Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Neuralink Implant Trial Encounters Setback In First Human Patient
Neuralink encountered a problem with the implant in its first human patient, Noland Arbaugh, that reduced the amount of data it could capture from his brain, according to a blog post the company published on Wednesday. Some data was lost because a number of the implant’s threads that had been placed in Arbaugh’s brain came out. The company, owned by Elon Musk, didn’t disclose the reason why some threads retracted unexpectedly. (Winkler and Corse, 5/8)
Google on Wednesday unveiled an artificial intelligence tool capable of predicting the structure and interaction of a vast universe of biomolecules, a fundamental advance that may help scientists unravel poorly understood aspects of biology and disease. (Ross, 5/8)
Medical device updates —
At least 224 diabetes patients have been harmed by a software error causing their insulin pumps to spontaneously shut down, the Food and Drug Administration announced in a recall notice on Wednesday. (Lawrence, 5/8)
The U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday advised healthcare facilities to move away from using Getinge's heart devices in patients as they faced safety and quality concerns despite a string of recalls. The recommendation is based on concerns that the company has not sufficiently addressed the problems and risks with the recalled devices, it added. (5/9)
In pharmaceutical news —
Tolerance is the holy grail in calming autoimmune disease, a truce in the immune system’s faulty battle against the body’s own fabric. In type 1 diabetes, immune fighters attack beta cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, the hormone that controls glucose levels in the blood. (Cooney, 5/8)
A host of hurdles are slowing the adoption of the new Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi, experts involved in the treatment of patients said Wednesday, from complicated logistics to the fact that many people don’t recognize that their memory loss is a disease soon enough. (Herper, 5/9)
Weeks after the global public health community sounded the alarm on the shortage of cholera vaccine, the World Health Organization moved to prequalify a new cholera vaccine last month. The vaccine is a simplified version of the two existing oral vaccines, both produced by Korean vaccine manufacturer EuBiologics Co. (Merelli, 5/9)
