Today's Healthcare Pulse
FDA greenlights durvalumab combo for high‑risk bladder cancer
The FDA approved durvalumab (Imfinzi) combined with Bacillus Calmette‑Guerin for BCG‑naïve, high‑risk non‑muscle invasive bladder cancer. The POTOMAC trial enrolled 1,018 patients and showed a 32% reduction in disease recurrence risk (hazard ratio 0.68, p=0.015). Durvalumab is given at 1,500 mg IV every four weeks for up to 13 cycles.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Apogee Therapeutics raises $1.3B royalty financing
![Politics and Fear Have Replaced Science in U.S. Pain Management [PODCAST]](/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=75,format=auto,fit=cover/https://kevinmd.com/wp-content/uploads/Design-4-scaled.jpg)
Politics and Fear Have Replaced Science in U.S. Pain Management [PODCAST]
Patient advocate Richard A. Lawhern and neurologist Stephen Nadeau argue that U.S. opioid policy has been shaped by politics rather than scientific evidence. They claim CDC, FDA and DEA guidelines promote weak addiction‑treatment drugs for pain, despite limited efficacy, while discouraging legitimate opioid use. The podcast highlights a history of pill mills, distributor collusion, and aggressive enforcement that has left many patients without adequate pain relief. Lawhern calls for congressional action and the repeal of current guidelines to restore clinician discretion.
2026 MAP Awards Presented to 20 Organizations for Revenue Cycle Performance
The Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) announced the 2026 MAP Award winners, recognizing 20 organizations for high‑performance revenue cycle management. Recipients include three integrated delivery systems, eight hospital systems, four individual hospitals, two critical‑access hospitals, and three physician practices. Winners...
CMPs May Fall Short, Policy Brief Urges CMS to Recalibrate Nursing Home Fines
A Rockefeller Institute policy brief finds that most civil money penalties (CMPs) imposed on nursing homes in 2023 were modest, averaging under 0.5% of net patient revenue despite a total $204 million in fines. The analysis of 3,745 facilities shows that...
‘Considerably’ More Complicated: Nursing Homes Reeling From Estimated $1B in Owed Incentive Payments Face Federal, State Policy Shifts
Ohio nursing homes face an estimated $1 billion in overdue quality incentive payments after the state Supreme Court ruled Medicaid miscalculated rates for three consecutive years. The Ohio Department of Medicaid has yet to complete the required recalculation, leaving the exact...
Balancing Efficacy, Equity, and Shared Decision-Making in MS Care: Fred Lublin, MD
In a recent AJMC interview, Dr. Fred Lublin highlighted how high‑efficacy disease‑modifying therapies have shifted multiple sclerosis treatment toward earlier use, raising new questions about therapy sequencing and de‑escalation. He emphasized that patient preference should guide decisions between infusible and...
Prodeon Medical FDA 510(k) Approved for the Urocross Expander System, a Non-Permanent Retrievable Implant for Treating Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
Prodeon Medical received FDA 510(k) clearance for its Urocross Expander System, a non‑permanent, retrievable implant designed to treat lower urinary tract symptoms caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia. Clinical data from the Expander‑2 randomized trial showed a 48.1% mean improvement in...
Modular Building Accelerates Care Delivery in Rural Locale
Good Samaritan Hospital in Kern County is adding two 6,000‑square‑foot volumetric modular clinics to form the Weedpatch Integrated Wellness Center. The prefabricated structures, built by Plant Prefab using EIR Healthcare’s MedModular platform, will serve roughly 3,500 patients per year with...
The Alzheimer’s Crisis Is Hitting Black And Latino Americans Hardest
By 2030, nearly 40% of U.S. Alzheimer’s patients will be Black or Latino, with Black Americans facing twice the risk and Latino Americans 1.5 times higher than Whites. The disease already ranks among the top causes of death, and projections...
HIMSS26: Optimize Hybrid Infrastructure To Accelerate Healthcare Innovation
At HIMSS26, HealthTech highlighted the critical role of hybrid infrastructure in scaling AI initiatives across healthcare. On‑prem data centers deliver low‑latency inferencing, while the cloud supplies on‑demand compute power for flexible workloads. Leaders emphasized workload placement decisions that prioritize patient...
Colorectal Cancer Challenges Life Insurers
Colorectal cancer diagnoses among adults under 50 have risen about 30% over the past two decades, driven by lifestyle, obesity, and genetic factors. Screening guidelines have shifted, lowering the start age to 45 for average‑risk individuals and introducing non‑invasive tests....
Top 30 Largest Publicly Traded Healthcare Companies in 2026 by Employee Number
The article ranks the 30 biggest publicly traded healthcare firms by employee headcount, highlighting UnitedHealth’s 400,000 staff and $447.6 billion revenue as the top entry. It notes a 56% jump in global healthcare deal volume to $403 billion in 2025, despite fewer...
Report: Cigarette Smoking Rate Drops to Record Low 9.9%
U.S. adult cigarette smoking fell to 9.9% in 2024, the lowest level ever recorded, according to a New England Journal of Medicine analysis of 2023‑2024 National Health Interview Survey data. The decline marks a continuation of a multi‑decade downward trend,...
HIMSS26 Brings Virtual Connections Into the Real World
The HIMSS26 conference highlighted the power of blending virtual platforms with real‑world interactions. Attendees reported that meeting colleagues face‑to‑face deepened relationships and reinforced teamwork focused on patient care. A video from HIMSS TV captured multiple stories illustrating how hybrid networking...
Former Federal Advisers on Autism Who Were Let Go by RFK Jr. Form a New Committee
Former federal autism advisers dismissed by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have launched the Independent Autism Coordinating Committee, a science‑based alternative to the reconstituted Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee. The new group, comprising five former federal members, leading scientists and...
Factual Messaging and Clinician Voices Key to Vaccine Social Media Engagement
A new JAMA Network Open study of 243 California adults shows that vaccine‑related social‑media posts achieve higher engagement when they are factual, sourced from reputable public‑health agencies, and feature clinicians or older adults. Humor dramatically reduces likes, shares and comments,...
Racial Disparities Persist in Curative Treatment for Early-Stage NSCLC Among Medicare Beneficiaries
A new JAMA Network Open study of 28,287 Medicare beneficiaries shows that Black patients with early‑stage non‑small cell lung cancer consistently receive curative treatment at lower rates than White patients. Surgical resection rates for Black patients fell from 52.3% to...
How AI Scribes Can Rescue Clinical Education From Burnout
Clinicians are overwhelmed by EHR documentation, eroding patient interaction and clinical teaching. AI‑driven scribes promise to offload clerical work, freeing preceptors to engage more directly with patients and students. The article argues that while AI is not a cure‑all, it...
Families USA's Stop the Bleed Campaign Aims to Secure Candidate Commitments to Reduce Healthcare Costs
Families USA has launched the Stop the Bleed campaign to solicit concrete commitments from political candidates on reducing health‑care costs and curbing corporate greed. The initiative asks a single, open‑ended question and will publish candidate responses beginning in April 2026....
Acute Kidney Injury After TAVR: Key Risk Factors Every Cardiologist Should Know
A meta‑analysis of 10,353 transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) patients found that 21.7% develop acute kidney injury (AKI). The study identified eight independent predictors, including hypertension, coronary artery disease, peripheral vascular disease, prior stroke, chronic kidney disease, elevated serum creatinine,...
Teenage Cannabis Use Linked to 52% Higher Schizophrenia Risk
A new Johns Hopkins study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry analyzed almost 700,000 U.S. medical records and found that adolescents with cannabis use disorder (CUD) face a 52% higher relative risk of developing schizophrenia compared with peers with...
MiniMed Gets FDA Nod for Smaller Insulin Pump
MiniMed, the diabetes‑tech spin‑out of Medtronic, received FDA clearance for its MiniMed Flex insulin pump, a device roughly half the size of the 780G model and operable via smartphone. The pump, featuring a 300‑unit reservoir, targets Type 1 patients aged 7+ and...
How Public Health Training Can Save More Lives
Tom Frieden’s blog post introduces a free, semester‑long public‑health curriculum built around his book *The Formula for Better Health*. The package includes instructor guides, ten chapter outlines, case studies, test banks and slide decks that map to CEPH competencies. It...
New Real-World Evidence Supports the Use of AI in Lung Cancer Screening
A prospective trial of 911 asymptomatic patients undergoing low‑dose chest CT showed that AI‑assisted nodule detection modestly increased interpretation time by about 15 seconds but significantly boosted the identification of Lung‑RADS‑positive nodules. Radiologists using the AI tool reported roughly double...
FDA Investigating: US Patient Dies After Use of Placental Extract Laennec, Russian Med Student Also Died
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has opened an investigation after a patient died following self‑injection of Laennec, an allogeneic placental extract imported from Japan. A similar fatality occurred in Russia involving health influencer Anna Kolyada, whose companion fell seriously...
Please Sign the Petition to End the Liability Shield
Advocates are urging the public to sign a petition calling for the repeal of the 1986 liability shield that protects medical product manufacturers from lawsuits. The campaign highlights two pending bills—S.3853 introduced by Rand Paul and H.R.4668 by Rep. Gosar—aimed at restoring...
Echocardiographic Surveillance of AS Doesn’t Measure Up to Guidelines
A real‑world study of 20,571 California patients with aortic stenosis found that echocardiographic surveillance aligned with 2020 ACC/AHA guidelines markedly improves outcomes. Guideline‑concordant monitoring occurred in 74% of mild cases but fell below 50% for severe disease, the group at...
Round-Up: Have Reform Leaders Fallen Out About Their Health Policies?
Reform‑oriented politicians are increasingly at odds over health‑care strategies, with some pushing universal coverage and price controls while others favor market‑based solutions. The debate has intensified as think tanks and advocacy groups publish competing policy briefs, reflecting broader shifts toward...
Boosting the Blood-Brain Barrier Could Avert Brain Damage in Athletes
Repeated head impacts in contact sports have been linked to lasting damage of the blood‑brain barrier (BBB), a finding that may underlie chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Researchers scanned 47 retired athletes using an MRI contrast agent that only enters brain...
COVID Probably Killed 150,000 More People in Its First Two Years than Official U.S. Tolls Show
Researchers using a machine‑learning algorithm estimate that U.S. COVID‑19 deaths in 2020‑2021 were 150,000‑160,000 higher than official CDC counts, raising the total to nearly one million. The study examined 5.7 million adult death records, flagging likely COVID deaths that occurred outside...
Elevate Podcast: Dr. Brian Haas, National Medical Director, Ascend Hospice, and Creator, Hospice Intelligence
In the latest Elevate Podcast, Hospice News interviews Dr. Brian Haas, national medical director of Ascend Hospice and CEO of Wellspring Healthcare. Haas explains how artificial intelligence can both help and hinder clinical documentation in hospice and palliative care. He...
No Major Progress on Making CV Care More Affordable: JACC Stats
The latest JACC statistics issue reveals that the long‑standing decline in cardiovascular mortality has stalled, while total spending on cardiovascular care has more than tripled since 2000. Analysis of privately insured working‑age adults shows inflation‑adjusted healthcare expenditures rose from $4,813...
What’s Worse than a Ghost Network Plan? A No-Network Plan
The Trump administration’s 2027 Notice of Benefit & Payment Parameters (NBPP) would allow ACA Marketplace insurers to sell “non‑network” plans that set a fixed payment amount for services instead of contracting with providers. Under the proposal, patients would be responsible...
OCHIN, C3 Partner to Expand ACO Offerings for FQHCs
OCHIN and Community Care Cooperative (C3) have launched a joint accountable care organization (ACO) offering tailored for federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). OCHIN will supply its Epic EHR platform and analytics, while C3 brings a suite of Medicare ACO services,...
FDA Seeks to Encourage Fewer Animal Studies with New Draft Guidance
The FDA released a draft guidance that details how biopharma firms can validate non‑animal approaches for early‑phase toxicology and safety studies. The document encourages the use of in‑vitro assays, computational modeling, and other modern methods to replace traditional animal testing....
Health Care Cyberattacks Expose a Critical National Security Failure
The Iranian‑linked Handala Team launched a wiper attack on Stryker Corporation on March 11, destroying the Lifepak cardiac monitor network that links ambulances to hospitals. The outage halted real‑time ECG transmission in Maryland, jeopardizing STEMI patients and exposing the shared vulnerability...
All Family Weekly Health Briefing
Governor Ron DeSantis' attempt to roll back Florida vaccine mandates has encountered federal legal and regulatory barriers, limiting the state's ability to alter existing health program requirements. The push, framed as a "medical freedom" initiative, now faces challenges that could...
Thymus May Be Critical to Adult Health
Harvard-affiliated researchers used AI to evaluate routine CT scans and discovered that a healthy thymus in adults predicts markedly lower mortality, cardiovascular death, and lung cancer risk. The studies, covering over 25,000 participants from a lung‑cancer screening trial and the...
STAT+: Clearing Tumors in Mice, Azalea Therapeutics Advances Dream of in Vivo CAR-T Therapy
Azalea Therapeutics, a spinout from Jennifer Doudna’s lab, reported in Nature that its in vivo CAR‑T approach can generate functional CAR‑T cells directly within mice and eradicate both solid and hematologic tumors. The technique uses infused gene‑editing particles that precisely...
ChatGPT Health Excels on Textbook Cases, Fails Real Emergencies
Is "textbook performance" enough for medical AI? The first independent stress test of ChatGPT Health is out in @NatureMedicine. The Good: Near-perfect triage for textbook stroke and anaphylaxis. The Bad: A 51.6% under-triage rate for true emergencies. But there’s a massive elephant in the...
Implant vs Meds: Randomized Trial Questions LAA Closure Benefit
Questioning the benefit of an implant to close the left atrial appendage vs medical therapy in a randomized trial @NEJM https://t.co/N0hpdIfmLe https://t.co/8bkk8FzLuY
HaloMD, a Texas Duo, Dominates No‑Surprises Arbitration
A new company you've probably never heard of is dominating the No Surprises Act's arbitration process. Behind HaloMD is a larger-than-life Texas couple who built their wealth on questionable arrangements with out-of-network providers. https://t.co/p1jCEZFBaA via @statnews
Stopping GLP‑1 Therapy Quickly Erodes Cardiovascular Protection
A new finding after stopping GLP-1 drugs in a large cohort with Type 2 diabetes: rapid erosion of CV benefit/protection New @bmj_latest by @zalaly @Biostayan https://t.co/JG6yB8wTJJ See thread: https://t.co/6JvfIIjVBw https://t.co/wUgWhvs9Yy
CBER Updates SOPs, Enables RMAT for Held Therapies
CBER changes its standard operating procedures to open the door to RMAT designations for therapies on clinical hold - https://t.co/bZmhga8xxC
EHRs Will Become Records; AI-Driven Action Layers Rise
Sharp take here from healthcare VC Sam Toole on the future of EHRs in an AI world. Do they become systems of record, and entrepreneurs can build systems of action that sit on top? Link to read the full piece...
In‑body Genome Editing Promises Cheaper, Practical CAR‑T Therapies
What if we could engineer T cells in the body, making CAR T vs cancer, autoimmune diseases, and other applications far more practical, much less expensive? A step forward today via genome editing T cells https://t.co/FjgQA8NUlu https://t.co/XXk43WL1ac https://t.co/rpC7eCAlJH
Repeated Psilocybin Doses Yield 73% OCD Response
A randomized clinical trial of repeated doses of psilocybin for the treatment of obsessive–compulsive disorder 73.3% were responders (⩾35% reduction in YBOCS scores), with 40% in remission. These effects diminished but remained substantial at 6 months. https://t.co/tp2SPIKDrB
Uruguay's Healthcare Guide for Immigrants: Public & Private Options
For anyone considering immigrating to Uruguay here's a great overview of how the medical system works and how immigrants can sign up for either public or private healthcare. https://t.co/TZTE9AwEkv
RBC Flags Revolution, Xenon, Arrowhead as Top Biotech Takeover Targets
RBC: Revolution, Xenon, Arrowhead among top #biotech takeover targets https://t.co/h1toH9szrU by @realJacobBell $ARWR $XENE $RVMD $DYNE
Killing Costly Patients, Not Rationing, Solves Healthcare Costs
I now realize that the "solution" to the rising cost of healthcare will not be to ration healthcare. It will be to kill the most expensive patients.
Mitochondrial Transfer Shows Promise Against Parkinson’s in Animals
Potential of mitochondrial transfer to prevent or treat Parkinson' s disease, in mouse and monkey models @CellCellPress https://t.co/c0oqfagddX https://t.co/KyBc1zQttc