License to deliver: Some midwives break the law to assist with home births

medicalxpress - In a midwife's suburban Atlanta home with a playground and chicken coop outside, Madie Collins lay on an examination table while the midwife measured her pregnant belly. Unlike at many a doctor's office, no crinkly paper sheet covered the table and no ant…

AI Summary: A growing number of midwives are reportedly supporting planned home births outside legal frameworks, knowingly operating without required licences. Regulators and health systems face a tricky balance between enforcing safety standards and meeting demand for community-based birthing options. Expect investigations, heated debates, and at least one bureaucrat suddenly very busy.

Supreme Court preserves access to abortion pill by mail

Sydney Halleman / healthcaredive - The ruling maintains access to mifepristone while litigation continues. The drug can still be prescribed at pharmacies or by mail without requiring in-person visits.

AI Summary: The Supreme Court intervened to maintain access to mifepristone, temporarily restoring telehealth prescribing and preserving mail distribution while litigation proceeds. The decision keeps the pill available nationwide, blocking lower-court restrictions that would have sharply limited remote access and complicated routine clinical care for patients and providers.

Bristol Myers Squibb and Hengrui Forge $15.2 Billion Strategic Alliance, Reshaping China-Out Licensing Landscape

oncodaily - Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) and Jiangsu Hengrui Pharma (600276.SH; 01276.HK) on Tuesday unveiled one of the largest cross-border biopharma collaborations of the year: a global strategic alliance encompassing 13 […]

AI Summary: Bristol Myers Squibb and Hengrui Pharma announced a sweeping strategic alliance covering multiple oncology assets, with potential payments and milestones that could reach roughly $15.2 billion. The deal bundles discovery, development and commercialization rights, reshaping China‑out‑licensing dynamics and signaling continued consolidation and collaboration in global cancer drug development.

US drug overdose deaths fall for 3rd straight year: 5 notes

Kristin Kuchno / beckershospitalreview - An estimated 69,973 Americans died of drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending December 2025, a 13.9% decline from the previous year and the third consecutive year that figure has dropped, according to CDC data published May 13. The decline marks the …

AI Summary: Provisional data show U.S. drug-overdose deaths fell for the third straight year, marking a welcome dip in a long-running crisis. Public-health experts caution the improvement masks shifting drug supplies, regional variation and policy gaps, urging sustained prevention, treatment access and surveillance to avoid backsliding.

Mayo Clinic CEO Gianrico Farrugia stepping down at year's end

fiercehealthcare - Mayo Clinic is looking for a new leader as Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., who has served as president and CEO since 2019, announced he would step down at the end of this year.

AI Summary: Gianrico Farrugia will step down as Mayo Clinic CEO at the end of the year, closing a chapter at one of the nation’s flagship health systems. The move triggers leadership succession planning and board attention amid continuing strategic and operational challenges, as the institution prepares for new stewardship while reassuring staff and patients.

PCOS has been officially renamed PMOS, and it’s a momentous move

newscientist - PCOS will now be known as PMOS (polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome), and for Alice Klein, who has the conditon, it's been a long time coming

AI Summary: Medical experts have rebranded polycystic ovary syndrome as "polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome" (PMOS) to better reflect its metabolic and endocrine drivers and improve diagnosis and treatment for about 170 million affected women worldwide. The change follows years of debate over an inaccurate name and aims to reduce misdiagnosis and guide more targeted care—because calling it something sensible might actually help.

A Cancer Driven by Ultra-Rare Mutation Gets Its First FDA-Approved Therapy

Frank Vinluan / medcitynews - Partner Therapeutics’ Bizengri is now FDA approved for treating advanced cases of cholangiocarcinoma driven by NRG1 gene fusions. Partner acquired U.S. rights to this bispecific antibody from Merus in 2024. The post A Cancer Driven by Ultra-Rare Mutation …

AI Summary: The FDA approved zenocutuzumab‑zbco for NRG1‑fusion–positive cholangiocarcinoma, delivering the first cleared therapy for cancers driven by this ultra‑rare genomic alteration. Trial data showed meaningful responses in heavily pretreated patients, prompting regulators to greenlight a precision option that offers targeted benefit where none existed — a small‑population win for genomic oncology.

With Commissioner Under Pressure, F.D.A. Opens Door to Flavored Vapes

Christina Jewett / nytimes - Though illicit e-cigarettes have flooded in from China, the new policy could allow major tobacco companies to sell from prime shelf space at thousands of stores.

AI Summary: Facing mounting pressure, the FDA has signaled authorization of fruit‑flavored vaping products for adults, a regulatory shift framed as adult access and harm reduction. Public‑health experts warn the move risks increasing youth appeal and reignites debate over flavors, enforcement, and whether potential population‑level tradeoffs were adequately considered.

500-year-old gold dental bridge is earliest known oral care of its kind in Scotland — and it likely held a fake tooth

livescience - Archaeologists discovered the 20-karat-gold dental wire in the lower jaw of a middle-aged man who lived around 500 years ago in Scotland.

AI Summary: Archaeologists uncovered what appears to be the earliest known gold dental bridge in Scotland, dating roughly four to five centuries ago and likely fitted with a faux tooth. The discovery sheds light on historic dental practice, craftsmanship and status signaling—proof that vanity and dental innovation are nothing new.

1K steps daily after surgery can cut readmissions by 16%: 3 study notes

Mariah Taylor / beckershospitalreview - Each additional 1,000 steps per day a patient walks after surgery is linked to 18% lower odds of complications, 16% lower readmission rates and 6% shorter hospital stays, researchers found. The study, conducted by researchers at Columbus-based Ohio State …

AI Summary: A simple prescription — roughly 1,000 steps per day after surgery — was linked to a 16% reduction in readmissions in recent studies. Researchers suggest wearable step tracking as an inexpensive, scalable recovery aid that encourages mobility, reduces complications, and nudges postoperative care toward behaviourally realistic, low‑tech interventions that actually work.

Health advice is all over social media. Here's how to vet claims

medicalxpress - Health and wellness advice is available in abundance on social media—from trendy to informative to straight-up disinformation—and you're far from alone in seeing it.

AI Summary: Social media is awash with health advice, much of it anecdote masquerading as evidence. Report outlines practical steps to separate useful guidance from nonsense: check original sources, prefer peer‑reviewed studies and guidelines, question sensational claims, and consult clinicians before acting. Because no, a viral post is not a clinical trial.

The peptide problem: Hype is outrunning the evidence

medicalxpress - Health Canada recently warned Canadians not to buy or inject unauthorized peptide drugs sold online, naming products that include BPC-157, CJC-1295, ipamorelin, TB-500 and retatrutide.

AI Summary: The booming market for peptide therapies and supplements is racing past the science. Researchers report limited clinical evidence, unclear long-term safety, and weak regulatory oversight, while consumer demand and marketing hype surge. Clinicians urge caution: biological plausibility isn’t the same as proven benefit, and enthusiasm should not substitute for rigorous trials.