FDA Expert Resigns; WHO’s Sex Abuse Scandal; GOP Gov. Medicaid Gambit

Note that some links may require subscriptions.

Top FDA neuroscience expert Billy Dunn, MD, a controversial figure in the accelerated approval of aducanumab (Aduhelm) for Alzheimer’s disease, is stepping down from his position with the agency. (Fierce Biotech)

A federal circuit court upheld a ruling that a patent strategy used by Jazz Pharmaceuticals for its narcolepsy drugs inappropriately blocked competition. (New York Times)

Nebraska state senator Machaela Cavanaugh (D-Omaha) pledged to filibuster the senate’s full legislative agenda unless Republicans pull an anti-trans bill. (The Hill)

Officials confirmed another case of African swine flu in pigs on a small farm in east Germany, a region where they have also confirmed more than 3,000 cases in wild boar. (Reuters)

Experts appointed to investigate sexual abuse allegations against World Health Organization (WHO) staffers during an Ebola outbreak in Congo dismissed the agency’s excuses about how it handled the misconduct, in part because no senior officials were fired. (AP)

Despite having a year to check the status of low-income Americans’ eligibility for health insurance through Medicaid, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) aims to complete the check in half the time as the state has begun efforts to remove people from “government dependency.” (Politico)

The U.S, ambassador to China said the country needs to be more honest about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic after a report from the U.S. Energy Department determined that the virus likely arose from a laboratory leak. (Reuters)

The recent arrest of an Idaho surgeon for sexual battery against several women led to more reports of sexual abuse dating back to 2009. (Idaho Capital Sun)

Mindstrong, a “smoke alarm” technology for mental illness, plans to lay off most of its employees and close its Menlo Park office, and will reportedly stop treating patients in March. (STAT)

In a rapidly growing trend, hospitals in rural and low-income communities are closing maternity units due to concerns over the costs of childbirth. (New York Times)

There’s a shortage of medical professionals to treat patients with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) and the number of people with POTS is rising. (Washington Post)