CVS sues to challenge new Tennessee PBM-pharmacy breakup law
Rebecca Pifer Parduhn / healthcaredive - The law, which would prohibit PBM conglomerates from owning or operating pharmacies, illegally boots out-of-state companies from Tennessee’s pharmacy market, CVS argued in suit filed Friday.
AI Summary: CVS Health has filed suit challenging Tennessee's new law that bars pharmacy benefit managers from owning pharmacies, arguing the measure unlawfully disrupts established business models and harms patient access. The company seeks to block enforcement while the legal fight plays out, setting up a clash between state regulators and a major healthcare middleman.
How state laws can stymie research into your ancestors' psychiatric records
abcnews - Frustrated family members and others have been pushing for law changes in New York and other states that would allow the release of mental health records of long-dead ancestors
AI Summary: Legal researchers warn that a patchwork of state statutes and privacy rules is blocking access to historical psychiatric records needed for family‑history and population‑level studies. The restrictions complicate efforts to understand intergenerational mental‑health patterns and hamper reproducible research, leaving scientists to navigate inconsistent consent, archival access, and litigation risks.
An Ebola treatment tent is set ablaze again in eastern Congo with 18 suspected cases escaping
abcnews - A tent used for Ebola treatment in eastern Congo has been set on fire for the second time this week
AI Summary: In eastern Congo, an Ebola treatment tent was set ablaze, allowing at least 18 suspected patients to escape and disrupting outbreak containment efforts. The incident has drawn international scrutiny, with Congolese health officials publicly criticizing restrictive U.S. travel measures that complicate cross-border response and community trust.
Nearly 10% of surgeons are leaving the profession within 8 years
medicalxpress - Surgeons are an integral part of the health care system, supplying critical and urgent care in nearly every field of medicine. But surgeons are already in short supply, with the gap between the number needed and the number working expected to get worse.
AI Summary: A recent report reveals that roughly one in ten surgeons leave clinical practice within eight years of starting, spotlighting a troubling attrition rate that threatens surgical capacity. The findings point to burnout, workload and systemic pressures as likely drivers and underscore the need for retention strategies, training support and policy changes to stabilize the surgical workforce.
Anxiety-related pediatric visits in primary care rise 300%: Study
Ella Ruder / beckershospitalreview - Anxiety-related visits in pediatric primary care settings increased 300% between 2014 and 2023, according to a May 18 study published in JAMA Network Open. Researchers from Boston University’s School of Public Health and the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care In…
AI Summary: Analysis reveals a roughly 300% increase in anxiety-related visits to primary care among children, straining clinics and signaling a nationwide mental-health wave. Primary-care physicians are now de facto child mental-health providers, with experts urging expanded behavioral services, school-based supports and parental resources to manage what’s become an urgent, system-wide demand.
CMS finalizes major changes to ACA exchanges, including greater access to catastrophic plans
Rebecca Pifer Parduhn / healthcaredive - The Trump administration continues to open the doors to the cheap, high-deductible coverage, to the worry of insurance experts and stakeholders in the healthcare industry.
AI Summary: In a sweeping final rule, CMS loosened constraints on ACA marketplace offerings to broaden consumer choice — including expanded access to catastrophic plans and relaxed limits on non-standard plan designs. The changes aim to reshape the 2027 exchanges, boost affordability and enrollment flexibility, and hand insurers new product wiggle room while regulators expect close scrutiny.
- CMS final rule loosens plan design, expands catastrophic access (4)
- Insurers exit and consumers pivot to cheaper alternatives (3)
- Rising costs and shrinking ACA enrollment threaten markets (4)
CMS final rule loosens plan design, expands catastrophic access
Insurers exit and consumers pivot to cheaper alternatives
Rising costs and shrinking ACA enrollment threaten markets
Kicking Off the Cancer Planners Forum in Geneva – UICC
oncodaily - Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) shared a post on LinkedIn: “We’re excited to kick off the Cancer Planners Forum in Geneva today! Convening national leaders responsible for cancer control planning, […]
AI Summary: The UICC Cancer Planners Forum in Geneva brought policymakers, clinicians, and public‑health leaders together to map national cancer control strategies, prioritize cervical cancer elimination, and foster implementation partnerships. The forum emphasized practical planning, stakeholder engagement, and resource‑sensitive solutions to turn plans into measurable improvements in prevention, screening, and care delivery.
- Cervical cancer elimination and clinical partnerships (3)
- Forum launch and wrap-up in Geneva (3)
- National cancer planning and policy priorities (3)
- All Other Stories
Cervical cancer elimination and clinical partnerships
Forum launch and wrap-up in Geneva
National cancer planning and policy priorities
All Other Stories
Canadian from hantavirus-hit cruise ship tests positive
bbc - The individual is one of four former passengers on the MV Hondius isolating on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
AI Summary: A Canadian passenger tested positive after an Andes‑virus outbreak aboard a cruise ship, and French authorities report the strain matches known South American viruses. Public health teams began targeted testing, contact tracing and onboard monitoring as experts debate what constitutes “close contact,” balancing realistic containment with the mild panic such exotic pathogens tend to inspire.
- Canada confirms hantavirus cases; testing and isolation underway (3)
- Defining close contact: contact‑tracing challenges and outbreaks at sea (3)
- Sequencing shows South American strain; ship arrival and WHO stance (4)
- All Other Stories
Canada confirms hantavirus cases; testing and isolation underway
Defining close contact: contact‑tracing challenges and outbreaks at sea
Sequencing shows South American strain; ship arrival and WHO stance
All Other Stories
Women’s experiences are forgotten in research on childbirth and breastfeeding
Thomas Saïas, Professeur de psychologie, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) / theconversation - Two studies in the field of perinatal care show how, in the areas of breastfeeding and obstetrics, science prioritizes risk and the baby at the expense of mothers’ well-being.
AI Summary: New analyses show that research into childbirth and breastfeeding repeatedly sidelines women's firsthand experiences, prioritizing clinical metrics over lived realities. Experts warn this gap limits understanding of postpartum challenges, skews policy and perpetuates poorer care. Calls are growing for qualitative measures, patient-centered outcomes and inclusive study designs that actually listen to mothers.
- Clinical and policy focus on fetus over mothers' care (3)
- Mothers’ experiences ignored in childbirth and breastfeeding research (4)
- Women’s pain and reproductive conditions dismissed by medicine (4)
- All Other Stories
Clinical and policy focus on fetus over mothers' care
Mothers’ experiences ignored in childbirth and breastfeeding research
Women’s pain and reproductive conditions dismissed by medicine
All Other Stories
Prosecutors seek NYU hospital information on gender-affirming care for children
abcnews - A New York health care system has received a federal grand jury subpoena issued in Texas seeking information about children who received gender-affirming care and the medical providers who administered it
AI Summary: Federal prosecutors have issued a subpoena seeking NYU Langone medical records related to gender-affirming care for minors, escalating legal scrutiny of hospital practices. Authorities are pursuing documentation and communications as part of an inquiry into pediatric services; the move could prompt broader institutional reviews and legal battles over patient privacy and standards of care.
License to deliver: Some midwives break the law to assist with home births
medicalxpress - In a midwife's suburban Atlanta home with a playground and chicken coop outside, Madie Collins lay on an examination table while the midwife measured her pregnant belly. Unlike at many a doctor's office, no crinkly paper sheet covered the table and no ant…
AI Summary: A growing number of midwives are reportedly supporting planned home births outside legal frameworks, knowingly operating without required licences. Regulators and health systems face a tricky balance between enforcing safety standards and meeting demand for community-based birthing options. Expect investigations, heated debates, and at least one bureaucrat suddenly very busy.
Supreme Court preserves access to abortion pill by mail
Sydney Halleman / healthcaredive - The ruling maintains access to mifepristone while litigation continues. The drug can still be prescribed at pharmacies or by mail without requiring in-person visits.
AI Summary: The Supreme Court intervened to maintain access to mifepristone, temporarily restoring telehealth prescribing and preserving mail distribution while litigation proceeds. The decision keeps the pill available nationwide, blocking lower-court restrictions that would have sharply limited remote access and complicated routine clinical care for patients and providers.
CMS launches initiative to speed electronic prior authorization adoption
Emily Olsen / healthcaredive - The effort, part of the agency’s ambitious Health Tech Ecosystem, aims to accelerate the industry’s progress before requirements on electronic prior authorization go into effect next year.
AI Summary: CMS launched a national initiative to accelerate adoption of electronic prior authorization, recruiting major health‑IT vendors and health systems to pilot interoperable digital workflows. The program aims to cut paperwork and speed care decisions by automating approvals, though providers warn integration challenges and real‑world impact will take time to materialize.
- AI and automation firms reshaping prior authorization workflows (4)
- CMS' national push to accelerate electronic prior authorization (3)
- Policy fights, insurer delays and patient impact of prior auth (4)
- All Other Stories
AI and automation firms reshaping prior authorization workflows
CMS' national push to accelerate electronic prior authorization
Policy fights, insurer delays and patient impact of prior auth
All Other Stories
US drug overdose deaths fall for 3rd straight year: 5 notes
Kristin Kuchno / beckershospitalreview - An estimated 69,973 Americans died of drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending December 2025, a 13.9% decline from the previous year and the third consecutive year that figure has dropped, according to CDC data published May 13. The decline marks the …
AI Summary: Provisional data show U.S. drug-overdose deaths fell for the third straight year, marking a welcome dip in a long-running crisis. Public-health experts caution the improvement masks shifting drug supplies, regional variation and policy gaps, urging sustained prevention, treatment access and surveillance to avoid backsliding.
CMS pauses hospice, home health Medicare enrollments in fraud crackdown
fiercehealthcare - The Trump administration has issued a six-month moratorium on hospice and home health agencies enrolling in Medicare as part of its efforts to combat fraud.
AI Summary: CMS has suspended new Medicare enrollments for hospice and home health providers nationwide amid a fraud crackdown, pausing approvals while investigators audit suspicious applications and billing patterns. The freeze seeks to protect patients and taxpayer dollars, though it may delay access where new providers were expected to step in — because apparently some providers preferred creative billing over care.
- Nationwide moratorium on hospice and home health enrollments (4)
- Policy and patient access fallout from the freeze (3)
- White House fraud crackdown and enforcement sweep (4)
- All Other Stories
Nationwide moratorium on hospice and home health enrollments
Policy and patient access fallout from the freeze
White House fraud crackdown and enforcement sweep
All Other Stories
F.D.A. Commissioner Marty Makary Resigns After Weeks of Pressure
Christina Jewett / nytimes - The agency’s top food official will step in as acting commissioner, after Dr. Makary’s tumultuous run as the nation’s top food, drug, tobacco and medical device regulator.
AI Summary: F.D.A. commissioner Marty Makary resigned after weeks of intense scrutiny and internal pressure over leadership and policy choices, following reports he faced possible removal. The agency now confronts leadership turbulence as officials rush to steady regulatory priorities, reassure stakeholders and clean up an exit that leaves unfinished reviews and awkward staff memos.
- Firing reports and buildup to Makary's ouster (4)
- Regulatory ripple effects and agency departures (3)
- Resignation announced and immediate leadership vacuum (5)
- All Other Stories
Firing reports and buildup to Makary's ouster
Regulatory ripple effects and agency departures
Resignation announced and immediate leadership vacuum
All Other Stories
Healthcare bankruptcies increased 33% in Q1: 6 things to know
Andrew Cass / beckershospitalreview - Healthcare Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings rose to 12 cases in the first quarter of 2026, up from 9 cases in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to an April report by Gibbins Advisors. The report analyzed Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings with liabilities of …
AI Summary: A new report finds healthcare bankruptcies rose 33% in the first quarter, underscoring mounting financial pressure across providers from squeezed margins, rising expenses and a tricky reimbursement environment. The surge raises concerns about patient access, consolidation and creditor fallout, and suggests policymakers and executives may need to stop pinching pennies and start fixing structural problems.
- Budgeting, Labor and Management Fixes Under Strain (5)
- Closures, Downgrades and State Rescue Responses (4)
- Q1 Bankruptcy Surge: Numbers and Sector Breakdown (3)
- All Other Stories
Budgeting, Labor and Management Fixes Under Strain
Closures, Downgrades and State Rescue Responses
Q1 Bankruptcy Surge: Numbers and Sector Breakdown
All Other Stories
With Commissioner Under Pressure, F.D.A. Opens Door to Flavored Vapes
Christina Jewett / nytimes - Though illicit e-cigarettes have flooded in from China, the new policy could allow major tobacco companies to sell from prime shelf space at thousands of stores.
AI Summary: Facing mounting pressure, the FDA has signaled authorization of fruit‑flavored vaping products for adults, a regulatory shift framed as adult access and harm reduction. Public‑health experts warn the move risks increasing youth appeal and reignites debate over flavors, enforcement, and whether potential population‑level tradeoffs were adequately considered.
A new Medicare option for weight loss drugs is coming: Here's what to know
Jackie Fortiér / npr - Millions of people with Medicare will soon be eligible to get discounted GLP-1 drugs for weight loss. Here's how it will work.
AI Summary: Medicare is introducing a new option to expand access to weight‑loss medications for older Americans, outlining eligibility, coverage mechanics and likely impacts on beneficiaries and budgets. The guidance aims to help clinicians and patients navigate coverage decisions and prepares stakeholders for shifts in prescribing patterns and costs as demand for GLP‑1 class drugs remains high.
- Competition, dosing and long-term weight strategies (4)
- Efficacy and safety of GLP‑1s in older adults (3)
- Medicare expansion and coverage landscape (3)
- All Other Stories
Competition, dosing and long-term weight strategies
Efficacy and safety of GLP‑1s in older adults
Medicare expansion and coverage landscape
All Other Stories
RFK Jr. launches plan to curb antidepressant 'overprescription'
medicalxpress - A new federal initiative aims to curb "overprescribing" of psychiatric medications while emphasizing holistic care.
AI Summary: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launched a campaign aimed at reducing antidepressant prescribing and helping people taper long-term use, combining policy proposals and public outreach. The initiative challenges current prescribing norms and has provoked debate between advocates for reducing medication dependence and clinicians cautious about abrupt shifts in psychiatric care.