The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) on Tuesday issued a draft recommendation statement saying there isn't enough evidence to recommend that all children ages five and younger be screened for speech and language problems, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from California, the District of Columbia, and Maryland.

• California: The average cost of wasted cancer drugs is higher than $4,000 per patient, according to a study from researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, published in JAMA Oncology. For the study, researchers looked at the best-selling oral anticancer drugs in 2021 and any FDA-approved oral anticancer drugs prescribed between January 2020 and August 2022. They found the average cost of wastage from dose reduction and discontinuation was $4,290 per patient. According to the researchers, the study results "suggest that to reduce the financial burden for patients with cancer, regulatory bodies should enforce availability of pill strengths that will limit pill wastage during dose modification or recommend that drug manufacturers issue credit for unused pills." (Bassett, MedPage Today, 7/20)
• District of Columbia: FDA on Monday announced that it has approved the first treatment specifically for molluscum contagiosum, a viral skin infection that affects as many as 6 million people, mostly children. The treatment, called topical cantharidin and sold under the name Ycanth, consists of a single-use applicator that contains a premeasured dose of cantharidin that can be administered by a healthcare professional to affected areas every three weeks as needed and is approved for adults and pediatric patients as young as 2 years old. Two phase III trials involving 528 people ages 2 and older found the drug completely cleared all molluscum legions in 46% of patients in one trial and 54% in the other, compared to 18% and 13% with a placebo. (Bankhead, MedPage Today, 7/24)
• Maryland: USPSTF on Tuesday issued a draft recommendation statement saying there isn't enough evidence to recommend that all children ages five and younger be screened for speech and language problems. USPSTF also said there is a lack of evidence that such screenings lead to improvements in speech, language, and other outcomes like school performance. Li Li, a member of the task force from the University of Virginia School of Medicine, noted USPSTF's recommendation "is not a recommendation for or against screening, but rather a call for more research. It is essential that the gaps in the evidence be addressed, particularly for those who are more likely to experience speech and language delays and disorders, such as Black, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American children, as well as children in households with low incomes." (Henderson, MedPage Today, 7/25)