The Biden administration is planning a major revamp of the nation's organ transplant system — including looking to break up the system that historically allocated kidneys, livers and other organs to patients.
The Biden administration on Tuesday rejected a request to use march-in rights to break the patent of the prostate cancer drug Xtandi as a way to lower the price.
Why it matters: The move is sure to lead to progressive pushback on the Hill.
Republicans itching to probe the pandemic response are already struggling to separate vaccine-related questions that could yield lessons learned from ones that echo theories experts say are debunked by reams of data.
Why it matters: Americans' trust in public health institutions has been shattered over the last few years. Scientists warn that although there's a lot that can be learned from good-faith inquiries, there's nothing positive that can come from using public health to score political points.
Nonprofit and public hospitals charged commercially insured patients up to 25% morefor brain scans with an MRI than for-profit facilities, a new JAMA analysis found.
Why it matters: It's one of the first comparisons using data from a Trump-era hospital price transparency law to show variations in what facilities negotiate with insurers for common services.
The Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday night it's stepping up efforts to combat fentanyl trafficking across the Southern border with the launch of a major new, multi-agency operation.
Driving the news: "Operation Blue Lotus" has already "stopped more than 900 pounds of fentanyl from coming into the United States in its first week," per a DHS statement.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Tuesday that the state constitution guarantees a "limited right" to abortion, including in cases where there is a "reasonable" certainty pregnancy threatens a person's life.
Why it matters: Abortion providers filed a lawsuit last year challenging two laws in the state, a pre-Roe ban and another one that the governor signed into law in 2022. The court ultimately ruled that the 2022 ban interfered with the "inherent right to terminate a pregnancy to preserve the woman's life."
Supplies of some essential drugs used in hospitals are hitting 10-year lows, forcing rationing and pharmacy workarounds.
Driving the news: Drug shortages are the worst they've been in a decade, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists — a sign of how much we rely on low-margin manufacturers with limited capacity for basics like the inhalation drug albuterol and some common cancer treatments.
An emerging fungal infection that can prove fatal in communal health settings spread further and became more drug-resistant during the pandemic, a Centers for Disease Control review of surveillance data found.
Why it matters: The timing suggests the spread ofCandida auriscould have been exacerbated by COVID-related stresses like staff and equipment shortages, increased antimicrobial use and changes in patient movement.
Missouri on Monday became the latest conservative state to attempt to bar trans youth from gender affirming care.
Driving the news: Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced that his office is issuing an emergency regulation "clarifying that, because gender transition interventions are experimental," they are prohibited under state law.
