Good News For Parkinson’s Patients: FDA OKs New Wearable Treatment

MedPage Today: FDA OKs New Wearable Treatment For Parkinson's Disease
The FDA approved an apomorphine hydrochloride infusion device (Onapgo) to treat motor fluctuations in adults with advanced Parkinson's disease, Supernus Pharmaceuticals announced on Tuesday. The wearable device is the first subcutaneous apomorphine infusion device for Parkinson's and provides continuous treatment during the day, Supernus noted. (George, 2/4)

The New York Times: Ozempic-Like Drug Failed To Treat Parkinson’s Disease In Trial
The idea was so tantalizing. Drugs in the GLP-1 class, which includes Wegovy and Ozempic, have proved miraculous in treating weight loss and other diseases. And some researchers hoped that the drugs could also help with some of the most difficult diseases to treat — those of the brain, like Parkinson’s. But now, at least for Parkinson’s, that hope seems dimmed. A rigorous study that randomly assigned Parkinson’s patients to take exenatide, a relative of Ozempic, showed absolutely no benefit or slowing of the course of the degenerative disease after 96 weeks. (Kolata, 2/4)

More health and wellness news —

Fox News: Common Cancer Type Could Be Detected With New Blood Test
A new blood test was found to detect colon cancer with more than 80% accuracy — and to rule it out for 90% of healthy people. The results were presented at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium held in San Francisco late last month. They were also published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. (Rudy, 2/4)

ABC News: Black Kidney Patients Find Renewed Hope After Rules Change For Transplant List
Since the 1990s, a race-based method for assessing kidney function placed many Black patients lower on the transplant waitlist. However, thousands of these patients were moved up the list in recent years when a widely used lab test was found to calculate results differently for Black patients. "We have a long history in this country of actually biases against certain transplant candidates, in particular African Americans, because of the way that we calculate how bad the kidney function is," Dr. Edmund Pribitkin, a professor at Thomas Jefferson University, said. (Smith and Louallen, 2/4)

CNN: You’ll Probably Feel Better About That Problem In The Morning, Study Suggests 
Your parents may be right: Get some sleep and you’ll feel better in the morning, according to new research. “Our study suggests that people’s mental health and wellbeing could fluctuate over time of day,” said lead study author Dr. Feifei Bu, principal research fellow in statistics and epidemiology at University College London, in an email. “On average, people seem to feel best early in the day and worst late at night.” (Holcombe, 2/4)

KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
Renu Rayasam delivers this week’s news: There are still no proven therapies for long covid despite more than $1 billion in federal funding, and some hospitals are assigning dogs to work alongside medical staff in hospitals to help them cope with burnout and stress. (2/4)