More children stopped using steroid inhalers to control their asthma after a manufacturer discontinued a popular inhaler, a new study says. In 2024, GlaxoSmithKline withdrew Flovent from the market. The inhaler was commonly prescribed to prevent asthma attacks in children. The pharma company continued to sell a chemically identical “authorized generic,” but some families reportedly had trouble getting this drug because their insurance either didn’t cover it or required higher out-of-pocket costs, researchers reported April 26 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. As a result, children were 6 percentage points more likely to have no steroid inhaler in hand to prevent an asthma attack, results show. Asthma inhaler access dropped from nearly 41% to nearly 35% between 2021 and 2023 among patients 18 and younger prescribed Flovent (fluticasone), researchers found. By comparison, young asthma patients prescribed other inhaled steroids had about the same access to an inhaler, at a consistent level around 38%, results show. “Our findings suggest the withdrawal of Flovent disrupted inhaled steroid therapy in children, potentially increasing their risk of asthma attacks,” lead researcher Dr. Kao-Ping Chua, a pediatrician at the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, said in a news release. Researchers said Flovent was likely pulled from the market due to changes in rebates that manufacturers must pay to Medicaid programs to obtain drug coverage. Historically,…  read on >  read on >

More children stopped using steroid inhalers to control their asthma after a manufacturer discontinued a popular inhaler, a new study says. In 2024, GlaxoSmithKline withdrew Flovent from the market. The inhaler was commonly prescribed to prevent asthma attacks in children. The pharma company continued to sell a chemically identical “authorized generic,” but some families reportedly had trouble getting this drug because their insurance either didn’t cover it or required higher out-of-pocket costs, researchers reported April 26 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. As a result, children were 6 percentage points more likely to have no steroid inhaler in hand to prevent an asthma attack, results show. Asthma inhaler access dropped from nearly 41% to nearly 35% between 2021 and 2023 among patients 18 and younger prescribed Flovent (fluticasone), researchers found. By comparison, young asthma patients prescribed other inhaled steroids had about the same access to an inhaler, at a consistent level around 38%, results show. “Our findings suggest the withdrawal of Flovent disrupted inhaled steroid therapy in children, potentially increasing their risk of asthma attacks,” lead researcher Dr. Kao-Ping Chua, a pediatrician at the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, said in a news release. Researchers said Flovent was likely pulled from the market due to changes in rebates that manufacturers must pay to Medicaid programs to obtain drug coverage. Historically,…  read on >  read on >

A smartphone app can help asthma patients better track their symptoms and live healthier, a new study says. The app helps patients monitor their symptoms in between visits with their doctor, researchers reported April 23 in JAMA Network Open. People given the app experienced improvements in their quality of life during a 20-month period, researchers found. “Overall, these data suggest that the between-visit symptom monitoring led to an average improvement in asthma quality of life among study patients, although this improvement did not meet the threshold of a minimally important change,” concluded the research team led by Robert Rudin, a senior information scientist with the non-profit RAND research group. “However, the intervention showed potential benefits for certain subgroups and may be useful in other chronic diseases in which between-visit symptoms are important, such as rheumatoid disorders, musculoskeletal disorders, and mental health conditions,” researchers added. For the study, researchers randomly assigned half of a group of 366 patients to use a smartphone app to track their asthma symptoms in between office visits. The app tracked things like their peak air flows and offered educational material about managing asthma. If patients’ symptoms grew worse, they were offered the option of calling their doctor. Results show the app particularly helped people ages 18 to 44 and those who started off with a lower quality of life score or…  read on >  read on >

A smartphone app can help asthma patients better track their symptoms and live healthier, a new study says. The app helps patients monitor their symptoms in between visits with their doctor, researchers reported April 23 in JAMA Network Open. People given the app experienced improvements in their quality of life during a 20-month period, researchers found. “Overall, these data suggest that the between-visit symptom monitoring led to an average improvement in asthma quality of life among study patients, although this improvement did not meet the threshold of a minimally important change,” concluded the research team led by Robert Rudin, a senior information scientist with the non-profit RAND research group. “However, the intervention showed potential benefits for certain subgroups and may be useful in other chronic diseases in which between-visit symptoms are important, such as rheumatoid disorders, musculoskeletal disorders, and mental health conditions,” researchers added. For the study, researchers randomly assigned half of a group of 366 patients to use a smartphone app to track their asthma symptoms in between office visits. The app tracked things like their peak air flows and offered educational material about managing asthma. If patients’ symptoms grew worse, they were offered the option of calling their doctor. Results show the app particularly helped people ages 18 to 44 and those who started off with a lower quality of life score or…  read on >  read on >

Dads are supposed to be strong, steady and stoic, given how they’re portrayed in sitcoms and family entertainment. But in real life, fathers sometimes falter — and brushing it off can have a devastating impact on their kids’ development, a new study says. Undiagnosed or unaddressed depression in fathers can have negative social and behavioral effects on their children that can persist for years, researchers reported recently in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Five-year-olds whose fathers had symptoms of depression were significantly more likely by age 9 to exhibit restlessness, defiance and anger, researchers explained. They also had lower levels of cooperation and self-esteem, results showed. “We need to consider depression in both parents, not just mothers,” said lead researcher Dr. Kristine Schmitz, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, N.J. “Depression is treatable, and to support the whole family, pediatricians must start talking with dads about it and developing father-focused interventions that meet their needs,” Schmitz added in a news release. Between 8% and 13% of U.S. fathers are affected by depression during their child’s early years, and that increases to 50% if a child’s mother experiences postpartum depression, researchers said in background notes. To explore the link between fathers’ mental health and children’s behaviors, researchers analyzed data on more than 1,400 kids enrolled in…  read on >  read on >