Itamar Medical Ltd has launched the WatchPAT 300, the next generation of its WatchPAT system for home sleep apnea testing.

“[Sleep apnea] has significant health and economic implications, as half of all patients with cardiovascular disease are believed to suffer from sleep apnea and the total cost of unmanaged obstructive sleep apnea is $150 billion each year in the United States alone,” says Gilad Glick, president and CEO of Itamar Medical, in a release. “Addressing the challenge of efficiently and cost-effectively diagnosing the millions of patients with undiagnosed sleep apnea requires a simple, accurate, and scalable modality. We believe that WatchPAT 300—which demonstrates Itamar Medical’s continued commitment to innovation focused on meeting the needs of patients, health systems, payers, and physicians—can play a critical role in solving this challenge.”

WatchPAT 300 utilizes peripheral arterial tone and other signals to calculate various sleep metrics and to diagnose both obstructive and central sleep apnea.

WatchPAT 300 has three points of contact does not use a nasal canula or chest belts. It is based on the peripheral arterial tone signal (PAT) and uses

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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved solriamfetol, which will be known be marketed by Jazz Pharmaceuticals as the brand name “Sunosi,”  to improve wakefulness in adult patients with excessive daytime sleepiness associated with narcolepsy or obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Sunosi is the first dual-acting dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (DNRI) approved to treat excessive daytime sleepiness in adults living with narcolepsy or OSA. Once-daily Sunosi is approved with doses of 75 mg and 150 mg for patients with narcolepsy and doses of 37.5 mg, 75 mg, and 150 mg for patients with OSA.

Sunosi is expected to be commercially available in the United States following the final scheduling decision by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which is typically within 90 days of FDA approval.

“Excessive daytime sleepiness can negatively impact the daily lives of people living with narcolepsy or obstructive sleep apnea at work, at home, or in daily activities. With this approval, a new, daytime medicine that can provide sustained wakefulness throughout the day will be available for patients,” says Bruce Cozadd, chairman and CEO of

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There’s a new option for patients who experience excessive daytime sleepiness associated with narcolepsy or obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Jazz Pharmaceuticals announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Sunosi (solriamfetol) to improve wakefulness in adult patients with excessive daytime sleepiness associated with narcolepsy or OSA.

 

Once-daily Sunosi is approved with doses of 75 mg and 150 mg for patients with narcolepsy and doses of 37.5 mg, 75 mg, and 150 mg for patients with OSA. This medication is not indicated to treat the underlying airway obstruction in OSA.

Sunosi is expected to be commercially available in the U.S. following the final scheduling decision by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which is typically within 90 days of FDA approval.

“Excessive daytime sleepiness can negatively impact the daily lives of people living with narcolepsy or obstructive sleep apnea at work, at home or in daily activities. With this approval, a new, daytime medicine that can provide sustained wakefulness throughout the day will be available for patients,” said Bruce Cozadd, chairman and chief executive officer of Jazz Pharmaceuticals. “The 

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Device manufacturers aren’t covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, reports Bloomberg Law.

“So, in most cases, when an individual hands over their health data to a device company, that company is not prohibited from disclosing that data to other entities. This gives device companies a lot of leeway in terms of what they can do with health information they obtain.”

Get the full story at news.bloomberglaw.com

Adaptive servo ventilation (ASV) is an effective treatment option for patients with complex sleep apnea, according to a Philips-sponsored study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. The study, Comparison of Physiological Performance of Four Adaptive Servo Ventilation Devices in Patients with Complex Sleep Apnea, compared the performance of 4 different ASV devices with different algorithms, including Philips DreamStation BiPAP autoSV (pictured), and the ASV device that was originally associated with greater mortality during a prior SERVE-HF trial published in 2015. The recent study revealed that certain physiological performances were quite different across the devices.

In the prior SERVE-HF trial, it was suggested that ASV therapy was harmful to central sleep apnea patients with heart failure, with limited information suggesting that some of the patients in the trial may have received excessive minute ventilation that may have increased patient mortality. This new Philips-funded randomized controlled study suggests the mechanisms underlying the adverse effects of ASV may be secondary to excessive ventilation due to device-based effect rather than a class-effect.

“The pursuit for scientific

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A new study of the challenges and burdens faced by CPAP users reports that successful patient adherence to CPAP therapy requires new, personalized patterns of behavior incorporating physical, psychological, and cognitive adaptations. The study was conducted by research scientists from the Regenstrief Institute, Richard M. Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).

“Telling patients they should exercise more or go on a diet is not a prescription for success, and neither is just handing them a CPAP machine with basic use instructions,” says Regenstrief Institute research scientist Edward Miech, EdD, who led the new study, in a release. “Simple actions, such as discussing the patient’s specific concerns during the crucial initial period, can successfully introduce CPAP treatment and could increase the likelihood of successful adherence.

“Unlike taking a pill, personal context—especially in the home situation—can make an enormous difference in terms of how well individual patients adapt to CPAP after receiving a diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea. Given the irritating, ongoing challenges associated with CPAP adherence, helping patients adapt the treatment to the specifics

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With the new format over 20% of the store is dedicated to health services, including new durable medical equipment (DME) and supplies and new product and service combinations for sleep apnea and diabetes care.

CVS Health is encouraged by its early results and customer response to HealthHUB^®. The company says it will continue to pilot the Houston-based locations, with the goal of continuing to innovate and test to determine the right mix of products and services that can impact patient health while being scalable.

“We have a sense of urgency about the need to bring real change to health care,” said Kevin Hourican, EVP, CVS Health and president of CVS Pharmacy. “What’s clear to us is that it will take more than incremental steps to fix what is broken in the health care system. That’s why we’re excited about how the combination of CVS and Aetna can begin to establish an innovative health care model that will create an entirely new consumer experience and help people on their path to better health.”

Get the full story at cvshealth.com

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