Category: STAT+
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STAT+: RFK Jr.’s Senate hearing delayed, living with more measles
STAT+: RFK Jr.’s Senate hearing delayed, living with more measles You’re reading the web edition of D.C. Diagnosis, STAT’s twice-weekly newsletter about the politics and policy of health and medicine. Sign up here to receive it in your inbox on Tuesdays and Thursdays. STAT is cutting the price of an annual subscription in half. Click here for…
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STAT+: Study shows how UnitedHealth uses coding to rake in extra cash from Medicare Advantage
STAT+: Study shows how UnitedHealth uses coding to rake in extra cash from Medicare Advantage Health insurers in the private Medicare business have a big incentive to diagnose their members with lots of health conditions: The government pays them more money. A new study shows the extent to which the biggest player in that business,…
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STAT+: Trump gives major lift to 2026 Medicare Advantage payments
STAT+: Trump gives major lift to 2026 Medicare Advantage payments Health insurers that sell Medicare Advantage plans are going to get about $30 billion more in taxpayer money next year. President Trump’s Medicare agency finalized a rule Monday that would raise benchmark payment rates to privatized Medicare plans by 5.1% for 2026. That was higher…
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STAT+: Federal judge issues permanent injunction on Trump cuts to research overhead payments
STAT+: Federal judge issues permanent injunction on Trump cuts to research overhead payments A federal judge on Friday ordered a permanent injunction blocking a Trump administration policy that would slash billions in research overhead payments to universities, academic medical centers, and other grant-receiving institutions. Paradoxically, the Trump administration had requested that very verdict earlier in…
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STAT+: Up and down the ladder: The latest comings and goings
STAT+: Up and down the ladder: The latest comings and goings Hired someone new and exciting? Promoted a rising star? Finally solved that hard-to-fill spot? Share the news with us, and we’ll share it with others. That’s right. Send us your changes, and we’ll find a home for them. Don’t be shy. Everyone wants to know who is…
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STAT+: FDA tells drugmakers to redo studies run by a contract research firm due to data integrity issues
STAT+: FDA tells drugmakers to redo studies run by a contract research firm due to data integrity issues In a rare move, the Food and Drug Administration told an unspecified number of drug companies that studies used to support therapeutic equivalence of some of their medicines have been rejected due to false data generated by…
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STAT+: Trump administration declines to expand Medicare coverage for obesity drugs
STAT+: Trump administration declines to expand Medicare coverage for obesity drugs The Trump administration has chosen not to finalize a rule proposed by the Biden administration that would have allowed Medicare to cover blockbuster weight loss drugs. The rule would have brought in tens of billions of dollars in new sales for drugs like Novo…
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STAT+: Trump’s new drug policy mixes ‘harshest’ penalties for dealers and test strips for users
STAT+: Trump’s new drug policy mixes ‘harshest’ penalties for dealers and test strips for users The Trump administration vows to emphasize addiction treatment alongside an enforcement-first drug policy, according to a not-yet-public strategy document obtained by STAT. In an effort to reduce overdose deaths caused by fentanyl and other illicit substances, the administration plans to…
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STAT+: A running list of senior FDA officials who have left the agency
STAT+: A running list of senior FDA officials who have left the agency WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration always looks a little different after an administration change. Political appointees are swapped out, maybe some offices are restructured. But the FDA under the new Trump administration is already starting to look dramatically different. It’s hard…
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STAT+: Trump administration begins mass cuts of federal health policy researchers
STAT+: Trump administration begins mass cuts of federal health policy researchers The Trump administration has gutted two small federal agencies filled with researchers who study how the health care system functions and how to improve it. More than half of employees at the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation and the Agency…
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STAT+: Makary’s first speech to FDA staff focuses on challenging norms, fighting chronic disease
STAT+: Makary’s first speech to FDA staff focuses on challenging norms, fighting chronic disease WASHINGTON — Marty Makary’s first address to staff as FDA commissioner on Wednesday afternoon sounded a bit like an introduction to one of his books. It included sweeping declarations about the need to challenge scientific norms, and to identify the root…
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STAT+: Five NIH institute directors and numerous lab heads ousted in unprecedented shake-up
STAT+: Five NIH institute directors and numerous lab heads ousted in unprecedented shake-up Directors of five National Institutes of Health institutes and at least two other members of senior leadership have been placed on administrative leave or offered new assignments since Monday, topping a list of hundreds of employees notified in the last 24 hours…
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STAT+: FDA Commissioner Marty Makary gets off to a bruising start as agency is wracked by layoffs
STAT+: FDA Commissioner Marty Makary gets off to a bruising start as agency is wracked by layoffs WASHINGTON — Marty Makary’s first official day as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration began with employees in tears, learning from security guards that they were losing their jobs. The news release announcing the start of his…
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STAT+: Texas judge strikes down FDA’s plan to regulate lab-developed tests
STAT+: Texas judge strikes down FDA’s plan to regulate lab-developed tests WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Texas squashed the Food and Drug Administration’s plan to regulate lab-developed tests on Monday, ruling in favor of lab trade groups that said the agency was overstepping its bounds. “The Court VACATES and SETS ASIDE, in its entirety,…
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STAT+: Cassidy gave himself a difficult task. RFK Jr. isn’t making it any easier on him
STAT+: Cassidy gave himself a difficult task. RFK Jr. isn’t making it any easier on him WASHINGTON — Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said he would be Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s keeper, but the physician-turned-politician is struggling to stop the nation’s health secretary from undermining public trust in vaccines. Cassidy has taken the lead for his…
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Opinion: STAT+: Peter Marks’ ouster is an ominous sign for biotech — and for public health
Opinion: STAT+: Peter Marks’ ouster is an ominous sign for biotech — and for public health Welcome to Lab Dish, a new First Opinion column on regenerative medicine from Paul Knoepfler. There are certain leaders who quietly make complex organizations operate well including in the toughest of times — leaders like Peter Marks, director of…
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STAT+: FDA’s ‘key man’ Peter Marks is out. Biotech investors will now deal with the consequences
STAT+: FDA’s ‘key man’ Peter Marks is out. Biotech investors will now deal with the consequences Robert F. Kennedy Jr. forcing Peter Marks out of the Food and Drug Administration has blown a hole in the agency’s leadership ranks and threatens to unmoor the oversight of drugs and vaccines from bedrock scientific principles. For biotech…
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STAT+: Ouster of FDA’s Peter Marks alarms a biopharma industry that saw him as an ally
STAT+: Ouster of FDA’s Peter Marks alarms a biopharma industry that saw him as an ally When Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime and visceral critic of pharmaceutical and biotech companies, was nominated by President Trump to be the nation’s health secretary, the head of biotech’s largest trade group issued a statement saying that he…
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STAT+: FDA to staff: No need to work from pantries for now
STAT+: FDA to staff: No need to work from pantries for now Some Food and Drug Administration employees who were previously working in pantries and conference rooms can work from home for now, according to an email reviewed by STAT. FDA managers sent an email Friday granting some workers temporary work-from-home exceptions, either because their…
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STAT+: HHS emergency response unit given two days to figure out its fate
STAT+: HHS emergency response unit given two days to figure out its fate WASHINGTON — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s plan to reshape the federal health department has left its roughly 1,000 emergency response workers in limbo, and with a daunting order: Sort out how you break up — this weekend. The George W. Bush-founded Administration for…
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STAT+: Amgen loses its battle against Colorado over a prescription drug affordability board
STAT+: Amgen loses its battle against Colorado over a prescription drug affordability board In a blow to the pharmaceutical industry, a U.S. court judge ruled that a Colorado state board can proceed with plans to place limits on the prices paid for medicines, the first such decision to support the controversial attempts by some states…
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Trump chooses Fox News contributor Sara Carter as next drug czar
Trump chooses Fox News contributor Sara Carter as next drug czar President Trump has selected Sara Carter, a conservative journalist and Fox News contributor, as the nation’s next drug czar. Carter’s selection comes as a surprise: Her background is not in drug policy, public health, or law enforcement, and she has never served in government.…
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STAT+: Wyden claims Pfizer used a ‘colossal’ scheme to avoid paying billions in U.S. taxes
STAT+: Wyden claims Pfizer used a ‘colossal’ scheme to avoid paying billions in U.S. taxes In what one U.S. lawmaker described as possibly the “largest tax-dodging scheme” by a pharmaceutical company in history, Pfizer sold $20 billion in medicines to U.S. customers six years ago, but did not report any profits from those sales on…
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STAT+: HHS layoffs rile Democrats, but Republicans say they trust RFK Jr.’s cuts will not hamper core operations
STAT+: HHS layoffs rile Democrats, but Republicans say they trust RFK Jr.’s cuts will not hamper core operations WASHINGTON — News of massive layoffs at the Health and Human Services Department was met with anger and predictions of lawsuits by Democratic lawmakers, and with a shrug by Republicans. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced…
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STAT+: Two of FDA’s top cancer regulators to depart, heightening worries about drug reviews
STAT+: Two of FDA’s top cancer regulators to depart, heightening worries about drug reviews Both deputy directors at the key Food and Drug Administration center that oversees the regulation of cancer drugs plan on departing the agency, sources told STAT Thursday, highlighting the drain on talent at the FDA created by layoffs, uncertainty, and shifts…
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STAT+: RFK Jr. brings FDA under tighter control with HHS workforce cuts
STAT+: RFK Jr. brings FDA under tighter control with HHS workforce cuts WASHINGTON — Around 3,500 employees are on the chopping block at the Food and Drug Administration, but they don’t yet know who they are. The Health and Human Services Department on Thursday announced a sweeping plan to cut 10,000 jobs and consolidate operations…