Allergy & Asthma Consultants of Montana

02/20/2026

The peanut allergy treatment Palforzia® will be discontinued on July 31, 2026, according to its manufacturer, Stallergenes Greer.

Palforzia is the only oral immunotherapy (OIT) for food allergy approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It treats peanut allergy in children ages 1 through 17.

The notice on Stallergenes Greer’s Palforzia website reads: “This voluntary discontinuation is not related to product safety, quality, or efficacy.” As Palforzia winds down, Stallergenes Greer says it will support an orderly transition for healthcare professionals who prescribe the treatment and patients currently receiving the therapy.

Palforzia earned FDA approval in 2020. It was originally developed by Aimmune. Nestle Health Science bought Aimmune and then sold Palforzia to Stallergenes Greer.

Allergy & Asthma Network asked board-certified allergist and spokesperson Purvi Parikh, MD, to comment on the loss of Palforzia.

“It is disappointing to lose an oral immunotherapy option for peanut allergy — a condition that has increased in severity as well as incidence over time,” Dr. Parikh says. “While methods such as early introduction have helped prevent peanut allergy, this was the only FDA-approved immunotherapy option for children who already had a developed peanut allergy.

“The benefit of FDA approval is increased access to treatments and insurance coverage for these treatments. I hope we see more FDA-approved immunotherapy options on the horizon for our food allergy community.”

The peanut allergy treatment Palforzia® will be discontinued on July 31, 2026, according to its manufacture.

02/17/2026

Utah Becomes the First State to Permit AI ‘Decision-Making’ Authority for Prescription Renewals
Steph Weber

January 22, 2026

Utah has launched an autonomous prescribing pilot program, partnering with a physician-led artificial intelligence (AI) company to become the “first state-approved program in the country that allows an AI system to legally participate in medical decision-making for prescription renewals,” according to the Utah Department of Commerce.

The program, powered by the AI platform Doctronic, will approve a limited set of medication renewals for chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension.

The announcement comes as physician groups and legislators debate the role of AI in medicine, even as payers and health systems move quickly to adopt the technology to cut costs, reduce care gaps, and ease administrative burden.

Several states, including Utah, have moved to place guardrails on AI in sensitive settings and banned AI systems from presenting themselves as clinicians.

The entire article can be found here:

The pilot program allows an AI system to renew a limited list of routine medications for patients without requiring an in-person or virtual visit with a clinician.

02/17/2026

From the linked article:
By Courtney Vinopal
February 3, 2026
• 3 min read

The PBM problem. Historically the way PBMs do business has been opaque, even for the employers that use their services. PBMs typically receive kick-backs from manufacturers to include their drugs on a “formulary,” or a list of drugs that insurers cover. But details about these rebates aren’t publicly available, as they’re considered trade secrets, Healthcare Brew reported in 2022.

Because plan sponsors don’t have the full picture of how rebates and other fees factor into PBM negotiations, they may struggle to answer employees’ questions about why certain drugs are priced at certain levels, an issue that has remained pertinent for benefits leaders since HR Brew reported on it 2023.

Irrational drug pricing has spurred employees at companies like Johnson & Johnson and Wells Fargo to take legal action. In March of last year, JPMorgan employees filed a lawsuit alleging the company mismanaged its health plan benefit funds, constituting ERISA violations. The plaintiffs cited an example of a multiple sclerosis drug that was priced at $6,229 for a 30-day prescription under JPMorgan’s plan, which was negotiated with CVS Caremark, one of the three major PBMs. The same drug was priced as low as $29 through ShopRite Pharmacy.

The proposed rule, issued on Jan. 29, would require pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to disclose information on compensation they receive from the pharmaceutical industry.

02/12/2026

A worthwhile read when considering the health of our health care system.

From the linked article:
NURSES in the profession call it “eating our young.” Some consider it ingrained in the culture, a rite of passage, or an unavoidable fact of a nurse's life. But no matter how it is explained away, nurse bullying takes a heavy toll. “To name a thing is to take its power away.”1 Bullying is a targeted and destructive behavior that must be called what it is in order to address and eliminate in one of the most caring professions.

Nurse bullying is a systemic, pervasive problem that begins well before nursing school and continues throughout a nurse's career. A significant percentage of nurses leave their first job due to the negative behaviors of their coworkers, and bullying ...

02/05/2026

"twice-yearly dosing" - Exdensur (depemokimab)

LONDON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. health regulator has approved GSK's add-on treatment for severe asthma, offering a less frequently dosed option, but rejected its use for another condition, the drugmaker said on Tuesday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's decision comes as GSK's commercial chief Luke Miels prepares to take over as CEO early next year, with the drugmaker facing U.S. tariffs and seeking new medicines to offset patent expiries.

The FDA approved Exdensur as an add-on maintenance treatment for patients aged 12 and older with severe eosinophilic asthma, making it the first biologic cleared for twice-yearly dosing.

GSK said the FDA declined to approve the drug for the treatmeant of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, a chronic inflammatory sinus condition.

"We remain confident in the benefit Exdensur could bring for patients with CRSwNP and are continuing discussions with the FDA," a GSK spokesperson told Reuters.

The UK's health regulator on Monday approved the drug, branded as Exdensur, for use as an add-on treatment for asthma in patients aged 12 and older, as well as for chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps in adults.

The company's FDA application included data from at least four late-stage trials, two of which showed the drug reduced asthma attacks and hospitalisations in patients with a form of severe asthma when added to standard treatment.

While analysts project the drug could become a blockbuster, they caution it has shown similar efficacy to existing treatments in trials and that its success hinges on patient uptake of the twice-yearly dosing.

GSK has said the drug could attract patients who discontinue existing biologic treatments or switch therapies, and expects it to become a major growth driver by the end of the decade.

The drug, chemically known as depemokimab, is expected to compete with Sanofi and Regeneron's Dupixent, Roche and Novartis' Xolair - all dosed every two to four weeks.

($1 = 0.7450 pounds)

(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in London, Sahil Pandey and Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid, Shailesh Kuber and Rashmi Aich)

01/28/2026

Thousands of residents across parts of Oregon (including the city of John Day) and Montana (including the Seeley Lake region) have been urged to stay indoors. This is because pockets of fine particle pollution (PM2.5) across both areas have reached “unhealthy” levels, according to an AirNow Map, produced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as of January 28, 2026, at 2.45 a.m. ET.

Pockets of fine particle pollution across areas in both states have reached “unhealthy” levels, according to the EPA.

11/10/2025

More than 460,000 Montanans may have had their financial, health data compromised in Montana Blue Cross-Blue Shield loss

From a previous article dated 10/22/2025 that Appeared in the Daily Montanan titled, "State officials: Blue Cross-Blue Shield breach could compromise one-third of all residents’ data"

Brown’s office described the breach and the issues more emphatically.

“This breach is not just a technical lapse. This is a deeply disturbing incident with far-reaching and jaw-dropping consequences for our citizens,” Brown said. “Montanans have every right to expect their personal data, especially sensitive health information, to be protected by the entities they trust. The severity of this breach underscores the urgent need for robust oversight and our agency to take swift and immediate action to protect Montana consumers.”

The Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance has rolled out a new artificial intelligence assistant ready to help as many as 462,000 residents with questions related to a data breach.

10/16/2025

Looking for candy for the kids, or kids at heart, in your life who have food allergies? Here is the Kids with Food Allergies (KFA) candy guide for food-allergy-friendly sweets! You can use this guide when shopping for candy for holidays, gatherings, treats, parties, or just for fun!

This information is for your convenience only and was last verified in October 2025. Always read ingredient labels. Contact the manufacturer, if needed, to confirm if the product is safe for your needs.

Looking for candy for the kids, or kids at heart, in your life who have food allergies? Here is the Kids with Food Allergies (KFA) candy guide for food-allergy-friendly sweets! You can use this guide when shopping for candy for holidays, gatherings, treats, parties, or just for fun! This information...

10/09/2025

From: Updates on Venom Immunotherapy / HollisterStier

The Benefits of Venom Immunotherapy

Patients can experience increased physical safety
Patients can experience increased psychological well-being.
Patients can experience outdoor social settings with greater ease.

As trusted voices in the allergy field, Dr. Tracy and Ms. Bennett share the latest insights and clinical perspectives on venom immunotherapy. This expertise provides…

09/18/2025

What If You Couldn’t?

What if you had a food allergy, and your body’s immune system overreacts to what should be a harmless food protein? A reaction can be as bad as life-threatening anaphylaxis. This means that some kids and their families don’t feel comfortable trick-or-treating, because the risk of being exposed to an allergen is just too high.

What If You ✨Could✨?

What if we could make it so kids with food allergies can enjoy Halloween with their friends, including going door-to-door for treats? When you offer non-food treats, more children get to enjoy Halloween without fear!

The Teal Pumpkin Project is brought to you by FARE (Food Allergy Education & Research). Learn more at https://www.TealPumpkinProject.org Did you know that 1 ...

09/09/2025

Without transparency, how can we we understand what is happening, how can we have constructive debate, and how can we work towards meaningful improvement in how health care dollars are being spent?

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said last week that it’s expanding its investigation into the role of pharmacy benefit managers by seeking information about how they use foreign headquartered group purchasing organizations, claiming that some evade transparency and oversight...

09/04/2025

This Scientific American article offers a nice summary of the state-of-the-art food allergy management strategies available in 2025, and highlights where we may be heading.
..Chinthrajah says. “We’re not yet at the cure, but we’re definitely moving along on the therapeutic front to be able to deal with this chronic disease.”

Remarkable new treatments can free millions of kids and adults from the deadly threat of peanut allergy, tackling one of our fastest-growing medical problems