Legislators Urge President to Respond to PPE Shortage
Healthcare providers still lack sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) to safely treat patients with COVID-19 coronavirus. Citing insufficient federal coordination, members of Congress urged the Trump administration follow through on implementing the $16 million PPE funding provided in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
PPE Protests; COVID-19 Health Disparities; Nursing Home Fears
On April 21, 2020, a handful of nurses protested outside the White House to urge the president to respond to the critical shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE)—and other nurses around the country have been speaking out as well.
Meet Your ONS Leader: Heather Thompson Mackey, MSN, ANP-BC, AOCN®
Get to know Heather Thompson Mackey, MSN, ANP-BC, AOCN®, secretary on the ONS Board of Directors from 2019–2021 and director-at-large from 2018–2021. Heather is the clinical editor in oncology for Elsevier and a nurse practitioner for Novant Health Cancer Prevention and Wellness in Winston-Salem, NC.
Patients Struggle to Access BMT During COVID-19
Cancer does not stop progressing because of a pandemic. Although the COVID-19 coronavirus does not recognize that someone with leukemia has been fighting for months, even years, for remission to receive a lifesaving blood and marrow transplantation (BMT), a new program is ensuring that marrow products are available when patients need them.
Vaping, E-Cigarettes, and Flavored Tobacco Are Reversing 20 Years of Decreasing Smoking Rates
The public push for a transformation in tobacco policy began with a persistent legislator seeking real change. Opening his historic congressional hearing in 1994, U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-CA) said, “The truth is that cigarettes are the single most dangerous consumer product ever sold. Nearly a half million Americans die every year as a result of tobacco. This is an astounding, almost incomprehensible statistic. Imagine our nation’s outrage if two fully loaded jumbo jets crashed each day, killing all aboard. Yet that is the same number of Americans that cigarettes kill every 24 hours. Sadly, this deadly habit begins with our kids. Each day 3,000 children will begin smoking. In many cases they become hooked quickly and develop a life-long addiction that is nearly impossible to break.”
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FDA Grants Accelerated Approval to Sacituzumab Govitecan-Hziy for Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
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FDA Announces Leucovorin Drug Shortage
On April 9, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that supplies of leucovorin calcium lyophilized powder for injection manufactured by Sagent Pharmaceuticals are currently in shortage. On April 21, the agency expanded the shortage to include supplies manufactured by Fresenius Kabi USA and Teva Pharmaceuticals.
FDA Approves Ibrutinib Plus Rituximab for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
On April 21, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the indication of ibrutinib (Imbruvica®) to include its combination with rituximab for the initial treatment of adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma.
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Drug Combo May Be Effective for BRCA-Mutated Pancreatic Cancer
More than 65% of patients with germline BRCA/PALB2-mutated pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma responded to treatment with combination cisplatin and gemcitabine, according to results of a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Two- and three-year survival rates reached 31% and 18%, respectively.
Oral and Oropharyngeal Cancer Prevention, Screening, Treatment, and Survivorship Recommendations
Approximately 53,000 cases of oral and oropharyngeal cancer are diagnosed in the United States each year. Men are twice as likely to develop the disease, and it typically affects people older than 55.