we can catalog that. If we really target these immune changes early enough, then maybe we could start immunotherapy much earlier and cure lesions. It might be more effective because immunosuppression wouldn’t be so extensive.
What’d you find?
We identified very clear changes, quite dramatic some of them, and realized there was a very specific immunosuppressed microenvironment. We haven’t done enough patients to identify a pattern, but we demonstrated our platform. These changes occur really early, and you can quantify them. And now we need to act on them.
What’s next?
We are expanding the patient cohort quite substantially. We are also working on clinical trials where patients with early cancer will receive some immunotherapy to see if by the time of surgery, the tumors are being attacked.
CDC issues 'call to action' on syphilis
Faced with rising syphilis rates<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=f1db8a8af9&e=4aad33fd68>, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has put out a “call to action<http://statnews.us11.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=fe620c0005&e=4aad33fd68>” to slow the spread of the sexually transmitted disease. The plan calls on public health departments to improve surveillance and screening, and for scientists and the biopharma industry to develop new diagnostics and treatments for the disease. Rates of syphilis declined through the 1990s but have been creeping up since 2001, with larger increases in the past few years. Two top concerns: high rates among men who have sex with men, and a surge in the rate of congenital syphilis.
Prizes for health-themed poetry awarded this weekend
The annual Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine will be given out this weekend, awarding poems that explore issues of health and medicine. Finalists this year examined topics ranging from depression recovery to treating patients in conflict zones, and entrants include both established poets and clinicians. For a look at the finalists, head here<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=6ff58166c5&e=4aad33fd68>.
What to read around the web today
§ In Flint, overdue bills for unsafe water could lead to foreclosures. New York Times<http://statnews.us11.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=ba7df7c309&e=4aad33fd68>
§ World Trade Organization upholds Australia's tobacco labels. Bloomberg<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=3491e48d69&e=4aad33fd68>
§ WHO to help bring cheap biosimilar cancer drugs to poor. Reuters<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=02293d764d&e=4aad33fd68>
More reads from STAT
§ These five CEOs earned big bucks<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=2a34d36c22&e=4aad33fd68> even as their companies tanked
§ CDC could lose<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=0e8906c248&e=4aad33fd68> hundreds of millions of dollars under AHCA
§ Kimmel's monologue prompted flood of calls<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=9996d96999&e=4aad33fd68> to LA hospital
The latest from STAT Plus
§ Video<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=25bbb30ed3&e=4aad33fd68>: A behind-the-scenes look at CEO salaries
§ Green shoots emerge<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=961163d62e&e=4aad33fd68> in frigid biotech IPO market
§ We're still spending more on drugs, but annual cost increases are slowing<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=aebef18ed9&e=4aad33fd68>
Thanks for reading, and enjoy the weekend!
[Megan]
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