3 Medical Schools Under Investigation; 9 Sick in Outbreak; 5-Second Rule in the OR?

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The Justice Department launched investigations into the admissions policies of medical schools at Stanford University, Ohio State, and the University of California San Diego. (CNN)

The Department of Justice also sued New York-Presbyterian Hospital, accusing the health system of increasing healthcare costs by preventing insurance companies from offering better deals to patients.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vaccine agenda has hit a roadblock, and there’s even some speculation in Washington that he may leave his post as the nation’s top health official. (New York Times)

NIH restrictions on partnerships with foreign institutions affected one in four researchers, a STAT survey indicated.

Nine people have been sickened from an E. coli outbreak linked to cheese made with raw milk, including one person who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, the FDA said.

In other agency news, the FDA removed the age requirement from ARS Pharmaceuticals’ 1 mg epinephrine nasal spray (neffy), allowing for the emergency treatment of Type 1 allergic reactions in any child weighing at least 33 lb, the company announced.

Sharks in the Bahamas are testing positive for caffeine, painkillers, and even cocaine. (CBS News)

Kratom-related exposure reports to poison centers jumped 1,200% from 2015 to 2025. (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report)

Disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes got a year knocked off her more than 11-year prison sentence. (Bloomberg)

A hospital in Illinois blamed its malfunctioning billing and collection system for its sudden shutdown on Thursday. (CBS News)

HHS and CMS announced 18 members for a new Healthcare Advisory Committee — including self-help guru Tony Robbins — that aims to improve patient care and modernize the nation’s healthcare system.

Cigarette smoking among U.S. adults in 2024 fell to record levels (9.9%) while e-cigarette use rose to 7%, according to the CDC.

The “5-second rule” for dropped food does not apply to dropped instruments in the operating room, a randomized trial showed. (Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology)

Tozorakimab, an investigational interleukin-33 inhibitor, significantly reduced moderate-to-severe exacerbations from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in two phase III trials, maker AstraZeneca said.

Dash Crofts, half of the soft-rock duo Seals & Crofts, died of heart failure at 87. (USA Today)

As her kidneys fail and time runs short, an activist in Mexico fights to decriminalize euthanasia. (AP)

Meanwhile, in Spain, a 25-year-old woman who sought euthanasia and fought a protracted legal battle with her family over her right to do so, received life-ending medicine on Thursday. (AP)