From Washington, DC,

• The House of Representatives and the Senate will be in session this week on Capitol Hill for Committee business and floor voting.

• Roll Call previews Congress’s agenda for this week here.

• Of note,
  • Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
  • 10:00 AM (EST) – Senate | 430 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C.
  • Meeting: Hearings to examine transforming health care with data, focusing on improving patient outcomes through next-generation care.
  • Meeting Details

• CNBC reports,
  • “Congressional Democrats on Friday said they received a counteroffer from the White House to fund the Department of Homeland Security.
  • “The department has been shut down since Feb.14 after lawmakers failed to strike a deal on immigration enforcement restrictions.”

• Per a February 27, 2026, HHS news release,
  • The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today announced the appointment of two new members to the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
  • The two new members are:
    • Sean G. Downing, M.D., physician specializing in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, and
    • Angelina Farella, M.D., pediatrician and owner of A Brighter Tomorrow Family Health and Wellness in Webster, Texas.

From the judicial front,

• Per a February 27, 2026, Justice Department news release,
  • “Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates located in Atlanta, Georgia, has agreed to pay $4.75 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by receiving kickbacks in exchange for referrals of gastrointestinal pathology services and by performing certain gastrointestinal pathology services that were not medically reasonable or necessary.
  • “The United States alleged that beginning in approximately May 2017, Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates contracted with Advanced Pathology Solutions (APS), a pathology laboratory located in Little Rock, Arkansas, to construct and operate a limited-capacity pathology laboratory in Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates’ office. Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates received various benefits from APS in connection with the setup and ongoing operations of the in-house lab, in which histology technicians prepared and stained specimen sample slides and Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates billed Medicare and other insurers for the technical component of those services. In exchange, Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates agreed to exclusively refer patients to APS, which interpreted the slides and billed for the professional component of the services. The United States alleges that the benefits provided by APS to Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates were unlawful remuneration in exchange for patient referrals.” * * *
  • The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.

From the public health and medical / Rx research front,

• Health Day reports,
  • “Some Great Value cottage cheese products sold at Walmart are being recalled because they may not have been fully pasteurized, Saputo Cheese USA said.
  • “The recall affects select cottage cheese products made between Feb. 17 and 20, and sold in the following states: Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported.
  • “No illnesses or hospitalizations have been reported so far.

• Medscape tells us,
  • “Age-adjusted rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality tripled from 3.4 to 10.34 per 100,000 people between 1999 and 2023 among US adults with obesity, with higher rates observed in men, older adults, non-Hispanic Black adults, and in the South.”
• and
  • “Most Americans with obesity perceive themselves as only having overweight regardless of race or ethnicity, whereas experiences of weight stigma and bias differ across White, Black, and Hispanic groups with obesity, new research found.
  • “Clinicians need to know their patients, understand them from a cultural and racial perspective, and tailor treatment plans to align with their expectations and needs. This will improve motivation, engagement, and adherence,” study author Rodolfo J. Galindo, MD, Director of the Comprehensive Diabetes Center, Lennar Medical Center, University of Miami Health System, told Medscape Medical News.
  • “Obesity medicine physician scientist Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, told Medscape Medical News that the new findings add “an important, clinically relevant nuance that weight stigma is not monolithic and that experiences and attitudes can differ meaningfully across racial/ethnic groups among adults living with obesity.”
    
• The American Medical Association lets us know what doctors wish patients knew about social isolation.

• Medscape informs us,
  • “Can agnostic therapies revolutionize precision oncology? Are we ready to treat cancer without looking at the organ? For decades, cancer has been told as a story of organs: lungs, breast, colon, etc. Each diagnosis implied a predictable therapeutic path. In recent years that map has begun to blur, and in oncology clinics it is increasingly common for specialists to focus less on the patient’s cancer type and more on the molecular alteration driving its growth. The idea is to concentrate on the molecular footprint rather than the organ — a shift that is transforming precision oncology.”
• and
  • “Described for the first time in the 1940s, lipedema has long been misunderstood, often mistaken for common obesity or lymphedema and frequently treated as a cosmetic issue. This has produced chronic underdiagnosis, stigma, and fragmented care.
  • “But that picture has changed structurally with the recent publication of the Lipedema World Alliance’s first international consensus on the definition and management of lipedema, based on the Delphi method.
  • “Specialists from 19 countries contributed 59 consensus statements covering definition, pathophysiology, diagnosis, impact on quality of life, therapeutic strategies, and future research directions. Rather than offering definitive solutions, the document provides a shared starting point for clinicians, researchers, and policymakers.”

• Fierce Pharma points out,
  • “The treatment landscape for clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) could be due for a shake-up following dual breakthroughs from Merck’s Litespark clinical trial program for Welireg. Data being presented at the 2026 American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Genitourinary Cancers Symposium suggest that adding Welireg to other existing drugs significantly improves outcomes for patients at two distinct stages of their cancer journeys.
  • “For advanced ccRCC patients whose cancer has recurred following previous immunotherapy, a combination of Welireg (belzutifan) and Merck’s Eisai-partnered Lenvima (lenvatinib) significantly reduced patients’ risk of disease progression or death by 30% compared with Exelixis’ Cabometyx (cabozantinib), according to results from the Litespark-011 trial.
  • “Separately, in patients with resected ccRCC at an increased risk of recurrence following surgery, by adding Welireg to Merck’s standard Keytruda, investigators achieved a 28% reduction in the risk of the patients’ cancer returning, according to data from the Litespark-022 study.”

From the U.S. healthcare business front,

• The Healthcare Cost Institute reports,
  • “Hospital outpatient care is a large and growing component of the health care spending equation among ESI [employer sponsored insurance] enrollees. There is a disconnect between the most common reasons for hospital outpatient visits and the drivers of spending. Diagnostic tests, imaging, and evaluation and management visits accounted for more than 75% of visits in 2022, but these three categories represented just 39% of spending, which was largely driven by imaging procedures. Meanwhile, major surgeries and minor procedures accounted for 34% of spending despite being only 8% of visits.
  • “Site neutral payment policies are one approach to curbing the growth of hospital outpatient spending. These policies require providers to charge the same amount for a service regardless of whether it was performed in a hospital outpatient department or a less intensive setting like a doctor’s office. Site neutral payments could reduce the amount of money spent on imaging and evaluation and management visits, but may not be appropriate for major surgeries like joint replacement.
  • “Hospital outpatient services are also nearly three times more expensive in ESI than in Medicare. Policies that aim to align Medicare and ESI payments for outpatient care may be more suited to addressing the drivers of cost like outpatient surgery and other higher intensity procedures. Payment parity policies can also impact lower-cost, high-volume services like mammography and diagnostic testing. Effective approaches to addressing outpatient hospital costs will require creativity and a blended approach that accounts for the wide spectrum of care delivered in this setting.”

• Healthcare Dive relates,
  • “For-profit hospital operator Universal Health Services expects to increase admissions and hit long-standing growth targets in its behavioral health unit this year, executives said on a fourth-quarter earnings call Thursday.
  • “Executives said 2026 would be the year its behavioral health unit achieved 2% to 3% growth in adjusted patient days — a number the system has struggled to hit as it tries to address lagging growth at its behavioral facilities. The system initially expected to hit that target last year, but deferred due to challenges with labor and staffing.
  • “Still, executives said they anticipate multiple headwinds this year, including losses from the lapse of more generous subsidies in Affordable Care Act plans and a new staffing law in California.”

• BioPharma Dive tells us,
  • “UniQure lost nearly half a billion dollars in market value Thursday, as comments made by the head of the Food and Drug Administration appeared to stoke investor fears that the company’s most advanced research project won’t be approved in the U.S.
  • “Shares of UniQure dropped more than 30% shortly after FDA Commissioner Martin Makary appeared on CNBC to defend the agency’s approach to approving rare disease therapies. The agency has come under fire for multiple delays and regulatory setbacks involving these medications. Makary, though, said critics have been searching for a “boogeyman” to blame for recent rejections, when the bottom line is that some of these therapies just haven’t been proven effective.
  • “He mentioned, as one example, how the FDA was pressured to approve a product that’s injected into the space surrounding the brain, through a burr hole drilled into patients’ skulls.
  • “Makary didn’t name any company, but that didn’t stop some investors from interpreting his remarks as a reference to UniQure’s “AMT-130,” a gene therapy for Huntington’s disease administered via burr hole.
  • “Wall Street analysts noted that Makary might not have been talking about UniQure * * *.
  • In any case, what’s notable from Makary’s appearance is his “steadfast defense” of the FDA, “which is discouraging for those hoping that the agency can be convinced to reconsider recent negative decisions, in the absence of specific political pressure,” wrote Paul Matteis, of Stifel, in a note to clients.

• MedTech Dive informs us,
  • GE HealthCare has struck a 10-year deal with UCSF Health to support imaging at the healthcare system, the company said Thursday.
  • UCSF Health will work with GE HealthCare to implement remote scanning capabilities, train staff and improve magnetic resonance imaging performance. 
  • The agreement is part of a series of large deals involving GE HealthCare. CEO Peter Arduini told investors last month that the company has inked enterprise deals worth $7 billion in three years.