Trending News Today: Study Links Artificially Sweetened Drinks to Heart Risks in Older Women

On Friday, the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed coverage of FDA-approved chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies, The American Journal of Managed Care reported. According to the article, the proposed National Coverage Determination would require Medicare to cover CAR T-cell therapies at cancer centers that meet the criteria, including registry or a clinical study in which patients are monitored for at least 2 years post treatment. CMS will use these data collected after treatments to identify the types of patients who benefit from the therapy, the article reported.

A new study has indicated an association between drinking 2 or more artificially sweetened drinks per day and an increased risk of clot-based strokes, heart attacks, and early death in women over 50 years of age, the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association reported. According to the study, the researchers tracked the health outcomes of more than 80,000 postmenopausal US women for an average of 11.9 years. The analysis found that women who consumed 2 or more artificially sweetened beverages each day were 31% more likely to have a clot-based stroke, 29% more likely to have heart disease, and 16% more likely to die.

Last week, a Washington state House committee passed a bill to ban personal or philosophical exemption for the vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) for school-aged children, The Hill reported. The legislation comes amid a measles outbreak in the United States, in which there have been 53 confirmed cases of measles near Portland, Oregon. The bill will move to the House Rules Committee before it is sent to the full chamber for a vote, the article reported.