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Mass. regulators call for aggressive review of Steward deals in accelerated time frame

Depending on its preliminary findings, the Health Policy Commission could launch broader reviews with the potential to delay the Steward sales.

Senate panel votes to hold Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre in contempt
The vote on both civil and criminal referrals was 20 to zero, with only Kentucky Senator Rand Paul abstaining.

Thanks to their work at MGH, weight-loss drugs are booming. Now these scientists have won the prestigious Lasker Award.
Joel Habener, a retired longtime endocrinologist at MGH, and Svetlana Mojsov, a former chemist at the hospital, will share the $250,000 award with a third researcher.

‘Skin in the game’: Harvard geneticist George Church launches new stem cell company using his own skin cells
GC Therapeutics unveiled on Thursday its work to create stem cell-based medicines more efficiently to treat gastrointestinal, immunological, and neurological diseases.

Steward CEO cites Fifth Amendment right for refusing to testify
A Senate committee is scheduled to vote Thursday on civil and criminal referrals for contempt of Congress over de la Torre’s refusal to testify at a hearing last week despite being subpoenaed.

RHODE MAP
Survey: At least 23 percent of New Englanders know someone with an opioid addiction
Vermont had one the highest percentages of people who know at least one person struggling with addiction at 41 percent, according to a poll by the Civic Health and Institutions Project and The COVID States Project.

For months at a time, Mass. failed to notify motorists whose vision impairments disqualified them from driving
Months passed during which the state could not ensure people diagnosed with legal blindness stayed off the roads.

A highly contagious bird flu strain infected hundreds of dairy cows. Testing shows Mass. dairy farms are virus-free.
The testing program is likely to be repeated on a regular basis going forward, and could serve as a national model.

Biotech

‘Skin in the game’: Harvard geneticist George Church launches new stem cell company using his own skin cells

GC Therapeutics unveiled on Thursday its work to create stem cell-based medicines more efficiently to treat gastrointestinal, immunological, and neurological diseases.

Charles River Labs to cut over 600 jobs

The Wilmington-based biotech research firm is seeing drug industry clients pull back on spending.

Two local biotechs go public, raising $540 million total

Boston-based Bicara Therapeutics and Waltham-based Zenas BioPharma are the third and fourth Massachusetts-based biotech companies to hold IPOs this year.
Lifestyle
RHODE MAP

Survey: At least 23 percent of New Englanders know someone with an opioid addiction

Vermont had one the highest percentages of people who know at least one person struggling with addiction at 41 percent, according to a poll by the Civic Health and Institutions Project and The COVID States Project.
MY BOSTON HISTORY | MI HISTORIA EN BOSTON

El cáncer es la primera causa de muerte entre los latinos. No tiene por qué serlo.

Los factores que conspiran para producir la alta letalidad del cáncer entre los hispanos son en su mayoría superables. Los sobrevivientes quieren ayudar.
RI HEALTH

R.I. is now at ‘high risk’ for EEE and other mosquito-borne illnesses, officials say

State health and environment officials on Friday reiterated that schools and organizations should consider moving or rescheduling early morning and evening outdoor events
Spotlight

How Brigham Health helped create a Chinese hospital for elites — and almost nobody came

In a deal worth millions with Chinese developer Evergrande, a Harvard teaching hospital risked its reputation on what would become a near-empty shell.

Boston’s hospital chiefs moonlight on corporate boards at rates far beyond the national level

Hospital chiefs and trustees defend this as boosting public-private partnerships, but critics say these board positions — some paying millions of dollars — raise troubling issues of conflict of interest and hospital priorities.

More biotech and health care stories

MY BOSTON HISTORY | MI HISTORIA EN BOSTON

El cáncer es la primera causa de muerte entre los latinos. No tiene por qué serlo.

Los factores que conspiran para producir la alta letalidad del cáncer entre los hispanos son en su mayoría superables. Los sobrevivientes quieren ayudar.

At Framingham Union Hospital, nurses union alleges Tenet Healthcare problems worse than Steward’s

The union for nurses said that low staffing, equipment shortages, and mismanagement are endangering patients, citing at least 30 alleged deficiencies this year.

INNOVATOR Q&A

Too much to drink? These Providence founders plan to introduce a popular South Korean hangover remedy to the US.

DAYGUARD comes in the form of a jelly stick that will soon be available on the market in Providence, as well as on college campuses.

‘PFAS . . . everywhere’: A Mass. class action lawsuit may set a new standard for damages

Environmental and industry groups are closely watching the case ahead of an expected "tsunami" of PFAS lawsuits.

Mass. confirms 11th human case of West Nile virus, raises EEE risk level in Concord

The man, who is in his 60s, had recently traveled out of state, but he also could have been exposed in the Greater Boston region which is at ��high” risk for exposure, state officials said Friday.

Demand for weight loss drugs fuels higher premiums on state’s health connector

“Massachusetts is not alone in seeing these higher rate increases for plan year 2025,” said Kristopher Harackiewicz, senior director of plan management and carrier relations at the Connector.

Charles River Labs to cut over 600 jobs

The Wilmington-based biotech research firm is seeing drug industry clients pull back on spending.

Map: Is your town at high risk of EEE?

See a town-by-town risk map for Massachusetts, plus the results of mosquito surveillance testing in New Hampshire and Rhode Island.