According to the CDC, approximately six million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease, but access to experimental, potentially life-saving drugs is limited. For impacted veterans, the Veterans Health Administration is looking for ways to provide that access.
Last year, Biogen, in partnership with Japanese drug company Eisai, announced that the drug called Leqembi showed promise in slowing cognitive decline in Alzaheimer's patients by 27 percent. The VHA announced it will shell out more than $26,000 annually for each veteran on Leqembi. If the FDA grants a full approval by July 6, Medicare and Medicaid services said it would immediately provide broad coverage of the drug to customers.
The experimental treatment received Accelerated Approval by the Food and Drug administration earlier this year. The specific pathway to approval had been introduced by the agency to provide speedier clearance on drugs that treat serious conditions.
Last month the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services declined to provide unrestricted coverage of the drug because "there is not yet evidence meeting the criteria for reconsideration."
"This standard differs from the criteria used by the FDA to assess whether medications are safe and effective. We are aware that additional publications may be forthcoming that include information relevant to the questions included in the current NCD," the agency added in its statement.
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released a new report providing multiple options for how the world can survive and adapt to climate change.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom over the weekend announced that the state has secured a contract with CIVCA to make $30 insulin available to all who need it. He also announced that the state will start manufacturing Naloxone, an emergency medication used to rapidly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
The global bottled water industry is booming, and it's coming at a steep environmental cost, according to the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health.
A new gel that helps stop bleeding for both emergency care and surgical procedures in animal medicine is being sought for FDA approval for a human version.
In this photo provided by Henry Danner, Omari Maynard sits with his children, Khari, left, and, Anari, holding a photo of their late mother, Shamony Gibson, at home in the Brooklyn borough of New York on April 9, 2022. Gibson passed away in 2019, two weeks after giving birth to Khari due to a pulmonary embolism. “She wasn’t being heard at all,” said Maynard, an artist who now does speaking engagements as a maternal health advocate.
The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a new plan to lower the cap on the amount of harmful "forever chemicals" allowed in drinking water across the country.
