Good morning, there was so much news yesterday, I barely got a chance to look at my Spotify Wrapped data. What’s your top song for the year? Mine was “Sinner” by The Last Dinner Party. Anyway, the news was quite serious, so let’s get into it.
UnitedHealthcare CEO killed in NYC
The health care world is reeling from the news that Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth Group’s insurance division, was shot and killed in a targeted attack in Manhattan yesterday. Thompson, 50, was walking alone to the company’s investor conference around 6:45 a.m. when he was shot in the back and leg, the New York Police Department said in a press conference.
Reached by phone Wednesday morning, Thompson’s sister-in-law, Maria Reveiz, described him as a wonderful person and hard worker. “We are shocked and heartbroken over this senseless murder,” Reveiz said. “We, like the rest of the world, found out online, which is shameful.”
Read more in two STAT stories: On what we know about the shooting and on how his family and colleagues have reacted to the news.
The Supreme Court’s conservatives seem wary to intervene on trans health bans
Conservative Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical yesterday when considering arguments that they should intervene in Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors. The court heard arguments in U.S. v. Skrmetti that the state’s ban discriminates against transgender youth and denies them equal protections. How the court rules on the case could have major implications for trans people of all ages, as well as for how much freedom states have to regulate health care more broadly in areas like reproductive health.
“Why isn’t it best to leave it to the democratic process?” Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked the Biden administration’s attorney. U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar and ACLU attorney Chase Strangio said the court doesn’t need to make a sweeping constitutional ruling, but rather a narrow opinion that would instruct lower courts to demand more evidence from states instituting these types of bans.
My colleague Sarah Owermohle and I wrote about the arguments. Sarah was on the ground outside the Supreme Court, where she told me supporters of gender-affirming care for youth were blasting Bad Bunny at the same time as their opponents were bumping “God Bless the USA.” Read more.
Meanwhile, the U.K. is banning junk food ads
Starting next fall, children in the U.K. won’t be exposed to television advertisements for junk food under a new law finalized this week. (That is, as long as those kids go to bed before 9 pm, when the ads are allowed to roll again.)
The rule is part of the government’s efforts to curb obesity and reduce exposure to foods that are high in fat, sugar, and salt. Some of the foods that count as junk are obvious: Soft drinks, fast food, sugary breakfast cereals, and baked goods. But, demonstrating the complexity of packaged and ultra-processed foods, others are less so, like granola, instant porridge, and oatmeal. Notably, “total diet replacement products” and meal replacement products with an approved health claim are exempt.
Leptin’s last chance?
30 years ago, researchers sparked hope in the field of obesity treatments with the discovery of leptin — a hormone that regulates body fat. Scientists at the time hoped its identification would spark a slew of weight loss treatments, but its initial promise never panned out.
Yesterday, a group of researchers published a paper in partnership with Novo Nordisk that they saw as “Leptin’s last chance.” They found that a molecule that could activate both GLP-1 receptors and leptin receptors was more effective in triggering weight loss in mice than a molecule mimicking either individual receptor. The neurons they targeted were also found in rhesus macaques, which have more similar nervous systems to humans.
Outside researchers were skeptical the discovery will lead to new human treatments in the short term, but the neurons targeted in the study could be an interesting therapeutic target in the future. Read more from STAT’s Anil Oza.
2024 sets a new record for health data breaches
Did you get a scary letter in the mail this year saying your health care data might have been compromised? You’re far from alone. In 2024, the scale of large health data breaches reported to the Department of Health and Human Services hit an all-time high, impacting as many as 172 million individuals — more than half the population of the United States.
The majority of that total came from the massive breach of Change Healthcare that began in February, which is estimated to have impacted 100 million people. But the factors that contributed to the Change cyberattack — poor security practices, hackers’ shifting strategies, and growing consolidation in the health care system — continue to drive up the number of overall health care breaches. STAT’s Katie Palmer breaks it down.
What we’re reading
‘I don’t want to go back’: When Ozempic insurance coverage runs out, Bloomberg
Most rural hospitals have closed their maternity wards, study finds, New York Times
- Talks over big end-of-year health package heat up in Congress, STAT
- Nursing homes fell behind on vaccinating patients for Covid, KFF Health News
- U.S. Patent Office pulls controversial rule to curb pharma patent abuse, STAT
