New Drug Protects Against Life-Threatening Pancreatitis
A new RNA‑based drug, plozasiran, received its first clinical validation for a rare inherited disorder that causes extreme blood‑fat accumulation and recurrent acute pancreatitis. In the PALISADE trial, a single injection every three months lowered the risk of pancreatitis by 83% among 75 participants. The therapy works by silencing a liver‑specific gene that impairs fat clearance, offering a disease‑modifying approach rather than symptom management. Plozasiran also avoided the platelet‑count side effects that plagued earlier treatments, marking a safety breakthrough for patients who must restrict dietary fat to under 20 grams daily.
This Pill May Help Pancreatic Cancer Patients Live Longer
Revolution Medicines announced that its RAS‑blocking pill daraxonrasib more than doubled median overall survival for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer, extending it to 13.2 months versus 6.7 months on chemotherapy. The data will support an expedited FDA filing, and the...
The Racist Patient, Revisited
Fifteen years after a resident’s essay about a racist patient went viral, health systems are finally naming and policing discriminatory behavior in clinical settings. Major institutions such as Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, Mass General Brigham and UCSF have introduced policies,...
Attention Turns To UnitedHealth Earnings For Signs Of Insurer Rebound
UnitedHealth Group is set to release its first‑quarter earnings, offering the market a first look at how the nation’s largest health insurer is coping with soaring medical costs. Industry medical loss ratios have surged above 90%, far higher than the...
Why Sex Exists
Sex persists because it not only generates genetic diversity but also purges harmful mutations that accumulate in somatic and germ cells. Serial cloning experiments in mice showed a steady decline in fertility and viability, culminating in failure after about 58...
A Novel Approach To The Treatment Of Antibiotic Resistant Infections
Researchers have engineered microscopic, cell‑like particles that hunt drug‑resistant bacteria while sparing healthy microbes. The particles use protein‑based recognition to bind unique bacterial markers and deliver toxic proteins or bactericidal chemicals in a two‑step process. Laboratory tests showed a single...
Democrat-Leaning Plan Takes Aim At Health Insurers With Proposed New Regulations
The Center for American Progress unveiled a "Patient Bill of Rights" that seeks to curb health‑insurance costs by imposing per‑enrollee profit caps, breaking up insurer conglomerates, and replacing prior‑authorization with evidence‑based clinical reviews. The plan also proposes capping hospital charges...
Trump Administration Weighs Default Medicare Advantage Plans For Seniors
The Trump administration is moving to make Medicare Advantage the default Medicare option for seniors, backed by a 2.48% payment increase for 2027 that adds roughly $13 billion to federal reimbursements and a 5.1% boost for 2026 worth $25 billion. Regulatory changes...
An AI System Passed Peer Review. The Scientific Community Isn’t Ready
A team from Sakana AI, Oxford and the University of British Columbia built an AI system that can generate research ideas, conduct experiments, write papers and even submit them for peer review. Three AI‑generated manuscripts were entered into an ICLR...
Prior Authorization Reform Is Here — And It Could Change How Millions Get Care
CMS has rolled out its first major prior‑authorization reform in decades, mandating 72‑hour turnaround for urgent and seven‑day for standard non‑drug requests in Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, CHIP and ACA plans. A new proposal extends those deadlines to prescription drugs, requiring...
The More We Add To U.S. Healthcare, The Worse It Gets
U.S. healthcare is spiraling because providers respond to demand by adding staff, beds, and bureaucracy instead of redesigning care delivery. The article argues that subtraction—through economies of scale in outpatient groups and severity‑based segmentation in inpatient settings—can lower costs and...
CDC Delays Reporting Of COVID-19 Vaccine Benefits—Here’s What To Know
The CDC’s acting director, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, postponed a March 19 report that found COVID‑19 vaccination cut hospitalizations by 55% and emergency‑room visits by 50% among healthy adults. The delay stems from questions about the study’s test‑negative design, a method...
This Startup Wants To Use AI To Help Digitize History
Historiq, founded by Dean Serrentino, launched Una, an AI‑driven platform that lets archivists dictate observations while scanning documents, dramatically speeding up cataloging. The system creates draft metadata that archivists review, preserving human oversight. Historiq secured $1.25 million in seed funding from...
America’s Healthcare Innovation Problem
The article argues that U.S. healthcare innovation suffers from a culture that declares success too early and hides failure, using examples from Medicare Advantage and the Theranos scandal. It highlights how funding, valuations, and hype often replace rigorous outcome evaluation,...
Why Cleveland Clinic Chose This AI Startup To Rewire Key Healthcare Operations
Cleveland Clinic has teamed with San Francisco AI startup Luminai to automate its complex referral workflow, a high‑volume administrative task that still relies on faxed documents. Luminai, fresh from a $38 million Series B that brings its total capital to about $60 million, is...
