Photo credit: AliveCor
1. The FDA approved AliveCor’s KardiaBand, an Apple Watch-embedded device that detects irregularities in users’ heart rates. It becomes the first FDA-approved Apple Watch health accessory. (Fast Company)
2. Medical charity Caring Voice Coalition allowed its donors from pharmaceutical companies to access data that could help them decide whether to raise drug prices, according to a redacted letter from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General. (Bloomberg)
3. The FDA approved Indivior’s monthly injectable version of Suboxone to treat opioid addiction. It will be marketed as Sublocade. (Endpoints News)
4. The head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the organization is trying to develop payment methods that lower Medicare and Medicaid coverage costs for expensive drugs, especially novel gene-based therapies. (Reuters)
5. African-American women make up 58% of African-Americans living with AIDS, but diagnoses for them declined 24% between 2010 and 2014, according to new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shared with BlackDoctor.org.
