Trending News Today: Checkpoint Inhibitor Autoimmune Adverse Events Largely a Mystery

Yesterday, President Donald Trump announced the government will soon introduce several proposals that target high drug costs, according to The Hill. In a press conference on opioids, Trump said that Americans are paying more for the same prescription drugs due to lobbyists and the complex pharmaceutical supply chain, according to the article. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has also said that the administration will be addressing drug costs, in addition to reevaluating how pharmacy benefit managers pass on savings to patients.

The emergence of checkpoint inhibitors has been a significant contributor to lower mortality rates and better outcomes for patients with cancer; however, a number of patients may develop myocarditis, a rare but fatal autoimmune adverse effect from the drugs, according to STAT. As more checkpoint inhibitors come to market for various cancers, there are concerns that more patients will develop the condition. Researchers are still unable to determine why the cancer drugs elicit the autoimmune cardiovascular response, according to the article.

Convincing adults to be immunized with a more effective shingles vaccine may be difficult, Kaiser Health News reported. The CDC recently changed the adult vaccination schedule to recommend a newer shingles vaccine with a higher level of immunity than an older version, according to Kaiser. Physicians report that adults may put off vaccination in the belief they are healthy or due to doubts about its efficacy. The overall low rate of adult vaccination may complicate switching individuals to the newer vaccine, according to the article.