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What We're Reading: Health Tech Pact; Alarm Over e-Cigs; Icahn Drops Cigna Fight
Major tech companies publicly committed at a Trump administration event to improve provider–patient communications and data exchanges in health information technology in an effort to cut costs and improve outcomes; public health advocates and the FDA are at odds over how to regulate the exploding electronic cigarette industry, even as both sides agree teens and college students are using the devices at an alarming rate; billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who last week said Cigna was overpaying for Express Scripts, is no longer intending to solicit proxies to vote against the $52 billion deal.
Tech Firms Join Forces at Washington Health Event on Interoperability
Major tech companies, including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, IBM, Salesforce, and Oracle, publicly committed at a Trump administration event to improve provider—patient communications and data exchanges in health information technology in an effort to cut costs and improve outcomes, The Wall Street Journal reported. Such efforts are focused on interoperability so that information is not locked away in separate digital silos, unreadable paper PDFs, or worse, fax machine transmissions.
Despite Public Alarm Over Vaping Devices by Youth, Regulation Thwarted
Public health advocates and the FDA are at odds over how to regulate the exploding electronic cigarette industry, even as both sides agree teens and college students are using the devices at an alarming rate, USA Today reported. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, and others wrote to FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, last week, saying that new devices are continuing to be introduced, despite the lack of required marketing orders from the FDA.
Ichan Drops Oppostion to Cigna—Express Scripts Deal
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who last week said Cigna was overpaying for Express Scripts, is no longer intending to solicit proxies to vote against the $52 billion deal, Reuters reported. Icahn's comments come after proxy advisory firms Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services, as well as hedge fund Glenview Capital Management, extended their support.
Elevated Inflammatory Marker Levels Associated With Increased Overactive Bladder Risk
April 15th 2025Systemic immune inflammation index, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, and systemic inflammation response index levels may offer a noninvasive method to identify individuals at increased risk of developing overactive bladder.
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Personalized Care Key as Tirzepatide Use Expands Rapidly
April 15th 2025Using commercial insurance claims data and the US launch of tirzepatide as their dividing point, John Ostrominski, MD, Harvard Medical School, and his team studied trends in the use of both glucose-lowering and weight-lowering medications, comparing outcomes between adults with and without type 2 diabetes.
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SGLT2 Inhibitors Show Renal Benefits in HF and CKD as Prescribers Target Uptake Gaps
April 15th 2025Abstracts featured at the National Kidney Foundation Spring Clinical Meeting highlighted the renoprotective benefits of SGLT2 inhibitors in heart failure and diabetic kidney disease while emphasizing the need for strategies to increase their uptake in primary care.
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