Simplicity is a virtue.

From Washington, DC,

• Beckers Hospital Review reports,
  • “Thirteen Senate Democrats are demanding answers from the largest ACA marketplace insurers about their involvement in recent [ACA federal marketplace] coverage terminations that cut more than 760,000 people from their health plans.
  • “The Oct. 26 letters, led by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., accuse the insurers of “quietly colluding” with the Trump administration on what the lawmakers said was an improper process to terminate qualified enrollees without sufficient notice or compliance with consumer protections.”
  • It’s worth adding the Administration claims the 760,000 people were unauthorized enrollments.
• and
  • “House Democrats introduced a bill Oct. 22 that would lower Medicare’s eligibility age to 50 from 65.
  • “The bill comes from Reps. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania, Debbie Dingell of Michigan and Pat Ryan of New York. Provisions would generally go into effect six months after enactment.
  • “Millions leave the workforce before 65, and with Trump’s cuts to healthcare, many are now left without any options as they wait, sometimes years, for Medicare enrollment,” Ms. Jayapal said in an Oct. 23 news release. “Expanding this program is a commonsense step towards ensuring that all Americans have the care they deserve.”
  • “If passed, the bill would sunset five years after most of its provisions go into effect.” 

• The American Hospital Association News relates,
  • “The Department of Health and Human Services Oct. 27 announced a new initiative to improve breast cancer screening and detection efforts. The initiative, led by the Office on Women’s Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and DenseBreast-info.org, will coordinate actions that include expanding breast density education and improving diagnostic follow-up. HHS said more than 40 health systems will expand evidence-based practices and address delays in care under the program, called the OWH-AHRQ Breast Cancer Screening and Diagnostic Follow-up Initiative. The department said OWH and DenseBreast-info.org will also expand access to educational resources to improve breast density awareness, support informed discussions between women and healthcare providers, and promote understanding of breast cancer screening and diagnostic follow-up options.”
• and
  • “The Department of Health and Human Services Oct. 26 announced that more than 250 hospitals have signed its voluntary pledge related to hospital efforts on healthy food. The pledge asks hospitals to align patient food services with the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. It also asks hospitals to ensure inpatient meals meet individual nutritional needs and support healing, recovery and long-term health; and to provide accessible nutrition resources and education as part of discharge planning to help patients sustain healthy habits. The pledge was announced during the AHA Annual Membership meeting in April.”
    
• Per an Health and Human Services Department news release,
  • “The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today released new analysis from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) examining America’s record-low overall age-adjusted death rate in 2025 and substantial progress in reducing prescription opioid exposure and expanding treatment. An article in Health Affairs Forefront and a new ASPE report highlight how actions across President Trump’s two terms to reduce unnecessary opioid prescribing, combat illicit fentanyl, and strengthen treatment and recovery have led opioid-related deaths in the United States to plummet to the lowest since President Trump declared a public health emergency in 2017. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced the findings at an event at Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network in Detroit, Michigan.” * * *
  • “The ASPE report The U.S. Age-Adjusted Death Rate Reached a Record Low in 2025: What Drove the Decline? can be found here.
  • “The Health Affairs Forefront article can be found here.”

• Beckers Clinical Leadership tells us,
  • “CDC deputy director and chief medical officer Jennifer Shuford, MD, is leaving the agency after six months, The Washington Post reported Oct. 26.
  • “Dr. Shuford, an infectious disease physician, previously served as Texas’ health commissioner and was hired in April as part of a new leadership team meant to increase trust in the agency. CDC scientists were optimistic about her hiring due to her public health background and willingness to speak out during Texas’ measles outbreak last year, the Post reported.
  • “She is expected to leave after the midterm elections Nov. 3.”

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

• Federal News Network reports,
  • “Agencies now have explicit authority to put federal employees on paid administrative leave for “workforce realignment” reasons, according to final regulations the Office of Personnel Management published earlier this month.
  • “Paying federal employees not to work, after they agree to leave their jobs during workforce reduction efforts, is now an officially acceptable use of paid administrative leave under OPM’s final rule. The leave category is also permissible during reduction-in-force (RIF) notice periods, as well as physical fitness activities in limited cases. And agencies can now deny employees’ requests to withdraw their resignations while under a deferred resignation program (DRP).
  • “The regulations provide more transparency and accountability, provide a firmer legal foundation for allowing or prohibiting certain uses of administrative leave, promote consistency across agencies, clarify the authority of agencies and reduce potential disputes,” OPM wrote in its Oct. 19 final rule.”

• Govexec relates,
  • “Americans’ satisfaction with public-facing services provided by the federal government has fallen for the first time in five years, according to new findings released by the American Customer Satisfaction Index.  
  • “ACSI reports that citizen satisfaction has fallen to a score of 68.6 out of 100 – a 2.6% decrease. 
  • “This marks the first decline tracked by the index since 2021, when many federal employees were put on mandatory work-from-home schedules at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and agencies struggled to bring more of their public-facing services online.” 

• FedSmith advises “Check your FEHB plan’s provider network before Open Season to ensure your trusted doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies are still covered.
  
• OPM’s Inspector General has posted its Fiscal Year 2027 Oversight Plan, which is worth a gander.

From the U.S. Food and Drug Administration front,

• Per a Health and Human Services Department news release,
  • “The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Food and Drug Administration, today issued a draft guidance for industry to help sponsors develop and seek approval for personalized gene therapies designed to treat patients with rare genetic diseases.
  • “The guidance, Individualized Human Genome Editing Products: Considerations for BLA Submission and Postapproval Management, provides a clear regulatory framework for submitting and managing Biologics License Applications (BLAs) for individualized genome editing (GE) products. The Trump Administration is committed to modernizing approaches to safely get more cures and meaningful treatments to all Americans, regardless of the size of the patient population.” * * *
  • “A recorded webinar, Individualized Human Genome Editing Products: Considerations for BLA and Postapproval Management, summarizing the key elements of the guidance is available on the FDA’s YouTube channel.
  • “The FDA is inviting public comment on the draft guidance. Comments may be submitted to the docket FDA-2026-D-11783 at regulations.gov within 30 days of publication in the Federal Register.”

• Health tells us,
  • “A popular plant-based butter has been recalled in 10 states due to yeast, mold, and E. coli, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced. The Miyoko’s butter was initially recalled on Sept. 11, and on Oct. 23, the FDA gave the recall the second-highest risk level, Class II. This means the butter is unlikely to cause permanent health issues, but may cause temporary or reversible effects.”

• Cardiovascular Business adds,
  • “Medtronic is recalling certain OmniaSecure defibrillation leads due to an increased risk of implant issues. No adverse events have been reported, but clinicians did report experiencing difficulties that could potentially lead to “tissue trauma.” 
  • “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ruled that this is a Class II recall, which means using the devices “may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences.”
  • “Medtronic initiated the recall in September, notifying customers that they should “quarantine and return” any affected OmniaSecure defibrillation leads.
  • “Medtronic recently requested the retrieval of a subset of nonimplanted OmniaSecure defibrillation leads for an engineering evaluation,” a company spokesperson told Cardiovascular Business. “The notification request for retrieval was limited to a subset of leads that may have undergone a specific manufacturing sequence as identified by an internal quality process. There have been no reports of patient harm.”
  • “This recall covers more than 700 OmniaSecure defibrillation leads distributed throughout the United States. The two item numbers are 3930M74 or 3930M79. Only the leads specifically included in this recall are being recalled. Click here for a list serial numbers.”

From the judicial front,

• Bloomberg Law reports,
  • “Novo Nordisk A/S lost a bid in a US court to temporarily block Eli Lilly & Co. from using advertisements that claim its drugs are more powerful, a setback to Novo as it battles to regain a larger share of the obesity and diabetes drug markets.
  • “US District Judge Zahid Quraishi ruled Monday that Lilly can continue to make the disputed claims in its ads while Novo proceeds with a lawsuit filed in July in federal court in Trenton, New Jersey. The judge said Novo’s case for a preliminary injunction was “less than persuasive” because it failed to show irreparable harm.”

• Fierce Healthcare relates,
  • “CVS Heath’s Aetna is joining the ranks of insurers suing over its results in the 2027 Medicare Advantage star ratings.
  • “The insured filed suit Monday in Georgia’s Southern District Court, and argues that 28 measures used by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to calculate its scores were “unlawfully adopted” and should have been excluded.”

From the public health and medical / Rx research front,

• Beckers Clinical Leadership reports,
  • “A single mutation in the H1N1 influenza virus — G155E — is emerging as the defining feature of a flu season that has arrived months ahead of schedule and may slip past some people’s immunity, researchers told Nature, CNN and Today. 
  • “Becker’s reported Oct. 5 that H1N1 had overtaken H3N2 in early West Coast surveillance. The mutation now drawing scrutiny helps explain why.” * * *
  • “Because this year’s shots were formulated in the spring, before G155E spread, the H1N1 component may not be well-matched if the mutation dominates, Dr. Bloom told Nature, though he cautioned it is too early to know. 
  • “Scott Hensley, PhD, a virologist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia told Nature the H3N2 and influenza B components appear well-matched. Experts stressed that a mismatch means reduced protection, not none. 
  • “This is one of those seasons where the key message is to go get vaccinated now,” Dr. Greninger told CNN. He added that a second, more conventional wave could follow once H1N1 peaks.”
• and
  • “The CDC found four drug-resistant pathogens require urgent and aggressive action, according to its 2026 Antimicrobial Resistance Threats Report.
  • “The 2026 report, published Oct. 27, estimates the impact of 19 drug-resistant bacterial and fungal pathogens on human health in the U.S. They are categorized into three threat levels. Urgent threats require urgent and aggressive action. Serious threats require prompt and sustained action, and concerning threats require careful monitoring and prevention action, the report said. The CDC also included a watch list of pathogens being monitored because their full burden is not yet understood. 
  • “The CDC updated its methodologies and data sources to make the 2026 report the most comprehensive to date. As a result, direct comparisons to previous reports should not be made, the CDC said.”
• and
  • “Older adults who received two weeks of home-delivered meals post-discharge were 69% less likely to be readmitted within 14 days, a Durham, N.C.-based Duke University study found.
  • “The study, published on Sept. 19 in Journal of Hospital Medicine, analyzed data from 368 adults 60 and older who were discharged from Duke hospitals between September 2022 and April 2024. All the adults were at risk of food insecurity or malnutrition and were referred to a state-funded Meals on Wheels hospital discharge pilot program that provided two weeks of home-delivered meals. 
  • “Meal recipients also had 54% lower odds of readmission at 21 days. Two weeks post-discharge, nearly 5% of patients who received meals were readmitted, compared with roughly 13% of those who did not.” 

• Health Day relates,
  • “Ultra-processed foods appear to rewire kids’ brains so they crave more junk food, a new study says.
  • “Pictures of cookies or fries trigger a powerful reaction in the brain reward systems of children who eat more ultra-processed food, researchers reported Oct. 23 in JAMA Network Open.
  • Those children subsequently have higher odds of weight gain and more body fat, researchers found.
  • “Children’s brains are still developing, habits are still forming and food preferences are still being made,” senior researcher Dr. Kathleen Page, a professor of medicine and pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, said in a news release. “It’s an important period where the brain is very sensitive to food and the food environment.”
• and
  • “Nearly 1 in 5 young adults in the U.S. feel anxious every single day, a new study says.
  • “Just under 20% of Americans between 18 and 25 said they suffered from daily anxiety in 2024, up from 15% in 2020, researchers report in the American Journal of Public Health.
  • “The odds of receiving an anxiety diagnosis or a prescription for anxiety meds also rose by roughly a third during the same period, researchers found.
  • “This anxiety might stem from the COVID-19 pandemic and its lasting impact on the psyche of Americans, researchers said.”

• Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News tells us.
  • “A study by researchers at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) has identified six different genes that can help forecast survival of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a type of cancer that has very variable outcomes between patients.
  • “Headed by ICREA Research Professor Luciano Di Croce, PhD, a researcher at the CRG, the team created a scoring system by moving repeatedly between laboratory experiments with mice and patient records, crossing the two to look for genes that behaved consistently in both. * * *
  • “Findings from the study could point to new ways of helping to predict outcomes in patients with this type of blood cancer, contributing to the development of future prognostic tests, and may suggest new therapeutic targets. Patients suspected of having AML already give a bone marrow sample for laboratory analysis, and measuring six genes is simpler and cheaper than reading a broader genetic profile.”

• The New York Times informs us,
  • “Millions Use Antidepressants. We Still Don’t Understand How They Work.
    • “Here’s how psychiatrists like me think about the most promising hypotheses.”

• Fierce Pharma points out,
  • “Vanda Pharmaceutical’s Nereus may soon break out of its motion sickness niche to become a treatment option for the burgeoning GLP-1 market. 
  • “Topline results from the D.C.-based pharma’s phase 3 called “Study 3601” are in, and Nereus demonstrated a 27% reduction in vomiting among patients on GLP-1 receptor agonist therapy and a 35% reduction in severe nausea and vomiting.
  • “Nausea and vomiting are among the biggest obstacles to GLP-1 adherence. Roughly half of patients quit the treatments within their first year, and gastrointestinal challenges are among their cited reasons. Vanda believes Nereus has the potential to help more patients stay on their therapy. Data in hand, the drugmaker is now heading for the FDA in hopes of a label expansion.”
• and
  • “Pfizer’s Elrexfio has taken another step on its path to potential commercial momentum: The drugmaker just announced another phase 3 win for the bispecific antibody, this time as a treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) whose disease has progressed after first-line treatment.
  • “The topline readout, announced Tuesday, came by way of Pfizer’s MagnetisMM-32 trial, one of multiple ongoing phase 3 trials evaluating Elrexfio as an earlier-line option for RRMM. 
  • “According to Pfizer, patients who took Elrexfio after at least one prior line of treatment had a significantly lower risk of disease progression or death compared to an investigator’s choice regimen of BMS and AbbVie’s Empliciti (elotuzumab) with Bristol’s Pomalyst (pomalidomide), Pomalyst with Takeda’s Velcade (bortezomib), or Amgen’s Kyprolis (carfilzomib), all paired with the steroid dexamethasone.” 

• MedTech Dive adds,
  • “Abbott on Monday launched a new version of its Oncodetect molecular residual disease test designed to better monitor for traces of cancer in the body after treatment.
  • “MRD tests look for tiny amounts of circulating tumor DNA, or ctDNA, in the blood to act as an early warning signal for cancer recurrence. The goal is to detect recurring disease earlier than traditional methods like imaging scans.
  • “Abbott’s new test, based on technology developed at the Broad Instituteof MIT and Harvard, uses whole-genome sequencing to track as many as 5,000 patient-specific cancer mutations, compared with up to 200 variants in the earlier Oncodetect test.”

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

• The Wall Street Journal reports,
  • “Centene CNC raised its full-year outlook for the third time as the health insurer continued to control medical costs.
  • “However, its total at-risk membership fell to 25.7 million as of Sept. 30, down from 28 million a year earlier, primarily reflecting a contraction in its Health Insurance Marketplace enrollment.
  • “The company’s health-benefits ratio, a measure of how much was paid out to cover enrollees’ medical expenses, held steady at 92.7%, below the mean analyst estimate of 92.9%, based on FactSet. The company said the underlying performance in its Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plans drove the stability, alongside improved pricing and risk transfer in Marketplace reflecting member acuity.”
• and
  • “GSK expects to nearly double the number of cancer medicines it is testing in clinical trials next year, according to one of its top scientists, highlighting how the company’s dealmaking spree is filling its drug pipeline.
  • “Hesham Abdullah, head of oncology research and development at the U.K. drugmaker, said in an interview that the company is firing on all cylinders to speed up its return to the field of cancer medicine.
  • “Right now we have five approved [cancer] medicines, I think probably in a few weeks’ time there’ll be six,” Abdullah said. “We have a clinical-stage portfolio of about 15 assets that’s probably going to, I would say, close to double in 2027.”

• Fierce Healthcare relates,
  • “HCA Healthcare’s earnings landed above internal and analyst expectations for the third quarter as accelerated volume growth and cost reductions blunted a weakening payer mix.
  • “On Tuesday morning, executives at the country’s largest for-profit health system said it’s now on track to land in the upper half of its 2026 estimated guidance ranges, and in an earnings call gave an early prediction that earnings performance next year “will be generally consistent with 2026” despite expected policy and macroeconomic headwinds. 
  • “I’ve often mentioned that HCA has strong staying power because of our scale, the important role we play in providing critical services to communities and our disciplined culture,” CEO Sam Hazen said during the call. “Despite the challenges this year brought about by federal policy changes, we have continued to move the company forward and believe we are positioned to end the year positively as we look ahead to 2027.”

• Beckers Hospital Review tells us,
  • “King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services reported an operating income of $454 million (9.6% margin) in the third quarter of 2026, down from a $522 million operating income (11.6% margin) during the same period last year, according to financial results published Oct. 27. 
  • “The news release comes after UHS completed its acquisition of Talkspace, a virtual behavioral health company, in mid-August for $835 million.” * * *
  • “UHS comprises 30 inpatient acute care facilities, 388 inpatient behavioral health facilities, 169 outpatient and other facilities, nationwide virtual behavioral health services, an insurance offering, a physician network and various related services with locations in 40 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Ireland and the United Kingdom. It has more than 102,000 employees.”
• and
  • “Healthgrades released its 2027 Specialty State Rankings Oct. 27, naming the top three or five hospitals in each of 19 specialties across 30 states.
  • “The rankings use Medicare inpatient data from 2023 to 2025 on 31 conditions and procedures. To be ranked, a hospital must have no one-star ratings and at least one five-star rating in the cohort being measured. States with six or fewer eligible hospitals in a specialty are not ranked in that specialty, states with seven to 10 eligible hospitals receive a top three and states with 11 or more receive a top five. This year’s ranked specialties include emergency hospitalization, which was not ranked last year and covers 12 common emergency conditions.
  • “The 30 states with rankings are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.”
  • The article lists those hospitals by State.
• and
  • “Pharmacist pay swings by tens of thousands of dollars depending on the state. Technician pay is lower and depends heavily on local cost of living. Meanwhile, the jobs themselves are shifting out of retail and into hospitals, where pay tends to be higher.
  • “[The article shows] what pharmacy pay looks like in 2026, based on the latest federal wage data.”

• BioPharma Dive informs us,
  • “Ferring Pharmaceuticals has agreed to buy fertility treatment startup Gameto in a potentially $1.4 billion deal that boosts the Swiss drugmaker’s portfolio of reproductive medicines. 
  • “Ferring didn’t disclose exactly how much it’s paying up front for Gameto in its announcement Tuesday, only noting that the transaction involves payments tied to unspecified development, regulatory and sales milestones. The two entities will also continue to operate independently until the buyout closes. 
  • “Once completed, the acquisition will hand Ferring “Fertilo,” a novel technology the biotech developed to help simplify and shorten in vitro fertilization cycles.” 
• and
  • “Artiva Biotherapeutics will lay off most of its staff and stop developing an experimental “natural killer” cell therapy for autoimmune conditions after reporting the deaths of two participants in a clinical trial. 
  • “Artiva made clear in a Tuesday statement that both of the deaths appear unrelated to its therapy, which is known as AlloNK and was being tested in inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.” 

• Beckers Health IT points out,
  • “Anthropic has acquired Mithril Medicine, a one-person startup developing treatments for two rare forms of muscular dystrophy. The AI company also released early results from Claude-assisted drug development work with six outside organizations, it said Oct. 27.
  • “The partners are BigHat Biosciences, Bristol Myers Squibb, Divergence Labs, Enveda, Generate Biomedicines and the Column Group. Most of the work is still preclinical, meaning most of the drug candidates have not yet been tested in humans.”