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
Hospices’ Challenging 2026 Outlook
Hospice providers face a turbulent 2026 outlook as regulatory scrutiny intensifies, staffing shortages deepen, and demand for end‑of‑life care surges. CMS has placed Georgia, Ohio, Arizona, California, Nevada and Texas under enhanced oversight to combat fraud, casting a shadow over the sector’s reputation. Simultaneously, shortages of nurses, social workers and aides strain recruitment pipelines, prompting organizations to adopt creative hiring and expand palliative‑care services. Incremental reimbursement increases lag behind rising costs of caring for more medically complex patients, forcing providers to seek operational maturity.
Study Finds GLP-1 Drugs Can Help Curb SUDs
A BMJ study of more than 600,000 Veterans Affairs patients with type‑2 diabetes found that glucagon‑like peptide‑1 (GLP‑1) drugs significantly lowered the risk of developing substance‑use disorders, including alcohol, cannabis, nicotine, cocaine and opioids. The analysis compared GLP‑1 therapy with...
Ultraprocessed Food Again Linked to Higher CVD Risk: MESA
A new analysis of the Multi‑Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) links each additional daily serving of ultra‑processed food to a 5.1% rise in incident cardiovascular disease (CVD). Participants in the highest consumption quintile faced a 66% higher CVD risk compared...
House Bill Would Exempt Health Care Workers From $100,000 H-1B Visa Filing Fee
On March 17, 2026, House members introduced the bipartisan Physicians and the Healthcare Workforce Act, which would waive the $100,000 H‑1B filing fee imposed on foreign‑trained health‑care workers by a 2025 presidential proclamation. The legislation also bars any new H‑1B...
AHA Advertorial Highlights How Hospitals Serve Communities
The American Hospital Association (AHA) placed an advertorial in The Wall Street Journal on March 17, emphasizing that hospitals are the heart of U.S. communities because they deliver care whenever and wherever needed. The piece outlines current challenges—rising costs, system complexity,...
Retatrutide Drops Weight Fast, but Triggers Severe Reflux
So it's time for an update on me playing around with Retatrutide. This is typed from mobile, so forgive any typos or missing words. First, I stopped using it about 2 weeks after post below. I didn't run out. I'm just...
Desperate Parents Calling Pharmacies for Meningitis Jab as Stocks Run Low
Parents in England are scrambling to secure meningitis vaccinations for their children after a deadly outbreak in Kent that has claimed two lives and left 13 seriously ill. The surge in demand has exhausted vaccine inventories, leaving many pharmacies unable...
AI's Real Bottleneck: Accelerating Human Processes, Not Tech
Our bottleneck for some of the biggest change ahead may be humans. I shared the story of Paul Conyngham and his dog Rosie on my Instagram when it broke. When I read the coverage, my shock was less that ChatGPT...
Infants Continue To Die In Banned Inclined Sleepers
Inclined infant sleepers were banned in the United States in 2019 after the Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled millions of units following multiple infant deaths. A March 2026 study in Pediatrics found that 51 infants died in these products between...
AI Tool Predicts Alzheimer’s Disease with Nearly 93% Accuracy Using Brain Scans
Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute created a machine‑learning model that scans MRI images and achieved 92.87% accuracy in distinguishing Alzheimer’s disease or mild cognitive impairment from healthy brains. The algorithm highlighted volume loss in the hippocampus, amygdala and entorhinal cortex...
What to Expect on TRT?
An individual with mid‑range testosterone (488 ng/dL) plans a TRT protocol of 160 mg testosterone cypionate split twice weekly and 50 IU hCG weekly. They seek guidance on expected physiological changes, timeline, potential side effects such as hair loss, and whether the hCG...
Clinical Trial Results Support Use of Weekly Extended-Release Buprenorphine for Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder During Pregnancy
A NIH‑backed multicenter trial of 140 pregnant adults found that weekly injectable extended‑release buprenorphine achieved significantly higher rates of illicit opioid abstinence than daily sublingual buprenorphine, while also reducing serious maternal adverse events. The study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine,...
As Healthcare Technology Grows, Gaining Clinicians' Trust Is Vital
Healthcare technology is accelerating, but clinicians’ trust remains the linchpin for successful deployment. Senior Executive Changemaker Awardee Kassaundra McKnight-Young stresses that vendors must partner closely with clinicians to build reliable, workflow‑friendly tools. Such collaboration aims to streamline clinical processes and...
Changemaker Awardee: Innovation Starts with Listening to Care Teams
Kassaundra McKnight‑Young, Chief Nursing Informatics Officer at Zebra Technologies, urges emerging healthcare leaders to partner directly with bedside clinicians. She stresses that understanding clinicians’ day‑to‑day technology needs is essential for creating people‑centered solutions. By listening to care teams, leaders can design...
US Postpartum Women Denied Essential Pelvic Floor Therapy
In France, women who give birth are routinely prescribed pelvic floor rehab. They get about 10 sessions with a physiotherapist covered by the government. This has been standard since the 1980s. In the US, you get a 6 week...
New Portable Electrocardiogram Lets EMTs Diagnose Heart Attack
Kern County Public Health has deployed a new AI‑enabled, five‑lead portable electrocardiogram that delivers 12‑lead diagnostics to EMTs. Within weeks of the Feb. 1 rollout, Hall Ambulance EMTs used the device to identify a myocardial infarction in a home patient, enabling...
This Grocery Chain Is Offering Free GLP-1 Starter Kits
ShopRite’s parent Wakefern is distributing free "Wellness Your Way" GLP‑1 starter kits to customers who fill their first GLP‑1 prescription at in‑store pharmacies. The blue mailer includes a diet guide from a registered dietitian, sample protein shake and collagen powder,...
FastFinance: Hospital Building Surge; AI-Coding Study Pushback
Health systems are set to spend a record amount this year on new hospital construction, outpacing budgets for outpatient clinics and ambulatory surgery centers. The Health Resources and Services Administration projects a 39% increase in demand for long‑term care workers...
Doctors Say Court Ruling Can’t Undo RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Damage
A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s sweeping revisions to U.S. vaccine recommendations, reinstating the broader childhood immunization schedule. Over the past year, the administration removed six vaccines from routine schedules and placed vaccine skeptics on advisory panels, fueling...
They Changed the Cholesterol Rules—And Almost No One Is Talking About It
The American Heart Association, together with leading cardiology experts, has issued new cholesterol guidelines that lower the age for routine lipid screening to ten years old and tighten LDL thresholds. The recommendations shift focus from treating established disease to early...
Understanding AI Inferencing at the Edge in Healthcare
Lenovo announced three new servers at CES 2026 designed for AI inferencing at the edge, specifically targeting healthcare environments. The devices enable large language models to run locally on low‑power hardware, cutting latency and avoiding cloud round‑trips. By processing sensor and...
Hospitals Are Here for Patients: Making Care More Accessible and Affordable
Hospitals serve as community health anchors, offering 24/7 care for routine, emergency, and specialized needs. They are tackling rising costs by boosting efficiency, expanding preventive programs, and leveraging digital tools such as telehealth and electronic health records. Despite these efforts,...
Smokeless Nicotine Seen as 'Bridge' For Military Members, Veterans Quitting Cigarettes
The Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs are promoting smokeless nicotine as a transitional tool to help service members and veterans quit combustible cigarettes. About 30% of active‑duty personnel use tobacco, roughly twice the civilian rate, prompting a new joint...
Transient but Transformative: Sanofi’s mRNA CAR-T Enters in Vivo Race
Sanofi unveiled pre‑clinical data for an in‑vivo CAR‑T platform that delivers mRNA via lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) and a CD8‑targeting VHH nanobody, eliminating the weeks‑long ex‑vivo manufacturing step. The approach achieved tumor suppression in mice with less than 5% liver uptake...
Who Is the American Academy of Pediatrics, and Why Are They Fighting Against MAHA and Healthcare Transparency?
A federal judge issued a preliminary ruling overturning HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s changes to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice, blocking 13 new appointees and nullifying a plan to reduce the infant vaccine schedule. The decision preserves the...
GIP Drives Subcutaneous Fat Storage; Tirzepatide Leverages This
GIP preferentially enhances glucose storage and triglyceride deposition in healthier subcutaneous fat, particularly under conditions of hyperinsulinemia and hyperglycemia. Tirzepatide contains a GIP agonist. https://doi.org/10.2337/db10-0098 https://www.gatlan.com/ @GatlanHealth
Pro Se Lawsuit Targets Epic to Circumvent Texas Malpractice Rules
A pro se plaintiff just sued @HeyEpic in federal court, arguing its EHR architecture is a defective product. But sneakily, I don’t think it’s about Epic at all: it's a discovery pathway around the Texas malpractice rules that froze her...
Can AI Manage an Entire Medical Decision Process?
Researchers placed the multimodal LLM Gemini Pro 2.5 into the BodyInteract acute‑care simulation and evaluated it across four emergency scenarios. The AI stabilized patients and completed cases at rates comparable to, and often faster than, more than 14,000 medical‑student runs, with diagnostic...
Study Shows 3-Hour Night Fast Improves Heart Health, Blood Pressure, and Blood Sugar
A Northwestern University study involving 39 overweight adults found that abstaining from food for at least three hours before bedtime improves cardiometabolic markers without altering calorie intake. Over a seven‑and‑a‑half‑week trial, participants who kept a 3‑hour night fast showed lower...
They’ve Revived Dead Brains. And Now We Might Finally Get Some Cures
In this episode, host Volime Vesela, a physician‑scientist and CEO of Bexerg, discusses his startup’s groundbreaking work reviving dead human brains to create an intact human brain lab for drug testing. He explains how his Croatian co‑founder, Dr. Josep "Joe"...
NFMT East 2026: Where Germs Are Hiding in Facilities
At NFMT East 2026, experts warned that germs hide in overlooked facility zones such as drains, soft furnishings, and automated dispensers, posing health risks and operational disruptions. They emphasized a "recipe" approach—integrating people, process, and technology—to achieve effective pathogen control....
Bicycle to Lay Off 30% of Staff, Pivot Away From Padcev Challenger
Biotech firm Bicycle Therapeutics announced it will lay off roughly 30% of its workforce, about 86 employees, as it deprioritizes its experimental ADC zelenectide‑pevedotin. Regulators expressed doubts that the Phase 2 Duravelo‑2 trial data will support accelerated approval for metastatic bladder...
PR Firm News: Sachs Media Launches SachsHEALTH
Sachs Media announced the launch of SachsHEALTH, a dedicated health‑care and life‑sciences PR division that combines public affairs, research, digital advocacy and creative services to run multi‑state policy campaigns. The new unit is led by chief strategy officer Ryan Cohn...
15 Questions for Optum’s Dr. Robert Hall
Optum’s medical director Dr. Robert Hall warned that age‑related muscle loss and chronic comorbidities dramatically complicate workers’ compensation injury recovery. He highlighted how common medications such as NSAIDs can be dangerous for older claimants with heart, kidney or blood‑pressure issues,...
Autologous versus Allogeneic: How Cell Therapy Development Is Changing in Oncology
Autologous CAR‑T therapies dominate the current market but face logistical and clinical challenges. Patients must undergo leukapheresis, endure long vein‑to‑vein times, and often need bridging therapy, which can cause adverse events. To address these issues, companies are shifting toward off‑the‑shelf...
Corporate Life Accelerates Diabetes and Hypertension in Indian Youth
Corporate life is damaging the health of Indian youth. According to reports 1 in 4 men aged between 31–35 shows pre-diabetes or high BP risk. The reasons behind this are: Long sitting hours Stress Poor sleep Junk food Pushing all corporate professionals into lifestyle diseases much earlier. Men...
At-Home Testing and Diagnostics: Powering Preventive Health
At‑home diagnostic kits are moving preventive health from clinic‑based testing to consumer‑driven monitoring, with companies like Randox Health offering laboratory‑grade panels that can be ordered online, sampled at home, and processed in certified labs. These kits enable users to establish...
FDA Warns Telehealth Companies Over Marketing of Compounded GLP-1 Weight-Loss Drugs
On February 20, 2026, the FDA issued warning letters to 30 telehealth companies for misleading claims about compounded GLP‑1 weight‑loss drugs such as semaglutide and tirzepatide. The agency highlighted that compounded products are not FDA‑reviewed for safety, efficacy, or quality,...
Allegro Pediatrics Saves Money, Gains Better Documentation with AI Scribe
Allegro Pediatrics, a 100‑provider pediatric group near Seattle, adopted Greenway Health’s AI‑powered ambient voice scribing to automate clinical note creation. The system listens to patient encounters, generates draft notes within the EHR, and lets physicians edit and sign off, eliminating...
How AI Vocal Biomarkers Are Turning Speech Into a Vital Sign
AI-driven vocal biomarkers are emerging as a rapid, non‑invasive method to screen for a wide range of neurological and mental‑health conditions. Research validates their ability to identify mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s, depression, anxiety, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis and Huntington’s disease from...
Sudan Clinics Face Stock-Out in Weeks Due to Middle East War, NGO Says
Save the Children warns that essential medicines for Sudan’s government‑run clinics could be exhausted within two weeks because the Middle East war has blocked key shipping routes. About $600,000 of drugs are stranded in Dubai, and rising freight costs—up 25‑30%...
Turquoise Health Secures $40M for AI-Powered Healthcare Pricing Platform
Turquoise Health announced a $40 million Series C round, led by Oak HC/FT with participation from a16z, Adams Street Partners and Yosemite. The funding will accelerate its transition from a pricing data vendor to an AI‑driven workflow and transaction operating system that...
GLP‑1 Weight Loss Shows No Extra Muscle Loss
A study asserts lack of disproportionate loss of muscle mass or strength cf weight loss from GLP-1 drug treatment, in mice and a small short term (12 weeks) trial in men The issue remains unsettled and counters the efforts by companies...
Smart, Connected Care: The Future Hospital Unveiled
Hospital of the Future — Advancing smart, connected care through data-driven innovation. Join me for a deep @DigitalDHealth dive with @StephenKonya @jconleymd, Manish Ladha, and Casey Granak This Thursday at 10am PST / 1pm EST for our https://t.co/YGpenFx8zW Studio Series Register here-->...
Feedback System Enhances Gait and Perception in Knee Prostheses
This week's Editor's Choice highlights a study by Valette and colleagues that evaluates a feedback system to improve gait and perception when using a knee prosthesis. @rlvalette Learn more in Science #Robotics: https://t.co/pWQ3r6aGLs https://t.co/xqUZp2YyCH
Complement Proteins Predict Dementia Risk over a Decade
Adding complement proteins to the blood testing schedule is in the arena Systemic complement factors in aging, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias: a longitudinal study over 10 years https://t.co/qDwmnbxHHY
Every 60‑Second Delay Increases Patient Risk
It’s not one big delay that hurts care. It’s 60 seconds… repeated 100 times a day. Marianne Soucey explains how tiny workflow friction turns into real patient risk ↓ https://t.co/UjbpWUtOH1 @ConsensusCS @medq_inc #RSNA25 #HITSM https://t.co/6X9UwqHjHx
Unregulated Online Market Sells Ketamine for Depression Relief
Ketamine, an operating-room anesthetic also prized as the street drug “K” is now at the heart of a largely unregulated online industry offering depression relief. https://t.co/pGd0TO5uFy via @WSJ
Bicycle Cuts 30% Staff, Abandons Padcev Challenger
Bicycle to lay off 30% of staff, pivot away from Padcev challenger https://t.co/m3JFu2mwoB @ByJonGardner $BCYC $PFE $MRK
Pfizer's Ibrance Successor Advances with Fresh Study Data
Pfizer’s Ibrance successor moves forward with new study data https://t.co/ozXAZYmc3M by Kristin Jensen $PFE $LLY $NVS $RHHBY $ONC