The Veterans Health Administration said Monday that it intends to pay for a $26,500-a-year experimental Alzheimer's drug that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has to date declined to cover.
The big picture: Eisai's Leqembi received accelerated approval from the FDA earlier this year after data suggested that it could slow the progression of the disease. However, Medicare administrators said they need to evaluate more data before deciding whether to change coverage guidelines for the drug and others in its class.
Black babies experienced an unexpected jump in unexplained deaths in 2020 despite a record-low infant mortality rate, according to a study published Monday in the medical journal Pediatrics.
The big picture: The findings, stemming from research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, highlight a further increase to preexisting disparities in infant deaths and but the exact cause for the spike is unknown.
States around the nation are eyeing measures to curb the availability of products derived from hemp known as delta-8 THC due to concerns about consumption by kids.
Driving the news: There are proposed measures in Kentucky, Louisiana, Texas, Arizona and Virginia aimed at closing a loophole in hemp sales that allows the sale of products with the THC-containing compound.
Digital health and biotech firms made up a substantial part of Silicon Valley Bank's client base. And its historic failure is raising troubling questions about how much the fallout will hurt emerging health companies in need of capital.
