As of July 16, 2018, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ceased maintenance on guideline.gov, the website that housed the National Guideline Clearinghouse. The website had been a resource for healthcare providers for more than 20 years.

On July 23, 2018, the U.S. House of Representatives passed by voice vote two ONS priority bills that would provide palliative care training, awareness, and research and funding to build the nursing workforce.

For many patients with cancer, surgery is an integral part of the treatment regimen and offers a chance for a cure. This is especially true for patients with pancreatic cancer, where surgery is currently the only potential cure for the disease and a predictor of long-term survival. 

On July 16, 2018, Kevin Brady (R-TX), House Ways and Means Committee chair, announced that he’s working with the Trump administration to restore funding to key Affordable Care Act (ACA) payments. Previously, the White House suspended more than $10.4 billion in payments to insurers, which brought criticism from Democrats and stern warnings of rising healthcare premiums.

On July 20, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ivosidenib for adult patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a susceptible IDH1 mutation as detected by an FDA-approved test.

In response to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) on setting a tobacco standard for nicotine levels in combusted cigarettes, ONS submitted comments urging the agency to lower nicotine levels in combusted cigarettes and all tobacco products. Specifically, ONS recommended lowering the level of nicotine to a maximum of 0.4 mg or lower and that the ratio of tar to nicotine stay around 1 to reduce addiction. ONS pointed out that even lower levels of nicotine are harmful to health.

ONS shared the perspective of nurses caring for patients who may struggle to afford cancer drugs in comments submitted to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on its Prescription Drug Reform Request for Information.

Lurking in the dark corners of bedrooms across the country, unseen figures wait to feast of the blood of humans and animals alike. When the lights go dark, they come out for dinner. No, they’re not vampires or mystical beasts—they’re bedbugs. These parasitic insects feed exclusively on the blood of humans and animals and are a prevalent parasite in the United States.