FEHBlog

Cybersecurity Saturday

David Ermer–Cybersecurity, Generative AI–

From the cybersecurity policy and law enforcement front,

  • Federal News Network reports,
    • “House appropriators have advanced a homeland security spending bill that endorses many of the Trump administration’s budget proposals, while rejecting steep cuts to cybersecurity and artificial intelligence personnel.
    • “The fiscal 2026 homeland security appropriations measure includes $66.36 billion in discretionary spending. The GOP-led committee passed the bill Tuesday [June 24, 2025] on a 36-27 vote.
    • “The bill follows the broad contours of Trump administration policies by prioritizing funding for Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Appropriators are also expecting significant funding for the Department of Homeland Security to be included in the budget reconciliation bill.”
  • Cyberscoop tells us,
    • “With time running short before expiration of a cyber information-sharing law highly valued by the private sector, Congress is taking a look at the possibility of a short-term extension.
    • “The 2015 Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, which provided legal safeguards for companies to share threat data, is due to sunset at the end of September, and Congress doesn’t tend to work much in August.
    • “A bipartisan pair of senators have introduced a bill to simply extend it for another 10 years. But a House bill is still in the works and might take a different approach that involves making changes to the law going forward, industry officials told CyberScoop on Wednesday. Getting competing proposals through both chambers, then settling differences and finalizing a bill to get to the president’s desk, could take significant time.
    • “There are other things that are being considered in the mix,” said John Miller, senior vice president of policy for trust, data and technology and general counsel at the Information Technology Industry Council. One would be attaching language to a continuing resolution funding measure that would extend the 2015 law for a short period of time.”
  • Cybersecurity Dive informs us,
    • “Federal officials and private-sector security leaders said Tuesday [June 24, 2025] that they are closely monitoring for cyberattacks related to the Iran conflict but thus far have not observed any significant activity. 
    • “The Department of Homeland Security warned Sunday that Iran-linked actors or hacktivist groups may launch attacks against U.S. critical infrastructure operators, citing a recent history of attacks against poorly configured water utilities and other systems. 
    • “An apparent truce announced late Monday by President Donald Trump appeared to lower international tensions, but officials remain on guard for any potential threat activity.
    • “The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) “is actively coordinating with government, industry, and international partners to share actionable intelligence and strengthen collective defense,” CISA spokesperson Marci McCarthy said in a statement. “There are currently no specific credible threats against the homeland.”
  • NextGov/FCW notes,
    • “Morgan Adamski is leaving her role as executive director of U.S. Cyber Command, handing the reins to Patrick Ware.
    • “After 17 years of service at the National Security Agency, I’ve decided to turn the page to an exciting new chapter in my career. It has been an extraordinary journey contributing to the defense of our Nation and advancing the cybersecurity mission across the U.S. Government,” Adamski wrote in a LinkedIn post Friday [June 27, 2025].
    • “The number three spot in the combatant command is typically held by a civilian on detail from the National Security Agency.
    • “Though Adamski did not clarify where she would be headed next, she noted her commitment to ensuring there were cyber solutions on “both sides of the fence.”
  • CISA and the National Security Agency have released a report titled “Memory Safe Languages: Reducing Vulnerabilities in Modern Software Development.’
  • Per Cyberscoop,
    • Kai West, a prolific cybercriminal better known for operating under the moniker “IntelBroker,” was arrested in France earlier this year and faces federal charges for allegedly stealing data from more than 40 organizations during a two-year period, the Justice Department said Wednesday [June 25, 2025]. 
    • Federal prosecutors unsealed a four-count indictment charging West, a British national, with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, accessing a protected computer to obtain information and wire fraud. The United States is seeking his extradition for the charges, which each carry maximum sentences of five to 20 years in prison. 

From the cybersecurity breaches and vulnerabilities front,

  • Beckers Health IT identifies the top ten states for healthcare data breaches between February 2023 and April 2025.
  • CISA added three known exploited vulnerabilities to its catalog this week.
    • June 25, 2025
      • CVE-2024-54085 AMI MegaRAC SPx Authentication Bypass by Spoofing Vulnerability
        • Network World discusses this KVE here.
      • CVE-2024-0769 D-Link DIR-859 Router Path Traversal Vulnerability
        • Cybersecurity News discusses this KVE here.
      • CVE-2019-6693 Fortinet FortiOS Use of Hard-Coded Credentials Vulnerability
        • Cybersecurity News discusses this KVE here.
  • Cyberscoop reports,
    • Citrix on Wednesday [June 25, 2025] disclosed an actively exploited zero-day vulnerability affecting multiple versions of NetScaler products, an alarming development from a vendor that’s been widely targeted in previous attack sprees.
    • The zero-day (CVE-2025-6543) was disclosed by Citrix nine days after it issued a security bulletin for a pair of defects (CVE-2025-5777 and CVE-2025-5349) in the same products. All three vulnerabilities affect the company’s networking security appliance NetScaler ADC and its virtual private network NetScaler Gateway. 
    • “Exploits of CVE-2025-6543 on unmitigated appliances have been observed,” Citrix said in a security bulletin for the zero-day. Citrix did not respond to a request for comment. 
    • Citrix described the critical zero-day CVE-2025-6543, which has a base score of 9.2 on the CVSS scale, as a memory overflow defect that attackers can exploit for unintended control flow and denial of service. Exploitation can only occur if targeted NetScaler instances are configured as a gateway or an authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) virtual server, according to Citrix.”
  • and
    • “The aviation industry has seemingly become the latest target of Scattered Spider, a sophisticated cybercriminal group that has shifted its focus from retail and insurance companies to airlines in what cybersecurity experts describe as a coordinated campaign against the sector.
    • “Hawaiian Airlines disclosed a cybersecurity incident Friday [June 27, 2025] affecting some of its IT systems while maintaining that flights continued operating safely and on schedule. The attack, first detected June 23, according to SEC filings, prompted the airline to engage federal authorities and cybersecurity experts for investigation and remediation efforts.
    • “Multiple incident responders have attributed the Hawaiian Airlines attack to Scattered Spider, also known as Muddled Libra or UNC3944. The assessment comes as cybersecurity firms Unit 42 and Mandiant issued warnings about the group’s apparent pivot to targeting aviation companies.
    • “Charles Carmakal, chief technology officer at Mandiant Consulting – Google Cloud, confirmed his company is “aware of multiple incidents in the airline and transportation sector which resemble the operations of UNC3944 or Scattered Spider.” The group has demonstrated a pattern of focusing intensively on single industries before moving to new sectors.”
  • Per Hacker News,
    • “Unknown threat actors have been distributing a trojanized version of SonicWall’s SSL VPN NetExtender application to steal credentials from unsuspecting users who may have installed it.
    • “NetExtender enables remote users to securely connect and run applications on the company network,” SonicWall researcher Sravan Ganachari said. “Users can upload and download files, access network drives, and use other resources as if they were on the local network.”
    • “The malicious payload delivered via the rogue VPN software has been code named SilentRoute by Microsoft, which detected the campaign along with the network security company.” * * *
    • “The development comes as G DATA detailed a threat activity cluster dubbed EvilConwi that involves bad actors abusing ConnectWise to embed malicious code using a technique called authenticode stuffing without invalidating the digital signature.
    • “The German cybersecurity company said it has observed a spike in attacks using this technique since March 2025. The infection chains primarily leverage phishing emails as an initial access vector or through bogus sites advertised as artificial intelligence (AI) tools on Facebook.”

From the ransomware front,

  • Bleeping Computer notes,
    • “Ahold Delhaize, one of the world’s largest food retail chains, is notifying over 2.2 million individuals that their personal, financial, and health information was stolen in a November ransomware attack that impacted its U.S. systems.
    • “The multinational retailer and wholesale company operates over 9,400 local stores across Europe, the United States, and Indonesia, employing more than 393,000 people and serving approximately 60 million customers each week in-store and online.” * * *
    • “In a Thursday filing with Maine’s Attorney General, the retail giant revealed that the attackers behind the November breach stole the data of 2,242,521 individuals after gaining access to the company’s internal U.S. business systems on November 6, 2024.”Mich
  • Michigan Health Watch adds,
  • Dark Reading reports,
    • “A newly discovered ransomware group dubbed “Dire Wolf” has already taken a bite out of 16 organizations globally since its emergence only last month, mainly across the technology and manufacturing sectors, researchers have found.
    • “The group uses a double extortion tactic with a monthlong turnaround time for paying ransom, and deploys custom encryptors tailored to specific victims, security firm Trustwave revealed in a blog post published June 24. Researchers from Trustwave SpiderLabs recently uncovered and observed a ransomware sample from the emerging threat group and gained insights on how it operates, they said.
    • “So far, the group’s victims have spanned 11 countries, with the US and Thailand reporting the highest numbers of attacks, followed by Taiwan. So far, five of the 16 victims listed on the group’s data leak site have data scheduled to be uploaded by the end of June, presumably because they didn’t pay the ransom, according to the post.”
  • Per Cybersecurity Dive,
    • “Only half of ransomware attacks on organizations this year have involved data encryption, once the attack’s defining feature, according to a Sophos report published on Tuesday [June 24, 2025].
    • “Both the average ransom demand and average ransom payment have dropped significantly over the past year (by 34% and 50%, respectively).
    • “Less than a third of respondents in the survey who paid a ransom said the amount matched the attackers’ initial demand, with 53% of victims paying less and 18% paying more.”

From the cybersecurity defenses front,

  • Cyberscoop reports,
    • “When a faulty software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike last year caused possibly the largest IT outage in history, Microsoft ended up taking much of the blame.
    • “CrowdStrike’s Falcon endpoint detection and response was on millions of Windows devices worldwide, and like most antivirus products that need broad access to different systems to do their job, the software had direct access to the Windows kernel.
    • “When CrowdStrike’s update crashed, so did millions of Windows-powered systems and devices around the world. A series of security announcements by Microsoft on Thursday [June 26, 2025] are designed to reduce the possibility of future third-party outages and other security threats that can take an organization’s IT out of commission for extended durations.
    • “Among those changes: antivirus software like the kind installed by CrowdStrike and other third-party cybersecurity will no longer have direct access to the Windows kernel. The company will be previewing a new endpoint security platform to vendors next month that requires security updates to go through layers of testing and review before they ship to Windows devices and systems worldwide.”
  • Per Cybersecurity Dive,
    • “Cybersecurity insurance premiums declined 2.3% year over year to roughly $7.1 billion in 2024, according to a new report released on Monday [June 23, 2025] by credit rating agency AM Best.
    • “Meanwhile, cyber insurance providers’ loss ratio — the proportion of premiums they use to pay out claims — remained below 50%, indicating that the market remains profitable.
    • “AM Best offered several possible explanations for the slight premium decline.”
  • and
    • “Two reports — one that KPMG released on Thursday and one that Thales released last month — illustrate how generative AI is raising security concerns for business leaders.
    • “Business leaders surveyed by KPMG reported prioritizing security oversight in their generative AI budgeting decisions, with 67% saying they plan to spend money on cyber and data security protections for their AI models. Fifty-two percent cited risk and compliance as a budgetary priority.
    • “Those spending decisions reflect corporate executives’ growing worries about AI security. ***
  • WEDI is offering a free healthcare cybersecurity webinar on June 15, 2025, at 1:00 pm ET.
  • The ISACA Blog considers Proactive Approaches to Identify Cyberthreats.
  • Here is a link to Dark Reading’s CISO Corner.

Friday report

David Ermer–CDC, CMS, Congress, COVID-19, Federal employment benefits, Medical / Rx research, SCOTUS, U.S. Healthcare–

From Washington, DC,

  • The Wall Street Journal reports,
    • “President Trump stuck to his July 4 deadline for Republicans’ tax-and-spending megabill while signaling there might be some wiggle room as GOP senators struggled to resolve disagreements over Medicaid cuts and other provisions.
    • “Senators said they were aiming for an initial procedural vote as early as noon Saturday, which would let them pass the bill sometime Sunday. Before that, they are aiming to release the final text of the bill and ensure that it can work procedurally in the fast-track process they are using for the party-line legislation.
    • “As of Friday afternoon, Senate Republicans were still negotiating details over the state and local tax deduction, considering a new proposal to set the cap at the House-preferred level of $40,000 for five years before it shrinks. They are also debating changes to Medicaid, including limits on state-financing mechanisms that could squeeze rural hospitals—and a rural-hospital fund to mitigate the effects of their plans. 
    • “Asked at a press conference if he was sticking with his Independence Day target, Trump said: “It’s not the end-all. It could go longer, but we’d like to get it done.”
  • Federal News Network tells us,
    • “A bipartisan bill to revise the rules for federal workers’ compensation cases unanimously advanced out of a House committee this week. The legislation would revise the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act to allow physician assistants and nurse practitioners to treat feds in workers’ compensation cases. A previous version of the bill passed the House in 2022, but did not clear the Senate. Cosponsors of the bill say they’re hopeful it will pass both chambers this Congress.”
  • Per a CMS news release,
    • “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is announcing a new Innovation Center model aimed at helping ensure people with Original Medicare receive safe, effective, and necessary care. Through the Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction (WISeR) Model, CMS will partner with companies specializing in enhanced technologies to test ways to provide an improved and expedited prior authorization process relative to Original Medicare’s existing processes, helping patients and providers avoid unnecessary or inappropriate care and safeguarding federal taxpayer dollars. This model builds on other changes being made to prior authorization as announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and CMS on Monday.” * * *
    • “To view the Model Overview fact sheet, visit: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/wiser- fact-sheet.pdf.
    • “For more information on the WISeR Model, visit: https://www.cms.gov/priorities/innovation/innovation-models/wiser.
    • “The WISeR Model can be seen on the Federal Register at: https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2025-12195.
  • Fierce Pharma informs us,
    • “Restricted availability under an FDA-mandated drug safety program has limited the reach of CAR-T cell therapies for certain blood cancers—until now.
    • “The FDA has removed the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) requirements for currently approved BCMA- and CD19-directed CAR-T therapies, the agency said Thursday.
    • “Existing commercial CAR-T products, including Bristol Myers Squibb’s Abecma and Breyanzi, Gilead Sciences’ Yescarta and Tecartus, Johnson & Johnson and Legend Biotech’s Carvykti, and Novartis’ Kymriah, stand to benefit from the update. Autolus’ CD19 CAR-T Aucatzyl was approved in November for B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia without a REMS requirement. The FDA’s website only has updated prescribing information for Carvykti as of publication time, but the agency’s announcement said the REMS requirements have been removed for all these drugs.” * * *
    • “These changes should facilitate patient access, particularly for those who do not live near centers of excellence where CAR-Ts are commonly administered,” Citi analysts wrote in a Friday note.”
  • Federal News Network notes,
    • “June 28th is National Insurance Awareness Day, offering a timely reminder for federal employees to reassess their current healthcare needs and determine whether their FEHB plan remains the best fit.
    • “It’s important to review your coverage outside of Open Season, know what to expect for 2026, and be aware of trusted resources that can help guide your decisions.”
    • The article shares information on these points.

From the judicial front,

  • The Supreme Court completed its October 2024 term today.
  • Roll Call reports,
    • The Supreme Court curtailed the power of district courts to issue “universal injunctions” in a decision Friday in the legal clash over the Trump administration’s push end birthright citizenship.
    • The 6-3 decision [liberals dissenting] found that most of those broad orders that stop government actions — and there have been dozens issued against the Trump administration this year — exceed the power Congress gave to federal district courts.
    • The decision sends litigation over the legality of President Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship effort back to the lower court and is likely to set off an avalanche of litigation in more than 100 lawsuits against Trump’s administrative actions.
  • The FEHBlog expects that plaintiffs will be converting their lawsuits to class actions.
  • Govexec adds,
    • “The Supreme Court on Friday limited individual judges’ capacity to strike down government policy on a nationwide basis, a decision with potentially far-reaching impacts on how federal agencies carry out their work. 
    • “The high court left in place some carve outs, however, including one that could—at least temporarily—protect a judge’s ruling that is currently blocking the Trump administration from carrying out widespread layoffs. While the Trump administration applauded the Supreme Court’s decision and lamented the influence that lower-level judges have exerted over the president’s control of the federal workforce, attorneys who helped bring the lawsuit forward suggested it did not apply to the order preventing large-scale reductions in force.” * * *
    • “The victory for federal employees, to the extent they can claim one after the Supreme Court’s decision, may be short lived. The administration has already appealed both RIF cases to the [Supreme Court], where it is now awaiting resolution. It has done so seeking emergency relief and a decision is expected any day.” 
       
  • The Wall Street Journal sums it up as follows:
    • The Supreme Court ruled against nationwide injunctions, limiting the scope of lower-court rulings against presidential policies.
    • The high court ruling might lead to more lawsuits against the administration, as individuals and groups must bring their own cases.
    • Lawyers are exploring class-action suits, and state attorneys general might gain influence challenging White House policies.
  • The American Hospital Association News relates,
    • “The Supreme Court today voted 6-3 [conservatives dissenting] to uphold an Affordable Care Act provision creating an independent task force charged with making recommendations of preventive services that insurers must cover at no cost. The ruling reverses a June 2024 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which partially affirmed a district court judgment that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the group charged with determining coverage of certain preventative services, was unconstitutional.” 
    • The Court held that the USPSTF members, who are volunteers, are inferior officers of the United States, who can be appointed by someone other than the President, in this case, the HHS Secretary, without Senate confirmation.
    • The opinion helpfully preserves the ACA preventive care status quo.
  • KFF calls attention to legal issues that the Court’s opinion may not have resolved.
  • SCOTUSblog covers the other Supreme Court decisions issued today.
  • The AHA News also tells us,
    • “A U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia judge today ruled against Johnson and Johnson and sided with the Department of Health and Human Services and hospitals in a lawsuit brought by J&J challenging the government’s authority to reject J&J’s proposed 340B rebate model.  
    • “In sum, based on the plain and unambiguous language of the 340B statute, and supported by its purpose and history, HRSA has the authority to ‘provide’ for discounts, rebates, or both,” Judge Rudolph Contreras wrote. “This conclusion defeats J&J’s claim that HRSA lacked the authority to require prior approval of J&J’s rebate model.” 
    • “The AHA in a friend-of-the-court brief urged the court to uphold the government’s decision to reject J&J’s proposed 340B rebate model. Others joining the AHA in the filing were the Children’s Hospital Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges and America’s Essential Hospitals. 
    • “Earlier this year, a second district judge reached the same conclusion in cases brought by five other drug companies.”

From the public health and medical research front,

  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced today,
    • “Seasonal influenza activity is low. COVID-19 and RSV activity is very low.
    • “COVID-19
      • “COVID-19 wastewater activity, emergency department visits and laboratory percent positivity are at very low levels.
    • “Influenza
    • “RSV
      • “RSV activity is very low.”
  • Per Health Day,
    • “Updated COVID-19 vaccines are keeping up with new coronavirus strains and remain effective for keeping people out of the hospital, a new study says.
    • “The study, which examined the effectiveness of the 2023-2024 COVID vaccines against the XBB and JN.1 Omicron variant waves, found that the updated shots caused:
      • “A 24% lower risk of ER and urgent care visits related to COVID.
      • “A 29% lower risk of hospitalization.
      • “A 48% lower risk of ICU admission or death in hospital.
    • “This protection stretched from a week after vaccination out to 299 days afterward, researchers reported June 25 in JAMA Network Open.
    • “Maximum protection came during the first two months after vaccination, reducing severe cases of COVID by up to 68%, results show.
    • “However, vaccine effectiveness waned over time, particularly beyond the six-month mark.”
  • The University of Minnesota’s CIDRAP reports,
    • “The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now updating its measles totals on Wednesdays, and on June 25 it reported 13 more cases, putting the national total at 1,227 in 37 states. The nation’s cases are just 48 cases shy of passing the record number of cases reported in the 2019 surge, which was the most since measles was eliminated in the United States in 2000.
    • “The number of outbreaks remained at 23, and 89% of the confirmed cases are linked to outbreaks. Of the confirmed case-patients this year, 95% were unvaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status. So far, 148 people have been hospitalized, and the number of deaths remains at 3.”
  • and
    • “The percentage of US adults reporting high confidence in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) fell from 82% in February 2020 to 56% in June 2022, along with decreasing trust in other US health institutions, according to a study yesterday in PLOS Global Public Health.
    • “For the study, researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas conducted four surveys from February 2020 to October 2024 that assessed Americans’ confidence in US health institutions including the CDC, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), state and local health departments, professional medical organizations, the White House, and their own doctor. Sample sizes were 718, 672, 856, and 828, respectively.
    • “All four surveys asked participants their perceptions of public health organizations and who they thought should lead the US response to infectious disease outbreaks. Surveys 1 and 2 also asked questions on the COVID-19 pandemic, while surveys 3 and 4 asked questions around the 2022 and 2024 mpox outbreaks.” * * *
    • “The rate of those expressing high confidence then rebounded only slightly, to 60%, in October 2024.” * * *
    • “In a press release from PLOS, which published the journal, first author Hannah Melchinger says, “We need to take this decline seriously if we want to preserve the credibility of these entities and their public health recommendations.”
  • Per MedPage Today,
    • “Maternal flu vaccination was associated with a reduced risk of influenza infection during infants’ first 6 months of life, an age when they are too young to be vaccinated, a cohort study of nearly a quarter-million women and their babies found.
    • “Flu vaccination during pregnancy was associated with an adjusted 44.4% (95% CI 31.4-54.9) reduction in the risk of infant influenza infection, with protection strongest during the infants’ first few months of life, reported researchers led by Ousseny Zerbo, PhD, of Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) in Oakland, in Obstetrics & Gynecology.”
  • Health Day notes,
    • “People living with an autoimmune disease are nearly twice as likely to suffer from mood problems like depression, anxiety or bipolar disorder, a new large-scale study says.
    • “The risk of mood disorders is 87% to 97% higher in people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, lupus, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis and Graves’ syndrome, researchers reported June 24 in the BMJ Mental Health.
    • “This risk remains higher even after accounting for other factors like age, income and family history of psychiatric disorders, researchers found.
    • “Together, these results support the hypothesis that exposure to chronic inflammation may be associated with a greater risk for affective disorders,” concluded the research team led by Arish Mudra Rakshasa-Loots with the University of Edinburgh Center for Clinical Brain Sciences in the U.K.”
  • UConn which the FEHBlog’s alma mater writes in Linked In,
    • “Millions of Americans suffer from osteoarthritis, a painful joint disease that wears down cartilage and can severely impact mobility. Pain medications only mask symptoms, and surgical option carry risks of infection and immune rejection.
    • “At the University of Connecticut, a research team led by Thanh Nguyen, associate professor of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering, believes the future of joint repair might lie in a tiny electrical spark—and a simple injection.
    • “Backed by a $2.3M grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), Nguyen and his team are developing an injectable hydrogel designed to stimulate cartilage regeneration in large animal models.
    • “With current treatments, we’re managing the pain, not healing the tissue,” says Nguyen. “We’re hoping that the body’s own mechanical movements—like walking—can generate tiny electrical signals that encourage cartilage to grow back.”

From the U.S. healthcare business front,

  • Beckers Hospital Review lets us know about nine major hospital construction projects unveiled or advanced this year and notes that “Eliminating a $45 out-of-pocket fee for 3D mammography, also called digital breast tomosynthesis, increased utilization of the procedure by 7.8%, according to a study published June 19 in the Journal of the American College of Radiology.” 
  • Per HealthLeaders,
    • “Hospital at Home, which aims to treat selected patients at home with a combination of virtual care, remote patient monitoring and daily in-person visits instead of keeping them in the hospital, took off during the pandemic, with support from a waiver that enabled health systems and hospitals following the CMS model to receive Medicare reimbursement. That waiver is due to expire in September, and while there’s a strong lobbying effort to make it permanent, many hospital executives have said the program has proven its value and will go on regardless.”
  • Fierce Pharma discusses expert views on the status of the compounding industry now that the shortage of Novo and Lilly GLP-1 drugs is over.
  • Healthcare Dive reports,
    • “Bipartisan policies in Congress meant to lower drug costs by targeting middlemen in the pharmaceutical supply chain are likely to run up against a fundamental issue: the three major pharmacy benefit managers’ chokehold on the U.S. drug market, experts said during a drug pricing transparency forum in Washington, D.C. this week.”
    • The FEHBlog thinks that this is Pharma distraction.

Thursday report

David Ermer–CDC, Congress, Federal employment benefits, Medical / Rx research, Obesity, OPM, SDOH, U.S. Healthcare–

From Washington, DC,

  • The Wall Street Journal reports,
    • “Several of Republicans’ largest proposed spending reductions can’t be done as written in the fast-track budget process they are using to advance their megabill, the Senate parliamentarian determined, dealing a setback to the GOP’s hopes of passing their plans quickly. 
    • “The ruling affects several of the largest and most controversial reductions in President Trump’s “one, big, beautiful bill,” and Republicans will likely be forced to drop or rewrite them. The changes could amount to hundreds of billions of dollars, making it harder for Republicans to hit their budget targets.
    • “But the ruling wasn’t the final word, and Senate Republicans said by Thursday afternoon that they thought some slight tweaks to the wording of some proposed Medicaid cuts would be enough to break the logjam.
    • “There are things that we can do, there are other ways of getting to that same outcome,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.). Sen. John Hoeven (R., N.D.) said that such a plan was already under way, and that Republicans expected to hear back soon from the parliamentarian. 
    • “We’ve proposed some things to the parliamentarian that we think can work,” Hoeven said.’
  • Fierce Pharma tells us,
    • “The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has blessed Merck’s new respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) shot Enflonsia, but the decision was hardly resounding from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s newly formed panel of advisors.
    • “The ACIP signed off on recommending Merck’s newly approved monoclonal antibody by a vote of 5 to 2. The committee endorses one dose of Enflonsia to be given to infants younger than 8 months of age who are born during or entering their first RSV season and who are not already protected by a maternal vaccine.” * * *
    • “The new recommendation for Enflonsia, which was approved by the FDA just two weeks ago, matches that of Sanofi and AstraZeneca’s Beyfortus, which has been on the market for the last two years and generated sales of $1.8 billion in 2024.”
  • BioPharma Dive adds,
    • “Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended Thursday that influenza vaccines used in the coming flu season be free of the preservative thimerosal, addressing unproven fears the mercury-containing substance can lead to developmental disabilities.
    • “If confirmed by the CDC, the recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Immunizaiton Practices, or ACIP, would affect about 5% of flu shots administered in the U.S., distributed in multidose vials that necessitate the use of a preservative to prevent bacterial or fungal contamination. Only three such vaccines are approved for U.S. use, two from CSL and one from Sanofi.
    • “Meeting for the first time with members appointed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., ACIP also reviewed a change in its recommendations for measles vaccines, although it won’t vote on that proposal until a meeting later this year.”
  • The Wall Street Journal sums it up as follows:
    • “The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, was established in 1964 to offer the federal government advice on which vaccines Americans should get and when. After Kennedy dismissed its 17 members and picked new ones, the committee spent two days examining science’s weapons to combat flu, measles and other diseases—with a new emphasis on the risks of the weapons themselves.
    • “Vaccines are not all good or bad,” said the committee’s new chair, Martin Kulldorff, a former Harvard professor. “No questions should be off-limits.” * * *
    • “In a joint statement after the two-day session concluded Thursday, the committee said it had “no predetermined ideas and will make judgments as if we are treating our own families,” adding that “unbiased scientific thinking is fundamental to the committee’s charge.”
  • The Census Bureau informs us,
    • “The U.S. population age 65 and older rose by 3.1% (to 61.2 million) while the population under age 18 decreased by 0.2% (to 73.1 million) from 2023 to 2024, according to the Vintage 2024 Population Estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.
    • “The data show the population continued to age, with the share of the population age 65 and older steadily increasing from 12.4% in 2004 to 18.0% in 2024, and the share of children declining from 25.0% to 21.5%.
    • “Ongoing growth among the older population, coupled with persistent annual declines in the population under age 18 has reduced the size difference between these two age groups from just over 20 million in 2020 to just below 12 million in 2024. From 2020 to 2024, the older population grew by 13.0%, significantly outpacing the 1.4% growth of working-age adults (ages 18 to 64), while the number of children declined by 1.7%.
    • “Children still outnumber older adults in the United States, despite a decline in births this decade,” said Lauren Bowers, chief of the Census Bureau’s Population Estimates Branch. “However, the gap is narrowing as baby boomers continue to age into their retirement years. In fact, the number of states and counties where older adults outnumber children is on the rise, especially in sparsely populated areas.”
  • Tammy Flanagan, writing in Govexec, offer guidance to those who are “Retired and confused about Medicare Part B. You’re not alone. From late penalties to premium reimbursements, here’s what every retired fed should understand about enrolling in Medicare Part B—and how it works with your FEHB plan.

From the judicial front,

  • The Supreme Court will complete issuing opinions from its October 2024 term tomorrow morning at 10 am.
  • Beckers Hospital Review relates,
    • “Several Iowa businesses and health plans are suing to block a new state law regulating pharmacy benefit managers, arguing it violates federal law and the Constitution, Iowa Capital Dispatch reported June 23. 
    • “The lawsuit, filed June 23 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, challenges Senate File 383, a measure signed in early June by Gov. Kim Reynolds. The plaintiffs include the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, Des Moines Orthopaedic Surgeons PC, Iowa Springs Manufacturing & Sales Co., and health plans like the Iowa Bankers Benefit Plan and Iowa Laborers District Council Health and Welfare Fund. 
    • “While supporters said the provisions will help struggling pharmacies in many Iowa communities, the lawsuit argued the new law will “raise healthcare costs for businesses across the state — large and small — by tens of millions of dollars.” 
  • Bloomberg Law adds,
    • “Four lawsuits seeking to invalidate a first-of-its kind Arkansas law prohibiting companies that manage prescription drug benefits from acquiring pharmacies will be heard together in federal court, a judge ruled Tuesday.
    • “The order from Judge Brian S. Miller for the US District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas grants an unopposed motion filed by the Arkansas attorney general’s office to consolidate the cases. The challenges were brought by pharmacy benefit managers Express Scripts, CVS Health Corp., and OptumRx, as well as the industry group Pharmaceutical Care Management Association.” * * *
    • “Miller ordered Tuesday that all future filings in the four cases be filed in the docket for Express Scripts’ lawsuit. The members of the Arkansas pharmacy board, who are represented by the state attorney general’s office, must file by July 11 a consolidated response to PBMs’ motion for a preliminary injunction on the law, according to the order. 
    • “The case is Express Scripts v. Richmond , E.D. Ark., No. 4:25-cv-00520, motions to consolidate granted 6/24/25.” 
  • Beckers Hospital Review lets us know about ten recent healthcare billing fraud cases.

From the public health and medical research front,

  • Fox Business reports,
    • Trader Joe’s said Friday [June 20] that a “single lot code” of the cheese curds have been recalled in response to the potential risk of Listeria monocytogenes contamination.
    • The recalled product was offered at some Trader Joe’s locations in Northern California as well as stores in the Nevada cities of Carson City, Reno and Sparks, according to a notice posted on the popular grocery store chain’s website. 
    • The stores in Northern California included those in Monterey, Fresno and “all locations North,” Trader Joe’s said. 
    • “The recalled cheese curds have a use-by date of “082925” on their container.” 
  • Beckers Hospital Review ranks states by opioid overdose deaths.
    • “West Virginia had the highest rate of fatal opioid overdoses of any state in 2023, according to a new analysis from KFF. 
    • “The analysis is based on finalized 2023 opioid overdose death totals from the CDC’s WONDER database, which uses ICD-10 codes to identify deaths where synthetic and prescription opioids are listed as a contributing cause.
    • “Becker’s calculated each state’s death rate per 100,000 residents using 2023 U.S. Census population estimates to enable fair comparisons across states.
    • “The national opioid overdose death rate was 23.69 per 100,000 residents in 2023.”
  • News Medical points out,
    • “Weight loss surgery has long been an effective treatment for the more than 40 percent of American adults struggling with obesity. Previous studies have shown that Black patients lose less weight overall following bariatric surgery compared to other racial groups, but less attention has been paid to the relationships between economic and social factors that may help explain differences in weight loss.
    • “New research led by NYU Langone Grossman School of Medicine found that Black patients who had a sleeve gastrectomy, the most common weight loss surgery, between 2017 and 2020 lost 6.2 percent less weight than their White counterparts, and 4.9 percent less than Hispanic patients, after one year. However, further analyses found that a lot more complexity and interplay between non-biological factors than previously known appear to impact weight loss surgery incomes.
    • “Published online in the journal Obesity, this is the first study to investigate the relationship between a variety of economic and social factors that include income, sleep disturbances and stress, and weight loss differences among racial groups, the study authors said.”
  • Per Health Day,
    • “Fitness trackers aren’t accurately assessing the physical activity of people with obesity, a new study argues.
    • “Differences in walking gait, speed, energy burn and other factors mean that folks with excess weight aren’t getting an accurate read from their devices, researchers wrote in the journal Scientific Reports.
    • “People with obesity could gain major health insights from activity trackers, but most current devices miss the mark,” senior researcher Nabil Alshurafa, an associate professor of behavioral medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, said in a news release.
    • “Alshurafa’s team has developed a new algorithm that enables smartwatches to more accurately monitor the calories burned by people with obesity, researchers said.
    • “Lab tests show that the new algorithm achieves over 95% accuracy in real-world situations, the study says.
    • “Without a validated algorithm for wrist devices, we’re still in the dark about exactly how much activity and energy people with obesity really get each day — slowing our ability to tailor interventions and improve health outcomes,” Alshurafa said.”
  • Per MedPage Today,
    • “AS01-adjuvanted RSV and shingles vaccines were tied to a lower dementia risk in older adults.
    • “Compared with flu vaccine recipients, those who had the AS01 RSV shot had 29% more dementia-free time over 18 months.
    • “No differences emerged between the two AS01 vaccines, implying the adjuvant may play a role.”

From the U.S. healthcare business front,

  • Modern Healthcare reports,
    • “The leader of UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s Optum Health care delivery unit has left the role, an early indication of management changes under Stephen Hemsley, UnitedHealth’s new chief executive officer.
    • “The division will now be led by Patrick Conway, who was recently promoted to CEO of the broader Optum division that includes Optum Health. Conway will add the title of Optum Health CEO, according to a company memo reviewed by Bloomberg News.
    • “Amar Desai had been CEO of Optum Health since 2023. He’ll become president of Optum integrated care and vice-chairman of Optum Health, according to the memo, and will continue to work with Conway and Hemsley.”
  • Healthcare Dive tells us,
    • “Declines in Walgreens’ front-of-store retail sales continued in Q3, falling 5.3% year over year, due largely to store closures and lower same-store sales. The drugstore retailer last year announced it would shutter 1,200 U.S. stores over three years.
    • “Weak sales in grocery and household, health and wellness, and beauty drove store comps down 2.4%. The international and U.S. healthcare segments fared better, helping drive a 7.2% overall Q3 sales increase to $39 billion.
    • “The drugstore retailer swung into the red with a net loss of $175 million, a decrease of $519 million compared to last year’s $344 million in net earnings.”
  • Per MedTech Dive,
    • “Johnson & Johnson has partnered with Nvidia and Amazon Web Services, or AWS, to support the use of artificial intelligence in surgery, the medtech company said Wednesday.
    • “The Polyphonic AI Fund for Surgery builds on J&J’s existing collaboration with Nvidia and creation of a digital platform for in-house and third-party surgical applications.
    • “Through the fund, J&J, Nvidia and AWS will evaluate, and support projects related to AI model development, data engineering and management, and AI governance.”
  • Per Tech Target,
    • The Lown Institute is recognizing 125 hospitals nationwide for their performance on health equity, value and outcomes, honoring these for this corporate social responsibility in healthcare.
    • “These hospitals show that no matter how tough the environment gets, putting patients and communities first is always possible,” Vikas Saini, M.D., president of the Lown Institute, said in a press release. “Those returning to the list prove that equitable, high-value care doesn’t have to be rare; it’s a standard that hospitals can uphold year after year.” * * *
    • “The top 10 acute care hospitals for health equity, value and outcomes include the following:
      • “Duke Regional Hospital (Durham, N.C.).
      • “Fort Loudoun Medical Center (Lenoir City, TN..).
      • “Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Pflugerville (Pflugerville, TX.).
      • “Denver Health Main Campus (Denver, CO.).
      • ‘Methodist Medical Center (Oak Ridge, TN.).
      • “Prisma Health Baptist Hospital (Columbia, S.C.).
      • “TriStar Horizon Medical Center (Dickson, TN.).
      • “Sharon Hospital (Sharon, CT.).
      • “Inspira Medical Center Vineland (Vineland, N.J.).
      • “Southern California Hospital at Hollywood (Los Angeles, CA.).”
  • MedCity News reports,
    • “Novavax’s alliance with Sanofi came at an opportune time for the beleaguered vaccine developer. Its protein-based Covid-19 vaccine never reached the revenue highs achieved by the messenger RNA vaccines for the novel coronavirus. A corporate restructuring slashed headcount and R&D spending, but Novavax’s financial reports still flagged concerns about the company’s ability to continue.
    • “The Sanofi partnership(Opens in a new window) inked a little more than a year ago infused Novavax with $500 million up front, staving off the immediate financial worries. Starting this year, Sanofi will record sales of the Covid-19 shot vaccine Nuvaxovid, paying Novavax royalties on those sales. The deal is more than a financial lifeline. Beyond sharing in Nuvaxovid’s commercialization, Sanofi can research potential combinations of the Covid-19 shot with its own influenza vaccines. The pharmaceutical giant may also explore using Novavax’s adjuvant in its own vaccines. This agreement is a blueprint for the kinds of alliances Novavax is now pursuing, according to Ruxandra Draghia-Akli, executive vice president, head of research and development.
    • “It’s a multifaceted partnership and we thought that is a model, or maybe components of that model can be developed with other partners,” she said in an interview during the recent BIO International Convention in Boston.”
  • Per Fierce Pharma,
    • “After blueprinting an injectables facility in North Carolina in 2020, it didn’t take long for Eli Lilly to draw up designs for a second in the Tar Heel State.
    • “Following declines in the manufacturing, textiles and tobacco industries that once formed the core trades in the state, North Carolina has increasingly put its chips behind biotechnology. It’s a strategy that has attracted not only Lilly but myriad other pharma majors like Fujifilm Biosciences, Johnson & Johnson and Thermo Fisher Scientific.
    • “For Lilly, building a new parenteral products and devices facility in the city of Concord was a natural evolution following the decision to throw down $470 million on a similar injectables plant at North Carolina’s famed Research Triangle Park back in 2020.” * * *
    • “Together, Lilly’s two North Carolina facilities—which are used in part to make incretin medicines such as Zepbound and Mounjaro—are part of the drugmaker’s ongoing, multibillion-dollar investment in U.S. infrastructure. They also form part of a bulwark against the immense demand for Lilly’s dual GIP/GLP-1 products for diabetes and obesity.”
  • and
    • “Novo Nordisk continues to expand its partnerships with telehealth companies to broaden access to its blockbuster weight loss drug Wegovy.
    • “The pharma giant is now partnering with WeightWatchers to offer consumers access to Wegovy, using CenterWell Pharmacy to fulfill and deliver the medications. CenterWell is owned by Humana.
    • “WeightWatchers aims to provide patients with a more streamlined experience, along with convenient access to FDA-approved medication with the lifestyle support shown to improve outcomes, the company said in a press release.
    • “The partnership will start July 1.”




Midweek report

David Ermer–CDC, Congress, FDA, Generative AI, Medical / Rx research, Medicare, Obesity, U.S. Healthcare–

From Washington, DC,

  • The Wall Street Journal reports,
    • “Senate Republican leaders kept pressing the gas pedal Wednesday to get their “one big, beautiful bill” passed by this weekend, even while hundreds of billions of dollars in crucial decisions are being negotiated, key senators are holding out, and some House lawmakers are crying foul.
    • “President Trump wants the legislation on his desk by July 4, and Republicans hope the megabill’s perceived inevitability overcomes any momentary implausibility. Senators aim to start votes as soon as Friday on the legislation, which would cut taxes, reduce spending on Medicaid and nutrition assistance, and boost spending on border security and national defense. The House could send the bill to Trump early next week. 
    • “For now, there aren’t enough votes for a bill that isn’t finished yet. 
    • “It is this mysterious process of trying to be able to move specific ideas through 53 other people and trying to be able to get ideas and opinions,” said Sen. James Lankford (R., Okla.). “And where do people land? It’s a moving target.”
    • “Senators aren’t quite ready to vote, and they expect to change the legislation in the days ahead. Several senators, including Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) and Dan Sullivan (R., Alaska), said they want to be able to review the whole bill before taking the first procedural step—a vote to open debate. 
    • “Our guys are all going to keep advocating for what they want, till the final minute, till we pass it,” said Sen. John Hoeven (R., N.D.) “That’s how it works.” 
  • and
    • “Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new panel of vaccine advisers will re-evaluate the recommended schedule for vaccines for children and teenagers, including for measles and hepatitis B, its new chairman said Wednesday.
    • “The new slate of advisers met for the first time Wednesday in Atlanta, kicking off a two-day meeting with an agenda partially set by political appointees. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, the nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Susan Monarez, told senators she believes vaccines save lives and there is no causal link between vaccines and autism.” * * *
    • “Monarez, if confirmed, would have the power to decide whether or not to adopt ACIP recommendations. Asked if she agreed with Kennedy’s decision to remove all members of the previous committee, Monarez responded “that the secretary had to make a decision related to ensuring that the ACIP could be supportive of restoring public trust in decision-making.”
    • “The vaccine advisory panel is set Thursday to hear a presentation on thimerosal, a preservative that antivaccine activists have often blamed for autism, from Lyn Redwood, a nurse practitioner who is president emerita of Children’s Health Defense, an antivaccine nonprofit previously helmed by Kennedy. Antivaccine activists have long claimed that thimerosal causes autism. Rates of the disorder have continued to climb even after thimerosal was removed from most vaccines in the early 2000s.”
  • Beckers Health IT tells us,
    • “Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he wants every American using a wearable health device within four years, Politico reported June 24.
    • “Speaking during a June 24 hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, Mr. Kennedy said the department is preparing “one of the biggest advertising campaigns in HHS history” to promote wearable technology.
    • “The devices are central to Mr. Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative. He told lawmakers that wearables give people a way to “take control of their own health.”
  • Govexec fills us in on what happened at yesterday’s House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations hearing titled “The Route Forward for the U.S. Postal Service: A View from Stakeholders.”
  • The American Hospital Association News informs us,
    • “The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response June 25 announced it conducted an exercise transporting simulated patients with high-consequence infectious diseases in a new portable biocontainment unit from Toronto to U.S. hospitals in the northeast and southeast. The hospitals are all Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers for highly infectious diseases. ASPR said the biocontainment unit is the first domestic resource for isolating and transporting patients with high-consequence infectious diseases, such as Ebola, across long distances to RESPTCs. The unit can be transported by air or by ground.”
  • CMS called attention to its Medicare website explaining how to get medical assistance in a disaster or emergency.

From the state and local government front,

  • Politico lets us know,
    • New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced [June 22] he will not move forward with a contentious effort to cut costs by shifting retired city workers to a Medicare Advantage plan, bringing a sudden end to a four-year saga.
    • “We have heard concerns from retirees about these potential changes at numerous older adult town halls and public events, and our administration remains focused on ensuring that New York City remains an affordable place to live,” Adams said in a statement Friday.
    • Just two days earlier, the state Court of Appeals ruled in City Hall’s favor in a lawsuit over the Medicare Advantage transition, handing Adams a rare win in the long legal battle to implement a plan he inherited from former Mayor Bill de Blasio.

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

  • STAT News reports,
    • Outgoing Food and Drug Administration regulator Jacqueline Corrigan-Curay acknowledged to staff [June 24] that much is still in flux at the agency, weeks before she retires.
    • “We are leaner and therefore we have to find ways to be efficient and do things in new ways,” she told staff, according to a recording of a town hall meeting obtained by STAT. 
    • She did not say who will be the next leader of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research once she retires next month. Her retirement is the latest in a series of departures of senior officials at the FDA, who have either chosen to take early retirements, left for other jobs, or been forced out by political appointees.
    • “CDER has filled one leadership position, though. At the meeting, Corrigan-Curay introduced staff to the new deputy director of CDER, Mike Davis. Davis, a psychiatrist and pharmacologist, was most recently chief medical officer at the Usona Institute, a nonprofit organization developing psychedelic drugs for the treatment of depression and PTSD. He previously spent six years at the FDA as a clinical team leader in the psychiatry division.” 
  • Per BioPharma Dive,
    • “The Food and Drug Administration is investigating two deaths among [over 900] patients treated with Sarepta Therapeutics’ gene therapy Elevidys for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Both patients died this year of acute liver failure after receiving Elevidys, with the second case reported earlier this month. The FDA said their deaths appear to be related to treatment and that it will evaluate “the need for further regulatory action.”
  • Per MedPage Today,
    • “The FDA said Wednesday it has expanded existing warnings on the two leading COVID-19 vaccines about a rare heart side effect mainly seen in young men.
    • “Myocarditis, a type of heart inflammation that is usually mild, emerged as a complication after the first shots became widely available in 2021. Prescribing information from both Pfizer and Moderna already advises doctors about the issue.
    • “In April, the FDA sent letters to both drugmakers asking them to update and expand the warnings to add more detail about the problem and to cover a larger group of patients. While the FDA can mandate label changes, the process is often more of a negotiation with companies.”

From the public health and medical research front,

  • The American Hospital Association News tells us,
    • “A study published June 25 by the Journal of the American Heart Association found that heart disease death rates fell 66% from 1970 to 2022. Deaths from heart attacks decreased 89% in that time span. The study attributed the declines to advancements in intervention and prevention efforts. Meanwhile, deaths from other types of heart disease, including arrhythmia, heart failure and hypertensive heart disease, increased by 81% during the same period. The study said the rising prevalence of obesity, diabetes, hypertension and physical inactivity have contributed to those causes.”
  • Cardiovascular Business adds,
    • “A team of surgeons with Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center in Houston has made history, performing what is believed to be the first fully robotic heart transplant in the United States. 
    • “The procedure occurred in March 2025. Kenneth K. Liao, MD, PhD, chief of cardiothoracic transplantation and circulatory support at Baylor College of Medicine and chief of cardiothoracic transplantation and mechanical circulatory support at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, and colleagues completed the transplant using an advanced Da Vinci surgical system. 
    • “The patient’s chest did not need to be opened all for the procedure—everything was done through small incisions.
    • “Opening the chest and spreading the breastbone can affect wound healing and delay rehabilitation and prolong the patient’s recovery, especially in heart transplant patients who take immunosuppressants,” Liao explained in a statement. “With the robotic approach, we preserve the integrity of the chest wall, which reduces the risk of infection and helps with early mobility, respiratory function and overall recovery.”
    • “The patient in question was a 45-year-old male who had been hospitalized with advanced heart failure for four months. He was discharged after being observed in the hospital for a month. There have been no complications.”
  • Per Medscape,
    • “The investigational non-peptide small-molecule oral GLP-1 agonist orforglipron significantly reduced A1c over 40 weeks in adults with early type 2 diabetes, according to the results of ACHIEVE-1 sponsored by Eli Lilly. 
    • “In the trial, orforglipron reduced A1c to the 6.5% range and produced clinically meaningful weight loss with a safety profile similar to that of other GLP-1 drugs. ACHIEVE-1 is the first of seven phase 3 studies of the safety and efficacy of the drug in over 6000 patients with type 2 diabetes and obesity,
    • “Orforglipron and other similar non-peptide small molecules “have the potential to be widely accepted as a much earlier therapy for type 2 diabetes,” Julio Rosenstock, MD, senior scientific advisor for Velocity Clinical Research and clinical professor of medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, said at a press briefing here at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) 85th Scientific Sessions. The findings were simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine.”
  • STAT New relates,
    • “A study tracking nearly 250,000 Swedish people using ADHD medication for 14 years found that these treatments can reduce risks of traffic crashes, injuries, and criminal behavior — and that conclusion remained true even as more girls, women, and adult men received a diagnosis.
    • “I wish we had access to this kind of data for the U.S.,” said Ryan Sultan, who was not part of the study and is a psychiatrist and professor at Columbia University Irving Medical Center where he specializes in ADHD. “Being able to follow them from birth means that their data is really, really powerful.”
    • “The study arrives as providers in the United States contend with twin realities: ADHD medication prescriptions are skyrocketing — largely thanks to telehealthand diminishing stigma — while medication shortages are imperiling people’s access to these critical treatments. Scientists are also learning more about how the condition interacts with other variables, such as how menstrual periods can affect symptoms and treatment. 
    • “We’re in a moment in U.S. society where … everyone and their grandmother are asking whether they have ADHD or not,” said Sultan. “It’s really interesting to be thinking about, when we’re expanding [access], who are we actually expanding it to, and who are we actually treating?”
  • Medical Economics points out,
    • “According to Dexcom’s 2025 State of Type 2 Report, most U.S. physicians now consider continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) one of the most impactful interventions for managing type 2 diabetes, surpassing even medications and lifestyle counseling in future importance.
    • “The findings are based on a national survey of 310 adults with type 2 diabetes and 111 U.S. health care professionals (HCPs), including primary care physicians, nurse educators and diabetes specialists.
    • “CGM adoption remains relatively low among patients — just 16% of U.S. adults with type 2 diabetes currently use the technology — but satisfaction among users is high. The vast majority report improved quality of life, reduced stress and better engagement with their glucose data. Physicians, meanwhile, see CGM as a key solution to longstanding pain points, including poor adherence, low health literacy and difficulty tracking glucose fluctuations outside clinic visits.
    • “The report highlights a disconnect between CGM’s perceived value and its real-world accessibility. Most patients cite cost or insurance coverage as the top reason for not trying it. Most physicians say they lack the tools to educate patients on its benefits. And nearly three-quarters of people with type 2 diabetes say they need better understanding of how diabetes technology can help them manage their condition.”
  • Per the American Journal of Managed Care,
    • The use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for prevention of HIV has helped to curb the spread of the virus nationally. Knowing how much PrEP is needed in certain areas can help to more specifically target vulnerable populations who need it more.
    • A model was developed that could estimate the need for PrEP, according to a study published in Annals of Epidemiology. Public health authorities can use this information to monitor progress and establish resource allocation.

From the U.S. healthcare business front,

  • Modern Healthcare reports,
    • “U.S. households, businesses and governments will spend $8.6 trillion on healthcare in 2033, when the sector will comprise just over one-fifth of gross domestic product, according to a federal report issued Wednesday.
    • “The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Office of the Actuary attributes its forecast to factors such as a rapidly aging population and high demand for healthcare. The independent CMS division published its analysis in the journal Health Affairs.
    • “National health expenditures will increase 5.8% a year on average from 2024 to 2033, the actuaries predict. The healthcare spending trend is expected to continue outpacing economic growth, which the office projects will average 4.3% annually over the coming decade.”
  • Fierce Healthcare adds,
    • “In an uncertain policy and macroeconomic environment, healthcare finance leaders are concerned about what the future holds, a new report showed.
    • “Analysts at Deloitte surveyed 64 finance leaders, split evenly between executives from health systems and insurers, to capture what they view as the biggest challenges and opportunities coming down the pike. Most (84%) of those surveyed said they are worried about business conditions given the cloudy policy outlook, economic concerns and potential disruptions from tariffs and the supply chain.
    • “Over the past several years, workforce challenges, cost reductions and cybersecurity have all been top concerns for finance leaders in healthcare. However, this year’s survey found external factors taking on a much greater role.”
    • “Internal concerns like workforce challenges, cost reduction, and cybersecurity—once top priorities for healthcare chief financial officers in our previous surveys—seem to have become less urgent amid rising external factors, according to survey respondents,” the researchers said.”
  • Per a press release,
    • “Optum is accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) for health care technology companies, providers and payers with the launch of the Optum AI Marketplace. The new marketplace is the only health care-specific AI digital platform of its kind, built by health care developers to simplify AI integration across clinical and administrative systems.
    • “Many emerging health care organizations want to modernize their systems but don’t have the time, resources, or infrastructure to build AI solutions on their own. The new marketplace addresses these gaps by offering a centralized, health care-specific ecosystem of curated solutions and APIs that are ready to implement, helping organizations streamline operations, reduce integration costs, and scale AI adoption.
    • “Optum brings decades of health care expertise and advanced data infrastructure to the AI Marketplace. This foundation ensures the platform is built for real-world health care needs and supports faster, more effective AI and API implementation. With more than 1.4 billion API transactions each year, the marketplace powers real-time insights and seamless integrations across the health care landscape.” * * *
    • Discover more at Optum AI Marketplace.
  • Per Beckers Hospital Review,
    • Overall demand for healthcare services is poised to continue its significant growth across various service lines over the next decade, with outpatient care expected to experience the highest growth rate and inpatient services seeing more moderate increases, according to Sg2’s 2025 Impact of Change Forecast published in June.
    • Sg2’s forecasting model integrates a broad range of factors, including national data, institutional data, and market trends. National population changes, epidemiological shifts, economic influences, policy developments and advances in technology were considered in the projections.
    • Sg2 used data from the HCUP National Inpatient Sample and CMS Limited Data Sets, alongside its own analysis of healthcare usage trends.
  • Per Beckers Payer Issues,
    • “Medicare Advantage enrollees experience longer hospital stays before being discharged to post-acute care settings compared to individuals enrolled in traditional Medicare, according to a June 2025 analysis by NORC at the University of Chicago.
    • “The analysis was commissioned by the Coalition to Strengthen America’s Healthcare, a group of more than 5,000 hospitals, businesses and hospital associations that includes the AHA and FAH. 
    • “The researchers found that while hospital discharges overall declined over the five-year study period, discharges to post-acute settings increased for MA enrollees and decreased slightly for traditional Medicare enrollees. At the same time, MA enrollees had longer hospital stays prior to post-acute discharge, with the gap widening over time.
    • “While the data is age-adjusted, the study did not control for clinical or demographic differences that could affect length of stay or discharge destination. Future research is recommended using tools like HCC risk scores and claims-based frailty index to better isolate coverage-related effects.”

Tuesday report

David Ermer–ACA, AHRQ, CMS, Congress, FDA, Medical / Rx research, NIH, Patient safety, U.S. Healthcare–

From Washington, DC,

  • The Wall Street Journal reports,
    • “President Trump is urging Republicans to get their “one big, beautiful bill” to his desk by July 4. That’s just a week from Friday, and lawmakers still face a series of hurdles and headaches on issues ranging from artificial intelligence to deficit spending to rural hospitals.
    • “Senate GOP leaders are revising their version in advance of potential votes later this week, searching for a mix that can garner a majority in the chamber, which is divided 53-47. Anything that gets through the Senate must pass the House, which is divided 220-212 in Republicans’ favor; any subsequent House changes would require another Senate vote. Lawmakers are scheduled to leave Washington for a recess next week but signaled they were prepared to stay to finish the bill.”
  • The American Hospital Association News tells us,
    • “Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. today appeared before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health for a hearing to testify on the HHS fiscal year 2026 budget proposal, which requests $94.7 billion.”  
  • Modern Healthcare informs us,
    • Prescription drug middlemen should end the complicated system of drug rebates before the government steps in to change it, Medicare and Medicaid chief Mehmet Oz said Tuesday.
    • The remarks signal the Trump administration may revive attempts to eliminate the payments drugmakers send to pharmacy benefit managers after prescriptions are filled. In his first term in 2019, President Donald Trump considered regulations that would have eliminated that system, but officials abandoned them before they went into effect.
    • “There’s a possibility that we have a window now where the three big PBMs might actually consider doing away with the rebate-slash-kickback system,” Oz told a meeting hosted by Transparency-Rx, a coalition of smaller PBMs committed to more open pricing. The three largest companies in the industry, CVS Health Corp., UnitedHealth Group and Cigna Group, handle about 80% of US prescriptions.” * * *
    • “Oz met with large insurers about separate issues on Monday. The insurers voluntarily committed to reduce the use of preapprovals for medical care, and Oz said that there could be an opportunity for insurers to take similar voluntary action to change how they pay for medicines.”
  • Healthcare Dive also discusses the CMS Administrator’s presentation at this meeting with a focus on drug price transparency.
  • Federal News Network lets us know,
    • “Rep. Robert Garcia was elected the top Democrat on the powerful House Oversight Committee on Tuesday, charting a new direction for the party’s opposition to congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump’s administration.
    • “Garcia, of California, won the job overwhelmingly in a closed-door vote of the House Democratic caucus. He beat out Rep. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts, 150-63.”
  • Fierce Healthcare summarizes the public comments submitted in response to the May 13, 2025, CMS and National Coordinator of Health IT RFI “on how to ease data exchange among the healthcare ecosystem for patients, providers, payers, vendors and value-based care organizations.”
  • Fierce Healthcare also points out,
    • “While major provider organizations welcomed insurers’ pledge earlier this week to reform prior authorization, these groups withheld praise without yet seeing the efforts bear fruit.
    • “Bobby Mukkamala, M.D., president of the American Medical Association, said in a statement that patients and physicians both will need to see the promises made yield significant results to ease the headaches around prior auth.
    • “Mukkamala said that many of the elements of Monday’s pledge echo a 2018 consensus statement from major payer and provider organizations, such as reducing the number of required prior authorizations, preserving the continuity of care for the patient and expanding automation.
    • “He said the AMA will “closely monitor” the rollout of the prior authorization changes and continue to work with regulators and legislators on this issue.”
  • The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force today gave a Grade B to “screening women of reproductive age, including those who are pregnant and postpartum for intimate partner violence.” The USPSTF also “concluded that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of screening for caregiver abuse and neglect in older or vulnerable adults [Grade I]. Both grades are consistent with the conclusions that the USPSTF reached in 2018 following a similar analysis.
  • MedPage Today adds,
    • “Expanding eligibility criteria for lung cancer screening to include 20-year smoking history without requiring a certain number of pack-years yielded a relative 28% increase in the number recommended for screening.
    • “The number of lung cancers identified would have increased by a relative 17%.
    • “The increase in detection was particularly seen among women and Black persons, groups with under-detection by current criteria.”
  • Per PR Newswire,
    • “More than 1.3 million women in the U.S. enter menopause every year. Menopause affects every woman—but not every woman gets the care, clarity, and support she deserves. A new national program, “Menopause for All,” intends to change that and will launch in Baltimore, MD and Washington, D.C., on June 28th and 29th, respectively.
    • “The National Menopause Foundation, a leading patient advocacy organization dedicated to empowering women with the knowledge and resources they need to navigate menopause through igniting community and harnessing science, has teamed up with Perry, a pioneering digital health platform transforming perimenopause care through expert-led community support, evidence-based education, and training of health care professionals. Together, they believe menopause care should be local, personal, and accessible.
    • From trusted medical professionals and wellness experts to culturally sensitive support groups, the Menopause for All program will help women and their families connect with resources in their own local communities—because navigating menopause shouldn’t be done alone or in the dark.
    • Menopause for All events are free and open to the public, but space is limited. On Saturday, June 28, 2025, the event will be held at Enoch Pratt Free Library, 400 Cathedral Street in Baltimore, MD from 1:30-4:30 p.m. On Sunday, June 29, 2025, the event will be held at the Hill Center at the Old Navy Hospital, 921 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE Washington, D.C., from 2:30-5:30 p.m.
    • “Our expert-led sessions will provide women with practical, scientifically-backed guidance and real solutions ensuring every woman has the care and support she deserves,” added Claire Gill, founder and President of NMF. “We’re grateful to our presenting sponsor [and FEHB, PSHB and FEDVIP carrier] Government Employees Health Association (G.E.H.A) and supporting sponsor Clearblue for their commitment to advancing women’s midlife health.”

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

  • Fierce Pharma reports,
    • “The FDA has blessed AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo’s Datroway to treat patients with locally advanced or metastatic epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The accelerated nod—which could hinge upon verification of clinical benefit in a confirmatory trial—applies to patients who have received prior EFGR-related treatment and platinum-based chemotherapy.
    • “The label expansion comes five months after Datroway secured its first FDA nod, for patients with previously treated metastatic, HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. With the nod, Datroway becomes the first TROP2-directed therapy in the U.S. for NSCLC.
    • “Addressing disease progression in patients with advanced EGFR-mutated lung cancer after prior targeted therapy and chemotherapy is very challenging with limited later-line treatment options available,” Jacob Sands, M.D., of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and an investigator in two trials that paved the way for the latest approval, said in a June 23 press release.”
  • STAT News relates,
    • “A sutureless device for peripheral nerve repair could be available on the market in the coming months.
    • “The Food and Drug Administration has authorized a polymer-based device developed by medical technology company Tissium. The authorization, announced Tuesday, will give physicians a new method for treating peripheral nerve injuries.
    • “This approval is really a game-changer for patients with peripheral nerve injuries,” said Jeffrey Karp, a Tissium co-founder who developed the device’s technology. “For the first time, surgeons now have a sutureless, bio-inspired option that can really simplify the procedure while improving outcomes.”
  • Per Cardiovascular Business,
    • “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced an expansion of an earlier Medtronic recall, now issuing a new Class 1 recall for Medline Industries’ procedure kits that contain Medtronic aortic root cannulas. The recalls indicate that there may be excess material in the male luer, which could potentially lead to serious adverse events, including procedure delays, neurological deficits, strokes, or even death.”
  • Per Health Exec,
    • “In what is being referred to as a recall, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a notice on behalf of GE HealthCare for a line of its Carestations due to a risk the ventilation systems may not work properly. Despite the serious risk of death or injury caused by inadequate respiration, the problem has been isolated and can be fixed with updated use instructions. 
    • “Although no devices have been removed from care settings, this recall has been designated a Class I by the FDA, reserved for the most serious issues. Luckily, no injuries or deaths have been reported. 
    • “The systems are typically used to aid with anesthesia in patients of all ages. They can be found in many hospitals and surgery centers across the country.” 

From the public health and medical research front,

  • MedPage Today tells us,
    • “Over the last two decades, U.S. neonatal mortality has generally declined, though not all leading causes of death followed this trend.
    • “There were 283,696 neonatal deaths from perinatal complications, with the top leading causes being disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight; maternal complications of pregnancy; and complications of placenta, cord, and membranes.
    • “Mortality due to slow fetal growth and fetal malnutrition increased annually, and mortality from maternal complications and bacterial sepsis of the newborn remained stable.”
  • Per Endocrinology Advisor,
    • “Individuals with celiac disease or thyroid disease have a significantly increased risk of developing type 1 diabetes (T1D), according to study findings published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism.”
  • Per Pulmonology Advisor,
    • “Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is highly prevalent in those age 50 years and older, but manifests differently by race/ethnicity and sex, with the most rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep respiratory events in Black women and the highest oxygen saturation (SpO2) levels in Mexican American women. These were among study findings published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.”
  • BioPharma Dive lets us know,
    • “A targeted lung cancer drug from Nuvalent led to tumor responses in about half of people who previously received at least one therapy like it, and 44% of those who had received at least two similar medicines, according to results from a clinical trial the company shared Tuesday.
    • “The study of Nuvalent’s drug, zidesamtinib, involves people whose metastatic non-small lung cancer has alterations in the gene ROS1. In addition to past treatment with so-called tyrosine kinase inhibitors, some participants had also received chemotherapy beforehand. Nuvalent will use the data to support a U.S. approval application for these “pre-treated” patients, which it expects to complete in the third quarter.
    • ‘Nuvalent is also studying zidesamtinib in ROS1-positive lung cancer patients who haven’t yet been treated and is discussing with the Food and Drug Administration the possibility of a “line-agnostic expansion” for the drug. A similar medicine from Nuvation Bio was approved this month for patients regardless of whether they’d previously been given a tyrosine kinase inhibitor.”
  • Per Healio,
    • “COPD mortality rates varied across North Carolina, often correlating with access to care and other risk factors, according to a pair of posters presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference.
    • “What we’re looking at is your risk of COPD mortality based on your ZIP code,” Alexa M. Zajecka, MD, a first-year pulmonary critical care fellow at East Carolina University Medical Center, told Healio.”
    • “The researchers noted that although COPD is a leading cause of mortality and that North Carolina has one of the highest COPD-related death rates in the United States, there has been little research into its spatial clustering at the local level.” 
  • Gen Edge reports,
    • Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) remains one of the most devastating and biologically elusive neurodegenerative diseases. Despite decades of research, its underlying mechanisms are still not fully understood. The condition presents a complex and highly variable interplay of genetic mutations, environmental factors, and cellular dysfunctions that differ widely across patients. This heterogeneity has slowed the development of effective diagnostics and therapeutics, leaving researchers to chase a moving target across a fragmented molecular landscape.
    • Yet much of ALS research still relies on static models—snapshots of a disease in motion. The condition unfolds dynamically, impacting multiple neural and non-neural cell types in real time. Capturing that progression requires lifelike systems that can replicate ALS as it unfolds in the human body. Without that, critical windows for intervention may remain hidden in plain sight.
    • “In a new study published in Cell Stem Cell titled, “An organ-chip model of sporadic ALS using iPSC-derived spinal cord motor neurons and an integrated blood-brain-like barrier,” researchers at Cedars-Sinai have developed a dynamic ALS model using patient-derived stem cells. This system may help uncover both the causes of ALS and new therapeutic targets.”
  • Per an NIH Intramural Research Program release,
    • It seems like every news report touting the health benefits of a daily glass of wine is soon followed by another that claims consuming any amount of alcohol harms health. While the jury is still out on this issue for younger individuals, a recent IRP study suggests that alcohol consumption may accelerate the typical age-related erosion of the cardiovascular system

From the U.S. healthcare business front,

  • Healthcare Dive reports,
    • “It is becoming more difficult for insured and uninsured Americans to access affordable healthcare services, according to a new report from S&P Global Ratings.
    • “The United States spends more on healthcare services than any other country by any metric, according to the report. As of 2023, an individual could expect average out-of-pocket annual healthcare costs to run them an average of $6,159 annually and ancillary costs to account for approximately 6% of their average annual income before taxes.
    • “Efforts to rein in healthcare spending thus far have been mixed, and recent cost pressures could cause costs to climb further still, according to the report. Should headwinds continue, providers may be forced to make tough choices about what services they offer and where.”
  • and
    • “Ascension CEO Joseph Impicciche will retire at the end of the year, the nonprofit health system announced Tuesday.
    • “The health system’s board of directors has appointed President Eduardo Conrado to succeed Impicciche, effective Jan. 1, 2026.
    • “Ascension said it has been preparing for Impicciche’s departure for some time, adding the executive will be “actively engaged” in Conrado’s transition.”
  • Per BioPharma Dive,
    • “Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Funds and venBio Partners are contributing up to $40 million to a spinout of genetic medicine maker Lexeo Therapeutics to that will aim to advance drugs for heart conditions.
    • “The new biotech will focus on RNA-based medicines for genetically mediated cardiac conditions using a non-viral delivery method, according to a Tuesday announcement from Lexeo.
    • “Under the agreement, Lexeo will hold double-digit percentage equity in the new company, and could receive future milestone payments, royalties and opt-in rights to its programs.”
  • MedCity News informs us,
    • “Cohere Health, a clinical intelligence company, launched a new solution called Review Assist, which speeds up medical necessity reviews for health plans, the company announced on Monday.
    • “Boston-based Cohere Health provides AI-powered prior authorization solutions to help improve the relationship between payers and providers. The new tool is meant to help health plan clinical staff with prior authorization reviews, which are often extremely burdensome, according to the company. The typical process requires reviewers to analyze hundreds of pages of clinical records in order to determine if a patient procedure is medically necessary.
    • “Review Assist operates within existing utilization management workflows. It uses Cohere’s AI and large language models to analyze unstructured and structured clinical data and provide actionable insights for reviewers, as well as links to its source for this information. In addition, it has an AI chatbot that can answer questions for the reviewer and find additional insights.”
  • and describes Cigna Healthcare’s six new digital tools to improve the customer experience.
  • Per Beckers Health IT,
    • “Amazon One Medical and Edison, N.J.-based Hackensack Meridian Health continue to open clinics across New Jersey to expand access to primary care.
    • “The two organizations joined forces in 2023 to co-open the offices and make Hackensack a specialty care referral partner of Amazon One Medical.
    • “We hope to have 20 or maybe even more of these types of centers,” Hackensack CEO Robert Garrett said at a ribbon-cutting of the latest clinic June 17 covered by NJBiz. “It’s so well-needed. We’re going to be looking at different locations throughout the state of New Jersey in terms of where we think there’s a need for greater access to care.”
  • Modern Healthcare reports,
    • Current Health cofounder Chris McGhee has reacquired the at-home care company from Best Buy Co.
    • Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
    • “McGhee is returning as Current’s CEO. Former Chief Technology Officer Stewart Whiting and other former team members are also returning, according to a Tuesday announcement on the company’s website.”

Monday report

David Ermer–CDC, Congress, FDA, Federal employment benefits, HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules, Medical / Rx research, Obesity, U.S. Healthcare–
  • Govexec tells us,
    • “Last week, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., unveiled his panel’s portion of congressional Republicans’ budget reconciliation package, which aims to reduce federal spending to partially pay for extended tax cuts for the ultrawealthy and increased immigration enforcement. The measure abandoned a series of House-passed proposals to cut the retirement benefits of currently serving federal workers but would have required future federal hires to pay nearly 15% of their paychecks toward their retirement benefits if they wished to accrue civil service protections.
    • “But Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, announced Sunday that the Senate parliamentarian had ruled that most of the Senate’s proposals governing federal benefits and workforce policies violated the Byrd rule, which aims to limit reconciliation measure—and its simple majority threshold for passage—to topics that are budgetary in nature.” * * *
    • “Provisions that would require a 60-vote majority to advance include the plan to require all new federal employees to pay 9.4% toward the Federal Employees Retirement System and to choose between paying an additional 5 percentage points toward FERS or serving as at-will employees; a requirement that federal employees challenging an adverse action before the Merit Systems Protection Board pay a $350 filing fee, as well as a proposal to charge federal employee unions for use of agency property and official time on a quarterly basis.
    • “The parliamentarian also said that a provision effectively giving the Trump administration “carte blanche” to reorganize federal agencies and lay off thousands of federal workers would similarly run afoul of the Byrd rule. Earlier this month, Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that he would not consider overruling the parliamentarian as part of the bid to send the reconciliation package to President Trump’s desk by July 4.
    • “Still remaining in the package is a provision tasking the Office of Personnel Management with conducting an audit of enrollees in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program to ensure family members remain eligible as dependents, and a requirement that the government charge a 10% fee on deductions from federal workers paychecks, such as unions dues and charitable contributions as part of the Combined Federal Campaign.”
  • The American Hospital Association News informs us,
    • “The Department of Health and Human Services June 23 announced an initiative coordinated with multiple health insurance companies to streamline prior authorization processes for patients covered by Medicare Advantage, Medicaid managed care plans, Health Insurance Marketplace plans and commercial plans. Under the initiative, electronic prior authorization requests would become standardized by 2027. HHS stated that these reforms complement ongoing regulatory efforts by CMS to improve prior authorization, including building upon the Interoperability and Prior Authorization final rule. 
    • “The plan is expected to make the prior authorization process faster, more efficient and more transparent, the agency said. Participating insurers pledged to expand real-time responses by 2027. HHS said that the insurers would also commit to reducing the volume of medical services subject to prior authorization by 2026, including those for common procedures such as colonoscopies and cataract surgeries. 
    • “During a news conference, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said unlike previous attempts by insurers, this initiative would succeed because the number of insurers participating represent 257 million Americans. “The other difference is we have standards this time,” he said. “We have … deliverables. We have specificity on those deliverables, we have metrics, and we have deadlines, and we have oversight.” 
    • “Mehmet Oz, M.D., CMS administrator, said that the pledge “is an opportunity for industry to show itself.” Sen. Marshall, R-Kan., said that Congress could pursue codifying at least some portions of the initiative in the future. 
    • “Additionally, participating insurers would honor existing prior authorizations during coverage transitions.” 
  • Here are links to AHIP and BCBSA announcements concerning this prior authorization development.
  • Think Advisor points out,
    • “Most Medicare programs use current premium revenue and government contributions to pay for their operations.
    • “One Medicare program, the Medicare Part A inpatient hospitalization program, is supposed to use the earnings on assets stored in a trust fund to cover some costs.
    • “Assets at the trust fund have fallen below $209 billion — less than the asset total at UnitedHealth or CVS Health.
    • ‘Medicare trustees say they now expect the trust fund to run dry in 2033. That’s down from a depletion year of 2036 included in last year’s report.
    • “But if the Part A trust fund runs dry, and Congress makes no changes, payroll taxes and premium revenue should be high enough to cover about 89% of the promised inpatient hospitalization benefits, according to the trustees.
    • “The trustees’ estimate of the share of promised benefits ongoing revenue can pay is unchanged from last year.”
  • HHS lets us know,
    • “On June 18, 2025, [as the FEHBlog noted at the time] the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued an order declaring unlawful and vacating most of the HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy at 89 Federal Register 32976 (April 26, 2024).
    • “With regard to the modifications to the HIPAA Privacy Rule Notice of Privacy Practices (NPP) requirements at 45 CFR 164.520, the court vacated only the provisions that were deemed unlawful, namely 164.520(b)(1)(ii)(F), (G), and (H).
    • “The remaining modifications to the NPP requirements are undisturbed and remain in effect, see Carmen Purl, et al. v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, et al., No. 2:24-cv-00228-Z (N.D. Tex. June 18, 2025).
    • “Compliance with the remaining NPP modifications is required by February 16, 2026. HHS will determine next steps after a thorough review of the court’s decision.”
    • In the FEHBlog’s view, it’s a safe bet that HHS will not appeal this decision.
  • BioPharma Dive notes,
    • “A top Food and Drug Administration official responsible for overseeing drug reviews is reportedly retiring from the agency, adding to an exodus of senior staff who have either left or been forced out by Trump administration leadership.
    • “Jaqueline Corrigan-Curay, who serves as acting head of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, will depart next month, according to reports from Endpoints News, Stat News and other publications.
    • “Corrigan-Curay became acting CDER director after Patrizia Cavazzoni left the position shortly before the Trump administration took office. A physician and lawyer, Corrigan-Curay joined the FDA in October 2016 and was appointed principal deputy center director at CDER in 2021.”
  • Bloomberg Law reports,
    • “Republican Senator Bill Cassidy is seeking to delay a scheduled meeting of vaccine advisers selected by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. out of concern they’re not sufficiently qualified.
    • “Cassidy, who’s from Louisiana and leads the Senate’s health committee, publicly called on the Trump administration to put off the meeting slated for Wednesday via a post on the social platform X on Monday.
    • “Wednesday’s meeting should not proceed with a relatively small panel, and no CDC Director in place to approve the panel’s recommendations,” posted Cassidy.” * * *
    • “Cassidy will run the hearing for President Donald Trump’s CDC director nominee, Susan Monarez, on Wednesday. That’s the same day that the vaccine advisers are expected to begin their meeting. 
    • “Spokespeople for CDC and HHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.”

From the public health and medical research front,

  • Health Day reports,
    • “Hypertension is the most common chronic condition among adults aged 85 years and older, with prevalence higher among women than men, according to a report published in the June Health E-Stats, a publication of the National Center for Health Statistics.
    • “Yelena Gorina, M.P.H., and Ellen A. Kramarow, Ph.D., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, used data from the 2022 and 2023 National Health Interview Survey to present estimates of the percentage of adults aged 85 years and older with 11 selected chronic conditions.
    • “The number of American adults aged 85 years and older was 6.1 million in 2023 and is projected to reach 13.7 million by 2040. The authors note that the most common of the selected chronic conditions reported were hypertension, arthritis, and high cholesterol among civilian noninstitutionalized adults aged 85 years and older (66.9, 55.9, and 46.5 percent, respectively). For both men and women, hypertension was the most common chronic condition reported, with a higher prevalence for women than men (68.9 versus 63.7 percent). The prevalence of arthritis was also higher for women than men (63.2 versus 44.2 percent), but men had a higher prevalence of high cholesterol (50.5 versus 44.0 percent), cancer (39.8 versus 28.6 percent), heart disease (31.5 versus 26.3 percent), and diabetes (19.3 versus 14.5 percent).”
  • The American Medical Association tells us what doctors wish their patients knew about thyroid cancer.
  • Beckers Hospital Review lists by state the 514 U.S. hospitals 514 hospitals with “a catheter associated urinary tract infection rate of zero, as based on the healthcare-associated infections dataset from CMS.”
  • The New York Times reports at length on the impact of the measles outbreak on healthcare providers and public health officials in rural America.
  • Consumer Reports, writing in the Washington Post, discusses “using cannabis for health problems It’s being used for everything from pain to insomnia. When it might help and when it won’t — in any case, don’t vape or smoke it.”
  • FiercePharma relates,
    • “Roche has demonstrated the power of combining two of oncology’s hottest modalities—bispecifics and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs)—in a Lunsumio-Polivy regimen in large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL).
    • “The combination of the CD20xCD3 bispecific Lunsumio and the CD79b-directed ADC Polivy significantly reduced the risk of progression or death by 59% versus the traditional R-GemOx regimen in patients with previously treated LBCL who are not eligible for stem cell transplant. R-GemOx includes Roche’s own Rituxan and the chemotherapies gemcitabine and oxaliplatin.
    • “Patients in the Lunsumio-Polivy group went a median 11.5 months without disease progression versus 3.8 months for R-GemOx, according to the primary analysis of the phase 3 Sunmo study presented at the International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma.
    • “Roche said it will submit the trial results to global health authorities, including the FDA. While Lunsumio is currently approved as an intravenous infusion to treat follicular lymphoma, the Sunmo trial uses a subcutaneous formulation of the drug. Polivy, meanwhile, received the FDA’s approval as part of a combination for certain previously untreated patients with LBCL in 2023.”
  • The Wall Street Journal reports,
    • “Novo Nordisk’s new weight-loss drug helped patients lose even more weight on average than its current Wegovy blockbuster treatment, an early-stage trial showed, as the drugmaker races to develop the next generation of obesity medicines.
    • “The company’s drug, known as amycretin, helped patients lose over 24% of their weight, which compares with an average of about 17% for its Wegovy treatment.
    • “The drug mimics the same gut hormone as the Wegovy treatment to suppress appetite, delay stomach emptying and control blood sugar, but combines it with amylin, a hormone in the pancreas that also regulates appetite.
    • “The new treatment was administered as a once-weekly shot and a daily pill, with results showing that side effects were mostly in line with other obesity medications. Patients taking the amycretin injection lost an average of 24.3% of their weight when dosing up to a 60-milligram shot over 36 weeks of treatment, while those on the pill lost up to 13.1% over 12 weeks.” * * *
    • “The data was published in the Lancet and presented at the American Diabetes Association conference over the weekend. Novo Nordisk plans a late-stage trial for the new drug early next year.”
  • STAT News also reports from the American Diabetes Association meeting,
    • “An investigational therapy from Eli Lilly helped preserve lean mass and drive greater loss of fat in patients taking the popular obesity treatment Wegovy.
    • “In a Phase 2 trial, patients taking the highest-dose combination of Wegovy and the drug, called bimagrumab, lost 22% of their weight at 72 weeks. Ninety-three percent of that was fat mass, and the rest was lean mass. People taking Wegovy alone lost a smaller 16% of their weight, and 72% of that was fat mass, according to results that will be presented Monday at the American Diabetes Association meeting.”
  • and
    • “Amgen’s monthly obesity candidate led to substantial weight loss but a high rate of side effects and discontinuations in a mid-stage trial, results that support the company’s decision to use a slower dosing schedule to make the drug more tolerable in further testing. 
    • “In the Phase 2 study, patients with obesity taking the injectable drug, called MariTide, lost up to 16.2% of their weight in one year when taking into account all participants regardless of discontinuations. Patients lost up to 19.9% when analyzing only those who stayed on treatment.”
  • and
    • “Obesity drugs were first approved to treat type 2 diabetes, but there’s a growing movement to test them in type 1 diabetes, too. Research presented Monday at a large diabetes meeting showed some promise for this approach.
    • “Patients who took a GLP-1 drug fared better than those in a control group at keeping their blood glucose levels in a healthy range while also losing more weight than those who weren’t taking the drug.”
  • Per BioPharma Dive,
    • “One of the most closely watched clinical trials in the burgeoning field of psychedelics research has delivered results that, while positive, appear to have unnerved some investors.
    • “Sponsored by U.K.-based biotechnology company Compass Pathways, the trial enrolled 258 people with treatment-resistant depression. Participants were given either a placebo or the company’s proprietary version of psilocybin — a psychedelic compound found in many mushroom species — and evaluated for an initial period of six weeks.
    • “According to Compass, a single dose of its drug significantly reduced scores on a 60-point scale that healthcare providers use to gauge depressive symptoms.”
    • The article explains why investors were not impressed by these results.

From the U.S. healthcare business front,

  • Fierce Healthcare discusses the top ten nonprofit health systems by 2024 operating revenue, and points out
    • “Despite an uncertain regulatory environment and higher hold period for investments in healthcare, deal volumes remain steady.
    • “So says a new report from PwC. In addition to regulatory scrutiny, persisting valuation gaps between buyers and sellers have contributed to hesitation in the market. Nonetheless, deals continue to pace significantly ahead of pre-COVID levels—though are down from the boom years of 2020 to 2022. The three-year running average of the number of healthcare transactions weighs in at 1,375. 
    • “The subsector leading with the most deals (454) in the last 12 months was a group of services that includes contract research organizations, ambulatory surgical centers, home infusion care and medical office buildings. These deals represented more than $31 billion in value. In second place were physician groups (413 deals totaling $11.3 billion) followed by labs and diagnostics (110 deals worth $7.6 billion).”
  • and
    • “Concern about the cost of GLP-1s remains high, and a new study suggests it’s not uncommon for patients to overpay for these drugs.
    • “E-prescribing company DoseSpot released a study Monday that analyzed more than 100,000 prescriptions for GLP-1s and found they likely overpaid by a collective $10.2 million. Most (92%) of prescriptions included at the study could have been obtained at a lower price.
    • “The data were provided exclusively to Fierce Healthcare. The report said that the $10.2 million in savings extrapolated across the approximately 32 million individuals who currently take GLP-1 ones mean there’s an opportunity here for potentially billions in savings.
    • “The bulk of the savings identified in the study, or about $7 million, would have been generated by being in one of the manufacturers’ savings programs. Josh Weiner, CEO of DoseSpot, told Fierce Healthcare in an interview that stakeholders can do more to keep providers in the loop about what patients may be eligible for.”
  • The Wall Street Journal reports,
    • “Novo Nordisk ended its partnership with Hims & Hers, accusing it of illegally selling copycats of Wegovy and deceptive marketing.
    • “Hims & Hers accused Novo Nordisk of pressuring it to steer patients to Wegovy, regardless of whether it was the best option.
    • “Hims & Hers’ shares dropped after the deal was scrapped. Novo Nordisk will continue to make Wegovy available via telehealth.”
  • Beckers Health IT takes a look at Google Healthcare’s moves.
  • Per Healthcare Dive,
    • “Ohio’s attorney general has conditionally approved venture capital firm General Catalyst’s acquisition of Summa Health, according to a press release Wednesday. 
    • “General Catalyst’s Health Assurance Transformation subsidiary, or HATCo, and the Akron, Ohio-based health system must meet 10 conditions to allow the deal to move forward, including increasing the purchase price by $15 million in cash and an additional $15 million in equity to the surviving nonprofit foundation, according to a letter sent by Attorney General Dave Yost’s office. The equity interest can’t be sold for three years. 
    • “HATCo will also have to file a yearly report with the attorney general to show it’s complying with post-closing obligations, as well as provide notice of new deals that could trigger antitrust concerns.”
  • Per MedTech Dive,
    • “Illumina said Monday it agreed to acquire SomaLogic and other assets from Standard BioTools for $350 million in cash to expand in the proteomics market.
    • “The deal includes additional near-term payments of up to $75 million tied to performance milestones, plus royalties.
    • “Illumina said the acquisition of SomaLogic, a leader in data-driven technology, will advance the company’s multiomics strategy and strengthen the value of its NovaSeq X products.
    • “Illumina and SomaLogic have partnered closely for more than three years, and this combination increases our ability to serve our customers and accelerate our technology roadmap towards advanced biomarker discovery and disease profiling,” Illumina CEO Jacob Thaysen said in a statement.”

Weekend update

David Ermer–Congress, Generative AI, Medical / Rx research, Obesity, SCOTUS–

From Washington, DC,

  • Per a Senate news release,
    • “Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) today [June 22] released the Joint Committee on Taxation’s (JCT) revenue estimate of the Finance Committee’s tax title [of the budget reconciliation bill], which shows that under a current policy baseline, the legislation has a net revenue impact of $442 billion.
    • “Washington has a spending problem, not a tax problem.  Extending the Trump tax cuts prevents a $4 trillion tax increase—this is not a change in current tax policy or tax revenue. This score more accurately reflects reality by measuring the effects of tax policy changes relative to the status quo.”
  • Roll Call discusses expected Congressional activities on Capitol Hill this week.
    • “The budget reconciliation package continues to dominate the agenda in Congress this week, as lawmakers are also expected to debate President Donald Trump’s weekend military strikes against Iranian nuclear targets.
    • “An all-senators briefing on the situation with Iran is slated for Tuesday afternoon, and a war powers resolution from Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., could see quick floor action. Kaine wants senators on the record on whether the United States should engage in hostilities against Iran.
    • “While a Senate aide said the measure does not formally ripen for expedited consideration until the end of the week, Republicans may seek to clear it from the decks earlier in the week in order to get their sweeping budget reconciliation package on the floor.” * * *
    • “The House, meanwhile, returns from a Juneteenth recess poised to begin floor debate on fiscal 2026 appropriations, while waiting for the Senate to amend and send back the budget reconciliation package.”
  • The Supreme Court will be releasing more opinions on Thursday June 26 and likely also Friday June 27.
  • Per MedPage Today,
    • “Updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which could be released as early as this month, will drop a long-standing recommendation to limit alcohol consumption to one or two drinks per day, Reuters reported this week, citing three sources familiar with the matter.
    • It’s “surprising, especially given what we now understand about how alcohol impacts health,” Lindsay Malone, MS, a registered dietitian nutritionist at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, told MedPage Today by email.
    • “In the absence of clear guidance, people are left wondering: how much, if any, is actually safe and healthy?” she said. “I don’t see any upside to this.”
    • “The guidelines will likely still include a brief statement that encourages drinking in moderation or limiting intake due to associated health risks, Reuters‘ sources said.”

From the public health and medical research front,

  • Fortune Well reports,
    • “Millions more Americans should be taking weight-loss drugs to prevent heart disease, according to the American College of Cardiology. 
    • “Exercise and a clean diet aren’t always enough for heart health, the nation’s top cardiology organization said in new recommendations released on Friday. Weight-loss drugs should be used earlier, making them part of the first line of defense for obese patients, the group said.
    • “Novo Nordisk A/S’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly & Co.’s Zepbound should be considered when choosing primary treatments to avert heart disease, the leading cause of death in the US, according to the new guidelines. The popular drugs are more effective than lifestyle changes and have fewer risks than surgery, the nonprofit medical association said.”
  • and
    • I woke up from surgery groggy, with three minuscule incisions in my abdomen and huge peace of mind. I’d just had my fallopian tubes laparoscopically removed, as it’s the best—and possibly only—defense against ovarian cancer, which, though rare, is the most lethal gynecological cancer there is.
    • “There is no detection method for ovarian cancer (a common misunderstanding is that it’s the Pap smear, but that’s for cervical cancer). That’s largely because of something discovered relatively recently: About 80% of the time, cancer of the ovaries forms in the fallopian tubes, which are not easily reached or biopsied. So, the cancer is not found until it spreads beyond the tubes, by which point it has typically reached a later stage and is harder to treat, with cure rates as low as 15%. 
    • “The cancer and its pre-cancer lesions are also not detectable through blood tests. 
    • “I myself had no idea about any of this until 2023, when I wrote about the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (OCRA) making sweeping recommendations: that all women get genetically tested to know their risk of the disease, and that all women, regardless of their risk factor, consider having what’s called an opportunistic salpingectomy—the prophylactic removal of fallopian tubes if and when they are already having another abdominal surgery.
    • “The strategy—endorsed by the American College of Obstetrics & Gynecology since 2015—was believed to cut down the risk of ovarian cancer by up to 60%. It was adopted as a wide recommendation after a sobering U.K.-based clinical trial followed 200,000 women for more than 20 years and found that screening and symptom awareness do not save lives.”
  • The New York Times adds,
    • “Doctors call the new weight-loss drugs revolutionary. Game-changing. Unprecedented.
    • “Soon, they may also call them obsolete.
    • “Drugmakers are racing to develop the next wave of obesity and diabetes medications that they hope will be even more powerful than those currently on the market.
    • “I think what we are going to see very quickly is that Wegovy has received a lot of the press attention, because it got there first,” said Simon Cork, a senior lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University in England who has studied obesity. “But it will be rapidly overtaken by much more potent medications.”
    • “On Saturday, researchers presented data at an annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association on perhaps the most anticipated of these medications: a daily pill. A late-stage study showed that the drug, called orforglipron, appeared to be about as effective as a weekly Ozempic injection at inducing weight loss and lowering blood sugar. It is just one of over a dozen experimental medications that researchers will share data about at the conference this weekend.
    • “Some of these drugs are still in early trials, but others could hit the market as soon as next year. They include medications that may lead to more weight loss than the roughly 15 to 20 percent body weight people lose on existing drugs. They may also be easier to take than weekly injections and help people shed pounds without dropping as much muscle. More competition — and, in the case of the pill, lower manufacturing costs — might also mean that, eventually, patients pay less.”
  • and
    • “A single infusion of a stem cell-based treatment may have cured 10 out of 12 people with the most severe form of type 1 diabetes. One year later, these 10 patients no longer need insulin. The other two patients need much lower doses.
    • “The experimental treatment, called zimislecel and made by Vertex Pharmaceuticals of Boston, involves stem cells that scientists prodded to turn into pancreatic islet cells, which regulate blood glucose levels. The new islet cells were infused and reached the liver, where they took up residence.
    • “The study was presented Friday evening at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association and published online by The New England Journal of Medicine.
    • “It’s trailblazing work,” said Dr. Mark Anderson, professor and director of the diabetes center at the University of California in San Francisco. “Being free of insulin is life changing,” added Dr. Anderson, who was not involved in the study.
  • Per STAT News,
    • “GLP-1 drugs could treat more than just diabetes and obesity. They may also reduce migraine frequency.
    • “That is according to the findings of a study presented on Friday at the European Academy of Neurology congress. The pilot study found that GLP-1 agonists reduced monthly migraine days by almost half. The authors hypothesized that the drug lowers migraine frequency by reducing intracranial pressure.”
  • The Washington Post reports,
    • “The lung tissue of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease contains triple the sootlike particle buildup found in similar tissue in smokers’ lungs, a recent analysis finds.
    • “The study found that COPD patients’ alveolar macrophages — a type of lung cell that removes dust, particles and microorganisms from the lungs — contain more carbon than those of smokers. The carbon-containing alveolar macrophages in COPD patients’ lungs were also larger than macrophages without visible carbon, the study found.
    • “Published in ERJ Open Research, the study looked at carbon deposits in the cells. Alveolar macrophages are an important part of the immune system, activating other immune defense cells to protect the body from inhaled invaders. People with COPD have inflamed airways and more alveolar macrophages than healthy people.” * * *
    • “The study does not prove what caused the changes in the COPD patients’ lung tissue. Those with COPD may be less able to clear carbon from their lungs, the researchers write, or perhaps those with a reduced ability to clear carbon are likelier to develop COPD. Pollution or indoor particulate matter may also be to blame, they conclude.”
  • and
    • “The thought of getting back to an exercise routine after surgery might make you wince. It can be a struggle to know where to begin, especially if your body isn’t working the way it used to.
    • “The good news is that heading to your local pool or aquatic therapy can be a great alternative to land-based physical therapy and exercise. Research, including a 2024 study, says aquatic exercise can significantly help patients recover both mentally and physically after most surgeries.
    • “Water therapy is sometimes even more effective than land-based therapy because surgery patients don’t have the same range of motion and mobility,” says Mara Karamitopoulos, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at NYU Langone Health in New York.”

From the U.S. healthcare business front,

  • Beckers Payer Issues tells us,
    • “At Becker’s 15th Annual Meeting, leaders from Microsoft and Blue Shield of California shared how AI is one tool to help transform payer operations — not by replacing humans, but by personalizing care, cutting friction and restoring trust.
    • “Christine McKinney, vice president of customer experience and digital transformation at Blue Shield of California (Oakland) emphasized the strategic use of AI as both a data enabler and an engagement enhancer.”
    • The article offers takeaways from the presentation.
  • Kauffman Hall adds,
    • “As AI transformation remains top of mind for healthcare leaders, I’ve noticed two common pitfalls plaguing new entrants and early adopters.
    • “Those in the early stages are often susceptible to the “ready, fire, aim” approach – quickly identifying a tool and searching for a problem to match.
    • “Early adopters are having trouble defining clear return on investment (ROI), which may go beyond financials.
    • “These pitfalls are reflected in our data as well. 36% of health systems lack a formal AI prioritization framework, and a recent Vizient benchmarking survey found the top barrier to implementing AI is a lack of clear ROI.
    • “A successful AI strategy must include a clear prioritization framework and a deeper understanding of value. With this in mind, here is an example of one organization’s success and three steps to move beyond the hype and maximize ROI.”

Cybersecurity Saturday

David Ermer–Cybersecurity, Generative AI–

From the cybersecurity defenses and law enforcement front

  • Cyberscoop reports,
    • Congress should use renewal of an expiring [in 2027] terrorism insurance program to create a federal backstop for cybersecurity insurance, according to a report out Tuesday that tries to thread many difficult needles to bolster an industry that its author says isn’t developing fast enough.
    • In an ideal world, cybersecurity insurance can be a valuable tool to protect policyholders and push everyone into adopting better cyber practices, but it will need government intervention to reach its full potential amid an array of challenges, Nick Leiserson writes in a study for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a D.C.-based think tank. 
  • and
    • “As spring gives way to summer, a wave of cybercrime crackdowns has taken root, with law enforcement and private security companies directing a surge of takedowns, seizures, indictments and arrests.
    • “Prolific infostealers, malware loaders, counter antivirus and encrypting services, cybercrime marketplaces, ransomware infrastructure and DDoS-for-hire operations have all been seized, taken offline or severely disrupted by global coordinated campaigns over the past six weeks.
    • “It’s been really energizing to see the volume and velocity of these takedowns in such a short period of time,” Flashpoint CEO Josh Lefkowitz told CyberScoop. 
    • “I can’t think of such a flurry and rapid succession — and then magnified by complementary takedowns by Europol and international partners,” he added. “It’s been a great couple of weeks for the good guys, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s more around the horizon.”

From the cybersecurity vulnerabilities and breaches front,

  • Bleeping Computer informs us,
    • “News broke [on June 18] about “one of the largest data breaches in history,” sparking wide media coverage filled with warnings and fear-mongering. However, it appears to just be a compilation of previously leaked credentials stolen by infostealers, exposed in data breaches, and via credential stuffing attacks.
    • “To be clear, this is not a new data breach, or a breach at all, and the websites involved were not recently compromised to steal these credentials.
    • “Instead, these stolen credentials were likely circulating for some time, if not for years. It was then collected by a cybersecurity firm, researchers, or threat actors and repackaged into a database that was exposed on the Internet.
    • “Cybernews, which discovered the briefly exposed datasets of compiled credentials, stated it was stored in a format commonly associated with infostealer malware, though they did not share samples
    • “An infostealer is malware that attempts to steal credentials, cryptocurrency wallets, and other data from an infected device. Over the years, infostealers have become a massive problem, leading to breaches worldwide.”
  • Cybersecurity Dive reports,
    • “Major insurance provider Aflac Inc. said Friday [June 20] that it was the target of a cyberattack on June 12 that is linked to a major cybercrime spree focusing on the industry. 
    • “The company said it was able to contain the attack within hours and confirmed its systems remain operational. 
    • “We continue to serve our customers as we respond to this incident and can underwrite policies, review claims and otherwise service our customers as usual,” the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. 
    • “The incident is part of a larger crime wave targeting the insurance industry that researchers have linked to a collective known as Scattered Spider. The group recently conducted a weeks-long attack campaign against retailers in the U.S. and the U.K.
    • “Erie Insurance Group last week disclosed that it was the target of a cyberattack that began on June 7. The company said Tuesday that it has regained control over its systems and sees no further evidence of malicious activity.”
  • Cyberscoop adds,
    • Scattered Spider is an amorphous band of young English-speaking cybercriminals affiliated with the larger sprawling network known as The Com. Scattered Spider associates recently ran roughshod over U.K.- and U.S.-based retailers before pivoting, once again, to insurance companies.
    • The ring of cybercriminals historically focus on one sector at a time, resulting in a wave of extortion attacks on companies in the same industry, which often use similar systems and processes. 
    • Google previously warned that Scattered Spider shifted its attention to U.S. retailers after the group hit multiple retailers and grocery stores in the U.K. in April. The pattern of recent activities attributed to Scattered Spider has been consistent.
    • “We are now seeing incidents in the insurance industry,” John Hultquist, chief analyst at Google Threat Intelligence Group, told CyberScoop on Monday. “Given this actor’s history of focusing on a sector at a time, the insurance industry should be on high alert, especially for social engineering schemes which target their help desks and call centers.”
  • The Wall Street Journal points out,
    • “Hackers in recent months have disrupted retail sales in the U.K. and U.S. and stolen hundreds of millions of dollars from crypto holders by targeting the outsourced call centers that many American corporations use to save costs.
    • “The hacks are often meticulously researched and use a variety of techniques, but they have one thing in common: low-level workers who staff call centers and have access to the kind of sensitive information that criminals need to commit crimes.
    • “The focus on outside call centers has allowed attackers to trick workers to get around so-called two-factor account authentication techniques that send codes by text to mobile phones. Those methods are commonly used to protect millions of bank and credit-card accounts, as well as a host of other online portals.”
  • Security Week lets us know,
    • “Healthcare services firm Episource has been targeted in a cyberattack that resulted in a data breach impacting more than 5.4 million individuals.
    • “Episource provides medical coding and risk adjustment services to doctors, health plans, and other types of healthcare organizations. 
    • “The firm revealed in a data breach notice that it detected unauthorized access to its systems in early February. An investigation showed that “a cybercriminal” was able to view and copy data belonging to some Episource customers between January 27 and February 6, 2025. 
    • “We quickly took steps to stop the activity. We began investigating right away and hired a special team to help us. We also called law enforcement. We turned off our computer systems to help protect the customers we work with and their patients and members,” the company said, noting that it’s not aware of any misuse of the compromised data.”
  • Per Dark Reading,
    • Cybercriminals are using fake search engine listings to hijack the results for people looking for tech support from brands like Apple, Bank of America, Facebook, HP, Microsoft, Netflix, and PayPal.
    • This type of deceptive scam is common, taking advantage of users’ trust in big name brands, beginning with a sponsored search result on Google — but this time, there’s a twist.
    • According to Pieter Arntz and Jérôme Segura, researchers at Malwarebytes Labs, cybercriminals start by paying for a sponsored ad on Google pretending to be a major brand. This advertisement will then lead people to the fake website.
    • “However, in the cases we recently found, the visitor is taken to the legitimate site with a small difference,” the researchers wrote in a post this week. “Visitors are taken to the help/support section of the brand’s website, but instead of the genuine phone number, the hijackers display their scammy number instead.”
    • “So, while the browser address is legitimate and shows no cause for concern, the fraudsters overlay the actual website with misinformation, directing the user to seek help from a fraudulent source.”
  • Cybersecurity Dive tells us,
    • “Researchers are urging Veeam Backup & Replication users to make sure their systems are fully upgraded to the latest version after the company released a patch Tuesday to address a critical remote code execution flaw. 
    • “The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-23121, allows an authenticated domain user to run code on a backup server. 
    • “Researchers at watchTowr and Code White GmbH previously disclosed that a patch to address a prior vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-23120, could be bypassed. That disclosure led to the development of the new patch.”
  • and
    • “Hackers are exploiting a critical vulnerability in Zyxel’s Internet Key Exchange packet decoder, GreyNoise researchers warned on Monday.
    • “The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2023-28771, powered a sudden wave of exploitation attempts Monday, with researchers observing 244 unique IP addresses involved in the activity. 
    • “All of the addresses were located in the U.S. and registered to Verizon Business, but researchers caution that because the vulnerability was located over UDP (Port 500), the attackers may have been spoofing those addresses.
    • “Additional analysis suggests that the activity may be related to a variant of the Mirai botnet, researchers said. 
    • “Mirai-linked payloads suggest the activity may be aimed at enrolling devices into botnets for automated attacks like DDoS or scanning,” GreyNoise researchers told Cybersecurity Dive via email.”
  • The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) added three known exploited vulnerabilities to its catalog this week.
    • June 16, 2025
      • CVE-2025-43200 Apple Multiple Products Unspecified Vulnerability
      • CVE-2023-33538 TP-Link Multiple Routers Command Injection Vulnerability
        • NIST discusses the Apple vulnerability here.
        • Security Week discusses the TP-Link KVE here.
    • June 17, 2025
      •  CVE-2023-0386 Linux Kernel Improper Ownership Management Vulnerability 
        • Security Week discusses this KVE here.

From the ransomware front,

  • The Hacker News reports,
    • “An emerging ransomware strain has been discovered incorporating capabilities to encrypt files as well as permanently erase them, a development that has been described as a “rare dual-threat.”
    • “The ransomware features a ‘wipe mode,’ which permanently erases files, rendering recovery impossible even if the ransom is paid,” Trend Micro researchers Maristel Policarpio, Sarah Pearl Camiling, and Sophia Nilette Robles said in a report published last week.
    • “The ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operation in question is named Anubis, which became active in December 2024, claiming victims across healthcare, hospitality, and construction sectors in Australia, Canada, Peru, and the U.S. Analysis of early, trial samples of the ransomware suggests that the developers initially named it Sphinx, before tweaking the brand name in the final version.”
  • and
    • “The threat actors behind the Qilin ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) scheme are now offering legal counsel for affiliates to put more pressure on victims to pay up, as the cybercrime group intensifies its activity and tries to fill the void left by its rivals.
    • “The new feature takes the form of a “Call Lawyer” feature on the affiliate panel, per Israeli cybersecurity company Cybereason.
    • “The development represents a newfound resurgence of the e-crime group as once-popular ransomware groups like LockBit, Black Cat, RansomHub, Everest, and BlackLock have suffered abrupt cessations, operational failures, and defacements. The group, also tracked as Gold Feather and Water Galura, has been active since October 2022.
    • “Data compiled from the dark web leak sites run by ransomware groups shows that Qilin led with 72 victims in April 2025. In May, it is estimated to be behind 55 attacks, putting it behind Safepay (72) and Luna Moth (67). It’s also the third most active group after Cl0p and Akira since the start of the year, claiming a total of 304 victims.”

From the cybersecurity defenses front,

  • Cybersecurity Dive reports,
    • “For organizations aiming to deploy generative AI at scale, focusing on the cybersecurity guardrails surrounding the technology can help ease adoption rather than hinder it, according to AWS CISO Amy Herzog. 
    • “Herzog, who took on the CISO role earlier this month, made the case for a closer enterprise focus on security during the company’s annual re:Inforce conference Tuesday. The strategy can pay off by speeding up adoption. 
    • “Security, when done right, can be a true enabler in adopting new technologies,” said Herzog. “What we’re noticing is customers with mature security practices and the ability to innovate while maintaining a high security bar, they’re adopting Gen AI faster.
    • “Companies in highly regulated environments, from finance to healthcare, have been able to rely on their existing security, privacy and data management guardrails to speed up AI adoption, Herzog said. 
    • “This enables them to reduce risks and pragmatically focus on scaling their use cases,” Herzog said.”
  • and
    • “Nearly one in 10 publicly accessible cloud-storage buckets contained sensitive data, with virtually all of that data considered confidential or restricted, according to a new report from Tenable based on scans conducted between October 2024 and March 2025.
    • “On the other hand, more than eight in 10 organizations using Amazon Web Services have enabled an important identity-checking service, according to the report, published on Wednesday.
    • ‘The number of organizations with triple-threat cloud instances — “publicly exposed, critically vulnerable and highly privileged” — declined from 38% between January and June 2024 to 29% between October 2024 and March 2025.”
  • Per Bleeping Computer,
    • “Microsoft has announced plans to periodically remove legacy drivers from the Windows Update catalog to mitigate security and compatibility risks.
    • “The rationale behind this initiative is to ensure that we have the optimal set of drivers on Windows Update that cater to a variety of hardware devices across the windows ecosystem, while making sure that Microsoft Windows security posture is not compromised,” Microsoft said.
    • “This initiative involves periodic cleanup of drivers from Windows Update, thereby resulting in some drivers not being offered to any systems in the ecosystem.
    • “As the company explained on Thursday, the first phase of this “cleaning up” procedure will involve drivers with newer replacements already published on Windows Update.”
  • CSO lets us know,
    • “Ransomware tabletop exercises confront participants with an attack scenario, offering them a way to test and improve their organization’s readiness and response capabilities.
    • “During this month’s Infosecurity Europe conference, CSO took part as a media advisor to a blue team, pitched against a red team of attackers in a ransomware tabletop simulation focused on the water industry. The “Operation 999” exercise was devised and run by cybersecurity vendor Semperis, a specialist in protecting Active Directory (AD) and hybrid identity environments.” * * *
    • “The “Operation 999” exercise offered a cybersecurity tabletop simulation designed to allow participants to exercise incident response strategies. The tabletop exercise offered an immersive experience without featuring any hands-on keyboard or analysis of technical data (such as exercise specific log files, or similar).”
  • Security Week discusses “Choosing a clear direction in the face of growing cybersecurity demands. In a rapidly changing AI environment, CISOs are worried about investing in the wrong solution or simply not investing because they can’t decide what the best option is.”
  • Here is a link to Dark Reading’s CISO Corner.

Friday Report

David Ermer–CDC, CMS, Congress, COVID-19, FDA, Generative AI, Medical / Rx research, OPM, SCOTUS, U.S. Healthcare–

FEHBlog note: Since the FEHBlog launched in 2006, the FEHBlog has featured a photograph at the top of the post. The FEHBlog learned today that email subscribers to the FEHBlog see a blank spot at the top of the page as the email system blocks photographs. For that reason, the FEHBlog has stopped using photographs in the blog except when necessary.

From Washington, DC,

  • Roll Call informs us,
    • “Senate Republicans say they are looking for ways to safeguard rural hospitals from proposed cuts to a key Medicaid funding method, amid concerns from the powerful hospital lobby and others that the budget reconciliation bill could force many facilities to close.
    • “The draft text that the Senate Finance Committee released this week reduces the ability of states who expanded Medicaid under the 2010 health care law to levy taxes on providers to fund their programs. 
    • “Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Wednesday he is working on the issue, though he did not offer details. Leadership is attempting to balance directives to cut government spending with demands from senators like Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who said that the bill should protect rural hospitals from the effects of shrinking provider taxes.
    • “The right thing to do is not defund rural hospitals to pay for your pet projects,” Hawley said. “So, if you want your pet project in the bill, go find your own money. Don’t defund rural hospitals.” 
    • “Medicaid is often one of the top payers for rural facilities.”
  • STAT News adds,
    • “Hospitals are now lobbying senators to return to the House’s version of the bill, which also is expected to substantially cut hospitals’ revenues and the number of patients covered — but less so than the Senate’s version of the bill. 
    • “But that lobbying effort is butting up against senators who want to further reduce government spending. The Congressional Budget Office has not yet projected the budget impact of the Senate bill.”
  • The American Hospital Association News tells us,
    • The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services June 20 announced it is finalizing its 2025 Marketplace Integrity and Affordability final rule. The rule shortens the open enrollment period for the federal marketplace to Nov. 1-Dec. 15 starting in 2027, and limits open enrollment periods for state-based marketplaces to Nov. 1-Dec. 31. The rule also includes a change to the premium adjustment percentage that would increase the maximum annual cost sharing limitation. Additionally, the rule makes updates to the income verification process and pre-enrollment verification process for SEPs, changes to the essential health benefits, modifications to the redetermination and re-enrollment processes, and ends a special enrollment period for low-income individuals, among other policies. Many of the provisions reinstate policies finalized during the prior Trump administration.
  • Here is a link to CMS’s fact sheet on this final rule.
  • Govexec lets us know,
    • “The White House and its Department of Government Efficiency are spearheading efforts to shake up the Postal Service, according to details of the meetings obtained by Government Executive, with topics including pricing for mail and general reform proposals. 
    • “The meetings were not clearly within the scope of a memorandum of understanding former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy signed with DOGE, which focused on specific cost-cutting measures and real estate planning. Some of the meetings also involved top officials from the Treasury Department, White House attorneys and policy advisors and additional USPS executives. A source familiar with the meetings confirmed DOGE has been active at the Postal Service’s Washington headquarters in recent months.” 
  • Per an OPM news release,
    • This week, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Inspector General (IG) released a report that uncovered widespread compliance failures and weak internal oversight in the agencyʼs telework and remote work programs during the Biden Administration.
    • The report revealed more than half of OPM employees reviewed failed to meet basic in-office requirements and nearly a third of sampled teleworkers had expired or missing agreements. Additionally, 15 percent of remote workers had no approved agreement on file, and many discrepancies flagged by HR remained unresolved for months.
    • Since President Trump took office, OPM has reinstated in-office requirements to restore a culture of accountability and public service.
    • “Under the previous administration, OPMʼs telework and remote work policies were mismanaged and oversight was virtually nonexistent,” Acting Director Chuck Ezell said. “That era of telework abuse is over. At President Trumpʼs direction, OPM has restored in-person operations to ensure federal employees are working for the taxpayers.”
    • OPM has already implemented new internal controls and compliance reviews, and effective March 3, 2025, all employees are required to report to their official duty station full-time.
    • Read the OIG report here.

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

  • The Wall Street Journal reports,
    • “Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said they got Food and Drug Administration approval for anti-inflammatory drug Dupixent as a treatment for a rare skin disease, adding an eighth indication in the U.S. for their blockbuster medicine.
    • “France’s Sanofi and Tarrytown, N.Y.-based Regeneron said Friday that the FDA gave the green light for Dupixent as a treatment of adult patients with bullous pemphigoid, a skin disease that mainly affects elderly people and is characterized by itch, blisters and lesions, as well as a reddening of the skin.”

From the judicial front,

  • SCOTUSblog reports,
    • In a splintered decision, the Supreme Court did not allow a retired firefighter to sue her prior employer under the ADA. The majority opinion, written by Justice Gorsuch, determined the retiree was not a “qualified individual” under the law. In dissent, Justice Jackson called the majority opinion “counterintuitive.”
  • and
    • “On Friday, the Supreme Court opined on a challenge by retailers of e-cigarettes to an FDA decision. The majority opinion, written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, held that the challengers were “adversely affected” by the FDA’s decision and could thus seek judicial review in the 5th Circuit.”
  • The AHA News relates,
    • “The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa June 18 vacated components of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ minimum nurse staffing rule requiring nursing homes to have a registered nurse onsite 24/7 and prescribing a minimum total nurse staffing hours per resident day. The court kept in place the rule’s enhanced facility assessment and Medicaid reporting requirements.
    • “CMS’s general rulemaking power to promulgate ‘such other requirements as the Secretary deems necessary’ does not constitute clear authorization to mandate rigid staffing requirements for [long-term care] facilities,” wrote District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand in the ruling. “Therefore, I find that CMS did not have authority to promulgate the 24/7 RN requirement and the HPRD requirements pursuant to its health and safety rulemaking authority.”
    • “A district court in Texas also vacated the minimum staffing mandate in April.”
  • Beckers Payer Issues points out,
    • “New York City can implement an Aetna Medicare Advantage plan for its retirees, the state’s highest court ruled June 18. 
    • “The city has pushed to switch its health benefits for retired city employees to a Medicare Advantage plan since 2021. A group of retired employees sued to block the plan, arguing that the city had promised to provide supplemental Medicare benefits, and that their healthcare benefits would be diminished under an MA plan. 
    • “The New York Court of Appeals ruled against the retirees, reversing lower courts’ decisions. The judges ruled the city was not obligated to offer Medigap plans to its retirees. The court also ruled the retirees did not prove their care would be harmed under an MA plan.” 

From the public health and medical research front,

  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced today,
    • “Seasonal influenza activity is low. COVID-19 and RSV activity is very low.
    • “COVID-19
      • “COVID-19 wastewater activity is low and emergency department visits and laboratory percent positivity are at very low levels.
    • “Influenza
    • “RSV
      • “RSV activity is very low.
  • The University of Minnesota’s CIDRAP adds,
    • “New findings presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology suggest increased levels of fungal spores in the air are strongly linked to surges in cases of influenza and COVID-19.
    • “The study was based on daily spore samples taken in 2022 and 2024 in San Juan and Caguas, Puerto Rico, where fungal spores and pollen are endemic and present year-round. The data on spores was matched to data on the daily incidence of people diagnosed with COVID-19 and flu.
    • “The researchers found increases in fungal spore counts matched surges in flu and COVID activity. There was no relationship between pollen levels and respiratory illness activity.
    • “The findings from our study suggest that monitoring airborne fungal spore levels could help predict short-term outbreaks (spikes) of flu and COVID-19, giving public health systems an early warning signal,” study author Felix Rivera-Mariani, PhD said in a press release from the American Society of Microbiology. “Our findings also highlight the potential role of environmental factors—not just person-to-person spread—in contributing to the incidence of respiratory viral infections. That could open new doors for targeted public health alerts, especially in areas with high outdoor airborne fungi.” 
  • and
    • “The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 17 more measles cases today in its weekly update, bringing its total for the year to 1,214 confirmed cases from 36 jurisdictions.
    • “Although measles cases have slowed since peaking in late March, the uptick in cases brings the country closer to surpassing the 1,274 cases reported in 2019, which to date is the highest number reported in a single year since the disease was eliminated from the United States in 2020. There were 285 confirmed measles cases in 2024. 
    • “The CDC reported two additional outbreaks (three or more related cases), bringing the 2025 total to 23 outbreaks. Of the 1,214 confirmed US cases, 89% are outbreak associated. Only 16 outbreaks were reported in 2024, with 69% of confirmed cases associated with those outbreaks. The biggest outbreak in 2025 has been in West Texas, which has seen 750 confirmed cases since late January.”
  • and
    • “Since late April, an infectious diseases specialist at Stanford University and his colleagues have been volunteering their time on a project they hope will help educate the public, and combat misinformation, about the safety and efficacy vaccines.
    • “The project, led by Jake Scott, MD, is a spreadsheet of all the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that have ever been conducted for licensed vaccines. The idea, hatched on the social media site X, was prompted by responses to an old video of current Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in which he claims that none of vaccines mandated for US children has ever been tested in preclinical studies against a placebo. In one of the responses, infectious disease physician Brad Spellberg, MD, suggested a crowd-sourced effort to identify and post all of the RCTs in which vaccines have been tested against a placebo.
    • “That night Scott, a self-proclaimed “spreadsheet geek” who has previously collaborated with Spellberg, began building a spreadsheet using Google Sheets, creating criteria for inclusion, and seeding it with seven vaccine RCTs. Each entry has columns for the name of the vaccine, the date the RCT was published, which populations were studied, how many people were involved in the study and, importantly, the types of placebo or active comparator that were used for the control group.
    • “By the next morning, there were 20 vaccine RCTs on the spreadsheet. By May 5, the list had grown to 100. The spreadsheet now stands at more than 270 RCTs and continues to grow. Scott and his colleagues, who aim to eventually publish a peer-reviewed paper on the project in a medical journal, thoroughly review each entry before inclusion and provide links to the RCTs on PubMed.
    • “I think we’re kind of looking at the tip of the iceberg,” Scott told CIDRAP News. “There’s going to be, I would say, easily 400-plus, maybe 500-plus trials with millions and millions of participants.”
  • The AP reports,
    • “Older U.S. adults are increasingly dying from unintentional falls, according to a new federal report published Wednesday, with white people accounting for the vast majority of the deaths. 
    • “From 2003 to 2023, death rates from falls rose more than 70% for adults ages 65 to 74, the report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The rate increased more than 75% for people 75 to 84, and more than doubled for seniors 85 and older.
    • “Falls continue to be a public health problem worth paying attention to,” said Geoffrey Hoffman, a University of Michigan researcher who was not involved in the new report. “It’s curious that these rates keep rising.”
  • MedTech Dive notes five things to watch at the American Diabetes Association’s upcoming scientific session.
    • “At the American Diabetes Association’s Scientific Sessions, companies like Abbott, Dexcom and Beta Bionics will share the latest data on diabetes technology and new partnerships.
    • “The annual conference takes place June 20-23 in Chicago, with industry leaders gathering to discuss new developments in diabetes treatments. This year’s event follows new ADA standards of care that would expand access to continuous glucose monitors, recommending that the devices be used in adults with Type 2 diabetes who are taking glucose-lowering medications other than insulin.”

From the U.S. healthcare business front,

  • The Wall Street Journal reports,
    • “Health insurers will pledge to smooth the preapproval process following backlash after the killing of an executive last year.
    • “Insurers will create a standard for electronic requests by 2027, with 80% answered in real time if documentation is included.
    • “The industry plan includes reducing procedures subject to authorization, improving explanations, and helping patients changing insurers.”
  • and
    • “Planes have been jetting from Ireland to the U.S. this year carrying something more valuable than gold: $36 billion worth of hormones for popular obesity and diabetes drugs.
    • “The frantic airlift of those ingredients—more than double what was imported from Ireland for all of last year—reflects the collision of two powerful forces: tariff-driven stockpiling and weight-loss drug demand.
    • “The peptide- and protein-based hormones feed into a category of drugs that include wildly popular GLP-1 treatments and newer types of insulin known as analogues. Taken together the shipments weighed just 23,400 pounds, according to U.S. trade data, equivalent to the weight of less than four Tesla Cybertrucks.
    • “Fit into temperature-controlled air-cargo containers, the pharmaceutical ingredients have had a huge impact on the U.S. trade imbalance. The shipments have propelled Ireland, a country of only 5.4 million people, to the second-largest goods-trade imbalance with the U.S., trailing only China. They accounted for roughly half of the $71 billion in goods the U.S. imported from the country in the first four months of the year.
    • “Nearly 100% of the imports had a final destination of Indiana, according to U.S. customs records. Eli Lilly, the drug giant behind weight loss and diabetes drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro, is headquartered in Indianapolis.”
  • Mercer Consulting notes,
    • “It’s been over three years since group health plan sponsors and issuers, in order to comply with the Transparency in Coverage final rule, began posting Machine-Readable Files that contain in-network negotiated charges for every medical item and service with providers in their networks, as well as out-of-network allowed amounts and billed charges. This data had previously been considered by insurers as proprietary and confidential, but the government recognized the need to make healthcare costs more transparent. The rule also requires group health plan sponsors and issuers to post files for negotiated rates and historical net prices for covered prescription drugs, but regulators have delayed that particular requirement .
    • “But even though the data has been available to the public since July 2022, almost 70% of very large employers (5,000+ employees) responding to our 2025 Health Policy Survey report that they have yet to meaningfully use the data.
    • “Impeding use is the sheer amount of data that was dropped on the internet all at once, but not all in one place. According to a recent report from the Congressional Review Service, users have faced significant challenge * * *.
  • Per Fierce Healthcare,
    • “Hinge Health, which just went public last month, launched a referral network of in-person providers to complement its virtual physical therapy platform.
    • “The curated provider network for musculoskeletal (MSK) care, called HingeSelect, includes imaging centers and brick-and-mortar physical therapy providers to help bridge the gap between in-person and digital care. The aim is to offer a more comprehensive end-to-end MSK care model, executives said.
    • “Hinge Health’s technology and in-house orthopedic physicians triage and direct downstream care. When in-person care, such as imaging or injections, is required, members are connected to pre-vetted providers at up to 50% below PPO rates.” 
  • Per Beckers Payer Issues,
    • “Philadelphia-based Independence Blue Cross has launched a new GenAI customer service tool to support customer service representatives in improving accuracy and speed of customer interactions, according to a news release shared with Becker’s. 
    • “The pilot, initiated in February 2025, tasked more than 40 customer service representatives with using the tool to assist with member-specific questions, summarize complex medical policies and search benefits. 
    • “The AI tool was found to have reduced the number of steps customer representatives must take to access critical information and improved efficiency by increasing the percentage of customers who receive solutions on their first inquiry. It also documents responses and validates the information with Independence Blue Cross’ existing customer relationship system.”

Happy Juneteenth

David Ermer–CDC, FDA, Medical / Rx research, SCOTUS, U.S. Healthcare, Uncategorized–

From Washington, DC,

  • Fierce Healthcare tells us,
    • “At AHIP’s annual conference, the trade group told reporters they oppose the reconciliation bill moving through Congress because of the impacts it would have on Medicaid and the individual market.
    • “AHIP executives said they will continue to work with other prominent healthcare organizations to convince lawmakers to protect federal health programs and help Americans remain insured—both by avoiding the harshest cuts and changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act and extending the ACA enhanced premium tax credits.
    • “We are working arm in arm with hospitals, with physicians, with nurses, with patient advocates to try to mitigate these provisions,” said CEO Mike Tuffin. The group is continuing to meet with lawmakers and Congressional staff members to warn of dangers, should the bill pass.”
  • Per an HHS news release,
    • “Today, at the urging of Vice President JD Vance, under the leadership of U.S. Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched a five-year, $10 million research initiative to assess and address the long-term health outcomes stemming from the 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.” * * *
    • The multi-disciplinary, community-focused series of studies that will focus on:
      • “Longitudinal epidemiological research to understand the health impacts of exposures on short- and long-term health outcomes including relevant biological markers of risk.
      • “Public health tracking and surveillance of the community’s health conditions to support health care decisions and preventive measures.
      • “Extensive, well-coordinated, communications among researchers, study participants, community stakeholders, health care providers, government officials, and others to establish a comprehensive approach to address the affected communities’ health concerns.
    • “Technical details, application information, and other background material to the public were released today. It is expected that a series of grants will be issued to analyze various types of studies and community activities. The deadline to submit research proposals is July 21. Research projects to start this fall. Learn more here.”

From the public health front,

  • The Washington Post reports this afternoon,
    • Three people have died, and more than a dozen others were hospitalized following an outbreak of listeria that has been linked to premade chicken fettuccine alfredo meals sold nationwide at Kroger and Walmart, federal health officials said Wednesday.
    • FreshRealm, the Texas-based food manufacturer that makes the packaged products, issued a voluntary recall on Tuesday of chicken fettuccine alfredo meals made before June 17 “out of an abundance of caution,” the company said in a statement Wednesday.
    • “FreshRealm is issuing this voluntary recall strictly as a precautionary step with a full commitment to public health and safety,” the company said.
    • The outbreak spans 13 states, including Florida, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
  • Medscape informs us,
    • “The upcoming American Diabetes Association (ADA) 85th Scientific Sessions will focus on new and evolving weight-loss treatments for people with and without diabetes, along with new biological and technological approaches for managing type 1 diabetes (T1D).
    • “Late-breaking symposia will include data from trials of a once-monthly injectable for obesity treatment, a nonpeptide oral GLP-1 receptor agonist (RA), and a medication combining a GLP-“1 RA with another drug designed to augment fat loss while preserving lean mass. Other new findings at the meeting include the use of a GLP-1 RA in T1D and the latest data on stem cell-derived islet cell transplantation in T1D. And always, there’s much more.
    • “The meeting will take place from June 20 to 24, 2025, in Chicago. “This year again, it will be heavily focused on obesity but more on the next generation of obesity drugs. We’re progressing to therapy that may be more amenable to the patient, with less frequent dosing and greater convenience,” Marlon Pragnell, PhD, ADA’s vice president of research and science, told Medscape Medical News.”
  • The New York Times reports,
    • “A cutting-edge cancer therapy offers hope for patients with lupus
    • “Lupus can be debilitating and sometimes deadly for the 3 million people who have it. A treatment called CAR-T appears to stop it in its tracks.”
  • STAT News lets us know,
    • Reliable communication for people with paralysis is nearing reality. Researchers have now demonstrated that a brain-computer interface can reliably translate thoughts into speech, including matching a person’s intended tone and pitch. 
    • It is the second study in as many months to validate the concept’s safety and initial efficacy. The findings are welcome news for a field that has spent decades trying to transform brain activity into reliable communication for people with paralysis. 
    • “Ten years ago … we were talking about point-and-click-based communication for people with paralysis,” said David Brandman, a study co-author and neurosurgeon at the University of California, Davis. “And now we’re talking about creating a digital voice box.”
    • “The findings were published in Nature on June 12. Brandman and the rest of the team showed that a 45-year-old man with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis was able to speak after having a device implanted into his brain.” 

From the U.S. healthcare business front,

  • Modern Healthcare reports,
    • Aetna has big plans to revamp the way it interacts with providers and policyholders, President Steve Nelson said during the AHIP 2025 conference this week.
    • The CVS Health subsidiary aims to eliminate some prior authorization requirements, automate precertification approvals and partner with health systems in hopes of smoothing over often-contentious relationships.
    • “We are going through a cultural transformation,” Nelson said in an interview Tuesday at the health insurance industry trade group AHIP’s event, which ran Monday through Wednesday.
    • “The initiative is part of CVS Health’s recently announced $20 billion, decade-long plan to improve the digital experience for members and providers. The healthcare conglomerate’s commitment is part of the larger trend of health insurance companies working to build trust amid widespread industry criticism that erupted after the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December.”
  • Per Becker Hospital Review,
    • “A new report from Vizient highlighted the 10 drug shortages placing the most pressure on U.S. hospitals, with the injectable lorazepam topping the list for both general and pediatric facilities. 
    • “These shortages [which are listed in the article] span a range of essential drug categories, including sedatives, crash cart medications, pain management treatments and oncology treatments.”
  • Modern Healthcare adds,
    • “As of April, bad debt as a percentage of gross revenue had increased at a median 2.9% year over year, according to an analysis from consulting firm Kaufman Hall, which pulled data from about 700 hospitals.
    • “Bad debt refers to revenue that providers were expecting to receive from patients or payers, but did not end up collecting despite multiple attempts. Providers often write off these unpaid balances once they are deemed uncollectible. 
    • “The unpaid balances are separate from charity care, which is free or discounted healthcare offered to patients who cannot otherwise pay for treatment. 
    • “Many hospitals are reaping the benefits of higher volumes, but more patients do not necessarily translate into a stronger balance sheet. Much of the payoff depends on payer mix. Hospitals serving a larger portion of uninsured patients or patients covered by government payer plans tend to be more at risk for bad debt balances.”