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☆ WeightWatchers stock surges 70% after company agrees to buy obesity treatment platform
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Shares of WW International , also known as WeightWatchers, skyrocketed Tuesday after the company said it planned to buy Sequence, a telehealth platform that provides treatment for obesity. Shares of the company were down 57% over the past year as it struggled to pivot to wellness and move away from weight loss. Sistani took over as chief executive at the end of February, steering the company back toward weight loss messaging. The Sequence announcement comes as companies across the weight loss industry look to offer obesity medications as a pathway to customers looking to shed pounds. The trend has led to a shortage in medications like Ozempic, which are commonly prescribed for Type 2 diabetes.

☆ Stock futures are flat as Wall Street awaits Fed Chair Powell's comments: Live updates
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. stock futures were little changed on Monday night as traders await Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's latest comments on the state of the economy. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose by 11 points, or 0.03%. S&P 500 futures gained 0.06%, while Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 0.06%. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect a decline of 0.4%, compared to a rise of 0.1% in the prior reading. Consumer credit data expected Tuesday afternoon is forecasted to show a rise of $22 billion in January, according to consensus estimates from Dow Jones.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: WW International, KeyCorp and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

WW International — Shares jumped more than 6% after WW International, also known as WeightWatchers, said it's acquiring Sequence, a subscription telehealth platform with a focus on chronic weight management, for a net purchase price of $106 million. The deal marks WeightWatchers' foray into a world of clientele who are taking chronic weight management medications, such as glucagon-like peptide 1s. Separately, WW International announced its fourth-quarter and full-year results. Earlier, a CNBC reported that Norfolk Southern is planning to make broad safety adjustments after its third train derailment. KeyCorp — Shares fell about 2% after KeyCorp issued full-year net interest income guidance that was lower than prior guidance, according to an 8-K filing on Monday.

☆ Walmart to nearly double its U.S. health center locations in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, March 2 (Reuters) - U.S. retailer Walmart Inc (WMT.N) said on Thursday it would open 28 new healthcare centers in the United States next year, including its first ones in Missouri and Arizona. By the end of 2024, the nation's largest retailer by revenue will have more than 75 Walmart Health centers across the United States, it said in a statement. Located inside Walmart Supercenters, the new Health centers will cover about 5,750 square feet and offer services including primary care, dental care, behavioral health, labs and X-ray, audiology and telehealth. The company operated 32 Walmart Health care centers at the end of 2022 and plans to open 17 more this year. Walmart will open the first of the new Health centers in the first quarter of 2024, and end the year with 10 locations in Dallas, eight in Houston, six in Phoenix and four in Kansas City, it said.

☆ Why GoodRx is emailing customers about sharing their health information
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —GoodRx customers who typically receive emails about prescription drug deals and refill reminders from the company saw something very different in their inboxes this week. GoodRX sent a notice to users detailing allegations from the Federal Trade Commission that the company shared sensitive health data with third parties for advertising purposes without customers’ permission. “This information included details about drug and health conditions people searched and their prescription medications,” the company wrote in the notice e-mailed to customers and posted on its website. In some cases, GoodRx used the information to target people with health-related ads.”The alert comes a month after the FTC announced a formal settlement with the digital health platform and issued a “first-of-its-kind proposed order” prohibiting the company from sharing health data from its customers with other companies for advertising. Users took to social media to voice concern about the e-mail, with some wondering how much money the firm might have made from their health data and others swearing off using the service.

☆ FTC bans online mental health company BetterHelp from sharing user data for targeted ads, as federal crackdowns on info misuse intensify
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The FTC announced a settlement with BetterHelp over allegations of sharing user data with third parties. BetterHelp will be banned from sharing the data with outside parties for advertising, and pay $7.8 million in partial refunds. Users who signed up from August 2017 through 2020 may have had their data improperly shared, per the FTC. He continued: "Instead, BetterHelp betrayed consumers' most personal health information for profit. The company was similarly banned from sharing the health information of its users with advertisers, and agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine.

☆ Where Restrictions on Abortion Pills Could Matter Most
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Allison Mccann | Amy Schoenfeld Walker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +10 min

Abortion providers in the United States A United States map shows the location of abortion providers in states without abortion bans. total abortions Medication abortions 71,700 61,500 58% 37,500 32,100 28,800 29,500 41% 61% 60% 51% 52% Florida New York Georgia Pa. Mich. N.C. N.J. Ohio Wash. Mass. Some ways the ruling could affect the availability of abortion pills A flowchart shows possible outcomes from a judge’s ruling and highlights how abortion pills could remain available under some scenarios. Even if the judge rules in favor of the plaintiffs, abortion pills could remain available. The foundation’s Wichita, Kansas, clinic sees more than 500 patients a month, many from Texas, and 60 percent choose abortion pills.

☆ Healthcare CEO Faces Charges of Making Illicit Stock Sales in Prearranged Trades
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Dave Michaels | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The founder of telehealth provider Ontrak Inc. was charged in a first-of-its-kind criminal insider-trading case, with prosecutors alleging he sold millions of dollars worth of stock while misusing a trading plan that executives normally deploy to shield themselves from such suspicions. Ontrak Chief Executive Terren Peizer set up the prearranged trading plans in May and August 2021, just before his company disclosed the loss of health insurer Cigna Corp. as a major customer, according to a federal grand-jury indictment unsealed Wednesday. Mr. Peizer sold about 641,000 shares of Ontrak stock when he was aware of the undisclosed bad news, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which also sued him. When Ontrak revealed on Aug. 19, 2021—three days after he began trading—that Cigna cut ties with Ontrak, the stock dropped 45%.

☆ Cerebral to Cut 15% of Staff in Fresh Round of Layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Joseph Pisani | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Cerebral didn’t say how many jobs would be cut in its latest round of layoffs. Cerebral Inc. is cutting 15% of its workforce, the latest round of layoffs at the telehealth startup. The layoffs are part of Cerebral’s yearlong plan to reorganize the company and focus on the services patients want, a spokesman for the company said Monday. The spokesman didn’t say how many jobs would be cut, or what areas would be affected. The layoffs were earlier reported by Business Insider.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Norwegian Cruise Line, Target, Advance Auto Parts and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Pia Singh | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Hims & Hers Health — Shares of the telehealth stock soared by 17% after the company reported quarterly results that surpassed estimates. However, Target's full-year earnings guidance came in below expectations. Zoom's full-year revenue guidance came in lighter than expected, but topped estimates on its earnings guidance for 2023. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings — The cruise company fell 12% after reporting a wider-than-expected loss for the fourth quarter. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv had forecast an 85 cents per share loss on revenue of $1.5 billion.

☆ Stocks making the biggest premarket moves: Dish, Target, Zoom, Arconic and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Check out the companies making the biggest moves in premarket trading:Dish Network — The satellite company's shares fell almost 5% amid its multi-day service outage and double-downgrade from Bank of America. Revenue also beat, but Target's full-year EPS guidance came in below expectations. Arconic — Shares fell 3.5% following a downgrade to sell from neutral by Goldman Sachs. Full-year revenue guidance came in lighter than expected, but its earnings guidance topped estimates. Workday — The human resources software fell 2.4% after its revenue guidance for the first quarter came in lighter than expected.

A nationwide shortage of Adderall has left many patients struggling to manage their attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, better known as ADHD. But finger-pointing does little to help the many who depend on consistent access to ADHD medications. As one might imagine, these trends have vastly increased demand for the stimulant medications used to treat ADHD, including Adderall. There's no denying that skyrocketing demand for Adderall combined with manufacturing delays at Teva, one of the drug's biggest producers, are partly responsible for the current shortage. In order to set such quotas, the DEA must estimate how much Adderall American patients will require the following year.

☆ Adderall, OxyContin Prescriptions to Require In-Person Doctor Visit Under Biden Plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Liz Essley Whyte | Rolfe Winkler | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The ban on first-time online prescriptions for drugs such as Adderall was influenced by improper prescribing during the pandemic, the DEA said. The Biden administration proposed tighter rules for the online prescription of drugs including Adderall and buprenorphine, shrinking the scope of telehealth services that expanded dramatically during the pandemic. The Drug Enforcement Administration on Friday said the telehealth restrictions would take effect after the Covid-19 public-health emergency ends on May 11. The proposed changes affect prescriptions for drugs classified as controlled substances because of their potential for abuse.

☆ Inside California's tiny-home takeover
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

For the state with the most dire housing shortage, the move could be a game changer — eventually. As the US grapples with a massive housing shortage, one possible solution is playing out in California right now — and the state may have struck gold. Oregon, Maine, and Nebraska, as well as cities like Miami, have enacted laws similar to California's. There's been opposition to ADUs from homeowners worried about the density of their neighborhoods and sometimes the aesthetics of the structures. Ultimately, the housing shortage could be alleviated, she said.

☆ Premarket stocks: It's bulls vs. hawks on Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

New York CNN —There’s a new tussle brewing in the animal kingdom of Wall Street: Hawks vs. Bulls. The question is, will the Fed be able to break through and convince Wall Street to finally give in to market pessimism? “Setting aside what financial market participants expected us to do, I saw a compelling economic case for a 50 basis-point increase,” she said at an event in Florida. Asda told CNN that it was temporarily limiting purchases of some items to three packs per customer. Morrisons told CNN that it had imposed a cap of two packs per customer on the same products.

☆ Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls: Tesla, Apple, Intel, Teladoc, Nvidia, Salesforce & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Bank of America reiterates Target as neutral Bank of America said it sees "modest upside" at current levels. Bank of America downgrades Lucid Group to neutral from buy Bank of America said it's concerned about slowing demand for the luxury vehicle company. Bank of America reiterates Nvidia as buy Bank of America said Nvidia remains "best-in-class" after its earnings report on Wednesday. Bank of America reiterates CVS as buy Bank of America said it sees "significant free cash flow generation potential" for CVS. Goldman Sachs upgrades Nvidia to buy from neutral Goldman upgraded Nvidia after its "impressive" earnings report on Wednesday.

☆ FTC won’t block Amazon acquisition of One Medical, but scrutiny of the deal is not over
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The One Medical deal would also allow Amazon to expand its telehealth services and acquire valuable relationships with hospital systems, industry analysts have said. But while Amazon can consummate the deal without the immediate threat of an FTC antitrust suit, the agency is still investigating the acquisition. “The FTC’s investigation of Amazon’s acquisition of One Medical continues,” said FTC spokesman Douglas Farrar. The FTC plans to warn Amazon it may close the deal at its own risk, an agency official said. Amazon’s deal to acquire One Medical follows its 2018 purchase of the online pharmacy service PillPack, which later became Amazon Pharmacy.

In addition to his annual exam, my dog is at the vet at least once a quarter for allergy shots and other ailments. But, as I weighed the costs and benefits, I wondered how often most dogs need to see the vet. Puppies and older dogs need extra careJust like young and old humans, puppies and senior dogs need more frequent check-ins. The good news is monitoring blood work and urine analysis twice a year can help your vet keep your older dog healthy. If you're on the fence about whether your dog needs an exam, you can call your vet for their opinion.

☆ The Covid emergency in the U.S. ends May 11. HHS officials say here's what to expect
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Liao Pan | China News Service | Getty ImagesThe Health and Human Services Department on Thursday laid out what will change and will remain the same when the three-year-long Covid public health emergency ends in May. HHS officials in call with reporters laid out what the the public can expect when the emergency ends. Immediate changes:People with private health insurance may have to pay for Covid tests, both over-the-counter and lab, depending on their plan. These protections were once tied to the public health emergency, but Congress then decided to phase them out separately. In short, states can start kicking people off Medicaid as early as April if they no longer meet eligibility requirements for the public health insurance program.

☆ I'm a virtual therapist who booked $350,000 in revenue last year. Here's how I built my business with patients, coaching clients, and social media.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Alexandra York | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Kelly McKenna started her own virtual therapy practice in February 2021. Her longing for customer connection and her experience with telehealth prompted McKenna to launch a virtual therapy practice in February 2021 called Sit With Kelly. The telehealth industry grew in popularity during the pandemic, and virtual therapy and mental-health services saw substantial increases. There has never been a better time to start a virtual practice, McKenna said. The course comes in three tiers, which focus on specific aspects of running a virtual business.

☆ Amazon to start charging delivery fees on Fresh grocery orders under $150
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Amazon will start charging delivery fees for Fresh grocery orders that are less than $150, in a move it said will help keep prices low on its services. Beginning Feb. 28, Prime members who want home delivery from Amazon Fresh will incur a $9.95 delivery fee for orders below $50, while orders between $50 and $100 will include a $6.95 delivery fee, and orders between $100 and $150 will have a $3.95 delivery fee, the company said in a note to customers viewed by CNBC. Only Prime members can use the Amazon Fresh delivery service, although anybody can shop at an Amazon Fresh grocery store. Amazon previously guaranteed members of its $139-a-year Prime service free delivery on Fresh orders over $35. In 2021, Amazon added a $10 service fee for Whole Foods delivery orders to Prime members, after previously offering them for no extra charge.

☆ Ketamine is being sold as a depression wonder drug. For some, it's making everything worse.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Anna Silman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +42 min

The infusions at the ketamine clinic in his West Texas hometown were a Christmas gift from his grandmother. About five years ago, more and more of my friends started using ketamine recreationally. IV ketamine treatment centers charging $400 to $2,000 an infusion popped up all over the country. "Ketamine used as directed in an appropriate clinical setting very rarely leads to any dependence," Mindbloom says on its website. Like Nadia, most of the people I interviewed said when they started using ketamine, they didn't think it was possible to become dependent on it.

Jan 24 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) said on Tuesday it is offering a $5 monthly subscription plan for U.S. Prime members that will cover a range of generic drugs and their doorstep delivery, furthering the ecommerce giant's push into healthcare. The program, named RxPass, includes more than 50 medications addressing over 80 chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, anxiety, diabetes and male pattern baldness, Vin Gupta, Amazon Pharmacy's chief medical officer, told Reuters. However, customers enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid or any other government healthcare program will not be able to enroll in Amazon Pharmacy's RxPass service. The average Prime member would save about $100 per year with RxPass, John Love, vice president of Amazon Pharmacy, said in an interview. Amazon Prime members in most U.S. states can sign up for the program from Tuesday.

☆ Amazon adds generic prescription perk for Prime members
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Amazon Pharmacy home screen on a laptop computer arranged in the Brooklyn Borough of New York, U.S., on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020. Amazon on Tuesday announced a new prescription perk for U.S. Prime members, hoping to boost subscriptions and attract users to its pharmacy service. Amazon introduced, then shuttered, a telehealth service called Amazon Care, and announced in July it would acquire boutique primary care provider One Medical. Amazon also offers a Prime prescription savings benefit, which offers a discount of up to 80% on generic medications and up to 40% on brand-name prescriptions. An August report from Morgan Stanley found Amazon Pharmacy didn't rank as a top perk for Prime members, based on a survey of users, according to Business Insider.

☆ Chewy's push into pet telehealth runs into regulatory hurdles, skeptical veterinarians
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Gabrielle Fonrouge | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Longtime veterinarians told CNBC the service can have some benefit for minor situations, or for people who don't have easy access to vet care. Because when you research pet health, you'll find that there's a specific term called VCPR," Singh said. Banfield Pet Hospital is owned by Mars Veterinary Health, a subsidiary of pet food and candy conglomerate Mars. "If you notice, there has been little to no innovation in pet health over the last decade, and yet in the last three years, there's been more innovation in pet health than in the last decade or 20 years," Singh said. Michael Nagle | Getty ImagesChewy said the program was created to make vet care more affordable and accessible to everyone.

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