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Mitchell Miglis had two months left. The Stanford University neurology professor had spent two years studying what long Covid does to the human nervous system — why patients’ hearts race when they stand, why their blood pressure collapses, why their bodies lose the ability to regulate themselves. His National Institutes of Health RECOVER grant was weeks from completion, data collected, analysis underway.

On March 25, 2025, a termination notice arrived. The grant was “incompatible with agency priorities.” No modification could bring it into alignment. “This is not only disappointing and demoralizing from a scientific perspective,” Miglis wrote in the Sick Times, a publication about long Covid, “but in a broader sense, as a clinician who sees these patients every day, a much larger disappointment to the patient community.”

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In June 2025, I led a study that was accepted for publication in Nature Medicine. The cost to publish this manuscript, which reported the results of a randomized clinical trial, was zero dollars. The paper underwent rigorous peer view and extensive edits and copy editing by the editorial staff. This study was the result of years of work by a large team of staff and investigators at Johns Hopkins and was funded by a combination of philanthropy and grants from the National Institutes of Health (your and my tax dollars).

In 2026, I was part of a group that published in Nature Medicine a different NIH-funded study — also the results of years of hard work supported by your and my tax dollars. To comply with the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy that went into effect on July 1, 2025, we paid $12,850 to the publisher. This charge was for open-access fees, now required by the publisher, and was non-negotiable.

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The nation’s dominant Medicare Advantage insurers denied rehabilitative care for older and disabled Americans at higher rates than industry peers, then frequently overturned those denials when patients appealed, federal investigators found. The pattern reinforces longstanding concerns that insurers like UnitedHealth Group and Humana are profiting by forcing seriously ill and injured adults 65 and older to fight for care recommended by their doctors.

These health plans hired a UnitedHealth subsidiary called NaviHealth to evaluate requests for rehabilitative care. NaviHealth uses artificial intelligence to examine people’s care needs and was the focus of a STAT investigative series in 2023 that found its denials often resulted in poor outcomes for desperately ill patients.

Now, federal investigators are reporting the insurers themselves concluded NaviHealth’s denials often didn’t stand up to scrutiny. When patients appealed their blocked care, the insurers overturned the company’s denials of nursing home care 97% of the time, according to a report from the Office of Inspector General for the Health and Human Services Department.

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Five days after five members of the American Diabetes Association were ushered out of its annual scientific sessions in New Orleans for handing out an editorial criticizing federal research cuts, ADA chief executive officer Charles Henderson on Wednesday apologized to the people expelled and to the broader diabetes community.

“First and foremost, I want to personally apologize to Dr. Stephen Kahn, Dr. Desmond Schatz, Dr. Aaron Kelly, Dr. Maureen Gannon, and Dr. Justin Ryder, who were escorted out and denied access to scientific sessions, regardless of the circumstances that led to those events,” Henderson said in the three-minute video. “I recognize the impact that experience had on each of you. I am deeply sorry for the hurt, frustration, and the pain that resulted.”

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You’re reading the web edition of STAT’s AI Prognosis newsletter, our subscriber-exclusive guide to artificial intelligence in health care and medicine. Sign up to get it delivered in your inbox every Wednesday. 

The verdict is in: “Health care” will remain two words instead of one at STAT. You can click here to read more about the decision and what STAT readers on both sides of the issue said in our survey.

You know what else is two words? Ice cream. I got an ice cream maker at a garage sale over the weekend. Send your best ice cream recipes, AI story tips, and your questions to aiprognosis@statnews.com

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Dr. Willie Underwood III said he would focus on uniting physicians across specialties and advancing equity in medicine as president.

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Millions of Americans who rely on Medicaid for health insurance are less than seven months away from a major eligibility change — and most have no idea it is coming.

A new survey from The Health Management Academy, an Arlington, Virginia-based research organization, found that 55% of Medicaid enrollees are completely unaware that work requirements will become a condition of eligibility beginning January 1, 2027. Another 27% said they had heard about the changes but did not understand the details.

The survey, conducted in April 2026, included 1,974 adults enrolled in Medicaid and highlights a growing concern among policymakers, hospitals, and insurers that millions of eligible Americans could lose coverage simply because they fail to complete new reporting requirements.

What the New Rules Require

Beginning in 2027, many adults covered through Medicaid expansion programs will be required to document at least 80 hours per month of qualifying activities.

Those activities can include:

  • Employment
  • Job training
  • Education
  • Community service
  • Other approved activities

The requirement generally applies to adults ages 19 through 64 enrolled through Medicaid expansion programs.

Individuals who fail to meet the requirements — or fail to properly report them — could lose their health coverage.

The policy was included in last year’s federal budget legislation, often referred to as the “Big Beautiful Bill,” and represents one of the most significant changes to Medicaid eligibility in years.

According to projections from the Congressional Budget Office, the legislation is expected to produce the largest reduction in federal Medicaid spending in the program’s history.

Most Enrollees Have Heard Little or Nothing

The survey suggests awareness remains extremely low.

Nearly 48% of respondents said they had heard “nothing at all” about recent Medicaid eligibility changes.

Another 32% said they had heard only “a little.”

The confusion extends beyond work requirements.

Approximately 85% of respondents said they were unaware that states will be required to verify Medicaid eligibility every six months under the new rules.

Awareness also varies significantly by geography and demographics.

In Oregon, about 78% of respondents said they knew about the upcoming work requirements. In Nebraska, where implementation began early in May, awareness was closer to half.

Among demographic groups, Black Medicaid enrollees reported the highest level of unawareness, with 62% saying they did not know about the coming requirements.

Policy experts warn that many people who already meet the standards could still lose coverage if they fail to complete paperwork or do not realize reporting will be required.

Why Hospitals Are Concerned

The issue extends well beyond individual patients.

Hospitals — particularly rural hospitals — depend heavily on Medicaid reimbursement.

If large numbers of patients lose coverage, hospitals could see a rise in uncompensated care while receiving less reimbursement revenue.

The survey found that 42% of respondents said they could not travel farther than they currently do for hospital care if their nearest hospital closed.

Among respondents with chronic medical conditions, about 25% said a local hospital closure would make managing their condition significantly more difficult.

Rural healthcare providers have repeatedly warned that reductions in Medicaid enrollment could place additional strain on facilities already operating on thin margins.

Medicaid Insurers Face New Financial Pressure

The changes could also affect the nation’s largest Medicaid managed-care insurers.

The five largest players in the market —

Centene, CVS Health/Aetna, Elevance Health, Molina Healthcare, and UnitedHealth Group —

collectively manage roughly half of all Medicaid managed-care enrollment nationwide.

According to Fitch Ratings, the new rules may create revenue pressure for insurers while increasing the overall cost of covering the remaining Medicaid population.

If healthier individuals lose coverage because they fail to complete reporting requirements, the remaining pool could become older and sicker on average, driving up healthcare costs.

That dynamic could force states to increase payments to insurers to maintain program stability.

Some executives have sought to reassure investors.

Molina Healthcare CEO Joe Zubretsky recently said the impact should be gradual, noting that roughly two-thirds of Molina’s 1.3 million Medicaid expansion members already work and many others may qualify for exemptions.

The Bottom Line

The survey highlights a fundamental challenge facing states, healthcare providers, and insurers: a major policy change is approaching, yet most Medicaid recipients remain unaware of it.

Whether the new requirements ultimately reduce enrollment dramatically or only modestly, the next several months will likely determine how many eligible Americans keep their coverage — and how many lose it because they never realized the rules had changed.

JBizNews Desk — Healthcare

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Good morning. In today’s news, we have: pricing conundrums, lab demand, and drug shortages.

The need-to-know this morning

  • Sanofi said it was halting a Phase 3 study of its drug riliprubart in a rare autoimmune disease after an interim analysis showed the therapy was not effective. It’s the latest blow to the French firm’s R&D efforts, which new CEO Belén Garijo has been brought in to revitalize.
  • Parabilis Medicines, a developer of cancer medicines, raised $670 million in an initial public offering. It’s the largest-ever biotech IPO, topping obesity drugmaker Kailera Therapeutics’ $625 million debut in April. 

European countries at odds over drug-pricing policies

In Europe, countries are grappling with what to do about drug prices as they contend with conflicting pressures. Aging populations and growing rates of chronic disease are straining their budgets, but, at the same, the U.S. and drugmakers are demanding they pay more for medicines.

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The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has released a recommended vaccine schedule for pregnant people, one that diverges from the advice currently offered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

ACOG is recommending four vaccines be routinely administered during pregnancy, with several other vaccines recommended under certain circumstances. The new schedule is endorsed by 13 medical societies and health organizations.

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Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the middle of the week. Congratulations on making it this far, and remember, there are only a few more days until the weekend arrives. So keep plugging away. After all, what are the alternatives? While you ponder the possibilities, we invite you to join us for a delightful cup of stimulation. Our choice today is maple cinnamon French toast, a pantry favorite. Remember that no prescription is required — so no need to reach for your abacus to calculate a co-pay or rebate. Meanwhile, here is the latest menu of tidbits to help you on your way. Have a wonderful day, and please do stay in touch. …

The number of prescription drug shortages in the U.S. fell by 23% last year, marking the second consecutive year of declines and the lowest level since 2017, according to a new analysis that otherwise found troubling signs about medicines that are in short supply, STAT says. For instance, the average drug shortage lasted 5.3 years, exceeding the 4.3 years seen in 2024 and greatly outpacing the average two-year shortage experienced in 2019. Moreover, nearly two-thirds of out-of-stock medicines were in short supply for more than three years, and 39% were unavailable for more than five years. Meanwhile, the 75 drugs that were in short supply last year spanned 130 therapeutic categories, indicating that shortages affected a wide range of diseases and patient populations.

In Europe, two divergent paths are emerging as countries grapple with what to do about drug prices, affecting pharma companies and patients across the continent — and testing the influence of the U.S., STAT explains. In the U.K., after a pressure campaign from both pharma companies and the Trump administration, the government has adopted more industry-friendly policies while also simply promising to spend more on medicines. Germany, another of the continent’s biggest markets, is headed in the opposite direction. Facing growing deficits in its health budget, the government has proposed moves that would cut spending and increase the fees the industry has to pay.

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The Trump administration has put more than 500 hospitals on notice: show patients what medical care actually costs or risk hefty financial penalties.

The warnings, revealed Tuesday after being obtained by The Associated Press, were sent beginning in April to hospitals that federal officials say are failing to comply with healthcare price-transparency rules. The administration argues that hidden pricing prevents patients, employers, and insurers from comparing costs and contributes to higher healthcare spending nationwide.

Hospitals that fail to comply could face penalties of up to $2 million per year.

The Goal: No More Surprise Bills

For many Americans, the issue is familiar. A patient receives a test, procedure, or hospital visit without knowing the price beforehand, only to receive a bill weeks later.

Federal officials say the transparency rules are intended to change that.

Under the requirements, hospitals must publicly post pricing information so consumers can compare costs before receiving treatment. That includes rates for common services such as blood tests, imaging scans, surgeries, and other medical procedures.

The administration says transparent pricing encourages competition and helps consumers make more informed healthcare decisions.

A senior administration official said President Donald Trump plans to intensify enforcement of transparency standards originally created under a 2019 executive order, signaling that additional hospitals are likely to receive warning letters in the months ahead.

Major Hospital Systems Receive Notices

The enforcement effort is not limited to smaller facilities.

Several of the nation’s largest and most recognizable hospitals received warnings.

Texas led the nation with 42 hospitals receiving notices. Among them were:

  • Baptist Medical Center in San Antonio
  • University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston

Ascension, one of the largest nonprofit hospital systems in the United States, had 13 hospitals across multiple states receive letters.

The issue spans both Republican- and Democratic-led states.

Indiana had 34 hospitals receiving notices, while California had 38. Other states with large numbers of hospitals receiving warnings include Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas.

Why Employers and Insurers Care

The push is drawing attention from employers who pay billions annually for employee healthcare coverage.

Business groups have long argued that healthcare remains one of the few major purchases where consumers often cannot determine the cost before receiving the service.

“Transparency is the foundation of a healthcare system that rewards competition based on cost and quality,” said Shawn Gremminger, Chief Executive Officer of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions.

Employers contend that better pricing information could help lower healthcare costs by allowing consumers to compare providers and encouraging hospitals to compete more aggressively on price.

Hospitals Face Growing Pressure

For hospitals, the warnings create both compliance challenges and financial risks.

Many healthcare systems argue that pricing structures are complex because rates vary depending on insurance contracts, government reimbursement programs, and individual patient circumstances.

Federal officials, however, have increasingly taken the position that confusing or incomplete pricing disclosures are no longer sufficient.

The message from regulators is straightforward: hospitals must provide accessible pricing information or face escalating penalties.

The Political Dimension

The crackdown also aligns with the administration’s broader focus on affordability.

Healthcare costs remain one of the most significant expenses facing American families, and transparency efforts allow the administration to argue it is taking steps to help consumers better manage those costs.

At the same time, critics note that healthcare affordability remains a broader challenge, particularly following the expiration of certain insurance subsidies that had helped lower premiums for some Americans purchasing coverage through Affordable Care Act marketplaces.

What It Means for Patients

For consumers, the potential benefit is simple.

If hospitals fully comply, patients could increasingly be able to see and compare the costs of medical services before receiving treatment — much like comparing prices for other major purchases.

Whether greater transparency ultimately leads to lower healthcare costs remains an open question. But with more than 500 hospitals already receiving warnings and additional enforcement expected, federal officials are making clear that price transparency is moving from policy goal to regulatory requirement.

JBizNews Desk — Healthcare

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Every time Dawn Zuidgeest-Craft intended to apply to medical school, life got in the way. But after 45 years as a neonatal nurse practitioner, she finally did it, beginning medical school at the age of 69 in 2022.

The pivotal moment came after her husband had a health scare. As she told me on this episode of the “First Opinion Podcast,” she sat him down and said, “‘Well, honey, you know, this is crazy. You literally almost died. And life is too dang short. What’s on your bucket list?’ And he said, ‘I really want to travel the world.’ And I said, ‘Well, I still want to go to med school.’”

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On May 28 the Nevada Supreme Court made the unanimous decision of halting enforcement of the state’s abortion parental notification law, allowing teens to access abortion services without being mandated to inform their caregivers. The ruling comes in response to a case filed by a Nevada physician and Planned Parenthood against a 1985 parental notification law that had been blocked under Roe v. Wade and was first enforced beginning in July 2025.

While the state Supreme Court’s decision grants only a preliminary injunction while the case proceeds through the lower courts, it marks a momentous step in addressing the current barriers to abortion access for teens even in abortion-protective states.

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LONDON — In Europe, two divergent paths are emerging as countries grapple with what to do about drug prices, affecting pharma companies and patients across the continent — and testing the influence of the U.S.

In the U.K., after a pressure campaign from both pharma companies and the Trump administration, the government has adopted more industry-friendly policies while also simply promising to spend more on medicines.

Germany, another of the continent’s biggest markets, is headed in the opposite direction. Facing growing deficits in its health budget, the government has proposed moves that would cut spending and increase the fees the industry has to pay.

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

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When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took office in February 2025, he broke new ground as the first health secretary openly in recovery from addiction to drugs and alcohol. 

At a public appearance soon after, he delivered precisely the message that many substance use experts had hoped to hear: that evidence-based medications for treating opioid addiction, in particular, would remain essential components of the country’s response to its drug overdose crisis. 

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Good morning. Lately, I’ve been listening to the “I Love Boosters” score when I need to focus at the office. The Tune-Yards-composed music is kooky, manic, and sort of makes my heart rate go up. I love it.

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The number of prescription drug shortages in the U.S. fell by 23% last year, marking the second consecutive year of declines and the lowest level since 2017, according to a new analysis that otherwise found troubling signs about medicines that are in short supply.

For instance, the average drug shortage lasted 5.3 years, exceeding the 4.3 years seen in 2024 and greatly outpacing the average two-year shortage experienced in 2019. Moreover, nearly two-thirds of out-of-stock medicines were in short supply for more than three years, and 39% were unavailable for more than five years.

Meanwhile, the 75 drugs that were in short supply last year spanned 130 therapeutic categories, indicating that shortages affected a wide range of diseases and patient populations, according to the analysis by U.S. Pharmacopeia, an independent organization that develops standards for medicines.

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

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You know that 1980s Dolly Parton hit “9 to 5”? I wonder if RFK Jr. has heard it? He often works in his office from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to the New York Times. Send news tips and ways to make a livin’ to John.Wilkerson@statnews.com or John_Wilkerson.07 on Signal.

Hidden alcohol study revealed

The federal government paid for a report on alcohol consumption. But it refused to publish the results, which show that even people who drink less than one alcoholic beverage a day are increasing their chances of developing a serious illness, Isabella Cueto reports.

The scientists who conducted the study believe the findings were suppressed because they are unfavorable to powerful special interests.

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WASHINGTON — Federal health regulators on Tuesday signed off on the first new sunscreen ingredient for the U.S. market in more than 25 years, giving Americans access to a skin-protecting chemical long used in Europe and other parts of the world.

The Food and Drug Administration says the ingredient, bemotrizinol, met the agency’s standards for protecting from dangerous ultraviolet rays while causing little irritation or absorption into the skin. The ingredient is safe for adults and children 6 months and older, the agency stated in a release.

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It didn’t have to be this way.

The condemnations keep coming four days after security officers escorted five diabetes experts out of the American Diabetes Association meeting in New Orleans for handing out copies of an editorial criticizing federal cuts to biomedical research. Expelling the doctors and scientists has shocked people in the field, and the ADA’s communications explaining it have only made matters worse, leaders in diabetes research and practice told STAT. 

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Johnson & Johnson said Monday it will purchase the startup Firefly Bio for $1 billion in an effort to expand its work in the suddenly buzzy field of KRAS inhibitors.

The deal comes less than two months after Revolution Medicines showed that a KRAS-targeted drug could nearly double survival in metastatic pancreatic cancer, one of the most intractable tumors known to medicine. 

KRAS has long been in the sights of drug developers, because mutant forms of the gene and protein are found in around 30% of all tumors. But before Revolution Medicines, companies had struggled to find molecules that could latch on to and shut down a protein. Chemists compared the protein to a “greasy ball.”

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Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another working week. We hope the weekend respite was relaxing and invigorating because that oh-too-familiar routine of meetings, deadlines, and the like has returned with a vengeance. You knew this would happen, yes? To cope, we are relying, as always, on cups of stimulation. Our choice today is laced with chocolate raspberry. Feel free to join us. Remember, no prescription is required. Meanwhile, here are some tidbits to help you along. Best of luck accomplishing your goals today, and of course, do keep in touch. …

Revolution Medicines’ experimental pancreatic cancer drug has been the star of the oncology field in recent weeks, with new data showing the medicine produced unprecedented outcomes for patients, but its next act — this time as a co-lead — was just revealed, STAT points out. Tango Therapeutics said that in an early-stage clinical trial, a combination of its drug vopimetostat and Revolution’s daraxonrasib led to durable responses in the large majority of pancreatic cancer patients who received both medicines. Tango’s strategy of testing the two targeted drugs is notable because combination approaches in pancreatic cancer often include chemotherapy. The recent successful Revolution trial that has upended the specialty tested daraxonrasib versus chemotherapy as a second-line treatment. 

Eli Lilly has already established that its next-generation obesity drug can lead to rapid weight loss, but researchers disclosed new data that provide more details on the safety and tolerability of the closely watched therapy, STAT writes. Lilly previously said that in one late-stage study, retatrutide helped people with diabetes lower blood sugar and lose a significant amount of weight, which is notable since those who have diabetes tend to lose less weight on treatment than those who do not. New data showed seven out of the 403 participants who received retatrutide experienced arrhythmias, and three treated participants experienced major cardiovascular complications, compared with none in the placebo group.

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The National Institutes of Health has appointed researcher John Powers III to lead its infectious disease institute on an acting basis, after weeks of being in leadership limbo following reports that the previous director, Jeffrey Taubenberger, had stepped down.

The appointment of Powers, previously a senior adviser at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Taubenberger’s deputy, comes at a moment of heightened attention for the institute. The NIH’s second-largest agency, responsible for $6.5 billion worth of funding, has been without a permanent leader since the ousting of Jeanne Marrazzo last March. In recent weeks, a handful of other top leaders have also been reassigned to other posts, causing lawmakers to express concern about the bench of infectious disease expertise at a time of alarm over the recent hantavirus outbreak and the Ebola outbreak in Central Africa. 

The news was announced to NIH staff in an email, seen by STAT, sent Tuesday morning. Powers “brings extensive experience in clinical infectious diseases, clinical research, regulatory science and public health leadership,” the email said. 

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The National Institutes of Health has appointed researcher John Powers III to lead its infectious disease institute on an acting basis, after weeks of being in leadership limbo following reports that the previous director, Jeffrey Taubenberger, had stepped down.

The appointment of Powers, previously a senior adviser at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Taubenberger’s deputy, comes at a moment of heightened attention for the institute. The NIH’s second-largest agency, responsible for $6.5 billion worth of funding, has been without a permanent leader since the ousting of Jeanne Marrazzo last March. In recent weeks, a handful of other top leaders have also been reassigned to other posts, causing lawmakers to express concern about the bench of infectious disease expertise at a time of alarm over the recent hantavirus outbreak and the Ebola outbreak in Central Africa. 

The news was announced to NIH staff in an email, seen by STAT, sent Tuesday morning. Powers “brings extensive experience in clinical infectious diseases, clinical research, regulatory science and public health leadership,” the email said. 

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Good morning. As I’ve been watching the NBA finals, every commercial break has started to sound like this.

GSK buys maker of targeted cancer drugs for $10.6B

Nuvalent is the latest biotech to be subsumed in the recent wave of pharma acquisitions, my colleague Andrew Joseph reported this morning. The company has two drugs under review by the Food and Drug Administration that target genetic mutations found in lung cancer. Approval decisions on both are expected later this year. 

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Good morning. As I’ve been watching the NBA finals, every commercial break has started to sound like this.

GSK buys maker of targeted cancer drugs for $10.6B

Nuvalent is the latest biotech to be subsumed in the recent wave of pharma acquisitions, my colleague Andrew Joseph reported this morning. The company has two drugs under review by the Food and Drug Administration that target genetic mutations found in lung cancer. Approval decisions on both are expected later this year. 

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WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has warned more than 500 hospitals that they are failing to provide the public with basic pricing information — arguing that the lack of disclosure is keeping healthcare costs higher than they should be.

The Associated Press obtained exclusively the list of hospitals that since April have either received letters of warning or requests to submit plans to provide transparent pricing. Failing to comply with the warnings comes with penalties as high as $2 million annually for each recipient that doesn’t create a plan to post clear pricing data.

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WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has warned more than 500 hospitals that they are failing to provide the public with basic pricing information — arguing that the lack of disclosure is keeping healthcare costs higher than they should be.

The Associated Press obtained exclusively the list of hospitals that since April have either received letters of warning or requests to submit plans to provide transparent pricing. Failing to comply with the warnings comes with penalties as high as $2 million annually for each recipient that doesn’t create a plan to post clear pricing data.

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Good morning. After much deliberation, STAT has made a decision: We’re sticking with “health care.” Two words. Sarah Mupo, STAT’s exceptionally thoughtful director of editorial operations, explains the decision here. Her account includes a collection of reader thoughts on the issue. I particularly enjoyed what Karen Pennar, former editor of this newsletter, had to say about it. 

A suppressed federal alcohol report

A federally-commissioned study on the health effects of alcohol was published today in an independent journal. The research, which ultimately found that even low levels of drinking may increase disease risk, started as part of an update to U.S. dietary guidelines. But the work sparked controversy when some lawmakers — along with alcohol industry trade groups — claimed the scientists were biased against alcohol and would reach a conclusion with draconian implications.

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Last June, hundreds of staffers at the National Institutes of Health broke rank in an unprecedented move and published an open letter of dissent to agency Director Jay Bhattacharya.

Bhattacharya eventually met with many of the signers of the so-called Bethesda Declaration, who hoped it would spur a course correction at an agency they saw as going down a problematic path. But in a report published Tuesday, on the one-year anniversary of the letter, 71 staffers write that they feel NIH leadership “largely ignored the concerns raised in our declaration.” 

The new report, called “The Bethesda Declaration One Year Later, Continuing Harms to the NIH Mission,” outlines nine main concerns, with proposed solutions. It is also a response to the sentiment that “things are normalizing and getting better,” said Jenna Norton, a program officer at the NIH who emphasized she was speaking in her personal capacity. 

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Rise and shine, everyone, another busy day is on the way. And it is getting off to a pleasant start here on the Pharmalot campus, where clear blue skies and comfy breezes are greeting us. Who could ask for anything more? Actually, we could — it is time to reheat the kettle for another cuppa stimulation. Our choice today is raspberry hibiscus. And here is a helpful tip: A teaspoon of honey enhances the flavors splendidly. Of course, you are invited to join us. For the full experience, we are hawking replicas — take a look. Meanwhile, here are a few tidbits to help you along. As always, do keep in touch. We appreciate feedback, criticism, and tips. …

GSK agreed to buy Nuvalent, a cancer drug developer, in a deal worth $10.6 billion, as the company continues its expansion in oncology, STAT writes. The deal is the latest in a run of biopharma acquisitions in recent months, as large and even midsize companies have been looking to bolster their pipelines as some of their key products face looming generic competition. This latest deal is one of the largest in the recent buying spree, and GSK’s largest in years. Nuvalent designs targeted cancer therapies, with two molecules both under U.S. Food and Drug Administration review for types of non-small cell lung cancer. They could be approved this year.  The deal will give GSK, which has focused on gynecologic cancers as well as multiple myeloma, a broader lung cancer portfolio. 

Merck and Gilead Sciences disclosed that an experimental long-acting pill combining two HIV medicines had met its primary efficacy goal in final-stage trials, Bloomberg News notes. The companies said that in two large trials, a once-weekly combination pill containing Merck’s islatravir and Gilead’s lenacapavir had proven to be “non-inferior” to standard pill regimens that are taken daily. If approved by regulators, the new combination could become the first once-weekly pill for the treatment of HIV.  A once-weekly pill would provide a less-frequent dosing option that does not require an injection. Gilead currently sells a different version of lenacapavir as a twice-yearly injectable to prevent the disease under the brand name Yeztugo.

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A federal judge ruled that the fee amounted to an unlawful tax on the visa program for highly skilled workers. Medical groups cheered the decision.

This post was originally published here. 

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The state said it intends to divvy out new contracts, which represent tens of billions of dollars in revenue for each awardee, to six insurers. Winners are mostly incumbents, except for Humana.

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In October 2014, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa risked infecting 1.4 million Africans by 2015, Susan Reichle was the counselor to USAID in Washington, D.C. At the time, the CDC mounted the largest response in history, and for the first time in an Ebola outbreak. USAID was involved in the response, too.

It was a very different situation compared to the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. In 2014, the world learned about the outbreak when there were 49 confirmed cases, and it took two-and-a-half months to get to 300 cases. This time, there were already hundreds of suspected cases by the time the CDC began its response, and 300 confirmed cases were reached within two weeks.

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NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Hospital finance leaders rolled out the red carpet for the Trump administration’s new health care affordability czar at an industry conference on Monday. He promptly took the main stage to champion Medicaid cuts that threaten their bottom lines. 

Casey Mulligan, appointed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the Department of Health and Human Services’ chief economist and chief regulatory officer in April, spent most of his speech at the Healthcare Financial Management Association’s conference praising the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s cuts to state-directed payments, which the government projects could save $510 billion over 10 years. 

State-directed payments work by first taxing Medicaid providers like hospitals and nursing homes, using that money to obtain federal Medicaid match dollars, and then redistributing the money to providers, often giving them more than they paid in taxes. Since 2024, some providers have gotten reimbursed at much higher commercial rates. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act will gradually trim those payments beginning in 2028 until they’re close to or on par with Medicare rates. 

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After the Associated Press Stylebook made the startling decision in April to shift from “health care” to “healthcare,” it set off a fierce debate not only in the STAT newsroom, where we use a lightly modified version of AP style, but among our readers.

As STAT’s director of editorial operations and a longtime copy editor, I consulted with my colleagues and also asked for readers’ help. The fight over a single space, which has raged for years, might look a little silly from the outside, and maybe it is. But it’s taken on perhaps outsize importance, and many people, including me, have strong feelings on the matter.

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A major selling point for wearable devices is the promise that they’ll help identify hidden health conditions before they lead to major harm. But a nagging issue has been the connection to clinician guidance when a smartwatch or ring raises the alarm.

To help address this issue, wearable makers Oura and Whoop recently announced they’ll make it possible for users to connect virtually with doctors directly from their apps. While the move could represent the first step in the long-awaited adoption of consumer health data by traditional clinical care, experts cautioned that the bar for data in clinical decision-making is higher than for simple wellness purposes. The Food and Drug Administration has only authorized a handful of wearable features for clinical use, and the evidence base for using wearable data to inform medical care is nascent. Widespread use by clinicians will take considerably more work.

“This was an inevitable development,” said Ida Sim, a physician and professor at the University of California, San Francisco, who studies how to make best use of consumer health data. “We’ve got these sensors that have ostensibly valuable data … but we haven’t even begun to tap into the real clinical value.”

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Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seeks to end all federally funded animal testing after concluding that “the predictivity of animal models is very, very poor for human health outcomes.”

In November 2025, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff were told that the agency would be required to phase out primate studies, and they are in the process of transferring their animals to a primate sanctuary. The National Institutes of Health, the largest funder of biological sciences in the U.S., has stopped issuing funding opportunities exclusively for animal models, sending a clear message that basic science conducted in animals small and large will no longer be a priority. Of the eight NIH-funded National Primate Research Centers in the U.S., one has been shuttered, and a second is exploring the possibility of converting to an animal sanctuary.

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LONDON — GSK said Tuesday it would buy the cancer-focused biotech Nuvalent in a deal worth $10.6 billion, as the British firm continues its expansion in oncology.

The deal is the latest in a run of biopharma acquisitions in recent months, as large and even midsize companies have been looking to bolster their pipelines as some of their key products face looming generic competition. The GSK-Nuvalent deal is one of the largest in the recent buying spree, and GSK’s largest in years.

GSK is paying $124 per share for Cambridge, Mass.-based Nuvalent, a 26% premium to the biotech’s average share price over the last 30 days. With the cash acquired through the deal, GSK is spending about $9.4 billion on the pickup. 

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WASHINGTON — A report on alcohol’s health effects, commissioned by the federal government but unreleased under President Trump, came out Tuesday — in a scientific journal. The study finds even low levels of drinking may increase the risk of various diseases or even death.

The Alcohol Intake and Health Study began in 2023 and was run by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration as part of an update to the United States’ dietary guidelines. However, the panel’s work was quickly embroiled in controversy, with some members of Congress and alcohol industry trade groups alleging scientists on the project held an anti-alcohol bent. 

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Farnam Elyasof, founder of the online budget suit retailer FlexSuits, has watched his returns climb 50% over the past year, and he traces much of the increase to a single cause: customers losing weight on prescription drugs.

When a shopper orders the same suit in two or three sizes at once, Elyasof said, it is a warning sign. He now often checks measurements, asks whether the customer is losing weight, or suggests they wait to buy until closer to the event they need it for.

The returns keep coming anyway.

“It’s a loss for me,” he said.

Elyasof’s experience reflects a problem spreading across American apparel retail. The rapid adoption of GLP-1 medications, the class of weight-loss and diabetes drugs that includes Ozempic and Wegovy, is reshaping how customers buy clothes and, increasingly, how often they send them back.

Shoppers are ordering multiple versions of the same garment and returning the ones that no longer fit, or exchanging larger sizes for smaller ones as the pounds come off.

The data shows the shift is accelerating.

The share of apparel exchanges in which shoppers traded down to a smaller size has risen in each of the past three full calendar years, reaching a high of 14.6% in 2025, according to a review of 38 retailers by Narvar, a firm that manages returns on behalf of stores.

For retailers, returns are among the costliest problems to manage, especially for online sellers.

Each returned item carries shipping, labor, and warehousing expenses, and merchandise that comes back may be out of season, forcing the retailer to resell it at a discount or absorb the loss entirely.

The math is punishing.

For a company with $1 billion in sales that typically sees about 20% of purchased items returned, an increase of five to ten percentage points in the return rate can cut gross margins by roughly $20 million, according to Prashant Agrawal, chief executive of Impact Analytics, which helps retailers manage inventory.

He called it “a huge headache.”

The firm found that returns for medium, large, and extra-large items jumped the most, as customers buy several sizes at once to see what fits as their bodies change.

The pace of change is unusual for retailers used to stable sizing patterns.

At peak weight loss, people taking GLP-1 drugs can drop a clothing size every month, Agrawal said.

Jeans, bras, and athleisure wear tend to be the first items replaced, followed by tops and dresses, with later adjustments to ring, bracelet, and shoe sizes.

Major retailers including Levi Strauss, Costco Wholesale, and Walmart are working to better understand the shift.

The scale of drug use behind the trend is large and growing.

About 10 million Americans are on GLP-1 treatments in 2026, a figure JPMorgan estimates could exceed 30 million by 2030.

Roughly 23% of U.S. households reported using the medications as of September 2025, according to market-research firm Circana, which found that 80% of users expect to need new clothing because of changing sizes and 55% had already purchased new apparel or footwear.

The January 2026 launch of the first GLP-1 pill drove the fastest spike yet in users.

The strain is most visible among retailers built around larger sizes.

Torrid reported a 14.3% drop in fourth-quarter sales for its 2025 fiscal year and a net loss of $8.1 million, and plans to close 30 stores in the first half of 2026 after shuttering 151 locations last year.

Destination XL, which sells big-and-tall menswear, posted a 6% decline in quarterly sales, and chief executive Harvey Kanter said the company underestimated the impact.

The retailer estimates up to 25% of its customers are on weight-loss drugs and are delaying purchases until they reach their goal weight.

Larger retailers are adjusting as well.

Women’s extended-size offerings on Target’s website fell 37% from March 2025 to March 2026, while plus-size options at Old Navy dropped 12% over a comparable period, according to retail-intelligence firm EDITED.

The shift is not entirely negative for the industry.

Research firm Bernstein estimates GLP-1 adoption could add between $3 billion and $13 billion annually in apparel spending as users rebuild their wardrobes over one to three years, benefiting discount retailers, off-price chains, and resale platforms.

James Reinhart, chief executive of ThredUp, said sales of large, extra-large, and plus-size items on the resale platform rose about 6% as customers cleared out clothing that no longer fit.

For now, however, the immediate pressure is on returns and inventory management.

Retailers are trying to recalibrate how much they stock in each size and how they process a rising tide of returned merchandise, a forecasting challenge made more difficult by a customer base whose measurements are changing faster than ever.

JBizNews Desk — Retail

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AstraZeneca’s investigational GLP-1 pill showed promise in mid-stage obesity and diabetes studies, but it may still be too early to determine how it stacks up against oral treatments already on the market.

In one Phase 2 trial of people with obesity, called VISTA, those on the highest dose of the drug, called elecoglipron, lost 11.2% of their weight after 36 weeks, when looking at all patients regardless of discontinuations, according to data presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association and published in the Lancet. (Eli Lilly’s pill Foundayo led to the same rate of weight loss in a Phase 3 study that lasted twice as long, but it’s hard to compare across trials in different phases.) 

In a separate Phase 2 trial in people with diabetes, called SOLSTICE, patients on the highest dose saw up to a 1.74 percentage-point decrease in a measure of blood sugar called A1C after 26 weeks. The study, also published in the Lancet, enrolled people taking oral Ozempic open-label as a comparator group, and they experienced a smaller A1C decrease of 1.32 percentage points.

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AstraZeneca’s investigational GLP-1 pill showed promise in mid-stage obesity and diabetes studies, but it may still be too early to determine how it stacks up against oral treatments already on the market.

In one Phase 2 trial of people with obesity, called VISTA, those on the highest dose of the drug, called elecoglipron, lost 11.2% of their weight after 36 weeks, when looking at all patients regardless of discontinuations, according to data presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association and published in the Lancet. (Eli Lilly’s pill Foundayo led to the same rate of weight loss in a Phase 3 study that lasted twice as long, but it’s hard to compare across trials in different phases.) 

In a separate Phase 2 trial in people with diabetes, called SOLSTICE, patients on the highest dose saw up to a 1.74 percentage-point decrease in a measure of blood sugar called A1C after 26 weeks. The study, also published in the Lancet, enrolled people taking oral Ozempic open-label as a comparator group, and they experienced a smaller A1C decrease of 1.32 percentage points.

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MONGBWALU, Congo — Dr. Richard Lokudu, the medical director of Mongbwalu General Referral Hospital, has received barely any compensation for his work on the front line of one of Congo’s deadliest Ebola virus outbreaks.

Lokudu and several of his colleagues work all day at the hospital treating an influx of patients. Notifications of suspected cases come even late at night.

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