Know What's Happening in Healthcare
Know What's Happening in Healthcare
FDA approves KRESLADI, first CIRM‑backed gene‑editing therapy
The FDA cleared KRESLADI, a gene‑editing treatment from Rocket Pharmaceuticals for severe leukocyte adhesion deficiency‑I in children, eliminating the need for a bone‑marrow donor. It is the first product directly funded by California’s Institute for Regenerative Medicine to receive approval.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Syneron Bio raises $150M Series B
Newport Beach plastic surgeons, led by Dr. John Shamoun, report rising demand for facial fat grafting as patients seek natural, long‑lasting anti‑aging solutions. The autologous fat transfer technique harvests the patient’s own fat, purifies it, and injects it into cheeks, lips, under‑eye hollows and other areas to restore volume and stimulate collagen. Clinics combine micro‑, nano‑, structural and macro‑fat methods to tailor results, while recovery typically takes less than a week. Compared with synthetic dermal fillers, fat grafting offers permanent contour improvement with regenerative skin benefits.
A new home‑based dementia study launched by home‑care provider Cera and research programme GlobalMinds will recruit 1,000 people living with dementia across the UK. The partnership captures real‑world cognitive data, NHS records and DNA samples to build a longitudinal, multi‑modal...
Europe’s pharmaceutical sector is losing its historic lead in R&D, with its share of global private research dropping from roughly half in 1990 to a third in 2025, while the United States now commands 55% and China is rapidly closing...
Intuitive Surgical announced a voluntary recall of its 8 mm SureForm gray stapler reload cartridges after four serious injuries and one patient death were linked to incomplete staple lines. The FDA issued an early‑alert notice, prompting the company to ask customers...
In March 2026 a sudden surge of invasive meningococcal disease hit the University of Kent, producing one of the fastest‑growing meningitis clusters in recent UK history. Within a single weekend, dozens of students fell ill and several deaths were reported,...
A new KFF poll finds that 80% of ACA marketplace enrollees face higher premiums this year, with half describing the increase as "a lot higher." More than half say they will have to cut other household expenses, and 17% fear...
CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz has publicly accused California of rampant hospice and home‑health fraud, claiming up to $3.5 billion in Los Angeles County alone and threatening to withhold Medicaid payments. Federal data, however, shows California recovers more than half of...
Healthcare leaders worldwide are increasingly exploring mindfulness to improve staff well‑being and patient care. Oxford Mindfulness emphasizes that evidence‑based approaches, such as Mindfulness‑Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), differ markedly from generic apps or short courses. Robust research shows moderate reductions in...
Modern dental technologies are reshaping root canal treatment, making it faster, safer, and more predictable. Three‑dimensional CBCT imaging delivers precise diagnoses, while dental microscopes reveal hidden canals with unprecedented clarity. Nickel‑titanium rotary instruments and ultrasonic irrigation streamline cleaning and disinfection,...
Predictive Health Intelligence and Sano Genetics have completed recruitment for the LiveWell study, enrolling 996 participants from a single NHS site in under a year by leveraging PHI’s hepatoSIGHT case‑finding software and existing NHS blood‑test data. The digital workflow enabled...
A new Canopy report surveying over 1,000 healthcare leaders reveals that more than one‑quarter of workers experience safety incidents daily or weekly, with nearly half facing threatening situations and 20% encountering violence. The study links these safety concerns directly to...
Philips and Nvidia have unveiled an AI‑driven preview that generates a synthetic MRI image before the scan begins, using Philips' MR foundation model combined with Nvidia's NV‑Segment, NV‑Generate, and NV‑Reason tools. The preview ingests patient data and protocol settings to...
The article highlights the growing risk of drug over‑dosage in older adults as age‑related changes in metabolism make standard adult doses unsafe. It cites real‑world cases, such as an elderly man bleeding from excessive ibuprofen, and outlines FDA guidance that...
The U.S. FDA has extended its review of Lanteus’ PET imaging agent LNTH‑2501 by three months, moving the PDUFA target date to June 29. LNTH‑2501, a Ga‑68 edotreotide kit for detecting neuroendocrine tumors in adults and children, remains unapproved and...
I personally think that if you’re a doctor building a business in healthcare, it doesn’t mean you “let go” of clinical practice. If anything, my co-founder and I feel an even greater responsibility to stay at the forefront of weight loss...
A new Nature Medicine study shows that prediabetes can remit without any weight loss, challenging the long‑standing emphasis on shedding pounds to prevent diabetes. About 25% of participants in lifestyle programs normalized blood glucose despite stable weight, achieving protection comparable...
Google is teaming up with DocMorris, one of Europe’s largest online pharmacies, to build an AI‑driven digital health companion. The collaboration leverages Google’s Gemini large‑language models and Google Cloud’s EU‑based infrastructure to offer a personal health guide and conversational pharmacy...
A large pragmatic trial involving 1,565 overweight or obese youths with bipolar spectrum disorders found that adding metformin to a brief lifestyle program significantly blunted weight gain associated with second‑generation antipsychotics. Over six months, the metformin group’s BMI rose only...
CEO Jeff Salter of Caring Senior Service is leveraging AI and new software tools to address caregiver shortages and accelerate growth in 2026. The franchisor, operating over 50 locations in 21 states, is focusing on community referral pipelines, a mindset...
In this episode of the Facts and Fallacies podcast, hosts Cameron English and Dr. Liza Lockwood dissect the "shill gambit"—the ad hominem tactic of dismissing scientific arguments by accusing the speaker of industry bias. They argue that such accusations sideline...
Novo Nordisk will lose patent protection for its semaglutide drugs Ozempic and Wegovy in several high‑population markets, allowing generic versions to launch in India, China, Canada, Brazil, Turkey and South Africa. The first generics are expected in India this weekend,...
People say this was “obvious”… “macam dah lama je” but if it really was, it wouldn’t take the WHO to make it official. For years, patients have been asking for help — and being met with inconsistent care, shortcuts, or being...
A new NBER paper analyzes physician earnings in the United States, Canada, Sweden, and the Netherlands using tax‑file data. It finds that doctors rank among the top earners in each country, with U.S. physicians earning the highest absolute salaries. The...
A recent Lancet analysis of over 540,000 Finnish and UK adults found that obesity drives a substantial share of infection‑related mortality. Roughly 8.6% of all infectious disease deaths in 2018 were attributable to obesity, rising to 15% during the COVID‑19...
Microsoft showcased its Dragon Copilot at HIMSS 2026, positioning it as a unified AI‑driven hub for clinical workflows. The platform now integrates trusted medical content from Wolters Kluwer and Elsevier, adds partner‑powered AI apps through the Microsoft Marketplace, and offers...
The Urgent Care Association (UCA) announced that registration is now open for its 2026 Urgent Care Convention, scheduled for April 11‑14 in Chicago. The event, themed “Amplify,” will gather clinicians, operators and industry partners to share best practices and shape...
A recent Substack post explains that the common complaint of "brain fog" is often a manifestation of burnout rather than a neurological disease. The author, a psychiatrist, describes how prolonged high workloads, minimal breaks, and chronic stress overload the brain’s...
Dr. Claribel Tan, an Anchorage rheumatologist, received a six‑and‑a‑half‑year federal prison sentence for orchestrating a decade‑long health‑care fraud that generated more than $12.5 million in false insurance claims. Patients were injected with free samples, expired drugs, reduced doses, or entirely different...
GLP-1 medications, commonly prescribed for diabetes and obesity, are linked to reduced hospital care and sickness absence due to depression, anxiety, substance use disorders, and suicidal behavior. mentalhealth
This story is nuts. Prosecutors say that patients at an Alaska-based clinic were underdosed, injected with free or expired drugs, and billed for full doses. Now, the doctor who was calling the shots is going to jail. https://t.co/E2U3LKBi9o
Merck Animal Health announced that the FDA has approved an expanded label for its once‑yearly injectable parasite control, Bravecto Quantum, adding treatment and control of Asian longhorned tick (Haemaphysalis longicornis) and Gulf Coast tick (Amblyomma maculatum) for 12 months. The product...
Singapore is accelerating digital and AI‑driven healthcare innovation to address its rapidly ageing population and rising chronic disease burden. The government pledged SG$37 billion under the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2030 plan to fund high‑impact research, digital platforms, and AI adoption. Events...
![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)
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 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...
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
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...
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...
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 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....
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...
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,...
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 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...
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,...
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...
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...
