The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday filed suit against private equity firm Welsh Carson Anderson & Stowe (WCAS), accusing it of suppressing competition and driving up prices for anesthesiology services in Texas.
Why it matters: This could be the tip of an antitrust spear aimed at private equity, after decades of avoidance.
The country's worseningmaternal health crisis is driving interest in supporting doula care as other parts of the health system caring for pregnant patients face greater strain.
Why it matters: New community-based programs, investments by big national companies and new legislation indicate a broader recognition that doulas and the support services they provide could play a greater role in making pregnancy less dangerous, particularly for women of color.
A 96-year-old federal appeals court judge was suspended from hearing cases on Wednesday after she refused to comply with an order to undergo neurological tests over concerns that she's not mentally fit to serve on the bench.
The big picture: The Judicial Council's unanimous order to suspend D.C. Judge Pauline Newman for one year comes as the issue of age and capacity to serve has come to the fore in all three branches of government in recent weeks, with calls for imposing age limits and giving older politicians mental competency tests.
It's been nearly three years since the collapse of Intarcia, a diabetes-focused biotech that had burned through around $2 billion from venture capitalists.
Tomorrow may mark the beginning of its unlikely revival.
Why it matters: More than 30 million Americans have Type 2 diabetes, according to the CDC.
Boston, Minneapolis-St. Paul and San Francisco are among the U.S. hubs where medical device industries are thriving, according to a new report from commercial real estate firm JLL.
Why it matters: While life sciences more broadly have seen shrinking demand for lab space amid a slowdown in investment and hiring, medical devices and medical technologies have emerged as a bright spot, JLL's Life Sciences Industry and Real Estate Perspective shows.
A new analysis finds more than 25% of Medicare Advantage television ads last year used images evoking government Medicare cards — a tactic that's now forbidden under a federal crackdown on misleading advertising in the program.
Why it matters: The fall advertising blitz for Medicare Advantage may look quite different this year because of stricter marketing rules from the Biden administration, the new KFF report indicates.
A new program from Google's artificial intelligence lab DeepMind aims to tackle one of the toughest problems in genetics: sifting through the millions of variations in the human genome to predict those that ultimately cause disease.
Why it matters: The effort could help researchers more quickly zero in on the genes responsible for diseases — especially for rare ones — and identify promising new targets for drug development. But similar tools haven't been widely used, and it would need extensive testing before it could be deployed in medical practice.
Two of the country's biggest unions have joined a coalition calling on federal regulators to protect workers' mental health the way they enforce standards for physical health and safety.
Why it matters: The press comes amid widespread post-pandemic burnout, growing awareness of the country's worsening mental health and some of the strongest pro-union sentiment in decades.
