Patients covered under Medicare Part D will pay up to 79% less for 10 prescription drugs for chronic conditions, including ibrutinib for chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma and other blood cancers, starting on January 1, 2026, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said. In August 2024, the agency released its final list of lowered drug prices for the 10 treatments selected under the price negotiation program.
On August 15, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved durvalumab (Imfinzi®) with platinum-containing chemotherapy as neoadjuvant treatment, followed by single-agent durvalumab as adjuvant treatment after surgery, for adults with resectable (tumors that are 4 cm or larger or node positive) non-small cell lung cancer and no known epidermal growth factor receptor variants or anaplastic lymphoma kinase rearrangements.
On August 14, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved axatilimab-csfr (Niktimvo), a colony-stimulating factor–1 receptor-blocking antibody, for the treatment of chronic graft-versus-host disease after failure of at least two prior lines of systemic therapy in adult and pediatric patients weighing at least 40 kg.
“You will never know it all, but you can know where to look.”
This is a phrase, or some iteration of it, that I find myself saying often to novice oncology nurses as I meet with them during orientation, especially during that week 4 one-on-one when the scope of information oncology has to offer feels like a daunting hurdle for them to conquer in 12 weeks.
“The current body of research inadequately addresses the intersection of aging, health disparities, and cancer outcomes among older adults, highlighting the imperative for heightened attention, enhanced infrastructure, and collaborative efforts to fill this critical gap,” a team of expert investigators from across the United States reported in a scoping review published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
One potential positive from the COVID-19 pandemic was heightened awareness and use of personal protective equipment (PPE). However, protecting people from virus transmission does not automatically equate to protecting surfaces from hazardous drugs, researchers reported in the August 2024 issue of the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing. Although surface contamination varied by agent and setting, overall, they found no significant change from pre- to post-pandemic.
On August 8, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that B. Braun Medical Inc. is voluntarily recalling two lots of 0.9% sodium chloride for injection USP 1,000 ml in E3 containers within the United States to the consumer level. The voluntary recall has been initiated due to the potential for particulate matter and fluid leakage of the respective containers.
On August 6, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that Smiths Medical is issuing a correction recall for its CADD-Solis Ambulatory Infusion Pump because of multiple issues related to outdated software. The FDA said that the recall involves correcting certain devices, not removing them from where they are used or sold.
Lawmakers in Congress haven’t left themselves much choice if they want to fund the government and prevent a government shutdown in a few months: They’ll need to kick the can down the road. The House left Washington last week, and the Senate will soon follow, with scant progress made toward passing the 12 annual spending bills, or appropriations, that keep vital agencies and government programs running. Current federal financing expires September 30, the end of the 2024 fiscal year.
Precision symptom science helps clinicians identify specific individuals at risk for symptoms and develop targeted strategies to prevent or mitigate the severity of the symptoms. In March 2024, I was one of eight PhD-prepared nurse scientists selected to participate in a workshop hosted by ONS and supported by the Oncology Nursing Foundation to develop the next generation of precision symptom scientists.