Three participants have died in clinical trials of Novartis' chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy for autoimmune disease, prompting physicians to approach patient discussions with greater caution as the field remains in early stages of development.
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to get involved in a custody battle between an Alaska surrogate who refused to abort a fetus with a serious heart defect and the California biological parents who requested the abortion. The Court's decision leaves in place a lower court order giving custody to the biological parents.
The UK House of Commons rejected legislation that would have allowed terminally ill adults in England and Wales to choose to end their lives, with 286 members voting against the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. The defeat leaves Britain outside a growing list of European countries and 14 U.S. jurisdictions that permit some form of assisted suicide.
The Justice Department announced an agreement with Mount Sinai Health System to resolve an investigation into potential violations of federal law related to its provision of gender-transition procedures for minors, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical interventions. The Manhattan hospital network will pay a fine and cease providing these services to children.
Spanish pharmaceutical company Grifols has temporarily halted plasma donations at all 16 of its Canadian clinics following the deaths of two donors and a government investigation into potential unsafe practices at the for-profit facilities.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced it will decertify Network for Hope, a Kentucky-based organ procurement organization, following allegations that staff continued with organ retrieval procedures despite patients showing signs of life, including a case where a patient was thrashing, crying, and shaking his head.
A secret shopper investigation of 49 websites prescribing GLP-1 weight loss drugs confirmed experts' concerns about inadequate clinical oversight and fast, easy prescriptions with minimal medical evaluation.
U.S. health officials have appointed doctors and pharmacists with deep financial connections to the peptide industry to an FDA advisory panel that will reconsider controversial peptide drugs next month. The appointments raise ethics concerns given the panelists could benefit from regulatory changes they help shape.
Multiple hospitals have received federal grand jury subpoenas regarding gender-affirming care for minors, indicating the Department of Justice has begun a criminal investigation into these medical practices.
