Despite congressional efforts to delay Affordable Care Act implementation, the Health Insurance Marketplaces, where individuals and groups (or families) can find, compare, choose and buy private health insurance, officially opened in all 50 states and the District of Columbia on Oct. 1, as scheduled.

The FDA issued a safety communication over the leukemia chemotherapy drug ponatinib (Iclusig) after receiving reports of adverse cardiovascular events in patients taking the drug.

The New York Times reports that the government shutdown has crippled clinical trial activity at the National Institutes of Health. Only 12 patients have been enrolled since Oct. 1. Normally enrollment averages 200 new patients a week.

Thirty-day and one-year survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest tripled in Denmark between 2001 and 2010. The improvement coincides with the introduction of initiatives to educate the public about cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), but other factors likely contributed as well.

New research reveals the advantages of new, more accurate risk assessment methodologies over the basic lipid panel. Atherotech Diagnostics Lab, a leading clinical reference laboratory specializing in advanced cardiometabolic testing and disease management solutions, will highlight recent evidence for improved cardiovascular disease assessment and prevention at the eighth annual Cardiometabolic Health Congress (CMHC) October 2-5, at the Sheraton Hotel in Boston.    

Postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy may not prevent chronic diseases in women, based on an extended study of data from the Women’s Health Initiative studies. The trials assessed the effects of therapy on heart disease, fractures, breast cancer and colorectal cancer in more than 27,000 women across the U.S.

Two types of pharmaceutical estrogens prescribed to women to manage postmenopausal symptoms may have differing safety profiles. An observational study published online Sept. 30 in JAMA Internal Medicine found women taking oral conjugated equine estrogens had a higher risk of venous thrombosis compared with those taking oral estradiol.

A bill that would give the FDA greater oversight of compounded drugs won bipartisan support from both Senate and House committees. The legislation is designed to prevent outbreaks from contaminated products.