This is part 8 of Health Care’s Colossus, a series about how UnitedHealth Group wields its unrivaled physician empire to boost its profits and expand its influence. In every way, a study published this January in a major medical journal was a win for UnitedHealth Group. It showed that UnitedHealth’s preferred approach to covering Medicare patients, […]

WASHINGTON — Leaders of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday told staff that the agency’s campus had reopened in the wake of the Friday attack by a gunman — and suggested more security measures would be put in place. On the call with staff of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory […]

A gunman attacked the main campus of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta on Friday, further shaking an agency in the midst of a tumultuous year. One police officer died in the shooting. Atlanta police said the shooter was killed and there was no ongoing threat in a release at 6:40 p.m. […]

Adam Feuerstein is a senior writer and biotech columnist, reporting on the crossroads of drug development, business, Wall Street, and biotechnology. He is also a co-host of the weekly biotech podcast The Readout Loud and author of the newsletter Adam’s Biotech Scorecard. You can reach Adam on Signal at stataf.54. How does a biotech company […]

Exact Sciences announced on Wednesday that it acquired the rights to a blood-based colon cancer screening test from rival firm Freenome. Exact is paying Freenome $75 million for exclusive rights in the United States to current and future versions of the Bay Area company’s test, which is currently under review by the Food and Drug […]

Helen Branswell covers issues broadly related to infectious diseases, including outbreaks, preparedness, research, and vaccine development. Follow her on Mastodon and Bluesky. You can reach Helen on Signal at hbranswell.01. Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday announced that the government’s emergency preparedness agency will no longer fund work on messenger RNA vaccines, delivering […]

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates expressed concern Monday about growing vaccine skepticism in the United States, suggesting that the exporting of claims by the anti-vaccine movement will likely extract a bigger death toll internationally than domestically and could also put the possibility of ridding the world of measles permanently out of reach. “Vaccine skepticism in the […]

Tara Bannow covers hospitals, providers, and insurers. You can reach Tara on Signal at tarabannow.70. If you’ve followed health insurance earnings over the past few weeks, you might be experiencing some whiplash.  Four of the biggest players — top names like UnitedHealth Group and Elevance — lowered their profit expectations for the year, while two […]

First Opinion is STAT’s platform for interesting, illuminating, and provocative articles about the life sciences writ large, written by biotech insiders, health care workers, researchers, and others. To encourage robust, good-faith discussion about issues raised in First Opinion essays, STAT publishes selected Letters to the Editor received in response to them. You can submit a […]