‘This Is an Overlooked Catastrophe’: Why Do so Many Hospitals Not Accept ...
A widening crisis is emerging as an increasing number of hospitals across the United States refuse to accept Medicare Advantage (MA) plans for oncology services. The trend is not limited to Florida; major academic and community hospitals nationwide are tightening network participation, leaving seniors with fewer treatment options. Patients often must revert to Original Medicare and purchase costly Medigap policies to maintain access to cancer care. The contraction threatens continuity of care for a vulnerable, aging population.
Postbiotic Supplement May Protect Against Childhood Dental Caries: RCT
A randomized pilot study in Kraków gave 72 preschoolers chewable tablets containing 20 mg of heat‑inactivated Lactobacillus salivarius HM‑6 Paradens for two weeks. Children receiving the postbiotic showed a marked drop in Streptococcus mutans and a rise in beneficial Lactobacillus spp.,...
What the Research Actually Says About Home Modifications and Fall Prevention
Falls among adults 65+ are a leading cause of injury‑related hospitalization, with the majority occurring at home. Robust research, including a Cochrane review of 159 trials, shows that targeted home modifications—especially in bathrooms and stairways—significantly reduce fall incidence. Interventions are...
US Scientists Sequence 1,000 Genomes From Measles, a Disease Long Eliminated With Vaccines
The CDC has posted its first batch of whole‑genome sequences from roughly 1,000 measles viruses collected in 2025‑2026, marking the United States' inaugural use of large‑scale genomic surveillance for the disease. The data will allow researchers to trace transmission pathways...
APOE4 Variant Linked to Greater Neurological Damage in Multiple Sclerosis
A UK Biobank study of 188 multiple sclerosis patients reveals that carriers of the APOE4 gene variant experience significantly greater neurodegeneration than non‑carriers. APOE4 carriers showed higher blood levels of neurofilament light chain and glial fibrillary acidic protein, more extensive...
Actinogen Treats First Patient in XanaMIA Trial for Alzheimer’s
Actinogen Medical has begun treating the first participant in the open‑label extension (OLE) of its Phase IIb/III XanaMIA trial for Alzheimer’s disease. The OLE allows eligible U.S. and Australian subjects to receive Xanamem 10 mg daily for up to 25 months, collecting...
This Week in European MedTech and HealthTech: 2nd April 2026
European MedTech entered a phase of regulatory convergence and digital integration in the week of March 26‑April 2, 2026. BD launched its Pyxis™ Pro dispensing system and Incada™ Connected Care platform on the AWS European Sovereign Cloud, addressing EU data‑sovereignty rules. The European Commission...
Cogent Biosciences Reports US FDA’s NDA Submission of Bezuclastinib for Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GIST)
Cogent Biosciences announced that the U.S. FDA has received a New Drug Application for bezuclastinib under the Real-Time Oncology Review program, targeting gastrointestinal stromal tumor patients who have progressed after imatinib. The Phase III PEAK trial, comparing bezuclastinib plus sunitinib to...
Recent Billing Code Changes Wreaking Havoc for Radiation Oncologists, New Survey Finds
On Jan. 1, 2026, the CPT Editorial Panel introduced three-tier radiation‑therapy billing codes, eliminating code 77014 and adding a professional‑component code. A survey of 160 ASTRO members shows more than two‑thirds experiencing payment drops of 10% or higher, with some cuts exceeding...
Annovis Publishes Historical Review of Buntanetap
Annovis released a historical review of its investigational drug Buntanetap in The Scientist, charting its evolution from a 19th‑century execution poison to a modern candidate for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. The article details discovery, mechanism elucidation, chemical optimization, and progression...
Humanaut to Open Dallas Clinic, Launches Founding Membership Presale
Humanaut announced the opening of its first flagship clinic in Dallas, Texas, alongside a founding membership presale. The clinic will deliver metabolic profiling, continuous glucose monitoring, and AI‑driven health coaching under a $5,000 annual membership. The presale targets $10 million to...
How Acclaim Autism Cut Patient Onboarding From Six Months to Four Days with Appian
Acclaim Autism, a Philadelphia‑based autism‑care provider, used Appian’s low‑code automation to shrink patient onboarding from six months to four days. Insurance denial rates fell from 80% to 5%, and monthly intake rose from three to 47 patients, a fifteen‑fold increase....
Smarter Hiring Strategies for Modern Healthcare Practices
Healthcare practices are abandoning costly full‑time hiring models in favor of hybrid workforces that combine on‑site clinicians with remote administrative talent. Remote roles such as medical scribes and virtual receptionists are cutting documentation time by over two hours per day...
I-Lumen Receives FDA IDE to Start US I-SIGHT2 Enrollment
I‑Lumen announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) for its i‑SIGHT2 clinical study. The clearance allows the company to begin enrolling participants in the United States to evaluate its breath‑based metabolic monitoring...
JenaValve Launches Trilogy Transcatheter Heart Valve System in the US to Treat Symptomatic, Severe Aortic Regurgitation (ssAR)
JenaValve has begun commercializing its Trilogy Transcatheter Heart Valve (THV) system in the United States, becoming the first FDA‑approved transcatheter device for symptomatic, severe aortic regurgitation (ssAR). The valve uses radiopaque locators that attach directly to native leaflets, enabling stable...
Eli Lilly Reports US FDA Approval of Foundayo (Orforglipron) for Weight Loss
The U.S. FDA has approved Foundayo (orforglipron), Lilly’s first oral GLP‑1 pill, for obese or overweight adults with weight‑related health issues, to launch via LillyDirect on April 6, 2026. In the ATTAIN‑1 trial the highest dose produced an average 27.3‑lb (12.4%) weight...
All-Electric, All New: Inside UCI Health’s Ground-Up Hospital
UCI Health opened its new Irvine campus in December 2025, a seven‑story, 350,000 sq ft, 177‑bed acute care hospital built from the ground up as an all‑electric facility. The hospital features 22 operating rooms on a massive "surgery megafloor," advanced imaging, labs,...
Merit Medical Acquires View Point for $140M
Merit Medical Systems announced a $140 million acquisition of View Point Medical, adding the FDA‑cleared OneMark Detection Imaging System and tissue markers to its oncology portfolio. The deal includes $90 million upfront and $50 million in two anniversary installments. Merit expects the OneMark...
Samsung Medical Center Sets New Bar in Smart Hospital Transformation with AI-Ready Systems
Samsung Medical Center (SMC) in South Korea has re‑validated its IT infrastructure at Stage 7 of the HIMSS INFRAM model, confirming world‑class maturity across cybersecurity, adoption, sustainability, performance and outcomes. The hospital completed a massive data‑centre relocation with only 20 minutes of...
Korean Hospitals Outpace Global Peers in Digital Maturity: Pilot Study
South Korean hospitals scored an average of 285 out of 400 on the HIMSS Digital Health Indicator, well above the 2020 global average of 166 and the Asia‑Pacific average of 239. The pilot assessed ten leading institutions and highlighted strong...
French AI: 20 Million Funding for Generare to Find Better Data in Nature
Generare, a Paris‑based tech‑bio startup, raised €20 million in Series A funding to expand its proprietary library of evolution‑derived small molecules. The company tackles the data bottleneck in AI‑driven drug discovery by decoding microbial genomes to uncover cryptic chemistry, having identified over...
Future Biotech Expo 2026 | June 02-03 | Hilton Houston North, TX, USA
The Future Biotech Expo 2026 will take place June 2‑3 at the Hilton Houston North in Texas. It is an international red biotechnology exhibition and conference aimed at accelerating breakthroughs in healthcare. Over 3,500 industry pioneers will attend, with exhibitions,...
Corti Launches Symphony for Medical Coding API, Outperforming OpenAI and Anthropic in Clinical Accuracy ‘Claims’
Clinical AI startup Corti has introduced Symphony, an agentic AI model delivered via API to automate medical coding. The company asserts that Symphony exceeds the clinical accuracy of major large language models—including those from OpenAI, Anthropic, Amazon, Oracle, and Google—by...
STAT+: Trump Administration Prepares 100% Tariffs on some Imported Drugs
The Trump administration is poised to issue an order that would levy a 100% tariff on imports of patented medicines and their active pharmaceutical ingredients. A draft of the order suggests the tariffs could be announced as early as Thursday,...
Private NZ Cardio Centre Halts Procedures After Hack
Auckland‑based private specialist IntraCare halted its IT systems after detecting a network breach on March 20, postponing at least 28 cardiac and radiology procedures for a week. The provider engaged cybersecurity firm CyberCX and coordinated with Te Whatu Ora, the...
New Zealand Study Finds a Significant Rise in Sepsis Cases
A University of Otago study shows sepsis hospitalizations in New Zealand surged 78% from 2000 to 2019, reaching 386 admissions per 100,000 people and totaling about 260,000 cases. Māori and Pacific peoples faced 1.7‑ and 2.3‑fold higher admission risks, and those...
Health Literacy Initiative Improves Discharge Education, Readmission Rates
A nurse‑led health literacy program in the pediatric cardiothoracic ICU at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital used the Newest Vital Sign tool to assess caregiver literacy and tailor discharge education. By customizing instructions and employing teach‑back techniques, the hospital reduced...
Adenoidectomy, Tonsillectomy in Childhood Tied to Risk for Adult Chronic Rhinosinusitis
A new multicenter retrospective study of over 100 U.S. health‑care organizations links pediatric adenotonsillectomy performed for infectious indications to higher rates of adult chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Children who underwent adenoidectomy alone showed a 55% increased hazard of CRSsNP, while combined...
Mix-and-Match Synthesis of 3D Small Molecules
A new chemistry reported in Nature enables modular, iterative construction of C_sp³–C_sp³ bonds while precisely controlling the three‑dimensional arrangement of attached atoms. The approach leverages interchangeable building blocks to assemble 3D small‑molecule scaffolds, a bond type that is pervasive in...
D Is for Distance: A Personal, Hallucinatory Journey Through Medical Bureaucracy
Chris Petit returns with his first feature in 15 years, co‑directing the hallucinatory documentary *D is for Distance* alongside Emma Matthews. The film chronicles their son Louis’s battle with epilepsy, weaving personal footage, narration, and essayistic collage to critique the...
Doctors Lose New Jobs Package as Strike to Go Ahead
The UK government withdrew a proposal to create 1,000 additional doctor training posts after the British Medical Association refused to cancel a six‑day strike. Prime Minister Keir Starmer had set a 48‑hour deadline for the walkout to be called off, linking...
MedCity FemFwd: ACOG’s New Guidelines Around Endometriosis
During the latest MedCity FemFwd podcast, Dr. Barbara Levy of Visana Health discussed the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists' (ACOG) newly released clinical guidance on endometriosis. The guidelines introduce updated diagnostic criteria, prioritize early detection, and recommend multidisciplinary treatment...
Lilly Weight-Loss Pill First Novel Drug Approved Under CNPRV
Eli Lilly’s anti‑obesity pill Foundayo (orforglipron) became the first new molecular entity approved under the FDA Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher (CNPRV) pilot. The FDA granted approval just 50 days after Lilly filed the NDA, well ahead of its 294‑day target deadline. Foundayo’s...
CDC Not Testing For Pox Viruses Amid Mpox Outbreaks, Treatment Concerns
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has removed smallpox, mpox and rabies from its routine testing portfolio, even as mpox outbreaks flare in several nations. The agency’s website update confirms the suspension, raising alarms among clinicians who rely on...
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Reports Financial Results for 2025
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota posted a $353 million operating loss for 2025, equating to a 3 percent margin on $10.4 billion in fully insured premiums. Claims spending climbed to $9.8 billion, up $1.7 billion year‑over‑year, averaging roughly $27 million per day. A $150 million...
State Audit Reveals Years of Missed Nursing Home Inspections, Medicaid Eligibility Failures
A Kentucky state audit uncovered a massive backlog of nursing‑home inspections, with 162 of 190 surveys delayed by up to 51 months, far beyond the federal 15‑month limit. The audit also found 358 deceased individuals still listed as Medicaid‑eligible and...
West Virginia Changes Prior Authorization Law After Man's Treatment Delay and Death
West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrissey signed HB 4965, a law that lets members of the state workers’ health plan switch to an alternative, medically appropriate treatment of equal or lesser cost without filing a new prior‑authorization request. The change affects roughly...
Digital Rights Advocates Sue CMS Over WISeR, Dems Urge House Approps To Repeal Model
Digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed a lawsuit against the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services demanding transparency for the Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction (WISeR) model, which automates Medicare prior‑authorization decisions. The suit argues the model violates...
STAT+: Makary Marks One Year at FDA with Focus on Achievements in Speech to Staff
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary marked his one‑year anniversary by reflecting on the agency’s milestones and acknowledging the “challenging start” caused by the Trump administration’s 2025 layoff of roughly 3,500 FDA employees. He highlighted progress across drug approvals, safety initiatives, and...
HCA Houston Healthcare Hospital Taps New CFO
HCA Houston Healthcare Tomball announced Francis Tezanos as its new chief financial officer, effective Jan. 12. The 350‑bed facility, part of the Nashville‑based HCA Healthcare system, expects Tezanos to steer budgeting, revenue‑cycle management and strategic financial planning. Previously, he served as...
How the $100K H-1B Visa Fee Will Affect Hospitals: AHA
The Trump administration’s September executive order raised the H‑1B petition fee from roughly $3,500 to $100,000, targeting specialty‑occupation visas used by hospitals for physicians, nurses and technicians. The American Hospital Association (AHA) warns that the fee will deepen the current...
19 Health Systems Dropping Medicare Advantage Plans | 2026
Nineteen hospitals and health systems are terminating contracts with Medicare Advantage (MA) plans in 2026, citing chronic prior‑authorization denials and delayed reimbursements. The exits span major networks such as UnitedHealthcare, Humana, Aetna, and Anthem, affecting institutions from Mayo Clinic to...
Meta Gets Into Health Wearables with AI Glasses
Meta announced AI-powered smart glasses that now support prescription lenses and include a hands‑free food‑tracking feature. Users can log meals by speaking a command or snapping a photo, with the device extracting nutritional information and syncing it to the Meta...
UT Southwestern, Children’s Health Land $100M Gift for Dallas Pediatric Campus
UT Southwestern Medical Center and Children’s Health received a $100 million gift from the Stephens Greth Foundation to advance their $5 billion joint pediatric campus in Dallas. The campus, scheduled to open in 2031, will feature Moody Children’s Hospital with 552...
Could North Texas Become a Healthcare Innovation Hub Like Nashville?
North Texas is being positioned as the next healthcare‑innovation hub, drawing lessons from Nashville’s success. Nashville’s HCA family tree, Vanderbilt’s data assets, and venture firms like Frist Cressey have created a collaborative ecosystem that accelerates value‑based‑care startups. In Dallas, the...
Digital Heart Twins Can Guide a Lifesaving Procedure
Researchers at Johns Hopkins created patient‑specific digital heart twins that simulate electrical activity to plan ventricular tachycardia ablations. By converting high‑resolution MRI scans into 3‑D models, physicians could test virtual ablations and identify optimal targets before entering the operating room....
C.D.C. Pauses Testing for Rabies and Pox Viruses
The CDC announced it is temporarily suspending testing for rabies and pox viruses, including smallpox and mpox. The pause stems from a severe staffing shortage, with the rabies team reduced to a single expert and the pox‑virus team slated to...
Private Equity-Backed Cardiology Practice Adding New In-House Smart Lab Powered by AI
MyCardiologist, a private‑equity‑backed cardiology network in South Florida, has engaged Clinlab.AI to design and operate its first AI‑powered Smart Laboratory. The in‑house lab will be embedded within the practice’s nine locations, allowing real‑time, AI‑enhanced analysis of cardiac biomarkers and other tests....
Frequently Requested or Proactively Posted Drug-Specific and Other Records
The FDA has published a curated list of frequently requested and proactively released drug‑specific records, spanning from 2016 to 2026. The collection includes letters on hemp‑derived cannabidiol research, a tirzepatide injection shortage resolution, the JAYPIRCA approval package, and numerous REMS...
FDA Warns Patients and Health Care Professionals Not to Use Sterile Products From North American Custom Laboratories LLC, Dba FarmaKeio...
The FDA has issued a nationwide warning against using any drug products intended to be sterile that were compounded by North American Custom Laboratories LLC, operating as FarmaKeio Superior Custom Compounding. After an inspection uncovered conditions that could lead to...