Serious Catheter Recall; Justice Department Sues CVS; 2025’s Health Theme

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Boston Scientific issued a recall involving updated instructions for its POLARx and POLARx FIT cryoablation balloon catheters following several reports of atrio-esophageal fistula that led to seven injuries and four deaths.

The Department of Justice accused CVS of knowingly filling illegal opioid prescriptions and billing federal health insurance programs.

California declared a state of emergency over the bird flu after more cases were detected in dairy cows. (CBS News)

An evidence review from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine said moderate drinking may have benefits.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reportedly pledged support of reimposed restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone if Trump wants to. (The Hill)

Get to know Kennedy’s friend and functional medicine guru Mark Hyman, MD. (New York Times)

What are microplastics doing inside our bodies? (NPR)

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) asked the state to repeal the law that collects patients’ abortion data. (AP)

Democratic senators requested an investigation into Georgia’s requirement for some people to work to receive Medicaid coverage. (KFF Health News)

The health theme of 2025? STAT says it’s chronic disease.

Nearly 850 employees at Steward Pennsylvania hospital may lose their jobs as the for-profit health system is shutting down due to bankruptcy. (Becker’s Hospital Review)

Ancient DNA suggests that syphilis originated in the Americas, not Europe. (Nature)

Here’s why most TV depictions of abortion are missing the mark. (NPR)

The investigational NaV1.8 pain signal inhibitor suzetrigine performed as well as placebo in a phase II trial of sciatica, Vertex Pharmaceuticals said.

Investigational once-daily doravirine/islatravir was noninferior to antiretroviral therapy regimens in two phase III studies of adults with virologically suppressed HIV-1, said Merck.

The ongoing war in Myanmar and crumbling economy has forced some doctors and nurses into prostitution. (New York Times)

Thousands of children died in the Democratic Republic of Congo from measles, as vaccines are proving difficult to get. (New York Times)

“Cancer ghosting” can be more painful than treatment for some patients. (NPR)

Global deaths from diarrheal diseases dropped 60% from 1990 to 2021, especially in children younger than 5 years old. (The Lancet Infectious Diseases)

The fate of President Biden’s Gender Policy Council hangs in the balance under the next administration. (AP)

A video went viral of a doctor saying words of affirmation to a newborn baby. (ABC News)

France said it is bird flu-free after no new outbreaks have occurred in over a month. (Reuters)

Germany hopes Syrian doctors will stay practicing in the country after the fall of Bashar Assad. (AP)