Healthcare News and Headlines
Healthcare News and Headlines
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 primary care, OB‑GYN, psychiatry and medication‑assisted services. By completing 80% of the build off‑site, the project shrinks construction timelines from up to three years to as little as one. The clinics are slated to open by late 2026, offering a replicable model for rapid, cost‑conscious care in underserved California regions.
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...
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...
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,...
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, 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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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....
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...
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...
JenaValve received FDA clearance for its Trilogy Transcatheter Heart Valve System, marking the first TAVR device expressly approved to treat symptomatic, severe aortic regurgitation (AR). The approval follows the ALIGN‑AR trial, which demonstrated the valve’s safety and efficacy in a...
At DevSparks 2026, Partex.AI unveiled a sovereign healthcare foundation model that combines federated learning, knowledge graphs, and agentic AI to analyze fragmented medical data without moving patient records. The architecture keeps data on‑site, sharing only encrypted model updates, while knowledge...
Mass General Brigham Health Plan partnered with mPulse to launch an interactive wellness hub for commercial, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and dual‑eligible members. The platform uses predictive analytics to deliver personalized nutrition, activity, sleep and stress‑management tools through audio, visual and...
UniQure’s experimental gene‑therapy for Huntington’s disease, which previously reported a 75% slowdown in disease progression, has received a third consecutive rejection from the FDA. The trial’s lead investigator, Ed Wild of University College London, praised the early data but warned...
Alabama lawmakers are advancing HB 269 and its companion HB 400 to overhaul ambulance reimbursement rates and allow "treat‑in‑place" billing, aiming to keep rural EMS providers financially viable. The measures respond to an "ambulance desert" landscape where response times can exceed an...
Basecamp Research, an AI‑focused biotech startup backed by Microsoft and Nvidia, announced a trillion‑gene sequencing initiative. The company aims to collect genetic sequences for over a trillion proteins within the next two years. Leveraging high‑performance cloud computing and advanced generative‑AI...
In early March 2026 four NHS trusts in Somerset and Dorset signed a £222 million federated contract with US‑based Epic to replace a patchwork of legacy electronic patient record (EPR) and patient‑administration systems. The deal unifies Epic’s platform across Somerset NHS...
Ionis Therapeutics announced that the primary completion date for its Phase 1/2a prion disease trial has been pushed to February 2027, extending the study timeline by more than two years. In parallel, Arvinas reported new biomarker data from its Parkinson’s disease program,...
Incoming ACC President Roxana Mehran discusses the upcoming 2026 ACC meeting in New Orleans on the Rox Heart Radio podcast. She outlines her vision for the organization, emphasizing data‑driven leadership, patient‑centered outcomes, and broader member engagement. The episode highlights strategic...
Structure Therapeutics reported a 16.3% weight loss after 44 weeks in a Phase 2 trial of its oral GLP‑1 pill, positioning it as a competitive alternative to Eli Lilly’s and Novo Nordisk’s candidates. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals disclosed that its obesity drug Imcivree failed in...
Crossbow Therapeutics, founded by biotech veteran Briggs Morrison, announced a $77 million Series B round to accelerate its off‑the‑shelf T‑cell engager platform. The funding, led by a mix of venture capital and strategic investors, will support the advancement of three preclinical candidates...
Aspen Neuroscience reported encouraging early data from a small autologous cell therapy trial for Parkinson's disease. The treatment, derived from each patient's own skin cells and reprogrammed into dopaminergic neurons, was safely implanted in twelve participants, showing graft survival and...
Tommy Macnally, now a recovery worker at Antidote, recounts his eight‑year descent into chemsex—a subculture of drug‑enhanced sex among GBMSM—followed by a painful but successful sobriety journey. National data show drug‑poisoning deaths are 2.8 times higher for LGBTQ+ people, with London...
The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) will begin delivering aligned guidance in June, enabling simultaneous licensing and reimbursement decisions for new medicines. Twenty‑seven companies have signed up...
Sanofi’s oral glucosylceramide synthase inhibitor venglustat has earned U.S. FDA breakthrough therapy designation for treating the neurological aspects of type 3 Gaucher disease. The designation follows the Phase III LEAP2MONO trial, which showed significant improvements in motor and cognitive scores compared with...
A new KFF analysis of the 2023 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey shows that just 5% of Americans accounted for nearly half of all health spending, with an average outlay of $72,918 per person. The top 1% spent about $150,467 annually....
Chinese biotech licensing activity surged in 2025, with 92 deals—a jump from 64 the prior year—and total deal value reaching a record $137.7 billion. The average upfront payment climbed from $102 million to $141 million, signaling that Chinese assets are no longer deep‑discount...
Johnson & Johnson received FDA clearance for Icotyde, the first oral daily pill for moderate‑to‑severe plaque psoriasis. The drug, originally called icotrokinra, is approved for patients aged 12 and older and is designed to replicate the efficacy of injectable biologics...
Public health officials confirmed a fatal meningococcal group B outbreak in Kent, highlighting a less‑targeted strain. The letter notes that vaccination coverage among university students has slipped since the COVID‑19 pandemic, increasing vulnerability in high‑density campuses. It urges routine provision of...
Myriad Genetics announced FDA approval of its MyChoice CDx test as a companion diagnostic for GSK’s Zejula (niraparib) in advanced ovarian cancer. The clearance follows the PRIMA trial, which showed that patients identified as HRD‑positive derived significant benefit from Zejula...
Researchers have engineered microscopic capsules made from red blood cell membranes that encase single, healthy mitochondria and can be injected into animals. In mouse models of Parkinson‑like disease and Leigh syndrome, the capsules restored neuronal function, improved motor activity, and...
Samsung Bioepis and Sandoz have signed a global license, development and commercialization agreement covering up to five biosimilar candidates, including the preclinical SB36 biosimilar to Entyvio (vedolizumab). Samsung Bioepis will manage development, manufacturing and regulatory submissions, while Sandoz will handle...
Medicare’s Acute Hospital Care at Home waiver has been extended through September 2030, giving hospitals a decade‑long runway to expand home‑based acute care. As of September 2025, 419 hospitals in 39 states are authorized, treating conditions such as pneumonia, heart‑failure,...
A junior doctor at age 25 was diagnosed with an aggressive stage‑II sarcoma after her initial request for imaging was denied because her symptoms did not fit classic cancer criteria. The delay highlighted how strict adherence to typical presentation guidelines...
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied dismissal motions by AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Novartis and Sanofi, allowing a whistleblower False Claims Act suit over alleged 340B program overcharges to proceed. The lawsuit, filed by Adventist Health System/West, claims the manufacturers...
Kansas Senate Bill 409, which would mandate insurers to cover supplemental breast imaging after mammography, failed to advance as the legislative session progressed. Insurer Blue Cross and business groups such as the Kansas Chamber of Commerce opposed the bill, labeling...
Malaysia’s medical tourism could gain patients from the Middle East as the Iran‑Israel conflict makes Dubai’s medical hub unsafe. Sunway Healthcare’s president warned that regional travelers may seek temporary stays in Southeast Asia, especially Malaysia. Revenue from medical tourists rose...
Rep. Linda T. Sánchez and Sen. Mark Warner have re‑introduced the Hospice CARE Act, aiming to modernize the Medicare hospice benefit while tightening program integrity. The legislation proposes a moratorium on new hospice enrollment, enhanced transparency of ownership, and higher...
The University Hospitals of Leicester (UHL) and University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN) have become the first NHS trusts to jointly deploy AI‑powered Ambient Voice Technology (AVT) through Accurx Scribe. The rollout will equip more than 10,000 clinicians with voice‑captured scribing...
