Practice Management News

Many treatment-naive patients with hepatitis C virus infection had reduced mean viral loads after monotherapy with RG-101, an anti-miR targeting miR-122, for the treatment of hepatitis C virus infection, according to a press release.

In the light of an FDA boxed warning for reactivation of hepatitis B virus with two drugs, researchers reviewed studies and suggested the problem is larger than those two drugs or their classes of immunosuppressant or chemotherapy medications. They recommended routine screening for HBV in patients set to receive any medications in question.

In September 2014, Novitas Solutions, a Medicare Administrative Contractor, issued a Proposed/Draft Local Coverage Determination for Co-management of Surgical Procedures (DL27481). The LCD specifically noted the following:

Margaret A. Hamburg, MD, resigned this week after six years as FDA Commissioner, an agency spokesperson confirmed with Healio.

In the MRI Rosetta Stone Project, the use of magnitude-based MRI accurately measured liver proton density fat fraction, or PDFF, and steatosis grade in children with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, according to study results recently published in Hepatology.

Chimerix Inc., a licensing partner of ContraVir Pharmaceuticals, received a Notice of Allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for an extended patent life on its “Nucleoside Phosphonate Salts” patent, which includes CMX157, an analog intended for the treatment of hepatitis B virus infection, according to a press release.    

Increases in Medicaid reimbursement offered to primary care providers under the Affordable Care Act improved appointment availability for Medicaid recipients without increasing wait times, according to recent findings.

In a Korean cohort, a majority of patients with hepatitis C virus infection treated with a triple combination therapy of Incivek, pegylated interferon and ribavirin achieved a sustained virologic response even after a reduction in ribavirin, according to study data.

In his Fiscal Year 2016 Budget, President Barack Obama requested creation of a new agency under the HHS that would consolidate food safety components of the FDA and the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Enhanced liver fibrosis testing was accurate in predicting the development of liver-related events in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection, according to a study published in Hepatology.