Author: healthadmin

Occasional use of classic psychedelic drugs, such as LSD and psilocybin, may actually be associated with increased mental adjustment, rather than associated with decreased cognitive function. A recent evaluation in young adults found that sporadic users performed similarly to non-users on a variety of brain function tests and showed a clear advantage in changing problem-solving strategies. This study Advances in neuropsychopharmacology and biological psychiatry. Classic psychedelics alter perception and mood by interacting with specific brain receptors. Examples include psilocybin and LSD, which are the active compounds in magic mushrooms. Clinical trials are testing these substances as treatments for mental health…

Optum Rx relies on artificial intelligence to combat costly fraud, waste, and abuse in the pharmacy space. The company has implemented real-time AI analysis that helps auditors identify potential fraud, and allows auditors to follow up with pharmacists to address issues. Optum says this process has traditionally been done manually, but using AI will help identify risks more quickly and allow auditors to focus on the issues of greatest concern. Mandy Rhubin, Senior Director of Pharmacy Network Audit at Optum Rx, told Fierce Healthcare that given that fraud, waste, and abuse (FWA) is on the rise across the health care…

Max Mosky, Senior Vice President of Strategy & Innovation, Compass HealthcareAs you walk down the hallways of your hospital in the morning, you will encounter the people who make care possible. Environmental services professionals rotate the room with trained precision, food service workers deliver the first hot meals of the day to patients, and biomedical technicians check equipment to support medical teams.Each of these moments shapes something meaningful, such as making beds available faster, feeding patients better, and having devices ready when needed. As health systems face increasing operational pressures, the strategic relevance of support services has come into sharper…

Major pharmaceutical companies, with sales of at least $20 billion in 2025, cut a total of more than 22,000 jobs last year. Of the 17 largest pharmaceutical companies analyzed in Fierce Pharma’s annual report review, only five recorded employee headcount growth in 2025*. In contrast, the direct impact of downsizing on efficiency was clear, with all but one company recording an increase in revenue per employee. Big pharma is clearly entering a phase of scale adjustment. Going back to 2022, only three of the 17 companies we tracked recorded layoffs. This reduction in headcount comes as the biopharmaceutical industry braces…

The Federal Trade Commission announced Friday that it is creating a Health Care Task Force to focus more on enforcement and advocacy on competition and consumer protection issues within the industry. The group will combine teams and efforts from multiple FTC groups (Bureau of Competition, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Bureau of Economic Affairs, Office of Policy and Planning, Office of Technology) and, in some cases, other groups in law enforcement and the health department, the agency and its chairman, Andrew Ferguson, said. “The task force will develop a consistent agency-wide strategy for new and nascent investigations, establish a proactive and…

Brain scans show that Republicans and Democrats think about their daily food purchases in starkly different ways, even if they end up buying exactly the same groceries. This insight comes from a neuroimaging study published in the journal politics and life sciencesThis revealed that people with different political affiliations rely on different neural pathways to make the same decisions. Researchers have discovered that they can accurately predict a person’s political affiliation simply by observing their brain activity during everyday shopping tasks. This research sits at the intersection of neuroscience and political behavior. Researchers in this field study how political ideology…

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – A group of doctors, geologists, and local commissioners believe that just under 9 million Floridians are exposed to PFAS (“permanent chemicals”), and one of the sources is Tallahassee’s sewage spray fields. Dr. Ron Suff of Tallahassee said these “forever chemicals” increase the risk of cancer and thyroid disease.Sahu and other doctors, geologists and conservationists said the problem likely traced back to the capital’s sewage spray fields. “PFAS are causing contamination of Florida’s groundwater resources, and approximately 8.9 million Floridians, approximately 40 percent of Floridians, have PFAS chemicals in their drinking water,” Saf said. “So it was…

Applying artificial intelligence techniques to cardiac ultrasound data may help identify patients with advanced heart failure, a new study has found. The study, led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell Institute of Technology, Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Sciences, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, and NewYork-Presbyterian, offers the possibility of better care for thousands of patients who are overlooked because their symptoms are difficult to diagnose. Advanced heart failure is currently detected by cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), which requires specialized equipment and trained staff and is typically only available at large…

Emory University’s Lena Ting and colleagues investigated how brain and muscle activity during balance recovery changes with age and Parkinson’s disease. Previously, Ting’s research group found that when they pulled the rug out from under young people to trigger balance recovery, these people experienced immediate involuntary brainstem and muscle responses, followed by a second wave of brain and muscle activity with more difficult balance disorders. In this new study of older adults with and without Parkinson’s disease, e-neuroresearchers found that these populations had larger brain responses and more muscle signals, even when the balance deficit was small. In these populations,…

Gilead is increasing Chief Executive Officer Daniel O’Day’s compensation by 20% to $28.4 million in 2025, making him one of the highest-paid CEOs in the industry. It’s the biggest raise for O’Day, 61, in seven years at the California company, and roughly matches the $29.1 million package he received in his first full year at Gilead, which included a hefty inducement to hand over the golden parachute he left on a table after 30 years at Roche. Gilead paid Mr. O’Day $19 million in 2020, and the company has increased his compensation every year since. His 2025 package (PDF) included…