Health plans are lobbying the Trump administration to scrap a proposal dating from the final days of the Biden administration that would require Medicare and Medicaid to cover anti-obesity drugs, including GLP-1s, for weight loss. Why it matters: The final decision, expected in April, is an important barometer of which healthcare interests have President Trump's ear, since many providers, patients and drugmakers want Medicare to cover the products.
The nut, known as Pangdahai or PDH, has a unique ability to expand tremendously when submerged in water. That property sparked an idea to tap it for use as a low-cost, natural and sustainable resource for medical devices that use hydrogels for such things as wound care, regenerative medicine and adhesives for skin-attached sensors and devices, according to scientists at the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering.
A first-of-its-kind study from Northwestern Medicine and published in the Journal of Imaging is giving experts an idea how long COVID affects the body by looking through the eyes. The research could help doctors diagnose and track how the condition impacts people over time and provide insight into the cause of long COVID.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday that, over the weekend, it accidentally fired "several" agency employees who are working on the federal government's response to the H5N1 avian flu outbreak. The agency said it is now trying to quickly reverse the firings.
To earn the vote he needed to become the nation's top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a special promise to a U.S. senator: He would not change the nation's current vaccination schedule. But on Tuesday, speaking for the first time to thousands of U.S. Health and Human Services agency employees, he vowed to investigate the childhood vaccine schedule that prevents measles, polio and other dangerous diseases. "Nothing is going to be off limits," Kennedy said, adding that pesticides, food additives, microplastics, antidepressants and the electromagnetic waves emitted by cellphones and microwaves also would be studied.