PBM lobby sues Arkansas over new law | Poll: Medicaid cut fears split down party lines | Exclusive AMA President interview

The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association—a trade lobby representing pharmacy benefit managers—argues a state law that would force companies to divest from drugstores could leave patients without access to critical medications.

However, partisan divides dwindled when respondents were asked about how federal cuts to healthcare spending would strain their local communities, particularly in rural and low-income areas.

American Medical Association President Bruce Scott, MD, explains some of the key issues facing physicians, including burnout, growing medical staffing shortages, doctors leaving rural areas, increasing patients and declining Medicare payments.

Researchers from the University of Massachusetts and the University of Toronto found that racial minorities were less likely to have a medical insurance claim appeal approved, as were men more broadly.

The Department of Health and Human —under the direction of Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—has released all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), citing a need to enact President Donald Trump's agenda of restoring science to a "gold standard." 

In a post on the dark web, well-known hacker group Interlock is offering a 941 GB trove for sale, said to contain patient financial records, driver's licenses, clinical summaries and more from Ohio-based Kettering Health.

Kettering Health in Ohio confirmed it is experiencing a data breach impacting care delivery. However, it stopped short of saying the calls are related, as an investigation is ongoing.

Community Health System and Physician Network Advantage, an affiliated technology consultancy firm, were accused of bribing physicians for patient referrals in the form of paid vacations, expensive gifts and business meetings held at strip clubs.

Patients treated with the Sapien 3 platform from Edwards Lifesciences and the Evolut platform from Medtronic were linked to more similarities than differences after six years. This was a single-center study, researchers noted, but it does provide an in-depth look at the safety and effectiveness of TAVR.

Researchers are hopeful that a new technology named after a tentacled folklore sea monster can help scientists better understand the anatomy of the brain.