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☆ How promising are new drugs to treat obesity?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Katia Hetter | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —The pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly announced last week that a medication developed to treat diabetes, tirzepatide, also had a substantial effect on reducing weight. Another pharmaceutical company, Novo Nordisk, manufactures the medication semaglutide, which the FDA has already approved to treat diabetes under the brand name Ozempic and to treat obesity under the brand name Wegovy. How promising are they to treat obesity? CNN: How promising are these drugs to treat obesity? It is really important to treat obesity as the disease that it is — and having effective medications to do so is crucial.

☆ Foods and drinks packaged for kids are higher in sugar and lower in nutrition, study shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Madeline Holcombe | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Products with marketing that appealed to children were higher in sugars and lower in all other nutrients, according to the study, published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One. The study looked at nearly 6,000 packaged foods to analyze their number of marketing strategies aimed at children and their nutritional information. “We are likely underestimating just how much marketing children are exposed to on food packages in real time — and packaging is just one of the ways that food companies target children with food marketing,” she said. And governments will need to step in to regulate companies’ ability to target children directly when marketing products that can harm their health, she added. Mulligan recommends talking to kids about how companies use marketing and how it might influence their choices.

☆ US Homeland Security secretary to visit border ahead of Title 42 lifting
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will travel to the Texas border with Mexico this week ahead of the lifting of Title 42, the department said in a statement on Wednesday. The trip comes as the COVID-19 health policy known as Title 42 is set to end on May 11 and the U.S. prepares for a possible subsequent spike in illegal border crossings. Reporting by Katharine JacksonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ US to continue humanitarian program after Title 42 end date - joint statement
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MEXICO CITY, May 2 (Reuters) - The United States will continue to accept migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela under a humanitarian program after May 11, when the COVID-19 health policy known as Title 42 is set to end, the U.S. and Mexican governments said on Tuesday. Mexico, for its part, will continue accepting back migrants returned to Mexico on humanitarian grounds, the two countries said in a joint statement. The statement also said the United States would accept some 100,000 people from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras under a family reunification program announced last week, but did not give a time frame for that number. The statement came after Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador met with White House Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall on Tuesday to discuss migration ahead Title 42's impending end. Tuesday's announcement indicates that a humanitarian parole program providing legal migration pathways for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans will continue after Title 42's end.

☆ Alzheimer’s patients may wait years to get treated with new drugs, putting them at risk of more severe disease
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +17 min

But time spent waiting robs early patients of their memory and ability to live independently. This condition is often, though not always, a sign of early Alzheimer's disease. PET scans cumbersomeTwo types of tests can diagnosis Alzheimer's disease: PET scans and spinal taps. Early Alzheimer's disease can also be diagnosed with a spinal tap, in which fluid around the spinal cord is extracted with a catheter and tested. He believes big players like CVS will provide infusions for Alzheimer's disease on a major scale if they see there's a large and stable market.

☆ A drug company abandoned a treatment for ‘bubble boy disease.’ After a 5-year fight, this little girl is about to get it
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Elizabeth Cohen Lauren Mascarenhas | Elizabeth Cohen | Lauren Mascarenhas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +29 min

The Sulacks weighed their options: Have a transplant with a match that was less than ideal – far less – or wait for gene therapy to become available. The news release didn’t say anything else about the SCID gene therapy. Or was the company abandoning its plans for SCID gene therapy altogether? In February, 2021, the parents of more than 20 children who were waiting for the gene therapy treatment, including the Sulacks, wrote a letter to Gaspar. Insurance companies have sometimes balked at paying for gene therapy, which is typically given in one treatment.

☆ 'It totally backfired': The pitfalls of Alzheimer's genetic testing
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Julie Steenhuysen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

CHICAGO, April 21 (Reuters) - Wendy Nelson watched her mother slowly die of Alzheimer's disease, unable to move or swallow at the end. When her father's memory began to fail a year later, one of her two sisters doubted it could be Alzheimer's, Nelson said. THE TESTING REVOLUTIONUntil recently, most doctors tended not to order genetic tests to determine Alzheimer's risk, because there were no effective treatments to slow or prevent the disease. US regulators recommend genetic testing before starting treatment with Leqembi. Some members of families with increased genetic risk of Alzheimer's say it might be better not to know at all.

☆ Recreational marijuana use: CNN medical analyst urges caution
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Katia Hetter | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Using marijuana can cause impaired thinking and interfere with someone’s ability to learn, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The trend toward legalizing marijuana must be accompanied by public education of the health risks, CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen said. To be clear, there are many reasons to support policy changes of decriminalizing marijuana, including to rectify the decades-long injustices of disproportionately incarcerating minority individuals for marijuana possession. As many as 3 in 10 people who use marijuana have marijuana use disorder, according to the CDC. If an adult is using marijuana once in a while, and not while driving, it’s probably not going to have lasting consequences.

☆ New study suggests Black women should be screened earlier for breast cancer
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Jacqueline Howard | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

CNN —A new study on breast cancer deaths raises questions around whether Black women should screen at earlier ages. Even though Black women have a 4% lower incidence rate of breast cancer than White women, they have a 40% higher breast cancer death rate. “When the breast cancer mortality rate for Black women in their 40s is 27 deaths per 100,000 person-years, this means 27 out of every 100,000 Black women aged 40-49 in the US die of breast cancer during one year of follow-up. They also wrote that health policy makers should pursue equity, not just equality, when it comes to breast cancer screening as a tool to help reduce breast cancer death rates. Having dense tissue in the breast can make it more difficult for radiologists to identify breast cancer on a mammogram, and women with dense breast tissue have a higher risk of breast cancer.

☆ Biden administration asks US Supreme Court to stop abortion pill limits
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Andrew Chung | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Danco Laboratories, the manufacturer of mifepristone, also asked the U.S. Supreme Court for similar relief on Friday. The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority. The administration said the lower court orders would have "sweeping consequences" for women who need access to mifepristone and the FDA's scientific judgment authority over drug safety. "The resulting disruption would deny women lawful access to a drug FDA deemed a safe and effective alternative to invasive surgical abortion," the Justice Department told the justices. Since last year's Supreme Court decision, 12 U.S. states have put in place outright bans while many others prohibit abortion after a certain length of pregnancy.

[1/4] A pack of birth control pills is displayed in this illustration picture taken in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 11, 2022. REUTERS/Hannah Beier/IllustrationApril 10 (Reuters) - Over 300 biotech and pharmaceutical industry executives, including Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) CEO Albert Bourla, signed an open letter on Monday calling for reversal of a federal judge's decision to suspend sales of the abortion pill mifepristone. Last week's ruling by Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk undermines the FDA's authority, the letter's authors wrote, adding that it ignores decades of scientific evidence and legal precedent. The ruling could open the possibility to the banning of vaccines and contraception for women, said Levin. "It's the single worst threat to the industry in over 50 years."

WASHINGTON, April 10 (Reuters) - A federal judge's decision last week to suspend the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval of abortion pill mifepristone could severely weaken the agency if allowed to stand, health policy and legal experts said. The FDA approved mifepristone, part of a two-drug regimen that accounts for more than half of U.S. abortions, over 20 years ago. Banning its sale calls into question the FDA's power to regulate all drugs nationwide, the experts said. The challenge was brought by a coalition of anti-abortion groups and doctors seeking withdrawal of the FDA's mifepristone approval before Kacsmaryk, who is himself a conservative former Christian activist. Plaintiffs are arguing that the FDA in its 2000 approval did not adequately consider the drug's safety when used by girls under age 18 to terminate a pregnancy.

☆ Healthcare, college education, and childcare started getting worse decades ago. Now we're all finally feeling it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Americans are accruing billions in debt to pay for things like education and healthcare. But that would require shifting the idea of childcare, education, and healthcare and thinking of them as public goods — not businesses. That ultimately meant millions in funding for public childcare. "If the US health system was a country, it would be about the fourth-largest country in the world," Cooper said. There's much less government involvement in the US healthcare system than in other countries, Cooper said.

Any impact on the FDA will depend on details of the judge's ruling in the case known as Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The challenge was brought by a coalition of anti-abortion groups and doctors seeking withdrawal of the FDA's mifepristone approval before U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the Northern District of Texas, a conservative former Christian activist. The court could order mifepristone pulled from the market while it considers a final ruling. It would call into question the entire drug approval process, said Laurie Sobel, associate director for Women's Health Policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation. 'SO MUCH UNCERTAINTY'The possibility of its approvals being overruled would likely see the FDA become more cautious, Lee said.

☆ The View from Washington
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThe View from WashingtonDr. Shah, noted health policy expert and global private equity investor, joins us for a wide-ranging conversation on what's to come from the FDA in 2023, drug pricing and the potential for a Medicare bailout. Plus, his take on the biotech investment landscape and the impact of SVB bank crisis on investors and startups.

☆ Elon Musk, WHO chief spar on Twitter over U.N. agency's role
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] SpaceX owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks during a conversation with game designer Todd Howard (not pictured) at the E3 gaming convention in Los Angeles, California, June 13, 2019. REUTERS/Mike BlakeGENEVA, March 23 (Reuters) - Twitter (TWTR.MX) CEO Elon Musk said on Thursday in a tweet that countries should not "cede authority" to the World Health Organization, and the U.N. health agency's chief quickly rejected his comments. "Countries should not cede authority to WHO," Musk, whose Twitter account has more than 132 million followers, wrote in response to a video of right-wing Australian senator Malcolm Roberts criticising the organisation. Since COVID-19 first emerged more than three years ago, the World Health Organization has complained of an "infodemic" of misinformation and disinformation around the pandemic. The WHO is made of 194 member states which take major decisions on its health policies and budgets through an annual assembly attended by governments.

☆ Medical debt can be 'a bit of a surprise,' expert says — and 21% who have it owe $5,000 or more
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Sarah O'Brien | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Antonio_diaz | Istock | Getty ImagesThe largest bills are mostly owed to hospitalsThe Urban Institute study found that 73% of adults with medical debt owe hospitals at least some of it. Almost two-thirds, or 63%, of adults with past-due medical debt incurred it when they had insurance, the research found. An estimated 100 million adults have medical debtOverall, an estimated 41% of people — or about 100 million adults — face medical debt, ranging from under $500 to $10,000 or more, according to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation. watch nowNo Surprises Act is reducing unexpected billsOne of the biggest causes of unexpected large medical bills historically was out-of-network providers being involved in your care — often at a hospital — without you realizing it. Some medical debt is dropping off credit reports

☆ Malawians fear storm Freddy could make deadliest cholera outbreak worse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Eldson Chagara | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"I am fearful of cholera but there is no potable water and I have no option. Malawi seemed to be getting its deadliest cholera outbreak yet under control, with World Health Organization figures showing a decline in cases and deaths, but locals and health experts worry that trend could quickly reverse in Freddy's wake. [1/9] Hendry Keinga reacts after he lost a family member during the Mtauchira village mudslide in the aftermath of Cyclone Freddy in Blantyre, Malawi, March 16, 2023. Malawi has conducted two oral cholera vaccination campaigns, but a global surge in cholera outbreaks has meant vaccines are in short supply. Another Ndirande resident, Francis Moyani, said he was determined to get the cholera vaccine as he was scared of contracting the disease.

[1/3] A pharmacist holds a bottle of the drug Eliquis, made by Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer, at a pharmacy in Provo, Utah, U.S. January 9, 2020. The government will launch the negotiation process in September by naming the first drugs it plans to target. "We couldn't have the other parts of the IRA without this Medicare negotiation," said Sean Dickson, director of the West Health Policy Center, a non-partisan healthcare think tank. Eliquis, which Bristol Myers (BMY.N) shares with Pfizer (PFE.N), Ibrance, and Imbruvica, sold by AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N), appear on every list. Pfizer, Novo Nordisk and J&J declined to comment on the likelihood their drugs would be included in the first round of negotiations.

☆ EX-UK leader Boris Johnson nominates father for knighthood - report
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Times said Johnson had put forward as many as 100 names for awards. The newspaper did not specify what service Stanley Johnson's nomination was in acknowledgement of. All departing British leaders are entitled to draw up a "resignation honours" list that bestows knighthoods and other titles. Opposition Labour's health policy chief Wes Streeting told the BBC: "I think (his resignation honours list) speaks to a pattern of Boris Johnson's behaviour around cronyism." As prime minister, Johnson in 2020 elevated his brother Jo Johnson to the House of Lords, the upper chamber of parliament, where he has a seat for life.

☆ FDA advisors recommend Pfizer RSV vaccine for older adults, despite possible Guillain-Barre risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The vote followed concerns at the FDA and among advisory committee members about two cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome among about 20,000 vaccine recipients. The FDA has asked Pfizer to conduct a safety study on Guillain-Barre syndrome, which the company has agreed to do. There currently is no approved RSV vaccine for the elderly. Pfizer's vaccine contains both strains of RSV, which circulate at the same time during fall and winter. Dr. David Kaslow, a senior official in the FDA's vaccine division, said safety monitoring will be "critically important" if Pfizer's RSV vaccine is approved.

☆ Brain Chips Like Elon Musk's Neuralink Can Change Your Personality
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Evan Malmgren | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Musk's neurotech startup, Neuralink, has been working toward implanting its skull-embedded brain chip in a human since it was founded in 2016. Other researchers have been looking into using BCIs to restore lost senses and control prosthetic limbs, among other applications. Intervening in the delicate operation of a human brain is a sticky business, and the effects are not always desirable or intended. If a brain chip can change key parts of your personality, companies should not be rushing to put them in people's heads. Wexler told me that while most people in the industry aren't that open to using BCIs as a consumer product, they still think it's likely to happen.

The richest Black mothers and their babies are twice as likely to die as the richest white mothers and their babies. Yet there is one group that doesn’t gain the same protection from being rich, the study finds: Black mothers and babies. The researchers found that maternal mortality rates were just as high among the highest-income Black women as among low-income white women. The richest Black women have infant mortality rates at about the same level as the poorest white women. Generally, rates for Hispanic mothers and Asian mothers track more closely with those of white mothers than Black mothers.

Around 8.4 million of the 37 million people in the United States with diabetes use insulin, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA). They tried, and failed, to extend the benefit to everyone with health insurance when they were voting on the IRA. Without Congressional approval, the Biden administration cannot impose the cap on private insurance plans and is unlikely able to create a subsidy for the uninsured, experts said. Some Medicaid plans for low-income individuals and private insurance plans also cap the monthly cost of insulin at $35. It is unclear if his proposal would include those without health insurance, who often have to pay the full price for the life-sustaining drug.

☆ A 'huge pivot' in China is fueling the emerging markets boom, says Jan van Eck
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Jesse Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

They're emphasizing growth right now," van Eck said at the Exchange ETF conference in Miami. The iShares MSCI China ETF (MCHI) had a total return of more than 10% this year, through Feb. 3. MCHI YTD mountain This popular China ETF is outperforming in 2023. Van Eck pointed to the outsized growth of major U.S. tech firms as a key reason for that outperformance, but said that era appears to be over. "We've got a decade where you're really taking a risk if you're under invested overseas," van Eck said.

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