Trending News Today: Vision Loss Gene Therapy May Cost More Than $1 Million

A growing group of physicians and health care analysts are questioning the importance of cancer screening for very elderly individuals, according to Kaiser Health News. These tests are unlikely to detect cancer, are expensive, and are more likely to harm patients with invasive follow-up tests, the experts caution. Geriatricians say that screening patients and detecting a disease that likely would not affect them leads to patient harm related to follow-up testing and treatment, according to the article.

Yesterday, the FDA approved Luxturna (voretigene neparvovec-rzyl) to treat pediatric and adult patients with a rare form of inherited vision loss. The injectable gene therapy may cost patients more than $1 million for treatment, The Wall Street Journal reported. The novel treatment is indicated to treat patients with confirmed biallelic RPE65 mutation-associated retinal dystrophy, which typically onsets during childhood or adolescence, according to the article.

Connecticut will cut the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) if the state does not receive new funding by January 31, 2018, according to The Hill. Although some states have leftover money from when funding ran out on September 30, 2017, the funds will likely run out soon. Connecticut residents may have to obtain insurance for their children through the Affordable Care Act or through Medicaid if CHIP is not reauthorized, according to the article.