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By JBizNews Desk
May 10, 2026

The April jobs report delivered what initially appeared to be reassuring news for the American economy.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that the United States added approximately 115,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in April, more than double the Dow Jones economist consensus forecast of 55,000. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%.

But beneath the headline numbers, economists say a far more consequential shift is unfolding — one that is quietly reshaping the structure of the American workforce itself.

The modern U.S. labor market is increasingly creating jobs in sectors dominated by women while leaving many traditionally male industries stagnant or shrinking.

And the imbalance is becoming difficult to ignore.

Since the beginning of President Trump’s second term, the economy has added roughly 369,000 jobs, according to Labor Department data.

Women accounted for approximately 348,000 of those positions.

Men accounted for just 21,000.

The widening divide reflects a structural transformation that has been building for years and is now accelerating through the health-care economy.

Health care alone added roughly 37,300 jobs in April, led primarily by growth in nursing facilities, residential care centers, and home-health services.

Over the past year, the sector has created approximately 390,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — more than total net job growth across the broader economy during that same period.

Women hold nearly 80% of jobs in the health-care and social-assistance sectors.

Meanwhile, industries where men have historically concentrated employment continue struggling to generate sustained hiring momentum.

Manufacturing lost approximately 2,000 jobs during April.

Federal government payrolls declined by roughly 9,000 positions.

The information sector also contracted.

Construction employment has slowed materially compared with prior years as elevated borrowing costs weigh on commercial real estate activity and residential development.

The result is an economy increasingly producing jobs in occupations many men historically have not entered in large numbers.

Home health aides, nursing assistants, personal care workers, therapists, and medical support staff now represent some of the fastest-growing occupations in the country.

Economists argue that this is no temporary distortion.

It is the product of deeper demographic and educational trends that are likely to persist for decades.

Harvard University economist Lawrence Katz has repeatedly pointed to the long-term decline in male labor-force participation as one of the defining labor-market shifts of the modern American economy.

That deterioration began long before the pandemic and has never fully reversed.

The traditional unemployment rate only partially captures the change.

According to April BLS data, unemployment for adult men stood at approximately 4.0%, compared with roughly 3.9% for adult women.

But unemployment measures only people actively searching for work.

A broader measure — the employment-to-population ratio — paints a more revealing picture.

Women’s employment-to-population ratio stood at approximately 54.5% in April, remaining relatively stable compared with pre-pandemic levels.

Men’s ratio, by contrast, has largely flatlined over recent years, reflecting a growing share of working-age men who have exited the labor force entirely and are no longer counted among the unemployed.

Education trends are amplifying the divergence further.

Women now earn bachelor’s degrees at significantly higher rates than men across the United States.

Employment rates among college-educated workers remain materially stronger than among workers without degrees, meaning the educational imbalance increasingly translates directly into employment and wage disparities.

The broader economy itself is reinforcing the trend.

The aging of the American population is becoming one of the most powerful economic forces driving labor demand.

Older populations require more nurses, caregivers, therapists, medical technicians, and home-health workers — all occupations already dominated by women.

Economists at KPMG, analyzing Friday’s jobs report, said demographic aging continues supporting strong demand for health-care labor even as other sectors soften under the weight of higher interest rates and slowing consumer spending.

The firm noted that eldercare and home-health services remain among the fastest-growing segments of the labor market, with long-term demand expected to accelerate further as the population ages.

At the same time, broader economic stress is beginning to show underneath headline employment gains.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the number of Americans working part-time for economic reasons — workers who want full-time jobs but cannot find them — rose by approximately 445,000 in April to nearly 4.9 million.

Long-term unemployment, defined as workers unemployed for 27 weeks or longer, remained elevated at approximately 1.8 million people, representing more than one-quarter of all unemployed Americans.

The timing of the labor-market transition is especially sensitive.

The economy is simultaneously facing elevated energy prices tied to the Iran conflict, consumer confidence at the lowest level ever recorded by the University of Michigan, and inflation that economists expect could approach 4% when April CPI data is released Tuesday morning.

That combination raises a broader economic concern.

The United States economy depends heavily on consumer spending, which accounts for roughly two-thirds of overall economic activity.

If a growing segment of working-age men remains disconnected from the sectors producing most new jobs, economists warn the imbalance could eventually weigh on household formation, consumer demand, and long-term economic stability.

The jobs, increasingly, are there.

But the structure of the labor market is changing faster than many workers appear prepared to adapt to it.

And according to economists studying the trend, the gap between who the economy needs — and who is positioned to fill those roles — may only widen from here.

— JBizNews Desk
© JBizNews.com. All rights reserved. This article is original reporting by JBizNews Desk. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited.

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Sanford has signed an agreement to add two-hospital system North Memorial Health to its portfolio. If approved, the combination would allow Sanford to expand more deeply in the state after past deals fell apart.

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There’s fresh turmoil at the very top of the FDA: All weekend, questions have swirled over whether Commissioner Marty Makary will be ousted.

Also, we have a resurrected gene therapy effort in a once-devastated rare disease program, and underwhelming Alzheimer’s drug adoption. 

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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-so familiar routine of deadlines, online meetings, and phone calls has predictably returned. But what can you do? The world, such as it is, continues to spin. So to give it a nudge in a better direction, we are brewing another cuppa stimulation. Our choice today is Earl Grey, an old standby. Meanwhile, here are a few items of interest to start you on your journey, which we hope is meaningful and productive. Best of luck, and do keep in touch. …

People on Medicare are not getting the recently approved Alzheimer’s medications nearly as much as federal officials anticipated, STAT reports. Uptake for the drugs, Leqembi and Kisunla, has been so muted that Medicare is not forecasting significant spending on them in 2026 or 2027, which is a dramatic shift from two years ago, when the agency projected it would spend billions of dollars annually on Leqembi alone. The lower-than-expected spending lines up with the challenges that the Alzheimer’s drugs have faced since their approvals. The intravenous medications are not easy to administer and require a lot of imaging; the population of eligible patients is limited; and the drugs continue to have little meaningful benefits while carrying a risk of severe side effects like brain bleeding.

While doctors and patients report difficulties getting certain doses of estrogen patches, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not yet included any on its list of drug shortages, NBC News tells us. The agency removed the black box warning from hormone replacement therapies late last year, and recently, the most insured type, the estrogen patch, has been in short supply amid a boom in the therapy’s popularity. The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, a professional organization for pharmacists, includes 14 brands or dosages of estrogen patches in its most current list of drugs in shortage. The group first started including estrogen patches on the list in January.

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Any day now, the federal government is supposed to unveil a suite of changes to the No Surprises Act’s controversial arbitration process. Health care providers and insurers are racing to have the final word before the new rules are published, but one side is getting a lot more face time with officials. 

The four agencies crafting the Independent Dispute Resolution Operations final rule have held 20 meetings — mostly virtual — with industry groups so far this year. Just four of those were with health insurers or their trade groups. Thirteen were with providers or their trade groups, and another three were with other sectors. Stakeholders can request to meet with agency officials to highlight their priorities and submit relevant materials. 

The final rule has been a long time coming. The departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, Treasury, and the Office of Personnel Management released an initial version of the rule in November 2023. The proposed changes include tweaks to how claims can be grouped together, more transparency into pre-arbitration negotiations, and changes to fees.

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Researchers in France and Spain have diagnosed a number of men who have sex with other men with dermatophilosis, a skin disease that normally infects livestock, even though the cases had no known exposure to affected animals. Cases have also been detected in Germany, one of the researchers told STAT. 

The clusters of infections are in some ways reminiscent of the emergence of mpox in 2022 in networks of gay men and other men who have sex with men. But people who have diagnosed some of these dermatophilosis cases describe a disease that is much milder in presentation. 

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People on Medicare are not getting the recently approved Alzheimer’s medications nearly as much as federal officials anticipated.

Uptake for the drugs, Leqembi and Kisunla, has been so muted that Medicare is not forecasting significant spending on them in 2026 or 2027, a spokesperson for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services told STAT. It’s a dramatic shift from two years ago, when Medicare projected it would spend billions of dollars annually on Leqembi alone.

The lower-than-expected spending lines up with the challenges that the Alzheimer’s drugs have faced since their approvals, neurologists and Medicare experts told STAT: The intravenous medications are not easy to administer and require a lot of imaging; the population of eligible patients is limited; and the drugs continue to have little meaningful benefits while carrying a risk of severe side effects like brain bleeding.

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Late last month, Utah’s Medical Licensing Board called for the immediate suspension of the state’s pilot program with the AI company Doctronic. The program lets a chatbot evaluate patients and recommend prescription renewals for nearly 200 chronic condition drugs, with the state planning to phase out physician review of each case.

The board said that it only learned about the pilot after it had launched. Its warning was blunt: proceeding without proper clinical oversight “potentially places Utah citizens at risk.”

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I’m used to hearing from people who disagree with me about addiction. I wasn’t expecting to hear from them about artificial intelligence.

I host a podcast about addiction, where disagreement is part of the job. When I interview someone in recovery, listeners tell me I was too sympathetic to 12-step programs — or not sympathetic enough. When we discuss medications, some argue they save lives; others insist recovery should be “drug-free.”

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For the first two years of Joshua Jacob Gonzalez’s life, his parents, Javier and Jessica Gonzalez, suctioned saliva from the back of his mouth every five minutes. Miss one suction, his airways could clog and he could die.

So, a few weeks after treatment, it was the first thing Jessica noticed. She jostled Javier, who was asleep in a hospital chair at the National Institutes of Health, awake. When was the last time he had suctioned JJ? An hour had elapsed, they realized, and their boy was breathing fine. 

It was the beginning of a chapter that would prove as bittersweet for the Gonzalezes as it was miraculous. 

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NEW YORK — No quick dispatching of disease investigators. No televised news conference to inform the public. No timely health alerts to doctors.

In the midst of a hantavirus outbreak that involves Americans and is making headlines around the world, the U.S. government’s top public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has been uncharacteristically missing in action, according to a number of experts.

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During one of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s recent appearances on Capitol Hill, Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) brought up an unusual allegation: that in 2001, he collected a dead raccoon’s penis. The incident was first described in the new book “RFK Jr.: The Fall and Rise” by Isabel Vincent, which quotes from a journal of Kennedy’s: “I was standing in front of my parked car on I-684 cutting the penis out of a road killed raccoon, thinking about how weird some of my family members have turned out to be.” According to Vincent, Kennedy cut off the penis “to study [it] later.”

While Kennedy did not respond to Grijalva about the raccoon incident, focusing instead on the National Institutes of Health budget and DEI, it has been widely treated as sensational news. But the jokes about it obscure an important question: whether his described actions meet fundamental standards of bioethical judgment.

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Below is a lightly edited, AI-generated transcript of the “First Opinion Podcast” interview with Will Flanary, aka Dr. Glaucomflecken. Be sure to sign up for the weekly “First Opinion Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Get alerts about each new episode by signing up for the “First Opinion Podcast” newsletter. And don’t forget to sign up for the First Opinion newsletter, delivered every Sunday.

Torie Bosch: Will Flanary is better known as Dr. Glaucomflecken. He is social media’s most famous comedian slash doctor, and he’s not afraid of punching up.

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MADRID — Spanish authorities on Friday were preparing to receive more than 140 passengers and crew members on board a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship headed for the Canary Islands, where health officials have said they will perform careful evacuations.

The vessel is expected to arrive Sunday at the Spanish island of Tenerife, off the coast of West Africa, and passengers will be taken to a “completely isolated, cordoned-off area,” said the head of Spain’s emergency services, Virginia Barcones.

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Roche has signed a deal to pay $750 million upfront for Boston-based PathAI, an acquisition by the Swiss pharmaceutical giant to speed up its use of artificial intelligence to help pathologists diagnose disease.

The agreement, which is expected to close in the second half of the year, could generate an additional $300 million for PathAI if it leads to the achievement of certain milestones.

“Joining forces with Roche marks a new era for PathAI, enabling us to realize our mission of improving patient outcomes through AI-powered pathology at unprecedented scale and speed,” said Andy Beck, chief executive and cofounder of PathAI, in a statement. “Roche’s global infrastructure and expertise will bring our digital diagnostics technology to patients worldwide.”

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Capricor Therapeutics accused Nippon Shinyaku and its U.S. subsidiary of failing to follow through on marketing plans for a Duchenne muscular dystrophy treatment, and refusing to fix a pricing glitch that was belatedly discovered in their exclusive distribution agreement.

A key issue is a “fatal flaw” in a pricing formula that would make it “economically impracticable” for the therapy to reach patients covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers, according to a lawsuit filed in a New Jersey state court on Thursday. Nippon Shinyaku and NS Pharma, the subsidiary, disclosed the problem in March 2025.

Basically, the formula ties Medicare reimbursement to the price that Capricor would charge NS Pharma, since it would be the only U.S. buyer. But as it stands, the lawsuit indicated that health care providers would get reimbursed less than they would pay to cover the cost of acquiring and administering the medicine, which is called deramiocel.

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President Trump has reportedly signed off on a plan to dismiss Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary. It would be the latest high-profile departure to hit Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s health department.

Makary has served in the role for a little over a year. His tenure was ambitious, filled with the announcements of dozens of new initiatives, including efforts to shorten drug review timelines, crack down on misleading ads, and pressure the food industry to remove chemical dyes.

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After issuing a week-long pause on a federal appeals court decision to stop mail orders of the abortion medication mifepristone, the Supreme Court is expected to take further steps in the case by the end of the day Monday. How the court moves forward could have a major impact on the regulatory authority of the Food and Drug Administration as well as on abortion providers and patients.

“The fundamental question is: Who gets to regulate mifepristone?” said Laurie Sobel, an associate director for women’s health policy at KFF. “Can a state go further than the FDA? Is the FDA the floor or the ceiling?”

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I learned about hantavirus misinformation this week in the same way I now learn about most public health misinformation: My followers sent it to me.

Within hours of the first headlines about a hantavirus outbreak linked to the expedition cruise ship MV Hondius, my DMs started filling with screenshots. One was from the account of a Texas doctor who became well known during Covid for promoting ivermectin. She was already telling followers that ivermectin would work against hantavirus, too.

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JBizNews Desk | May 8, 2026

Novo Nordisk Scores Major Win in the Weight-Loss Pill Race

The obesity drug market has entered a new phase — one increasingly driven by pills instead of injections — and Novo Nordisk just delivered its clearest sign yet that it currently leads that battle.

The Danish pharmaceutical giant reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter 2026 earnings Wednesday, fueled largely by the explosive launch of its oral Wegovy pill in the United States earlier this year.

The company said the pill has already generated more than 2 million prescriptions since launching in January, helping push Novo Nordisk shares roughly 7% higher in Copenhagen trading and prompting management to improve its full-year outlook after months of investor concerns and declining forecasts.

The oral Wegovy pill generated approximately 2.26 billion Danish kroner — roughly $354 million — during the first quarter, nearly double analyst expectations.

Weekly U.S. prescriptions surpassed 200,000 by late April.

Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar described the launch as the strongest GLP-1 drug rollout ever recorded in the United States.

Overall first-quarter net sales reached 96.82 billion kroner, up 24% year-over-year, while adjusted operating profit came in well above expectations at 32.86 billion kroner.

The company’s injectable Wegovy franchise continued growing as well, rising 12% year-over-year to 18.2 billion kroner, while diabetes drug Ozempic declined 8% but still exceeded analyst forecasts.

Novo also improved its full-year guidance, now projecting adjusted sales declines between 4% and 12% at constant exchange rates — an improvement from earlier forecasts calling for steeper declines.

The Real Breakthrough Is Price and Accessibility

For consumers, however, the biggest story may not be Wall Street performance but affordability.

Both Novo’s oral Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s competing obesity pill Foundayo are launching at approximately $149 per month for cash-paying patients — dramatically below the roughly $1,349 monthly list price for injectable Wegovy.

That pricing shift could significantly expand access to obesity treatments across the United States.

The market could become even larger beginning July 1, when expanded Medicare coverage for obesity medications is expected to take effect, potentially opening access to tens of millions of additional Americans who previously could not afford the drugs.

Industry analysts increasingly view the Medicare expansion as one of the most important catalysts in the history of the GLP-1 market.

Eli Lilly Is Racing to Catch Up

Novo Nordisk’s dominance, however, is already being challenged aggressively by Eli Lilly.

Earlier this year, Lilly received FDA approval for its oral obesity drug Foundayo and quickly launched it into the U.S. market.

Unlike Novo’s peptide-based pill, Foundayo uses a small-molecule approach and is being marketed heavily around one major convenience advantage: patients can take it anytime.

Novo’s oral Wegovy still carries stricter instructions. Patients must take the pill first thing in the morning on an empty stomach with only a small amount of water and then wait 30 minutes before eating or drinking anything else.

Foundayo does not carry those restrictions.

Lilly CEO David Ricks said the convenience advantage could eventually drive broader adoption, though he cautioned that scaling the rollout would take time.

Early prescription data still strongly favors Novo.

According to IQVIA prescription tracking data cited by Jefferies analysts, Foundayo generated roughly 5,600 prescriptions during its third week on the U.S. market — below the pace of Novo’s launch during the same period.

Novo currently controls roughly 65% of new prescriptions in the oral obesity drug category.

Doustdar said Novo is seeing a “synergetic effect” between oral and injectable products, with many patients using both rather than replacing one with the other — a sign the market itself may be expanding rapidly rather than simply shifting existing patients between products.

The Obesity Drug Boom Is Reshaping Pharma

The financial stakes surrounding the obesity market are enormous.

Analysts increasingly estimate the global weight-loss drug industry could eventually surpass $100 billion annually, making it one of the most valuable pharmaceutical markets in history.

A Deloitte analysis released this week found obesity treatments have now surpassed oncology as the single largest contributor to late-stage pharmaceutical pipeline value for the first time in 16 years.

The firm also warned that the sector may be approaching speculative “bubble” territory if pricing pressure, safety concerns, or disappointing clinical data emerge.

Novo continues investing heavily in next-generation obesity drugs.

The company recently secured FDA approval for Wegovy HD, a higher-dose injectable version that produced roughly 20.7% average weight loss in clinical trials.

Novo is also advancing its next-generation combination therapy CagriSema, though earlier trial results underperformed compared to Eli Lilly’s blockbuster obesity drug Zepbound — a setback that contributed to Novo shares hitting five-year lows earlier this year before the oral Wegovy rebound.

The Outcome Could Reshape American Healthcare

The battle between Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly is no longer simply a pharmaceutical rivalry.

It is becoming a fight over who controls one of the largest emerging healthcare markets in the world — and whether obesity treatments become broadly accessible consumer health products or remain premium therapies concentrated among wealthier patients.

For millions of Americans struggling with obesity, diabetes, and related health conditions, the outcome of that competition could directly determine who can afford treatment — and who cannot.

— JBizNews Desk

© JBizNews.com. All rights reserved. This article is original reporting by JBizNews Desk. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited.

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This is an excerpt from The Readout, STAT’s newsletter about biotech. Sign up to get it in your inbox every weekday.

Longtime subscribers of STAT’s newsletter The Readout may recall that when early May rolls around, we have an annual tradition: Met Gala outfits as biopharma logos. (See the previous years’ editions here and here.)

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Capricor Therapeutics is mounting a legal fight against a partner over its promising Duchenne therapy, there’s new evidence that scientific creativity calcifies with age, and STAT’s Alex Hogan and Lizzy Lawrence share firsthand accounts from FDA officials who decided the agency was no longer a place they could stay.

Capricor sues partner over Duchenne therapy launch

Capricor Therapeutics is suing its Japanese partner Nippon Shinyaku and subsidiary NS Pharma, arguing the companies botched launch preparations for deramiocel, the biotech’s closely watched Duchenne muscular dystrophy cell therapy. Capricor says the companies also created a pricing structure that could make the treatment financially inaccessible for many patients.

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And so, another working week will soon draw to a close. Not a moment too soon, yes? This is, you may recall, our treasured signal to daydream about weekend plans. Our agenda is still shaping up, but will certainly include promenading with the official mascots, catching up on our reading, and taking a nap or two. We also hope to hold another listening party, where the rotation will likely include this, this, this, this and this. And what about you? The possibilities are endless this time of year, yes? You could enjoy the great outdoors, stream the hours away if the weather fails to cooperate, or rifle through your ever-growing to-do list. Or maybe you simply plan the rest of your life. Well, whatever you do, have a grand time. But be safe. And if mom is around somewhere, remember to say hello. See you soon. …

A proposal by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to remove references to “gender” from its regulations sparked concerns about unintended consequences on research on gender minority populations, Bloomberg News explains. The FDA issued its proposed rule this week, citing instructions laid out in a 2025 executive order from President Trump, as the administration emphasizes “biological sex” across federal government policies and practices. The Trump administration has supercharged efforts to signal there are only two biological sexes. The FDA said the policy is unlikely to change much, stating the proposal “does not impact industry practice” and they “do not anticipate any measurable change in industry.” But some legal experts see potential for broader impacts on how drugs are tested or who is represented in clinical trials, especially among groups that are traditionally underrepresented in research.

Louisiana urged the U.S. Supreme Court to prevent abortion pills from being prescribed through telemedicine and distributed by mail, as the Republican-led state presses its case to overturn a 2023 federal rule that made access to ​the medication easier, Reuters writes. In a filing, Republican Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill asked the justices to deny emergency requests by two manufacturers of ‌the abortion pill to lift a lower court’s decision that narrowed access to it by blocking the regulation nationwide while the state’s legal challenge continues. The regulation concerning the medication, called mifepristone, was issued by the FDA during Democrat Joe Biden’s presidency. Murrill’s office said the regulation has allowed medication abortions to skyrocket despite the state’s near-total ban on abortion.

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A year after U.S. DOGE Service cuts shook up the federal government, STAT’s FDA reporter Lizzy Lawrence has been speaking with former officials about their time at the agency. Two weeks ago, I hit the road with Lizzy to interview six of them about what drew them to the agency, the important work they did during their career there, and, ultimately, why they decided to leave during the second Trump administration. 

In a special road-trip edition of STATus Report, Lizzy and I travel around the leafy suburbs of Washington to bring you first-person testimonies, including the former director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Richard Pazdur; Sheryl Lard-Whiteford, a leader in the FDA’s biologics center; and Julie Tierney, who worked on Operation Warp Speed.

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In late April, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Food and Drug Administration announced the Regulatory Alignment for Predictable and Immediate Device, or RAPID, coverage pathway. On paper, it is exactly what the medical device community has been asking for: a synchronized process that could deliver Medicare national coverage as soon as two months after FDA market authorization, rather than the year or more families and manufacturers currently endure.

I want this pathway to succeed. I have spent more than a decade helping small companies bring novel devices through FDA review, including several that earned breakthrough device designation. I have watched reimbursement delay strangle technologies that children desperately need. Faster, more predictable coverage is a real problem, and RAPID is a real step.

But this announcement does not fix the way pediatric and orphan devices chronically lag behind their adult counterparts. In some ways, in fact, it deepens that gap.

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While the number of Americans in need of care keeps rising, many health systems are struggling to find qualified nurses. The demand for qualified nurses is projected to increase nationwide, with nearly 200,000 annual job openings expected. This is driven, in part, by a mass exodus of nurses reaching retirement age. At this critical juncture facing our nation’s health systems, men remain an untapped group whose recruitment into nursing could make a difference.

Even with these persistent and growing nurse workforce shortages, men remain underrepresented in the profession, accounting for just 12% of nurses nationally. Concerted and sustained efforts are urgently needed to recruit more men to join the nursing profession and be positioned to provide high-quality, evidence-based care across communities nationwide.

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Citations in academic papers are intended to ground research in the work that preceded it, over time creating something of a family tree explaining the roots of ideas, protocols, and studies. 

But a growing number of these citations lead to dead ends. “Fabricated” citations that do not reference real papers are spreading in the literature, polluting the public record of science, a new study published Thursday in the Lancet shows. Tools using generative AI are likely to blame, say the Columbia University researchers who authored the paper.

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The Trump administration unveiled a sweeping new national drug control strategy this week that promises broader addiction treatment access, stronger overdose prevention efforts, and a more aggressive response to fentanyl trafficking. But across the addiction treatment industry, public health agencies, and Medicaid-funded care systems, the reaction has been dominated by one question:

How can the federal government expand treatment while simultaneously cutting the infrastructure that delivers it?

The administration’s 2026 National Drug Control Strategy describes itself as a roadmap to “dismantle the drug supply and defeat the scourge of illicit drugs,” outlining a series of public health and law enforcement goals aimed at reducing overdose deaths and improving access to recovery services.

Many addiction specialists say the goals themselves are widely supported.

The controversy is over whether the administration’s own funding cuts, staffing reductions, and policy reversals are making those goals harder — not easier — to achieve.

The Strategy’s Core Promise

One of the most repeated themes throughout the strategy is the administration’s pledge to make addiction treatment easier to access than illegal drugs.

The White House argues that expanding treatment availability, supporting recovery programs, and disrupting fentanyl trafficking are central pillars of its effort to combat the nation’s overdose crisis.

The urgency is real.

Federal health data shows that more than 80% of Americans who need substance-use treatment currently do not receive it. The U.S. continues facing record overdose deaths tied largely to fentanyl and synthetic opioids, which remain deeply embedded in the illegal drug supply nationwide.

The strategy endorses several policies long backed by addiction clinicians and recovery advocates, including medication-assisted treatment and fentanyl test strips — tools designed to help detect deadly fentanyl contamination in drugs before use.

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy described the document as a comprehensive framework that will continue “dismantling the drug supply and defeating the scourge of illicit drugs in our country.”

Critics Say the Funding Reality Contradicts the Strategy

The backlash centers on the growing disconnect between the administration’s rhetoric and its budgetary and operational decisions.

One of the clearest examples involves fentanyl test strips.

While the new strategy endorses their use, the administration issued federal guidance in April 2026 stating that fentanyl test strips would no longer qualify for federal funding support — reversing earlier federal guidance that explicitly allowed funding for the devices.

Public health experts say fentanyl test strips reduce overdose risk by helping users identify fentanyl contamination and make safer decisions, including avoiding use altogether, slowing consumption, or ensuring another person is present.

Critics argue it is difficult to publicly support overdose prevention tools while simultaneously cutting funding access for those same tools.

“It is the height of rhetoric over reality to champion a tool while simultaneously cutting off the funding used to acquire it,” said Regina LaBelle, a Georgetown University professor who previously served as acting director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Grant Cuts and Agency Layoffs Shocked the Industry

The administration also triggered major alarm earlier this year when it abruptly moved to terminate hundreds of federal grants supporting addiction and mental health services.

The January 2026 cuts, which treatment providers estimated could have totaled nearly $2 billion, were reversed within 24 hours following public backlash. But treatment organizations say the episode exposed deep instability inside the federal funding system supporting addiction care nationwide.

At the same time, key federal agencies responsible for addiction treatment oversight have experienced major staffing reductions.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration — known as SAMHSA — has reportedly lost roughly half its workforce since the administration change earlier this year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also seen workforce reductions estimated at approximately 25%.

The administration is now proposing an additional $753 million in cuts affecting SAMHSA while considering folding the agency into a newly proposed entity called the Administration for a Healthy America under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The White House has also proposed consolidating two major National Institutes of Health addiction research divisions — the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism — into a single center with approximately $165 million less in funding.

That proposal has alarmed researchers because the National Institute on Drug Abuse currently funds an estimated 85% of addiction research globally.

Marijuana Policy Adds Another Contradiction

The administration’s cannabis policy has created additional confusion within addiction and public health circles.

The strategy itself warns that marijuana use contributes to rising substance-use disorders and cites evidence linking cannabis use to increased psychosis risk. The document also calls for improved treatment options targeting marijuana withdrawal and dependency.

Yet only weeks before releasing the strategy, the administration advanced efforts to reclassify medical marijuana to a lower schedule under federal drug laws while moving toward broader cannabis rescheduling hearings.

Critics say the administration is simultaneously warning about marijuana-related addiction risks while easing federal restrictions on cannabis use.

Medicaid and Treatment Providers Face Financial Pressure

Beyond the policy debate, the financial consequences could prove substantial for the addiction treatment industry itself.

Medicaid remains the single largest payer for addiction and mental health services in the United States, supporting treatment centers, recovery clinics, counseling providers, rehabilitation facilities, and behavioral health systems nationwide.

The administration’s broader Medicaid reduction proposals are now creating additional financial strain for treatment providers already facing uncertainty over federal grants, staffing, and regulatory policy.

Industry leaders warn that treatment facilities — particularly smaller nonprofit and rural providers — could struggle to maintain services if both federal grants and Medicaid reimbursements come under sustained pressure simultaneously.

Libby Jones, who leads overdose prevention initiatives at the Global Health Advocacy Incubator, said many elements of the strategy itself are reasonable and broadly supported.

But she said “disconnects” between policy language and funding decisions are becoming increasingly difficult for providers to navigate.

“Those inconsistencies feel particularly loud in this strategy,” Jones said.

Yngvild Olsen, a former SAMHSA treatment policy official who now advises Manatt Health, said the current environment has created “instability and uncertainty in the field.”

“It’s not clear to me that they’re really going to have the funds or the people to carry that out,” Olsen said.

A Growing Clash Between Messaging and Infrastructure

The broader debate reflects a growing tension inside Washington over how the federal government should approach addiction policy during a period of fiscal tightening and political polarization.

The White House continues emphasizing treatment expansion, recovery support, and overdose prevention as core goals.

But addiction clinicians, researchers, and public health advocates increasingly argue that achieving those goals requires stable agencies, sustained funding, research support, and predictable reimbursement systems — precisely the areas now facing cuts or restructuring.

The result is an addiction treatment system caught between ambitious federal promises and mounting operational uncertainty.

And for providers, researchers, pharmaceutical companies, Medicaid systems, and millions of Americans seeking treatment, the outcome of that conflict may determine whether the nation’s addiction infrastructure expands — or contracts — during one of the most severe overdose crises in U.S. history.

— JBizNews Desk

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The MV Hondius, the cruise ship that has garnered global attention because of an apparent outbreak of person-to-person spread hantavirus infections, is on the move. At the request of Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organization’s director-general, Spain has agreed to let the ship dock off Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. The ship is expected to arrive on Sunday.

This outbreak — the first time hantavirus has been suspected of transmitting on a cruise ship — is an evolving situation. It’s also one that is going to take weeks to resolve, because of the long incubation period of hantaviruses. And it could be months before scientists piece together how the virus got on the boat and whether all the subsequent cases were people infected through contact with other people or whether rodents — which are known to carry hantaviruses — that were on board played any part.

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Physicist Albert Einstein, widely regarded as one of the most prolific scientists of the past century, conducted much of his transformative work at the beginning of his career, before spending years defending his theories against the burgeoning field of quantum mechanics. 

A new study shows that Einstein is not alone, and that most researchers begin their careers conducting their more disruptive work — overturning conventional wisdom and forging paths of their own — but as they age, they tend to abandon that groundbreaking energy. Instead, many become adept at connecting previously unlinked ideas. The paper, published Thursday in Science, helps offer an explanation of a trend that has increasingly worried scholars of science policy and innovation: that the pace of discovery has slowed in recent years. 

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On this week’s episode of “The Readout LOUD,” we chat with Seaport Therapeutics CEO Daphne Zohar, fresh off the biotech’s successful IPO. Plus, Elaine, Allison, and Adam chat about this week’s notable news, including the obesity pill battle between Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, a Phase 3 study win for Cytokinetics, and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary’s White House troubles. 

Oh, by the way, this is the 400th episode of your favorite biotech podcast. 

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WASHINGTON — The top U.S. official responsible for public health on cruise ships is stepping down, according to an internal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announcement obtained by STAT.

The retirement of Luis Rodríguez, who has been part of the Vessel Sanitation Program since 2010 and served as its chief since 2023, was announced internally at the CDC on Wednesday.

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The Trump administration is touting massive projected savings from its still-secret drug pricing deals, though outside experts say there’s little way to independently verify the math.

Also, FDA leadership is facing fresh accusations of political interference in drug reviews, AI oncology startups are trying to make cancer care virtual, and scientists are opening up an entirely new frontier of biology hidden inside the “dark proteome.”

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The health technology firm’s results give Amwell “increased confidence” it will meet a long-term goal of achieving positive cash flow from operations in the fourth quarter, CFO Mark Hirschhorn said.

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This is a photo of a young RFK Jr. trying to ride a small rhino. Send news tips and RINO jokes to John.Wilkerson@statnews.com or John_Wilkerson.07 on Signal.

Former DOGE co-founder v. former state Covid-19 czar

Although most people whom DOGE fired from HHS probably don’t live in Ohio, they may feel a personal connection to the gubernatorial race there.

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Top of the morning to you, and a fine one it is. Sunny skies and mild breezes are enveloping the Pharmalot campus once again. And to celebrate, we are brewing still more cups of stimulation and inviting you to join us. Our choice today is Jack Daniel’s. Yes, this is a real thing. And remember, a prescription is not required. So no need to mess with rebates, coupons, or TrumpRx. Meanwhile, here are a few items of interest. Hope you have a smashing day and conquer the world. And of course, do stay in touch. We appreciate feedback, criticism and tips. …

Sanofi asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to pull its type 1 diabetes drug, teplizumab, out of FDA Commissioner Marty Makary’s new speedy review program, STAT reports. The move comes after acting Center for Drug Evaluation and Research Director Tracy Beth Høeg disagreed with a staff decision to approve the drug. The agency missed its April 21 goal date to deliver a decision to Sanofi. Such decisions are typically made by career scientists. It is rare for a center director to become involved in scientific review of a single drug, and particularly a political appointee like Høeg. Makary recently said that he stands behind review teams, and that “disaster” occurs whenever political leaders overrule scientific staff. 

An experimental drug from Revolution Medicines that nearly ​doubled survival time for patients with advanced pancreas cancer in clinical trials comes with a high rate ‌of mostly low-grade side effects, Reuters tells us. A report by researchers from a first-in-human trial of daraxonrasib is the first peer-reviewed paper to show safety data for what analysts say could become the next standard of care for previously treated metastatic pancreatic cancer. Among the 168 patients with previously treated pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma who received daraxonrasib in the early trial, treatment-related adverse side effects ​of any grade occurred in 96%, while severe or life-threatening events were reported in 30%.

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Would you expect OpenAI to put out policy proposals that weren’t in its best interest?

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The outbreak of hantavirus on a cruise ship moored off the western coast of Africa is gripping a world primed by recent painful experience to be on edge for the next Covid-19-like event. It’s no wonder: People trapped on a ship where a deadly disease might be spreading triggers flashbacks of the early days of Covid.

Scientists and public health experts are gripped by the hantavirus situation too, but for different reasons. They are worried that hantaviruses haven’t been as well studied as they ought to be. They have some concern that more passengers could fall ill. They are not fearful that the MV Hondius is ground zero for the next big one.

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Two companies developing a therapy for a rare blood cancer have reached an agreement with the Food and Drug Administration that walked back the agency’s main reason for rejecting the drug in January. 

Pierre Fabre Pharmaceuticals and Atara Biotherapeutics, makers of the drug called Ebvallo, said Thursday that a meeting held in late April with FDA officials ended with the agency agreeing that their already completed, single-arm clinical trial was sufficient to support a review and potential approval. 

When the FDA rejected Ebvallo, the agency said the same study was flawed and the data produced from it was “insufficient” to support the drug’s approval. The drug’s review was conducted by the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, led at the time by Vinay Prasad. He departed the agency at the end of April. 

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Good morning. I was charmed by this profile of tween life in America, both as a former tween girl and as a reporter. I laughed out loud at one tween asking her friend, the main subject of the story: “You’re still getting interviewed?”

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