From Washington, DC,

• The Wall Street Journal reports,
  • “Top Senate negotiators said an effort to renew expired healthcare subsidies had effectively collapsed, likely ending the hopes of 20 million Americans that the tax-credit expansion could be revived and lower their monthly insurance premiums.
  • “Talks had centered on a proposal from Sens. Bernie Moreno (R., Ohio) and Susan Collins (R., Maine) to extend a version of the enlarged Affordable Care Act subsidies for at least two years, while cutting off higher-income people from participating and eventually giving enrollees the option of putting money into health savings accounts. It also would eliminate zero-dollar premium plans. But lawmakers from both parties now say the chances of a deal have all but evaporated.
  • “It’s effectively over,” Moreno said Wednesday. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.)—the architect of an adjacent plan—agreed. While Collins declined to be as definitive, she did say that it was “certainly difficult.”

• Federal News Network tells us,
  • “Following a year of the Trump administration’s overhauls to the civil service, a bicameral group of lawmakers on Wednesday launched a congressional caucus focused on the federal workforce.
  • “Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.), along with Reps. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.), Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.) joined federal unions and good government organizations to announce the newly formed Federal Workforce Caucus. The group aims to more cohesively advocate for federal employees.” * * *
  • “Members of the new Federal Workforce Caucus, which includes at least some bipartisan support, are expected to meet regularly with leaders from federal unions, employee groups and other organizations. The group plans to propose legislation and workforce policies focused on long-term improvements to the career civil service.
  • “The Partnership for Public Service, American Federation of Government Employees, National Federation of Federal Employees and National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, among several others, are also partners in the new caucus.”

• OPM Director Scott Kupor has added another post to his Secrets of OPM blog.

• Per a CMS news release,
  • “CMS continues to bring accountable care to more people with Medicare in 2026, expanding the benefits of high-quality, whole-person health care to achieve better health outcomes for millions of older Americans.
  • “As of January 2026, 14.3 million Medicare beneficiaries are estimated to receive care coordinated by Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), up from 13.7 million in 2025, representing a 4.4% increase. This includes patients whose health care providers are in Medicare Shared Savings Program (Shared Savings Program) ACOs and entities participating in Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMS Innovation Center) accountable care models, as well as other CMS Innovation Center models focused on total cost of care, advanced primary care, and specialty care.
  • “ACOs are groups of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers who collaborate and provide coordinated, high-quality care to people with Medicare, and they are a critical tool to help Make America Healthy Again by supporting whole person care that addresses prevention, chronic illness and the root causes of disease.
  • “In addition to improving health care, ACOs save billions of dollars for the Medicare program by focusing on delivering the right care at the right time while avoiding unnecessary services and medical errors. ACOs achieve savings because health care providers are held accountable for saving money and improving health care quality, delivering a win for both patients and the Medicare Trust Funds.”

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

• MedTech Dive reports,
  • “Johnson & Johnson’s Abiomed has sent an urgent medical device correction about a malfunction risk linked to 22 reports of serious injuries.
  • “The Food and Drug Administration, which published an early alertabout the devices on Tuesday, said sensor values in Impella RP heart pumps may drift over time.
  • “Erroneous information on automated Impella controllers has caused users to make inaccurate adjustments to the devices and unnecessary pump exchanges, the FDA said.”

• The American Hospital Association News informs us,
  • “The Food and Drug Administration has identified a Class I recall of certain FreeStyle Libre 3 and FreeStyle Libre 3 Plus Sensors by Abbott Diabetes Care due to incorrect glucose readings that are lower than actual blood glucose levels. The FDA said patients with impacted sensors should immediately discontinue use and dispose of any affected products. Abbott has reported 860 serious injuries and seven deaths associated with the issue since Jan. 7.” 

• MedPage Today adds,
  • “The FDA has requested that Amgen voluntarily withdraw avacopan (Tavneos), a treatment for anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis, but the company said it has no plans to pull the drug from the market.

• USA Today relates,
  • “A shortage in estrogen patches because of manufacturing issues and some brand discontinuation has been exacerbated by an increase in prescriptions for estrogen since the Food and Drug Administration removed its black-box warning label last fall. The shortage has left women exhausted, frustrated and scrambling each month to call pharmacies for the medicine they need to treat their menopause symptoms.
  • Some women have switched from generic medication to available brand names, which costs them as much as $300 a month and are not covered by insurance. Others have been forced to use a different brand of estrogen each month, leading to inconsistent care. Women have driven 45 miles to pick up a coveted box of the tiny plastic patch they place near their belly button and change twice a week to help with their symptoms, from frozen shoulders to vaginal dryness.”

• STAT News adds,
  • “Vertex executives warned that Casgevy, its curative treatment for sickle cell disease, would be slow to reach patients. But few expected it to be this slow.
  • “More than two years after its approval, only about 60 patients across the U.S., Middle East, and Europe have been treated with the gene-editing therapy. Specialists at four sickle centers told STAT they’ve been surprised by one of the key stumbling blocks to faster rollout: They can’t collect enough cells to create the treatment.

From the judicial front,

• Healthcare Dive reports,
  • “The Federal Trade Commission has agreed to what it called a “landmark” settlement with Express Scripts, allowing the company to bow out of the agency’s lawsuit against major pharmacy benefit managers for allegedly inflating the cost of U.S. insulin.
  • “In return, Express Scripts, which is owned by Cigna and is one of the largest PBMs in the country, has agreed to make major changes to its drug benefit designs, including no longer preferring drugs with high list prices on its standard formularies when there are cheaper equivalents and delinking its compensation from the savings it negotiates with drugmakers, the FTC announced Wednesday.
  • “Express Scripts has also agreed to increase transparency, including reporting more data on drug spending and disclosing any kickbacks to brokers that help employers choose PBMs.
  • “Notably, the company also agreed to reshore its group purchasing organization Ascent from Switzerland back to the U.S.”

From the public health and medical / Rx research front,

• The AHA News reports,
  • “The measles outbreak in South Carolina has increased to 876 cases, the state’s Department of Public Health reported Feb. 3. Last week, the South Carolina outbreak surpassed last year’s outbreak in Texas, which had 762 cases. The agency said the number of public exposure sites indicates community spread is occurring, increasing the risk of exposure and infection for individuals who are not immune due to vaccination or natural infection. “Vaccination continues to be the best way to prevent measles and stop this outbreak,” the department said.” 
    
• MedPage Today informs us,
  • “In this self-controlled case series, myocardial infarction rates were nearly 9 times greater in the week after an RSV-related hospitalization compared with a control period prior to infection.
  • “Stroke rates were more than 7 times higher compared with the control period.
  • “Recent research has suggested that RSV vaccination lowers the risk of cardiorespiratory hospitalizations.”
• and
  • The effectiveness of last season’s COVID vaccines among immunocompetent adults reached 40% against hospitalization and 79% against invasive mechanical ventilation or death.
  • Those levels of protection were similar among seniors and sustained through 6 months post-vaccination.
  • This study is a reminder that “vaccines still have a role, even in the current epidemiological landscape,” an expert said.

• Per an NIH news release,
  • The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has opened the East Palestine Train Derailment Health Research Program Office to assess and address the long-term health outcomes stemming from the 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. The new office is the hub of a five-year, $10 million research initiative funded by NIH.
  • “Federal research experts will engage directly with the community, coordinate studies, and help enroll residents in federally supported health research through the new office.” * * *
  • Three years ago, on Feb. 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern freight train derailment involving 38 railcars carrying hazardous chemicals — including vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, ethylene glycol and benzene residue — resulted in prolonged fires and controlled burns in East Palestine. Several railcars burned for more than two days, and emergency responders conducted controlled burns that raised concerns about the potential airborne release of hydrogen chloride and phosgene.
  • “Local residents reported a range of initial health symptoms, including headaches and respiratory, skin and eye irritation. These reports prompted concerns about potential longer-term effects on maternal and child health, as well as psychological, immunological, respiratory and cardiovascular health.”
  • “This research program is designed to bring rigorous, independent science directly to the community,” said NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya. “By establishing a local presence, we can better engage residents, support enrollment in studies, and ensure the research reflects the real experiences and concerns of the people affected.”

• Genetic Engineering and BioTechnology News observes,
  • “As drug‑resistant hospital infections continue to rise worldwide, a team of Australian researchers has identified a surprising new bacterial vulnerability: a sugar that only microbes make. By designing antibodies that recognize this sugar, the scientists were able to clear lethal infections in mice—offering a potential new strategy for tackling multidrug‑resistant pathogens.
  • “The work, published in Nature Chemical Biology, describes the development of monoclonal antibodies that target pseudaminic acid, a carbohydrate found on the surface of many dangerous bacteria but absent from human cells. The study, titled “Uncovering bacterial pseudaminylation with pan‑specific antibody tools,” demonstrates that this sugar may serve as a highly selective molecular flag for immunotherapy.”

• Per Healio,
  • “Once-weekly subcutaneous tirzepatide may not raise risk for depression compared with placebo, according to a post hoc analysis of the SURMOUNT trials.
  • “As Healio previously reported, in January the FDA requested that risk for suicidal ideation and behaviors be removed from labels for liraglutide (Saxenda, Novo Nordisk), injectable semaglutide 2.4 mg (Wegovy, Novo Nordisk) and tirzepatide (Zepbound, Eli Lilly). 
  • “In data published in Obesity, researchers found adults receiving tirzepatide in three SURMOUNT trials did not experience worsening of depression throughout the studies.
  • “The low occurrence of these events with tirzepatide is similar to that observed in pooled analyses of semaglutide 2.4 mg and liraglutide 3 mg, both GLP-1 receptor agonists approved for weight management,” Thomas A. Wadden, PhD, professor of psychology in psychiatry at Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, told Healio. “The present report provides the first detailed analysis of the risk of these psychiatric events with tirzepatide.”

From the U.S. healthcare business and artificial intelligence front,

• BioPharma Dive reports,
  • “Eli Lilly shares jumped early Wednesday after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue and shared higher forecasts for 2026, buoyed by its obesity and diabetes medicines.
  • “Fourth-quarter revenue soared 43% to $19.3 billion, Lilly said Wednesday. That’s 7% above the Wall Street consensus, Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger wrote in a note to clients. Earnings per share beat estimates by 9% and operating income came in 13% higher than analysts expected, he said.
  • “This year, Lilly expects revenue of between $80 billion and $83 billion, with non-GAAP earnings of $33.50 to $35 a share. Analysts had been expecting midpoint forecasts of $78.5 billion for revenue and $33.30 for EPS, according to Risinger.”

• Fierce Pharma tells us,
  • “Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan is doubling down on a growth forecast for 2026, even as the Swiss drugmaker’s fourth-quarter results start to show the impact of the “largest patent expiry” in its history. And while a $4 billion revenue hole awaits, Narasimhan insisted that a wave of newer blockbusters will pull the company back into growth by year-end.
  • “The steep patent cliff that Narasimhan was referring to follows the 2025 U.S. entry of generic rivals to heart failure treatment Entresto, blood disorder drug Promacta and cancer therapy Tasigna.”

• MedTech Dive informs us,
  • “Boston Scientific has been one of the big winners of the pulsed field ablation revolution. Over the past two years, the company has reported strong electrophysiology sales growth — sometimes in the triple digits — and declared itself the clear market leader in PFA.
  • “However, on a Wednesday morning earnings call, analysts questioned executives on the electrophysiology unit’s potential after U.S. sales growth stalled in the fourth quarter compared with the third quarter.
  • “CEO Mike Mahoney told investors that the company remains confident in PFA’s potential, even as the market becomes more penetrated and competition in the space ramps up. Mahoney said that the electrophysiology market should grow about 15% in 2026, and the company expects to grow above that rate.

• Beckers Clinical Leadership notes,
  • [Nurse] workforce projections from HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration indicate “the gap between the demand for and supply of RN services is expected to shrink over the next decade from 10% in 2027 to 6% in 2037,” according to a January report from the council. 
  • “This forecast is partly due to an increase in first-time examinees of the National Council Licensure Examination, according to the report. 
  • “By comparison, the U.S. supply of licensed practical nurses and licensed vocational nurses is projected to decrease a whopping 36% by 2037, HRSA data shows. These workforces have declined in labor participation and absolute licensure statistics across most states, the report said. 
  • “Although the projected outlook for the RN workforce is more favorable than it is for LPNs/LVNs, maldistribution of providers remains a critical issue, with nonmetropolitan areas projected to face significantly higher shortages than metropolitan areas in the coming years,” the report said. “These issues exacerbate the broader projected shortfall owing to the dual trends of increasing demand due to an aging population and an aging workforce.”

• Cardiovascular Business lets us know,
  • “Early adopters have been using robotics to perform cardiac surgeries in the United States for years now, but multiple factors—including high costs and early concerns about patient outcomes—have held back widespread implementation.   
  • “According to a new commentary in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, however, robotic cardiac surgery has gained considerable momentum in the last year. Is now the time for this trend to truly take off?
  • “A convergence of improved training frameworks, maturing technology and increasingly standardized quality processes have supported a broader and more sustainable growth,” wrote co-authors Andrea Amabile, MD, a cardiothoracic surgery resident with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Heart and Vascular Institute, and Johannes Bonatti, MD, director of the cardiac robotic surgery at the UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute. “In this context, the past year has brought forward a set of notable global milestones that collectively illustrate the evolving capabilities of robotic cardiac surgery.”

• Per Beckers Health IT,
  • “KLAS Research released its annual “Best in KLAS” report Feb. 4, ranking healthcare technology vendors and service providers across more than 140 market segments based on feedback from the clinicians and administrators who use them.
  • “The report, now in its 28th year, draws on tens of thousands of provider evaluations to identify the top-performing solutions in categories spanning electronic health records, revenue cycle, cybersecurity, AI and other areas. This year’s edition arrives as AI — particularly ambient speech technology — continues to reshape clinical workflows, and as health systems navigate tightening finances alongside growing vendor competition.
  • “For the 16th consecutive year, Epic was named the top Overall Health System Suite. Epic also won Best in KLAS recognition in 11 market segments.
  • [The article lists] the winners in some of the report’s most closely watched categories. The full report is accessible from KLAS Research here.

• Per Beckers Payer Issues,
  • “Optum has launched a pair of AI-driven prior authorization products, one designed to speed up submissions on the provider side and another to accelerate clinical reviews for payers.
  • “The provider-facing product, Digital Auth Complete, went live in January in collaboration with digital health company Humata Health. The payer-facing product, InterQual Auth Accelerator, began piloting with two large health plans in late 2025, with the first payer expected to be fully live by April.
  • “It’s a combination of three things,” John Kontor, MD, senior vice president of clinical technology at Optum Insight, told Becker’s, explaining why the products are coming to market now. “It is the policy changes, including CMS-0057, that have accelerated everyone’s urgency to get this figured out. Two, it’s the readiness now of technology to be able to support solving many of these administrative, burdensome problems in healthcare. And third, the policy changes really reflect both industry frustration and impatience and the public’s real desire to get real and better answers to the problems of prior authorization.”

• Per Fierce Healthcare,
  • “Epic is rapidly building out artificial intelligence tools integrated into its electronic health record solution as health IT companies strive to keep up with the dizzying speed of AI innovation.
  • “This week, the EHR giant released AI Charting, a built-in feature that ambiently listens during patient visits and drafts the clinician’s note. The AI charting feature also queues up orders based on the conversation. 
  • “Epic CEO Judy Faulkner announced the AI Charting technology during the company’s Users Group Meeting (UGM) in August as part of its collaboration with longtime partner Microsoft.
  • “AI models are advancing at a rapid pace; we continue to work with Microsoft on AI Charting and use a variety of different models through the Microsoft Azure platform,” an Epic spokesperson said Wednesday.”