Trending News Today: New California Law Requires Coverage of Fertility Procedures for Patients with Cancer

California health insurers will now be required to cover the cost of fertility options for patients with cancer, the Los Angeles Times reported. According to the article, Senate Bill 600, by state Sen Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge), explicitly requires health plans to comply with covering such services, which include sperm banking and egg freezing, prior to medical treatment that can cause infertility. The bill would also apply to other medical procedures that can affect fertility, such as treatment for some autoimmune diseases or gender confirmation surgery.

A new study suggests that treatment-naïve patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) have greater reductions in MS relapses with an initiation of oral disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) compared with injectable DMTs, The American Journal of Managed Care reported. According to the article, the study included a total of 9378 patients, the majority (65.5%) of whom started with injectable DMTs, followed by oral DMTs (26.1%), and infusion DMTs (8.5%). Overall, patients on oral DMTs had the highest 12-month persistence (50.3%) among those who relapsed 3 months or sooner after initiating treatment and a 39% reduction in relapses postindex compared with patients who started on injectable DMTs, who had a 22% reduction, the article reported.

A recent study showed that men who conceive children using assisted reproduction techniques, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), are more likely to develop prostate cancer, Reuters reported. According to the article, the researchers examined data on 1.18 million Swedish fathers, including approximately 21,000 who used IVF and approximately 15,000 who used intra-cytoplasm sperm injection (ISCI) to conceive. Compared with men who conceived naturally, those who used IVF were 33% more likely to develop prostate cancer and men who used ICSI were 64% more likely to develop prostate cancer, the article reported.