Simplicity is a virtue.

From Washington, DC,

• The American Hospital Association News reports,
  • “A bipartisan group of senators Aug. 5 introduced the Supporting Underserved and Strengthening Transparency, Accountability and Integrity Now and for the Future of 340B Act (SUSTAIN 340B Act), a bill aimed at providing statutory clarity for the 340B Drug Pricing Program while establishing new transparency, reporting and program integrity requirements. The bill was introduced by Sens. Jerry Moran, R-Kan.; Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.; Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.; Tim Kaine, D-Va.; John Boozman, R-Ark.; and John Hickenlooper, D-Colo. 
  • “The AHA appreciates the leadership of the Senate 340B Bipartisan Working Group,” said Aimee Kuhlman, AHA group vice president of advocacy and grassroots. “We look forward to reviewing their legislation in detail, discussing it with our 340B hospitals, and working with them and other policymakers to ensure the 340B program remains strong for patients, communities, and providers across the country.”
• and
  • “The Senate Aug. 5 voted 51-44 to confirm Erica Schwartz as the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Schwartz was previously deputy surgeon general during the first Trump administration.”

• Per an Health and Human Service Department news release,
  • “The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today began the decertification of Network for Hope, the federally designated organ procurement organization (OPO) serving Kentucky and parts of Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia, after multiple federal reviews found persistent patient safety failures despite extensive oversight and despite Network for Hope having been provided repeated opportunities to correct them. Those failures put prospective organ donors and patients awaiting lifesaving transplants at risk.”

• Roll Call relates,
  • “At King’s College Hospital in the south of London, anyone who has blood drawn in the emergency department is automatically tested for hepatitis B and C.
  • “Posters throughout the facility inform patients that the screening is routine, part of a new approach helping find and treat thousands of people who might otherwise never know they have the viruses, which can be fatal if left untreated.
  • “We pick up a lot of people who would never have actively accessed this kind of testing themselves — women in later life, people who’d never think they’re the sort of person who would have this condition,” said Dr. Oliver Mizzi, a consultant in emergency medicine at the hospital.
  • “Across England, 90 hospitals now have opt-out testing for hepatitis, leading to thousands getting treatment and putting the country on the path to meeting its goal of eliminating the hepatitis C virus as a public health threat by 2030.
  • “As Congress considers legislation to establish a national hepatitis C elimination program, experts say expanding opt-out testing in emergency departments is an indispensable way identify undiagnosed infections.”

From the U.S. Office of Personnel Management front,

• FedSmith reports,
  • “The OPM retirement backlog kept falling in July, marking a fifth consecutive monthly decline. The backlog dropped by 9,067 cases, or 26.8%, last month to 24,784 total retirement claims, even as the average time to process a claim climbed to a record 109 days, the highest figure since OPM began publishing the data in 2018.
  • “The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) received 10,538 new retirement claims in July while processing 17,841 cases, a gap of more than 7,300 cases that continued pushing the backlog down. OPM has now cut the backlog for five straight months since it peaked at 65,237 in February.
  • “So far in 2026, the average number of retirement claims received per month (both digital and paper) is 15,336 and OPM has processed 17,594. For digital, the monthly averages have been 9,429 received and 8,726 processed.”

• Per LinkedIn, James Muetzel has been promoted to the position of Principal Deputy Associate Director for Healthcare and Insurance at U.S. OPM.

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

• Food and Wine reports,
  • “The FDA is investigating 10 active foodborne illness outbreaks, a higher-than-usual number that experts attribute to improved detection methods and a more interconnected food supply.
  • “Two Cyclospora outbreaks linked to iceberg lettuce account for the most reported illnesses, with cases in 41 states. Michigan reports the highest number of illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths.
  • “The remaining FDA investigations involve Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, E. coli, and Clostridium botulinum. Some are linked to recalled products such as frozen blueberries, powdered infant formula, eggs, and soft cheeses, while others remain under investigation.”

• STAT News relates,
  • “The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved a novel type of treatment for narcolepsy made by Takeda, backing a drug class that scientists hope can transform the treatment of sleep disorders and potentially address a broad range of neurologic conditions. 
  • “The twice-a-day pill, which will be marketed as Orzeyful, is an orexin receptor agonist. It’s cleared to treat narcolepsy type 1, a taxing condition in which patients have a deficiency of the orexin neuron and experience bouts of sleepiness and muscle weakness during the day.
  • “The drug is likely to be very appealing to patients. Current therapies, stimulants and sodium oxybates, carry risk of misuse, and patients still feel sleepy while taking them. In two Phase 3 trials, Orzeyful helped patients stay awake during the day for much longer than what’s been seen with current treatments. Throughout the studies, participants also reported less daytime sleepiness, less frequent muscle weakness, and greater attentiveness.”
    
• Per a Reckitt news release,
  • “Reckitt announced today a milestone for the cold and flu category and the company: Mucinex^® 12HR Cold & Fever Multi-Symptom is the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved over-the-counter (OTC) innovation in the cold and flu category in 14 years, and the first New Drug Application (NDA) under the Reckitt name to receive FDA approval.¹ Developed to align with the way consumers choose to manage cold and flu symptoms, this achievement reflects more than a decade of Reckitt’s scientific research, development, clinical evaluation and regulatory collaboration.”

• MedTech adds,
  • “BD is recalling certain lots of intraosseous vascular access system needle sets due to a problem associated with four deaths, according to a Food and Drug Administration early alert posted Tuesday. 
  • “The needles are used to provide access to the bone marrow in emergency care situations when intravenous access is difficult. BD said in a statement last week that certain lots were manufactured with out of tolerance dimensions and may be more difficult to remove after placement. 
  • “BD reported four deaths where inability to remove the stylet occurred during resuscitation efforts for cardiac arrests. The company has received 75 complaints, including 45 serious injury reports.”

From the judicial front,

• The New York Times reports,
  • “The Justice Department filed charges on Tuesday against Dr. Stephen Dubin, a doctor in Nevada, alleging that he orchestrated a $95 million Medicare fraud scheme that involved applying expensive and unnecessary wound coverings to elderly patients.
  • “Dr. Dubin was included in a 2025 New York Times investigation into skin substitutes, bandages manufactured out of dehydrated placentas that cost thousands of dollars per square inch but have not been found to help most wounds heal any better than regular bandages.
  • Medicare paid nearly $15 billion for skin substitutes in 2025, a spike that analysts have called one of the largest examples of waste in the federal health program’s history.
  • “After the Times investigation, the Trump administration sharply cut reimbursement rates for skin substitutes. Spending on the products has since plummeted to $100 million so far this year.”

From the public health and medical / Rx research front

• Medscape reports,
  • “The ranks of long-term cancer survivors are growing, thanks to improved therapies, but along with that welcome trend comes a hard truth: Life-saving treatments can also have sometimes lasting adverse effects.
  • “Cardiac damage, a well-known risk of certain chemotherapies and other cancer treatments, may arise during treatment. But it can also surface years later, when it may not be recognized as a cancer therapy side effect.
  • “That’s the tsunami coming to medical systems around the world,” said Alexander Lyon, BM, BCh, PhD, a consulting cardiologist at Royal Brompton Hospital in London, England, and the co-chair of a task force that issued the first European guidelines in cardio-oncology in 2022.
  • Those guidelines, and similar ones from US groups, recommend various measures for preventing, detecting, and managing cardiac toxicity from cancer therapy. 

• Beckers Clinical Leadership relates,
  • “About half of US hospital patients were on an antibiotic in 2023 — essentially flat from 2015 — even as nearly all hospitals now run stewardship programs, a CDC survey found.
  • “Among 151 hospitals that took part in both the 2015 and 2023 point-prevalence surveys, antibiotic use held steady: 49.2% of patients in 2015 and 49.1% in 2023. The findings were published July 31 in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.”

• Healio adds,
  • “A Mayo Clinic study showed that more than 80% of patients who did not meet prescribing criteria for acute sinusitis were unnecessarily prescribed antibiotics, revealing a gap in adherence to treatment guidelines.
  • “The researchers found that clinicians often relied solely on a 10-day symptom duration to justify prescriptions, ignoring evidence that viral infections — which cannot be treated by antibiotics — can last that long.” * * *
  • “Guidelines from both the Infectious Diseases Society of America and American Academy of Otolaryngology “suggest a conservative approach” to treating sinusitis, the study noted. Those guidelines recommend antibiotics when symptoms have persisted for more than 10 days while also advising treatment for severe symptoms such as high fever and purulent discharge or facial pain lasting for 3 or more days.”
• and
  • “Men prescribed testosterone without hypogonadism had 49% higher risk for CV events than men with hypogonadism.
  • “Asian men without hypogonadism had the most pronounced increased CV risk among racial-ethnic groups.”

• Alzheimer’s’ News Today informs us,
  • “A panel of 19 blood proteins may help estimate when symptoms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) will emerge in people who carry disease-associated genetic variants, a new study suggests. When the model was tested using data from carriers whose symptom-onset dates were known, its estimates differed from the actual timing by an average of 1.6 years.
  • “If someone carrying an ALS-associated genetic variant had asked me in the past when they would become symptomatic, I would have struggled to provide a reasonable estimate,” Michael Benatar, MD, PhD, senior author of the study at the University of Miami, said in a press release. “These biomarkers give us a far better idea of the timing, allowing us to estimate the time to symptom onset with an average error of about 18 months. That’s something we can work with.”
  • “The study, “Longitudinal plasma proteomics predict phenoconversion to clinically manifest ALS,” was published in Nature Medicine. The work was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the ALS Association, and other organizations.”

From the U.S. healthcare business front,

• The Wall Street Journal reports,
  • “CVS Health CVS  said it will revamp its weight management program through a partnership with Eli Lilly LLY  as the company lifted its full-year outlook and reported a nearly threefold increase in its second-quarter profit.
  • “The company on Wednesday said patients will be able to use the CVS Health app to view transparent pricing options for Zepbound and Foundayo, two Lilly GLP-1 treatments, by early in the fourth quarter. Those treatments also may be available for same-day pickup at CVS pharmacies, the company said.
  • “CVS Health also will offer expanded pharmacy support for GLP-1 patients and $29 MinuteClinic online visits for eligible patients to connect with clinicians about GLP-1 treatments.
  • “Weight management is a deeply personal health journey, and too many people face barriers before they start treatment,” said Sid Tenneti, interim president of CVS’ pharmacy and consumer wellness segment. “Our collaboration with Lilly is one more way we’re expanding direct to consumer access to help eligible patients find options that work best for them.”
  • “The company also lifted its full-year outlook, projecting revenue of at least $414 billion and adjusted earnings between $7.90 and $8.10 a share.” * * *
  • “In the health care benefits segment, revenue rose 3.5% to $37.54 billion, driven by an increase in the government business. Health services revenue rose 11.5% to $51.8 billion, and pharmacy and consumer wellness revenue ticked up about 0.7% to $33.82 billion.”
• and
  • “Eli Lilly reported higher net income and revenue in the recent quarter, driven by surging demand for its GLP-1 weight-loss drugs.
  • “Sales of the weight-loss treatment Mounjaro rose 91% to $9.94 billion, while Zepbound sales increased 46% to $4.93 billion.
  • “Eli Lilly raised its full-year revenue outlook, but lowered the high end of its adjusted earnings guidance.”
    
• Fierce Healthcare adds,
  • “AstraZeneca and Bristol Myers Squibb do not have any ongoing discussions about a potential deal, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing a senior source close to the matter.
  • “There is ⁠no deal between AstraZeneca and BMS. There ​never was a deal to be done, and ​there are no discussions between the companies,” the person said, as quoted by Reuters.
  • “The development comes after the Financial Times reported Sunday that AZ was in talks to combine with BMS. A merger would create a new pharmaceutical giant valued at nearly $400 billion.”
    
• Modern Healthcare relates,
  • “A decades-old spin on traditional employee health benefits is making a comeback.
  • “Cigna Group subsidiary Cigna Healthcare, UnitedHealth Group subsidiary UnitedHealthcare division and a bevy of insurers and emerging companies are offering “level-funded” products to employers desperate to reduce rising healthcare costs.
  • “A level-funded plan is a hybrid of the two most common forms of employer-sponsored health insurance: self-funded plans (also called self-insured), under which the employer assumes all financial risk for medical costs and pays a third-party administrator to manage the plan; and fully insured plans, under which an employer pays premiums to an insurance company that bears the risk. Level-funded plans feature a cap on what employers pay paired with stop-loss coverage for excess costs.
  • “Level-funded plans are intended for small and midsized businesses that lack the resources to fully cover their workers’ claims in self-funded plans but are subject to significant year-to-year fluctuations in premiums based on medical expenses in fully insured arrangements. Level-funded plans can offer a balanced approach that mitigates both kinds of risk.”

• Fierce Healthcare tells us,
  • “Hinge Health inked a deal to acquire a digital gastrointestinal care management startup as it moves to broaden its business beyond musculoskeletal and migraine care.
  • “Hinge Health plans to pick up Cylinder Health for $105 million in cash. The acquisition accelerates Hinge Health’s entry into one of healthcare’s largest underserved categories, executives said, and the company plans to launch an integrated gastrointestinal (GI) care program in 2027. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter.
  • “With its expansion into GI care, the company is “following the same playbook” as it used for MSK and migraine care, Daniel Perez, co-founder and CEO of Hinge Health, told investors during the company’s second-quarter earnings call Tuesday. The company’s vision from the outset has been “use technology to automate the delivery of care within MSK and beyond,” Perez said, noting that the company’s tech platform was designed to scale across multiple conditions.”

• Beckers Payer Issues informs us,
  • “In 2026, Aetna offers the best digital experience among major insurers on both desktop and mobile, according to new research from Corporate Insight shared with Becker’s.
  • “Corporate Insight’s “2026 Commercial Health Plan Experience Benchmark,” published Aug. 5, evaluated 24 commercial payers across more than 240 desktop and mobile functions. The report identifies overall health plan leaders on each platform, as well as top experiences across eight key categories, including claims, coverage and health information, design and navigation, digital care tools, health and wellness resources, prescriptions and pharmacy, profile and settings, and support.
  • “The analysis also consisted of 32 subcategories and 120+ attributes covering functionality, design, navigation and usability. Websites and mobile apps received scores on a scale of 1-100. The 2025 rankings are here.”