CER Daily Newsfeed

Two Pediatric Sinusitis Antibiotics Found Equally Effective

(9/29, Chris Dall, MA, CIDRAP) reports “The results of a large observational study in children show no difference in treatment failure rates between the two most commonly prescribed antibiotics for pediatric acute sinusitis, researchers reported today in JAMA. Overall, treatment failure for sinus infections was rare in children treated with amoxicillin or amoxicillin-clavulanate. But the latter was associated with more adverse events...” Full

Value-Based Payments Are Making it Harder to See Your Primary Care Doctor on Short Notice

(9/20, Jeffrey Millstein, STAT) comments “...Physician leaders must push for value-based incentives that better align with patient needs and goals, and allow primary care clinicians the autonomy to balance routine and acute/subacute visits to meet practice demands. For instance, limiting yearly comprehensive visits to patients in the highest risk subgroups should meet the metric threshold.” Full

Shutdown Threat Clouds Start of Biden Drug-Pricing Negotiations

(9/20, Alex Ruoff, Bloomberg Law) reports “...A potential government shutdown at the end of the month risks complicating the Biden administration's top health priorities, just as drugmakers are supposed to report data for pricing negotiations and states are pushing people off Medicaid rolls...A shutdown would bump up against an Oct. 2 deadline for some drugmakers to report a slew of data to Medicare as part of how the agency will eventually determine new prices for medicines selected for negotiation.” Full