The drug, Imfinzi, works as a first-line treatment for extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer and will be in direct competition with Roche's Tecentriq, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from Maryland, New York, and Washington.
- Maryland: FDA has approved AstraZeneca Imfinzi, a first-line treatment for extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC). The drug works in combination with etoposide and cisplatin or carboplatin chemotherapy. Imfinzi will be in direct competition with Roche's Tecentriq, which is also approved to treat ES-SCLC in combination with etoposide and carboplatin (MedCity News, 3/30).
- New York: Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced Saturday that hospitals in New York would not be allowed to implement policies requiring pregnant women to give birth without their partner or a family member present. Cuomo's announcement comes in response to two large hospitals in New York implementing stricter visitation policies aimed at stemming the spread of the new coronavirus (Blake, Los Angeles Times, 3/28).
- Washington: After Michelle Bennett was informed that she could not be with her 75-year-old mother who was nearing the end of her life after catching the new coronavirus, a nurse at Swedish Issaquah Hospital connected Bennett to her mother via FaceTime. Bennett said she was able to say goodbye to her mother, who died within an hour of the phone call. Bennett called the nurse's action "one of the most amazing things [she's] experienced" (Vera, CNN/WTAE, 3/31).