Nursing Homes
Legislation
Medicaid Cuts May Affect Nursing Home Residents
Medicaid funds more than 1.4 million people in nursing homes, but budget issues have left the program financially stressed. Attempts by the Republican Senate to release new healthcare legislation and repeal the Affordable Care Act could leave elderly individuals without coverage.
States allocate a portion of their Medicaid budget to pay for nursing home care. Proposed changes may reduce funding or restrict eligibility for some individuals, requiring families to pay for residential care or altering disabilities to qualifications.
Risperdal
Advocacy
Change.Org Launches Petition To Stop Prescribing Off-Label Risperdal To Children
Change.org, a powerful platform for crowdsourced digital advocacy, has sponsored a petition to raise awareness about breast growth risks linked to Risperdal. Risperdal, an antipsychotic approved to treat adults diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, is often prescribed to children and adolescents, leaving them with serious complications.
The medication has been prescribed for off-label indications to treat ADD, ADHD, and autism. Change.org's petition aims to spread awareness of the illegal prescribing practice to prevent young boys from developing the breast growth side effect, medically known as gynecomastia.
Essure
Regulations
Essure Further Removed From Global Markets, Pulled In Canada
The permanent birth control implant Essure has repeatedly made headlines in 2017 as its manufacturer, Bayer, continues to pull the device from global markets. After removing Essure from Finland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, Bayer will discontinue sales in Canada. The company cited “commercial reasons” and “change in patient demand.”
Studies and advocacy groups have raised awareness about the potential side effects of Essure, impacting revenue and prompting the device's removal from numerous countries. Sales of Essure had also been suspended in Brazil, as the country's National Health Surveillance Agency deemed it “a measure of health.”
Invokana
Studies
Research Shows Invokana Doubles Diabetic Ketoacidosis Risk
A research letter published on June 8 in the New England Journal of Medicine outlines a study that assessed the risk of developing diabetic ketoacidosis when taking Invokana and other SGLTS inhibitors. Ketoacidosis is a potentially fatal medical emergency that occurs when the body produces too much blood acids.
The study included 50,220 patients treating type 2 diabetes with SGLT2 inhibitors and 90,132 patients taking DPP-4 inhibitors, another class of diabetes medications. Results show that SGLT2 inhibitors double the risk of ketoacidosis, with about 5 to 8 per 1,000 patients developing the disease.
Vaginal Mesh
Legal Developments
Federal Class Action Vaginal Mesh Lawsuit Against Johnson & Johnson Begins In Australia
More than 700 women injured by vaginal mesh have brought their claims to a federal court in Sydney, Australia. The claims are collected in a class action against the manufacturer, Johnson & Johnson.
When vaginal mesh fails, it can cause painful, life-altering complications, such as mesh erosion and organ perforation. The plaintiffs hope to get mesh banned and mitigate the high complication rate occurring in Australia.