From Washington, DC,

• Federal News Network reports
  • “Nearly 12,000 new retirement claims entered the Office of Personnel Management’s systems last month. Coupled with OPM’s processing of about 17,000 retirement applications, the agency managed to reduce its inventory by several thousand claims. April was the first time OPM’s retirement backlog has dipped below 50,000 claims in more than five months. Currently, digital retirement claims are also being processed in about two-thirds the time of traditional paper applications.”
• and
  • “Democrats are urging the Office of Personnel Management not to shut down the Combined Federal Campaign. In a letter to OPM this week, lawmakers warned that ending the CFC would be “disastrous” for hospitals, food banks and other organizations that receive charitable donations through the program. OPM recently decommissioned the CFC’s online donation portal, but the agency has not yet confirmed whether the program will be officially dismantled this year. CFC has been in operation since the Reagan administration, a program that lets federal employees contribute to charities around the world.”

• The Wall Street Journal relates,
  • “The CDC is coordinating with the WHO on a hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius, despite the U.S. withdrawal from the WHO and CDC cuts.
  • “The U.S. formally withdrew from the WHO earlier this year, following President Trump’s executive order and criticism of its Covid-19 handling.
  • “The Trump administration reduced funding for CDC global health programs, shifting to a fee-for-service model for technical assistance.”

• KFF Health offers more details on CMS’s Bridge program which will give eligible Medicare beneficiaries access to GLP-1 drugs for weight loss. The Bridge program runs from July 1. 2026, through December 31, 2027.

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

• The Wall Street Journal reports,
  • “President Trump has signed off on a plan to fire Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, according to people familiar with the matter, following a tumultuous period for the regulator that included clashes over vaping, abortion and drug policy.
  • ‘Makary, a former Johns Hopkins surgeon who became a frequent Make America Healthy Again surrogate on television news programs, is seen by other top administration leaders as struggling to manage his agency, sparring frequently with health department officials and at times with the White House. His tenure has also been dogged by the aftereffects of layoffs led by the Department of Government Efficiency and rapid turnover in the FDA’s leadership ranks. 
  • ‘He would become the latest top lieutenant fired under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. since the ouster last summer of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez and the February removal of HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill.
  • “Trump’s plan isn’t yet final and could change.”

• The American Hospital Association News relates,
  • “The Food and Drug Administration has issued a Class I recall correction for certain Boston Scientific ACCOLADE pacemakers and cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemakers after identifying a software-related battery issue that could cause affected devices to enter Safety Mode and limit pacing functionality. The correction does not involve removing devices but requires clinicians to upgrade the pacemakers’ software to reduce the risk of premature battery depletion and early device replacement. According to the FDA, continued use of affected devices without the update could result in serious injury or death. Hospitals and clinicians are advised to review affected model and serial numbers, apply the software update during in office visits, monitor patients per manufacturer guidance and report adverse events through the FDA’s MedWatch program.”
    
• Per an FDA news release,
  • “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued an approval for Bizengri (zenocutuzumab-zbco), a drug that treats NRG1 fusion-positive cholangiocarcinoma, an ultra-rare, aggressive cancer that forms in the bile ducts. 
  • “Bizengri is the first drug approved for adults with advanced, unresectable or metastatic cholangiocarcinoma harboring a neuregulin 1 (NRG1) gene fusion with disease progression on or after prior systemic therapy.
  • “This approval marks the seventh approval under the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher (CNPV) pilot program.”

• Fierce Pharma tells us,
  • “While Eisai and Biogen have already secured an FDA nod for a subcutaneous maintenance dose of their early Alzheimer’s disease drug Leqembi (lecanemab), the partners will have to wait a few months more for the regulator to weigh in on their proposed autoinjector initiation dose. 
  • “On Friday, the companies announced that the FDA has extended the review period for their application to advance their Leqembi Iqlik autoinjector as a starting dose for early Alzheimer’s patients. The three-month delay puts the FDA’s new target action date at Aug. 24, Biogen and Eisai said in a release.”

• Beckers Hospital Review identifies seven prescription drugs now in shortage.
  • “Active drug shortages in the U.S. rose for the second consecutive quarter in 2026, reaching 223 in the first quarter, according to a recent report from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Meanwhile, the FDA’s own database — which uses a narrower classification — lists 76 drugs currently in shortage, as of May 6.
  • “The database is updated daily to reflect manufacturing recoveries, regulatory actions and how shortages are classified — not solely day-to-day availability at the hospital level.”

• Here’s a link to “Brown & Brown’s May 6, 2026, PharmaLogic® Spotlight [which] reviews evolving pharmacy dynamics and trends driving prescription drug use and cost to guide benefits decision-making.”
  • “Inside this PharmaLogic® Spotlight
    • “New Drug Approvals Influencing Benefits
    • “GLP-1 Developments
    • “Drug Importation/International Sourcing
    • “Generic and Biosimilar Use
    • “Shifts in Drug Pricing Models”

From the public health and medical / Rx research front,

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced today:
  • “The amount of acute respiratory illness causing people to seek health care is very low.
  • “RSV activity is decreasing and has peaked in most regions of the country.
  • “Seasonal influenza activity is low.
  • “COVID-19 activity is low in most areas of the country.
  • “Nationally, wastewater activity levels for RSV, COVID-19 and influenza A are very low. Influenza B is not monitored in wastewater.”

• The American Hospital Association News adds,
  • “The measles outbreak in Utah that began in June 2025 has grown to 638 cases as of May 5, according to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services. Of those, 441 have been reported this year. Nationally, there have been 1,842 confirmed measles cases in 2026, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The vaccination status of 92% of cases is unvaccinated or unknown.”
    
• Medscape reports,
  • “Once weekly semaglutide injections reduced alcohol consumption in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and comorbid obesity.
  • “Results of the randomized controlled trial (RCT), the first, to the authors’ knowledge, to evaluate the GLP-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) semaglutide in patients seeking treatment for AUD who had comorbid obesity also showed significant effects on multiple alcohol-related outcomes.
  • “These data, when added to the growing evidence, demonstrate the potential of GLP-1RAs as a novel treatment for alcohol use disorder,” the investigators, led by Mette Kruse Klausen, MD, Copenhagen University Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark, wrote.
  • “However,” they added, “corroboration with larger RCTs in nonobese patients is needed to address its generalizability.”
• and
  • “GLP-1 receptor agonists may alter absorption of oral medications due to delayed gastric emptying, affecting drug levels and efficacy. Notable interactions include oral contraceptives, levothyroxine, and dabigatran, necessitating careful monitoring and potential dose adjustments.”
    
• Health Day relates,
  • “People recovering from surgery have an easy way to boost their odds of a successful recuperation — take a stroll.
  • “Every extra 1,000 steps a patient takes daily after surgery lowers their odds of complications, researchers reported May 6 in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
  • “This link between extra steps and better recovery applied across different types of procedures regardless of the patients’ overall health, researchers found.
  • “Researchers discovered this after tracking nearly 2,000 people undergoing inpatient surgery who wore activity trackers while undergoing inpatient surgery.”

From the U.S. healthcare business front,

• Beckers Payer Issues reports,
  • “UnitedHealthcare has begun paying some commercial claims instantly, bypassing the standard three to five day window associated with traditional ACH transactions, the insurer said May 4.
  • “Under the new system, eligible commercial claims payments are deposited immediately into providers’ bank accounts, with remittance data routed through clearinghouses to providers’ tax identification numbers.
  • “UnitedHealthcare did not specify which claims or plan types qualify for real-time payment. The payments are not processed through Optum and will not appear on the Optum Pay platform.
  • “Providers do not need to take action to receive the payments, but UnitedHealthcare said some may need to update reconciliation workflows.” 

• Kaufmann Hall notes,
  • “Americans are increasingly making serious trade-offs that impact their health and daily lives to afford health expenses, according to a recent report from West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America. About 30% of insured and 62% of uninsured Americans—across income brackets—have made at least one or more difficult trade-off: prolonging their prescription, skipping a meal, cutting back on utilities or borrowing money. A third reported postponing vacations and surgical and medical treatment alike. These trade-offs are not “nice to have.” Not taking medication as prescribed, skipping meals, cutting back on utilities especially during extreme weather, and delaying surgical and medical treatment carry serious medical risk for harm that leads to increased ED visits, readmissions, and other avoidable costly care that may impact hospitals and health systems.

• MedCity News relates,
  • “As patient payment responsibility grows and becomes a larger part of the overall care experience, payment decisions need more visibility across the organization, not just in finance or IT. 
  • “Healthcare organizations should begin with a practical review that includes: which payment methods are accepted at every point of care, whether FSA, HSA, and Medicare card configurations are validated across systems, where declines are occurring and why, and how long it takes patients to move from statement to payment. 
  • “Payment friction isn’t always obvious. It shows up in extended accounts receivable timelines, increased billing inquiries, and patients who delay payment – not because they’re unwilling to pay, but because the process made it harder than it needed to be. As patients become responsible for more of the bill, consistency matters. The payment process should be predictable across settings and straightforward to navigate.
  • “Payment systems may not determine whether care is delivered. But as more financial responsibility shifts to patients, they increasingly influence how that care is experienced.”

• Modern Healthcare tells us,
  • “Sanford Health is looking to expand its Minnesota network in one of the state’s fastest-growing regions. 
  • “Sanford and North Memorial Health signed a definitive agreement to add North Memorial’s two hospitals and affiliated facilities in northwest Minneapolis to Sanford’s 58-hospital footprint, according to a Friday news release. * * *
  • “Under the agreement, Sanford pledged to update emergency services at the financially strained safety-net hospital North Memorial Health Robbinsdale. Sanford also said it plans to help double the size of North Memorial Health Maple Grove Hospital by expanding emergency care, inpatient services, surgeries and labor and delivery care. 
  • “The proposed transaction is expected to close this year, pending customary regulatory approvals.”

• Beckers Hospital Review points out,
  • “Between the fourth quarters of 2024 and 2025, emergency department length of stay decreased 13.4% even as volumes grew 4.2% and patient acuity rose, according to a May 6 report.
  • “The report is from Sg2, a healthcare analytics and consulting company at Vizient. Through its System of CARE Scorecard, Vizient measures hospital utilization, access, safety and cost efficiency each quarter. Its latest scorecard compared the fourth quarters of 2025 and 2024 for care coordination. 
  • “On a rolling year-over-year measure, ED length of stay declined 15.2% and volume increased 4.3%, according to the report. Vizient researchers hypothesized that improvements in throughput, shifting trends in patient mix or a combination of the two could be account for these findings.” 

• Fierce Healthcare informs us,
  • “Amazon Pharmacy will make Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic pill available for home delivery, the company announced Thursday.
  • “Per the announcement, Amazon customers will be able to secure the oral GLP-1 medication via same-day delivery or pickup within minutes at its kiosks in short order. The drug, which is approved to manage blood sugar in individuals with type 2 diabetes, was originally sold as Rybelsus but was recently rebranded to Ozempic by Novo.
  • “Amazon said that making the drug available via its pharmacy will address “a critical access gap for the more than 36 million Americans living with type 2 diabetes.”
  • “Individuals with a prescription for oral Ozempic can order the drug through Amazon Pharmacy as well as access key availability and transparent pricing data, even if they are not Prime members, the company said. Pricing is as low as $25 per month with insurance coverage.”
    
• The Wall Street Journal lets us know,
  • “Sandoz Group plans to launch its generic semaglutide in Canada and Brazil this year, following patent expiration in several countries.
  • “Sandoz Chief Executive Richard Saynor stated the generic weight-loss drug market size is unknown, with initial years focused on supply.
  • “Analysts forecast Sandoz’s generic semaglutide sales to reach $742.6 million in 2035, as the overall market expands.”

• Per MedTech Dive,
  • “Stryker has completed the acquisition of Amplitude Vascular Systems, less than a month after the deal was announced. The financial terms were not disclosed.
  • “Amplitude has developed the Pulse intravascular lithotripsy platform to treat severely calcified arterial disease. The device uses pressure waves generated by carbon dioxide and delivered through a balloon catheter to fracture the calcium and expand narrowed vessels, restoring blood flow.
  • “Stryker said adding an IVL platform will strengthen its peripheral vascular portfolio, which includes the Inari Medical clot-removal business the company acquired last year for about $4.9 billion.”