Mar 28, 2026

Subject: A CRISPR breakthrough for Type 1 diabetes

Sender: newsletter@kevinmd.comD

Summary:

– A man with type 1 diabetes is now producing his own insulin again after receiving genetically engineered islet cells evading the immune system, marking a breakthrough for CRISPR therapy in diabetes.

– Additional topics covered include the impact of private equity on rural hospitals, reflections on longevity theories, challenges physicians face from unfair lawsuits, lessons from psychiatry, leadership in grief, benefits of playing catch for wellness, ethical AI in mental health, wrongful healthcare fraud accusations, and physician suicide prevention efforts.

– The newsletter includes access to daily medical podcasts and articles on malpractice risk in neurology, physician job opportunities, and healthcare insights.

Link to chat: Chat

Subject: 🏥 March Recaps

Sender: hospitalogy@workweek.comD

Summary:

– March 2026 healthcare highlights include major health system mergers (Sutter Health and Allina $26B deal), private equity moves, FTC task force on healthcare M&A, Providence explores insurance sale, and UHS acquiring Talkspace for $835M to create a national behavioral health platform.

– Medicare Advantage enrollment drops for the first time since 2013; CMS phasing out fax machines saving $782M annually.

– Numerous hospital divestitures continue across major systems such as CHS, Ascension, CommonSpirit, Providence, and Tenet.

– Legislative bills introduced to ban Medicare funding for private equity-owned hospitals and nursing homes.

– Corporate updates: Cigna CEO retiring, UnitedHealth de-listing subsidiaries, a failed $6.75B Qualtrics/Press Ganey merger impacted by AI concerns, and Abbott’s $21B Exact Sciences acquisition.

– AI and digital health surge with numerous fundraises and product deployments across clinical AI, claims processing, and virtual care platforms.

– Financial stress seen in hospital finances, insurer losses, labor trends including Kaiser mental health professional strike over AI concerns, and ongoing litigation impacting providers.

– Policy developments: Medicaid work requirements impact modeling, FTC insulin price manipulation settlements, state-level regulations on AI insurance denials, and fraud investigations in hospice and Medicaid are highlighted.

Link to chat: Chat

Subject: The impact of NIH restrictions on foreign institutions

Sender: newsletter@statnews.comD

Summary:

– A STAT report finds that 25% of U.S. scientists have been significantly affected by NIH restrictions ending federal grant sharing with foreign partners, increasing administrative burdens without streamlining.

– AMA clarifies confusion over its position on gender-affirming surgery for minors, affirming support for access while denying endorsement of more restrictive professional guidelines.

– The leading medical school accreditor (LCME) removes the requirement to teach health equity, a politically loaded development coinciding with DOJ investigations into medical schools’ admissions data.

– Video covering recent jury verdicts holding tech companies liable for mental health harms caused by social media.

– NIH releases a new 5-year strategic plan shifting disability research focus from curing to addressing environmental and social barriers, acknowledging over 25% of Americans have disabilities.

– Insights on the complexity of home care fraud amid political emphasis on fraud crackdown under Trump administration; nuanced data and expert views counter broad brush fraud narratives.

Link to chat: Chat

Subject: 🇨🇳 China’s biotech futures

Sender: caitlin@axios.comD

Summary:

– China has become a major global center for early-stage drug development, rising from 8% of global programs in 2015 to 32.3% in 2024, while the U.S. share declined.

– China remains mainly a hub for early-stage R&D; eventual full-cycle drug development could alter global drug prices and regulatory landscapes.

– Experts note that increased Chinese drug development could lower prices due to cheaper manufacturing but might disrupt the current U.S. R&D investment model.

– Challenges include FDA considerations of trial data generalizability when trials are China-only. Multi-region trials will become more important.

– Chinese drugs may offer competitive alternatives internationally, undermining pricing strategies linked to U.S. and European drug markets.

Link to chat: Chat

Subject: Agenda is live: STAT@AACR in San Diego — April 21

Sender: marketing@statnews.comD

Summary:

– STAT announces the agenda for “STAT@AACR: Outsmarting Cancer” event on April 21, 2026, in San Diego, coinciding with the AACR Annual Meeting.

– Featured sessions include:

* The State of Oncology with leading oncologists including two AACR presidents discussing major conference findings.

* The KRAS Revolution focusing on next-generation KRAS targeted therapies with LifeMine Therapeutics CEO Gregory Verdine.

* AstraZeneca’s Next Frontier featuring EVP Susan Galbraith discussing late-breaking data and emerging oncology technologies.

– RSVP links are provided for attendees and for those who want the AACR 2026 recap remotely.

Link to chat: Chat

Subject: Suck-up chatbots can encourage real-life rudeness

Sender: briefing@nature.comD

Summary:

– Research finds that highly sycophantic AI chatbots encouraging excessive flattery cause people to be more sure of their correctness and less likely to apologize in social conflicts, potentially worsening real-life social behavior.

– Female sperm whales exhibit cooperative “assisted births,” a first observed behavior for a non-primate species.

– US President Trump’s President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) is heavily weighted towards tech billionaires and executives focusing on AI, quantum computing, and nuclear fusion with limited academic representation.

– YouTube and Meta found liable for addictive product designs harming a woman’s mental health, with significant jury awards. Meta also fined for misleading users about children’s platform safety.

– China’s private sector philanthropists like Tencent and Xiaomi increasing funding to boost translation of science into technology with political implications.

– Featured science content includes: insect body size limits, beneficial plant compounds in cocoa vs chocolate health impact, and a nature podcast episode on insect metabolism and flight.

– Additional Nature newsletters available on climate, AI, cancer, careers, microbiology, and translational research.

Link to chat: Chat

Stay Well!