Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Not Just The Influencers: YouTube Clips From Doctors Also Lack Medical Proof
MedPage Today: Physician-Produced Videos On Internet Flunk Evidence Test
Fewer than 20% of online health information videos produced by health professionals had high-quality evidence to support claims made in the videos, according to a review of content on the popular YouTube video platform. Two-thirds of the videos, all related to cancer or diabetes, had low, very low, or no evidence to support health claims. About 15% of the 309 videos had moderate-quality evidence. A multivariate analysis showed that videos with lower-quality evidence attracted more views than those with the highest level of evidence. (Bankhead, 1/14)
More health industry news —
The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer: Ohio Nursing Homes Still Waiting On $1 Billion Supreme Court Says They’re Owed By The State
The Ohio Supreme Court ordered the state to pay nursing homes up to $1 billion. Four months later, the money still hasn’t arrived. (Staver, 1/25)
Aurora Beacon-News: VNA Health Care To Expand Indian Avenue Center In Aurora
VNA Health Care is planning to expand one of its busiest health centers in Aurora with the help of a recently-announced $750,000 award from Endeavor Health. (Smith, 1/23)
LkldNow: How Lakeland Regional Health Is Closing Maternity Care Gaps In Polk County
Lakeland Regional Health delivered 4,500 babies in 2025, up from roughly 3,200 in 2018. But access to high-quality maternity care remains uneven across Florida, particularly for high-risk pregnancies. Nearly 1 in 5 Florida counties are classified as maternity care deserts, according to March of Dimes. (Borg, 1/26)
In pharma and tech developments —
CIDRAP: Narrow-Spectrum C Difficile Antibiotic Shows Promise In Phase 2 Study
A narrow-spectrum antibiotic candidate for Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) was highly effective and well-tolerated in a small phase 2 trial, researchers reported yesterday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. (Dall, 1/23)
Stat: New FDA Pathway For CRISPR Treatments Raises Concerns
When Baby KJ was introduced to the world last year as the first recipient of a personalized gene-editing treatment, the logical next question was: How can we get to more Baby KJs? (Mast, 1/26)
The Washington Post: The Next Frontier In Weight-Loss Drugs: One-Time Gene Therapy
When Harith Rajagopalan considers the millions of patients who have taken a GLP-1 drug to treat diabetes or obesity, he sees a revolution that is failing to realize its promise. “We are literally lighting tens of billions of dollars on fire,” he said. Rajagopalan is referring to studies showing that most patients stop taking GLP-1 medications within a year or two, preventing them from reaping the long-term benefits like reducing cardiovascular risk. A cardiologist by training, Rajagopalan believes there’s a better way to harness the benefits of GLP-1 drugs: a gene therapy that, with a single infusion, can program the body to make more of the GLP-1 hormone naturally for years. (Gilbert, 1/24)
Bloomberg: Docplanner CEO Sees Medical Data, AI Fueling Growth Before IPO
A startup that runs one of the world’s largest health-care digital platforms is seeking to leverage artificial intelligence to capitalize on its trove of medical data, potentially ushering in a new era for diagnostics and positioning the firm for a public listing. Docplanner, founded in Poland in 2012 to operate an online platform for booking doctor’s appointments, currently connects 100 million monthly users with 2.8 million medical professionals. Subject to patient consent, the company plans to use the data to create medical files which AI models could analyze to enhance diagnostics, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Mariusz Gralewski said in an interview. (Wanat, 1/26)
Modern Healthcare: How Agentic AI Is Being Used In Healthcare
The early returns are in from providers using agentic artificial intelligence tools to address operational challenges across healthcare. Agentic AI tools are programmed to autonomously make decisions and achieve specific goals. Organizations have begun adopting agentic AI in healthcare to communicate with patients, reduce administrative overhead and renew prescriptions. (Famakinwa, 1/23)
