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The Department of Justice announced a lawsuit against three of the largest insurance companies — Aetna, Elevance Health, and Humana — accusing them of paying hundreds of millions of dollars in kickbacks to insurance brokers in return for enrollments in Medicare Advantage plans.
A lover’s spat between researchers apparently led HHS to abruptly halt work at a high-risk infectious disease lab that handles viruses such as Ebola and Eastern equine encephalitis. (Fox News)
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is directing the CDC to come up with alternative treatments for measles using “existing drugs in combination with vitamins and other modalities.” (Axios)
Democrats in the Senate and House introduced resolutions calling for a reversal of the HHS decision to stop seeking public comment for rulemaking.
A new Netflix documentary is revisiting the 1982 unsolved Tylenol murders. (USA Today)
A 23-year-old TikTok star said she had cancer, then came the support, skepticism, and condemnation; her doctor says she has stage IV disease. (New York Times)
Much of the public opposes cuts to funding and staffing of government health agencies, according to a KFF tracking poll.
In related news, a wave of staffing cuts and agency turmoil is disrupting the World Trade Center Health Program. (ABC News)
Cuts are hindering the campaign against bird flu too. (New York Times)
And in the face of pulled funding, Baylor College of Medicine is laying off 122 employees. (Houston Chronicle)
The FDA plans to investigate compounding outsourcing pharmacies over quality concerns. (Becker’s Hospital Review)
Meanwhile, Texas is investigating toothpaste companies, accusing them of misusing fluoride in their products. (The Hill)
New York just made it easier to involuntarily commit people with severe mental illness. (Politico)
One in eight hospitals sustained an A safety grade for more than 2 years, according to the Leapfrog Group’s latest report.
In a pair of phase III studies in uncontrolled asthma, triple therapy with budesonide/glycopyrronium/formoterol fumarate (Breztri Aerosphere) outperformed dual therapy, AstraZeneca announced.
Thailand issued a public health alert following an anthrax-related death and a second confirmed infection. (The Independent)
The director of the World Health Organization said global health funding is living through its “greatest disruption in memory.” (Reuters via MSN)
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