Axios

A panel of Food and Drug Administration advisers on Friday unanimously endorsed an experimental Alzheimer's drug that's been shown to have modest success slowing the progression of the disease, clearing a hurdle for full agency approval.

Why it matters: Eisai and Biogen's Leqembi was found to delay cognitive decline by 27% over 18 months, but it has been plagued by safety concerns following three patient deaths during clinical trials.

Policy can have a big impact on where we die.

Case in point: A new JAMA Open Network study found that cancer patients in states with palliative care laws, which can require health care providers to tell patients about their end-of-life treatment options, were more likely to die in the comfort of their home or in hospice care rather than a hospital bed.

Nursing facilities that take Medicaid or Medicare could face increased exposure to negligence lawsuits in the aftermath of a Supreme Court ruling in a major patients' rights case.

Driving the news: Justices ruled 7-2 on Thursday that nursing home residents can bring civil rights actions against providers over alleged abuses.

A brain chemical essential to decision-making and managing stress is emerging as another indicator of why teen girls are bearing the worst of the youth mental health crisis.

Why it matters: The way stress physiologically affects brain development is under-researched, leaving it unclear if there are better ways to identify and treat groups facing increased rates of suicidal behavior, sexual assault and depression.

The Biden administration on Thursday announced a 10-year experiment aimed at improving the way Medicare and Medicaid pay for primary care.

Why it matters: The effort, dubbed the Making Care Primary Model, will ease safety-net and independent primary care providers — including federally qualified health centers — into getting paid for the value of services they provide, rather than the volume.

The family of a nursing home resident on Medicaid has a right to bring a civil rights suit against the state-owned facility over his care, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday in a closely watched patients' rights case.

Why it matters: The 7-2 decision in Health and Hospital Corp. v. Talevski addressed whether people in safety net programs can go to court if health care and other essential benefits are threatened.

Hazardous smoke from Canada's wildfires that has triggered air quality alerts across the East Coast this week was lingering in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Thursday.

Why it matters: Wildfire smoke, when present in high concentrations at ground level, can cause serious health complications, especially for elderly populations and people with heart ailments or asthma.

Summers have gotten hotter in many cities across the U.S. over the past five decades, per a new analysis by climate research group Climate Central.

• Between 1970 and 2022, summer temperatures rose by 2.4°F on average across nearly 230 locations — 95% of the locations the group analyzed.

Pharmacies that carved out new lines of business during the pandemic are pushing to expand their reach amid a broader effort to rethink the health care consumer experience.

Why it matters: Pharmacies got paid to deliver vaccines, tests, and treatments for COVID during the pandemic.

As anxiety disorder diagnoses surged in kids and young adults between 2006 and 2018, doctors were more likely to opt for drug treatments over therapy, a new study in Pediatrics found.

Why it matters: Federal health agencies like the CDC and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration recommend a combination of the two, but cost and health workforce barriers strain access to adequate treatment.

The Federal Trade Commission put North Carolina lawmakers on notice about encouraging health care consolidation, stating its opposition to a state Senate bill that would exempt the University of North Carolina health system from federal and state antitrust laws.

Why it matters: It's more evidence of Biden administration scrutiny on health care mergers and anticompetitive behavior.