From Washington, DC

• Congress continues on its August recess until September 2.

• The New York Times offers a health insurance guide for young adults coming off of their parents’ employer sponsored health plan who do have their own employer sponsored coverage.

• The New York Times article assumes that the adult children work for a large employer (typically 50 employees or more, such as FEHBA, then the employer will pay the insurer flat rates for each enrollment tier. If, however, the parents work for a smaller employer (typically under 50 employees), the employer must pay the insurer an age adjusted premium for each covered family member.

From the HHS agencies front,

• STAT News reports,
  • “A gunman attacked the main campus of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta on Friday, further shaking an agency in the midst of a tumultuous year.
  • “One police officer died in the shooting. Atlanta police said the shooter was killed and there was no ongoing threat in a release at 6:40 p.m.
  • “Susan Monarez, the agency’s director, who was sworn in just last week, said in a post on X that the agency was working with federal, state, and local law enforcement to investigate the shooting.
  • “Our top priority is the safety and well-being of everyone at CDC,” Monarez wrote.”

• BioPharma Dive tells us,
  • “Vinay Prasad will return to lead the Food and Drug Administration office that oversees vaccines and gene therapy in a stunning reversal that comes less than two weeks after he abruptly left the job. 
  • “Andrew Nixon, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, confirmed Prasad’s return in an emailed statement Saturday. “At the FDA’s request, Dr. Vinay Prasad is resuming leadership of the Center of Biologics Evaluation and Research,” Nixon wrote.
  • “The news was reported earlier by Endpoints News and Stat news. 
  • “Prasad’s return marks the latest dramatic twist in what’s already been a tumultuous run leading CBER, which in addition to vaccines and some genetic medicines also reviews blood products.” 

From the public health and medical research front,

• NPR Shots informs us,
  • “A new federal report finds that the percentage of adults with suicidal thoughts and attempts remained about the same between 2021 and 2024.
  • “But the analysis of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health did offer some good news: Over that same time period, depression and suicidal thoughts and behaviors in teens declined.
  • “I think it’s very promising, and we’re very hopeful about it,” says Jill Harkavy-Friedman, senior vice president of research at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.” * * *

• The Wall Street Journal reports
  • “The author ignored pain, thinking it was nothing, due to recent surgeries and not wanting to burden family.
  • “After experiencing severe symptoms, the author went to the ER and was diagnosed with pulmonary embolisms.
  • “The author is recovering with blood thinners and lifestyle changes, grateful to have taken symptoms seriously.”
• On’e of the author’s experts describes blood clots as the people’s disease.
  • “About 900,000 people are diagnosed with blood clots—deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism—in the U.S. each year, according to the American Lung Association. For many, the first symptom is sudden death.
  • “I call it the people’s disease. It doesn’t spare anyone—rich, poor, male, female,” says Dr. Parth Rali, director of the pulmonary embolism response team at Temple University Health System in Philadelphia, who wasn’t involved in my care. “You could be the healthiest person in the world and unfortunately it can still happen to you.”

• Following up on a superagers study discussed in the FEHBlog, the New York Times informs us,
  • “Scientists at Northwestern University have been studying this remarkable group since 2000, in the hopes of discovering how they’ve avoided typical age-related cognitive decline, as well as more serious memory disorders like Alzheimer’s disease. A new review paper published Thursday summarizes a quarter century of their findings.
  • “Super-agers are a diverse bunch; they don’t share a magic diet, exercise regimen or medication. But the one thing that does unite them is “how they view the importance of social relationships,” said Sandra Weintraub, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, who has been involved in the research since the start. “And personality wise, they tend to be on the extroverted side.”
  • “This doesn’t surprise Ben Rein, a neuroscientist and the author of the forthcoming book, “Why Brains Need Friends: The Neuroscience of Social Connection.”
  • “People who socialize more are more resistant to cognitive decline as they get older,” Dr. Rein said. And, he added, they “have generally larger brains.”

From the U.S. healthcare business front,

• Per Beckers Hospital Review,
  • “Chicago-based Weiss Memorial Hospital closed the morning of Aug. 8 amid CMS’ plan to terminateits Medicare program participation, Huy Nguyen, chief of staff for state Rep. Hoan Huynh of the 13th District, where Weiss Memorial is located, confirmed with Becker’s.
  • “IDPH is aware that Weiss Memorial Hospital has suspended operations and we continue to monitor the situation closely,” a spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Public Health said in an Aug. 8 statement shared with Becker’s. “There were no patients hospitalized at Weiss at the time this took effect. IDPH is committed to ensuring patient safety and quality of care at healthcare facilities in Illinois, and we continue to assess the impact of this on the local healthcare system.”
  • “CMS said in a late July public notice that Medicare will stop reimbursing the 239-bed acute care hospital for inpatient care delivered to patients admitted on or after Aug. 9 due to it being out of compliance with federal standards with respect to emergency services, nursing services and physician environment.” * * *
  • “The closure of Weiss Memorial comes amid a slew of Chicago hospital closures over the last few years.
  • “In 2022, Chicago Policy Review reported that 20 hospitals have closed in the city since 2000, accounting for nearly one-fourth of its hospitals. Most recently, Ascension St. Elizabeth in Chicago closed in mid-February prior to Ontario, Calif-based Prime Healthcare’s purchase of it and eight other St. Louis-based Ascension hospitals in Illinois.” 

• BioPharma Dive points out,
  • “Arvinas may soon be looking for a new partner for a breast cancer medicine awaiting Food and Drug Administration approval after years of working with Pfizer, as company executives revealed Wednesday [August 6] that the partners are reworking their existing deal.
  • “The two companies first joined up in 2018, inking a potential $830 million deal to find and advance medicines that break down disease-causing proteins. In 2021, they entered another contract specifically for vepdegestrant, agreeing to a 50-50 collaboration for development and commercialization.
  • “Arvinas and Pfizer had hoped that the medicine could be used as an adjuvant first-line therapy and as a second-line treatment alone. But study results released earlier this year suggest that the drug only benefits a subset of breast cancer patients with a specific mutation, and the companies narrowed their focus to advancing the drug as just a second-line monotherapy.” 

• HR Dive notes,
  • “U.S. salary budget increases are expected to stay put at 3.5% in 2026, down just 0.1% from 2025, signaling a cooling talent market, as well as increased budgetary pressure on employers, according to data published Thursday by compensation vendor PayScale.
  • “Equal shares of employers said they would either raise or lower their budgets compared to this year, PayScale said. Among those who expected an increase, many cited the rising cost of labor. Approximately two-thirds of those who expected a decrease in their budgets cited concern about economic conditions or business performance.”