3 Deaths Tied to Medical Device; FDA Eyes Shock Ban; RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Aid Freeze

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The FDA warned of three deaths associated with Bolton Medical RelayPro thoracic stent graft systems recalled over an issue where the graft is unable to unclasp from the delivery system. The devices are not being removed but the company has issued updated instructions.

A jury awarded $7.65 million to the wife and son of a man whose family said he developed a fatal infection from a contaminated device used during heart surgery at the University of Kansas Hospital. (Kansas City Star)

The Supreme Court will hear arguments today on whether a “skinny label” that covers limited indications for a generic — in this case of the fish-oil product icosapent ethyl (Vascepa) — violates patent rights if its maker encourages doctors to prescribe it. (NPR)

Health Canada announced approval of a generic version of injectable semaglutide (Ozempic) for type 2 diabetes.

Racial and ethnic health disparities still persist in every state and may worsen as federal policy changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act take effect, according to a new report from the Commonwealth Fund.

Nebraska is set to become the first state to require new Medicaid applicants to work, volunteer, or pursue education, 8 months before federal mandates kick in. (AP)

In other news from the Cornhusker State, former Sen. Ben Sasse (R) said his pancreatic tumor volume shrank 76% since starting the investigational drug daraxonrasib. (Today)

An artificial intelligence (AI) model detected pancreatic cancer at its visually occult pre-diagnostic stage. (Gut)

Scientists provided transcripts to the New York Times that showed AI chatbots describing how to make biological weapons and release them in public settings.

The FDA may decide soon whether to ban using electric shocks on people with disabilities, including children with autism or schizophrenia, to reduce self-injurious or aggressive behavior. (Mother Jones)

Prescriptions for antipsychotics and other drugs that affect cognition in older adults were more likely initiated from emergency rooms and hospitals, not doctors’ offices, research in JAMA Network Open showed.

Global deaths associated with viral hepatitis reached 1.3 million in 2024, according to a World Health Organization report.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is holding up $600 million appropriated by Congress for vaccines in poor countries, arguing that children are receiving outdated shots with ingredients that the U.S. has already phased out. (Politico)

Curious about the so-called wellness farms touted by Kennedy? NPR visited one.

A Texas nurse who was medically evacuated from her honeymoon in Japan last week for acute liver failure showed signs of life but remains in critical condition, her family members said. (Fox San Antonio)

“Menace II Society” actor Samuel Monroe Jr., age 52, is on life support battling meningitis, his family said. (USA Today)

Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) responded to a defamation lawsuit filed by a Cleveland-area doctor over a road rage incident, alleging in a new filing that the physician had been targeting him for years. (Cleveland.com)