A preliminary Food and Drug Administration review found no evidence linking a class of blockbuster obesity drugs to suicidal thoughts or actions, the agency said on Thursday.
Why it matters: It's the second such finding from U.S. health officials in a week, after a study of more than 240,000 patients' health records found people taking diabetes and weight-loss drugs including Wegovy and Ozempic had a lower risk of suicidal thoughts than people taking other drugs for those conditions.
Nearly 10,000 people died from COVID-19 in December, fueled by holiday gatherings, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.
The big picture: The JN.1 variant has been the dominant COVID variant, and its rise suggests it's either more transmissible or better at dodging immune systems than other strains that are floating around.
Harbor Health, an Austin, Texas-based primary and specialty clinic group, raised $95.5 million in new venture capital funding led by General Catalyst.
Why it matters: That's a lot of dough for a primary care business operating in one state, even if it quadrupled to eight locations last year, which suggests some synergies with General Catalyst's recent announcement that it will acquire a health system (i.e., hospital).
As state legislatures get back to work across the country, state policymakers are eying measures to bolster their burned-out health care workforces, make prescription drugs more affordable and reform their Medicaid programs.
Why it matters: Policymaking in Washington tends to slow down in a presidential election year, and the current Congress — so far the least productive in decades — has struggled to advance even bipartisan health measures.
The American Red Cross is facing an "emergency blood shortage" as it experiences the lowest number of people giving blood in two decades.
The big picture: It's not the first time the nation's largest blood supplier has warned of a dangerously low supply, which can have devastating consequences.
Hospitals continued to shake off the pandemic's long-term financial effects as the holidays approached, with key metrics like inpatient and outpatient revenue rising year-over-year, the latest Kaufman Hall report finds.
The big picture: The severity of illness at more than 1,300 facilities in Kaufman's analysis returned to more normal levels in November, with the average length of patient stay down 6% year-over-year.
Congress is once again being urgedto reverse a cut to physicians' Medicare payments, prompting calls for a broader overhaul of how the program reimburses doctors.
Why it matters: Congress is still stuck in an annual dance of being pressured to increase physician payments, even after Washington nearly a decade ago put an end to the despised "doc fix" that forced lawmakers to regularly forestall deep cuts.
