From Washington, DC,

• The Wall Street Journal reports,
  • “Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R., Okla.) won confirmation to replace Kristi Noem as the next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
  • “The final vote Monday night was 54-45 with Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) voting against him over a personal dispute, and Sens. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) and Martin Heinrich (D., N.M.) breaking with all other Democrats to support the Trump nominee.” * * *
  • “Mullin will inherit a department that has been shut down for more than a month over Democrats’ concerns about Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s tactics. Though ICE has continued to operate with money from Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill, employees who work other parts of the DHS, such as the Transportation Security Administration, have gone without pay.
  • “Mullin will likely help the administration negotiate with Democrats to reopen his agency. The administration deployed ICE agents to several U.S. airports Monday to help manage long security lines.”
    
• Beckers Payer Issues reflects on the 16th anniversary of then President Barack Obama signing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law.

• The American Hospital Association News tells us,
  • “The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange announced that it is conducting a survey on how health care providers are implementing good faith estimates for uninsured and self-pay individuals under the federal No Surprises Act. The deadline for responses is March 31. WEDI said responses are anonymous and that the data is being collected for informational purposes only.” 
    
• Beckers Hospital Review brings us up to date on the prescription drugs available for purchase for cash paying customers on TrumpRx.gov.

• OPM announced,
  • “The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) withdraws a proposed rule to amend its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regulations published on July 24, 2008. [That’s not a typo.] Due to the time that has elapsed, OPM is withdrawing the proposal. OPM will propose amendments to its FOIA regulations in future rulemaking.”

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

• Fierce Pharm reports,
  • “A common drug combo for Parkinson’s disease will require a new FDA warning after the agency flagged 14 cases of seizures in patients using the medications. 
  • “The agency is mandating (PDF) that drugmakers marketing products incorporating levodopa and carbidopa update their prescribing information to note that the drugs can cause vitamin B6 deficiency and vitamin B6 deficiency-associated seizures. Healthcare providers should evaluate patients’ baseline vitamin B6 levels prior to and during treatment and supplement patients with the vitamin as necessary, the warning says.
  • “The label update affects Amneal’s Crexont and Rytary; Avion Pharmaceuticals’ Dhivy; Merck’s Sinemet and controlled-release Sinemet CR; Novartis’ Stalevo; and AbbVie’s Duopa. Also affected is AbbVie’s newer Vyalev, a subcutaneous treatment that delivers prodrugs of carbidopa and levodopa via an infusion pump system. Vyalev’s ingredients of foscarbidopa and foslevodopa are drug derivatives of carbidopa and levodopa that become active after entering the body.” 

• The Wall Street Journal relates,
  • “An experimental Lyme disease vaccine from Pfizer PFE and Valneva VLA didn’t conclusively succeed in a large study, raising questions about the shot’s prospects.
  • “While the shot was more than 70% effective at preventing the tick-borne disease in the trial, not enough people contracted the disease for the findings to be conclusive. Pfizer is pushing ahead with its plans to seek regulatory approval anyway, saying the study hit a different statistical measure and the shot showed “meaningful efficacy.” * * *
  • “The vaccine, if approved, would provide a much-needed addition to the arsenal against Lyme disease. The tick-borne disease has been spreading across the U.S., but there have been few good medical options beyond antibiotics. A vaccine was pulled two decades ago after questions about its safety hurt demand.
  • “No safety concerns were identified in Pfizer and Valneva’s 9,400-person trial. Annaliesa Anderson, Pfizer’s chief vaccines officer, called the study’s results “highly encouraging” and said it “creates confidence in the vaccine’s potential to protect against this disease that can be debilitating.”

From the public health, medical and Rx research front,

• Cardiovascular Business tells us,
  • “Giving patients tirzepatide early on after an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or stroke is associated with several benefits, according to new findings published in The American Journal of Cardiology. The study exclusively enrolled patients with no history of diabetes.
  • “Tirzepatide is a popular dual GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonist sold by Lilly under the brand names Zepbound and Mounjaro. It was originally developed for patients with type 2 diabetes. Like other GLP-1 drugs, tirzepatide is starting to be evaluated for more and more uses in patients with and without type 2 diabetes.
  • “Evidence supporting the use of tirzepatide in patients without diabetes, particularly in the early period following AMI or ischemic stroke, is limited,” wrote first author Ibrahim Mortada, MD, a researcher with The University of Texas Medical Branch, and colleagues. “Patients in the post-event setting represent a high-risk population in whom early intervention may modify long-term cardiovascular and cardiorenal outcomes, yet randomized data evaluating tirzepatide for secondary prevention in this context are lacking.”

• The American Medical Association lets us know what doctors wish their patients knew about social media’s health impact.

• MedPage Today reports,
  • “A sharp increase in the number of young people hospitalized with eating disorders immediately after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was followed by decreases, returning to pre-pandemic levels 5 years later.
  • “The cross-sectional study included 8- to 25-year-olds hospitalized for eating disorders at 41 pediatric hospitals across the U.S.
  • “Further research is needed to understand the increase and the subsequent return to normal.”
• and
  • “An EEG-derived brain age index predicted dementia risk across five cohorts.
  • “Each 10-year increase in the brain age index was linked with a 39% higher dementia risk.
  • “The findings indicate that the predictive value of the index should be further assessed, the researchers said.”

• Health Day relates,
  • “Doctors often stop prescribing ADHD stimulants once a patient is diagnosed with a substance use disorder
  • “Treating ADHD in young adults with addiction issues was tied to 30% lower risk of death over five years
  • “Proper ADHD medication led to significantly fewer emergency room visits, hospitalizations and suicidal thoughts.”

• Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News points out,
  • “A new Nature Biotechnology paper describes the process of engineering a lab-grown esophagus that can safely replace a full section of the native organ and restore normal functions, including swallowing, in a growing animal without requiring immunosuppression. The paper, which is titled “Functional integration of an autologous engineered esophagus in a large-animal model,” describes “an integrated strategy to engineer a 2.5-cm esophageal segment by microinjecting autologous pericyte-like myogenic precursors and fibroblasts in a decellularized porcine scaffold to repair circumferential defects in 10-kg minipigs … modeling pediatric use.” 
  • “According to scientists from Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and University College London (UCL) who led the study, their work demonstrates for the first time that a donor pig esophagus can be decellularized, repopulated with the recipient pig’s own cells and implanted in a growing, large-animal model. Other studies have previously shown parts of this technology but this marks the first time that the full process has been completed with this level of success, they said.
  • “Importantly, this development is a major leap towards creating personalized regenerative treatments for children born with life threatening esophageal conditions. Specifically, it could benefit children born with a condition called long-gap esophageal atresia (LGOA). People with this condition have an interrupted esophagus with a wide gap between the upper and lower segments. Patients cannot survive without surgery, but the gap is often too large to close immediately after birth. As a work around, babies with LGOA typically have a feeding tube placed directly into their stomach, so that they can receive adequate nutrition while their hospital teams develop a treatment plan.”

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

• Per a Cigna news release,
  • “Cigna Healthcare, the health benefits division of The Cigna Group (NYSE: CI), today announced that Dr. Stanley Crittenden has joined the organization as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Crittenden will lead Cigna Healthcare’s clinical organization, advancing initiatives that deliver personalized, high‑quality, affordable care and an exceptional experience for customers and clinicians across the health care system.
  • “Dr. Crittenden will oversee the evolution and implementation of Cigna Healthcare’s clinical solutions and programs, leveraging data and analytics to deliver innovative solutions for clients. Partnering with leaders across The Cigna Group, Dr. Crittenden will help advance the company’s commitments. to providing easier access to care and simplifying the health care experience for customers and physicians.”

• Fierce Healthcare takes “a look at how Optum Rx is using AI to address pharmacy fraud, waste and abuse.”

• STAT News reports,
  • “Earlier this year the startup Doctronic launched a provocative, first-in-the-nation experiment to renew drug prescriptions with a chatbot. Now it’s refilling its coffers with $40 million in fresh funding.
  • “Doctronic on Monday announced the Series B investment round led by Abstract and Lightspeed Venture Partners. It has now raised $65 million across three funding rounds in less than a year. The company’s core service uses a chatbot to talk to patients about symptoms and health concerns before transferring them to a clinician over telehealth for diagnosis and treatment, for a $39 fee.  
  • “Doctronic, which describes itself as the world’s most popular AI doctor, plans to use the funding to expand hiring to keep up with growth that has progressed at a breakneck pace. The company was founded in 2023 and only started offering a service with human clinicians in January 2025. Now it’s on track to earn more than $10 million in revenue this year and is preparing to launch versions of its technology with partners, including digital health companies, health systems, and payers.” 

• MedTech Dive notes,
  • “Labcorp has closed a deal to buy assets from Crouse Health’s pathology reference laboratory, the company said Thursday.
  • “As well as completing the acquisition of assets from Crouse’s Laboratory Alliance of Central New York, Labcorp agreed to manage daily operations at the healthcare provider’s inpatient lab.
  • “Labcorp will assume operation of Lab Alliance’s 12 patient service centers, furthering the testing company’s recent deal-driven push to expand its capabilities in New York.”