Anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy has unilaterally passed a rule that will allow specialty pharmacies to sell six specific peptide drugs, overruling scientists at the Food and Drug Administration.
The peptides are popular among members of Kennedy's Make America Health Again movement and many prominent MAHA figures and Kennedy allies sell them. Kennedy said he uses some of the peptides and called himself a "big fan." But FDA scientists continue to say there is insufficient evidence to show if they're effective and they are potentially dangerous. In 2023, the safety concerns led the FDA to remove the six peptides from a list of drugs that can be made by specialty pharmacies called compounding pharmacies—which make customized formulations of drugs for patients, or, in cases such as this, specialty drugs in bulk.
Kennedy's new rule sidesteps the need to formally undo that FDA action. The rule is titled "Enforcement Discretion Policy Regarding 503A Compounding Using Certain Peptide Bulk Drug Substances" and was made available Wednesday on the Federal Register, with the final publication data set for October 30. The rule does not change the regulatory status of the peptide; instead, it states the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will no longer take enforcement action against compounding pharmacies for making the peptides, essentially giving them a green light to freely produce and sell them. Kennedy had quietly proposed this rule earlier this month.
© Kevin Dietsch / Staff | Getty Images News
Samsung partners with Lark Health to offer eligible US seniors AI diabetes prevention coaching through Samsung Health, with Medicare eligibility restrictions.
The post Samsung Health to Offer Free AI Diabetes Prevention Coaching for Seniors appeared first on TechRepublic.
Samsung partners with Lark Health to offer eligible US seniors AI diabetes prevention coaching through Samsung Health, with Medicare eligibility restrictions.
The post Samsung Health to Offer Free AI Diabetes Prevention Coaching for Seniors appeared first on TechRepublic.
Japan will host a final assembly plant for the AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile after Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth agreed on Oct. 28 to build the facility as part of joint U.S.-Japanese missile production, Nikkei reported. The two met for about 30 minutes in Cebu, the Philippines, on the […]
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Since measles was declared eliminated in the US in 2000, the country's occasional cases have come mainly from international travelers—visitors from far-flung places where the virus still spreads freely—or unvaccinated US residents who return from abroad with a highly infectious souvenir. But as vaccination rates have slipped nationwide in recent years and outbreaks grow bigger and more frequent, domestic travel now poses a greater risk than international incursions.
In a study published this week in NEJM Evidence, Washington state health officials highlight that risk, detailing how an explosive outbreak in South Carolina reached their distant state through five distinct importation events over two weeks in January. In all, the introductions led to 26 cases among residents before officials stamped out the spread.
South Carolina's measles outbreak began on October 2, 2025, and was declared over on April 26, 2026. Officials confirmed 997 cases in the state during the outbreak. At the time, it was the largest measles outbreak recorded since the virus was declared eliminated, but Pennsylvania's ongoing outbreak has since surpassed it.
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Seattle-based Kivo Health today announced $10 million in funding to help increase access to its services, which target older adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The Series A round brings the startup’s total funding to more than $16 million.
Kivo ships equipment to patients’ homes and provides a nine-week program of therapist-led, live video sessions focused on exercise, breathing techniques and disease management. The company provides ongoing support following the program and says it uses AI to handle administrative tasks and communicate with patients, supporting its clinicians.
“We’re using the funding to build our AI health coach to blend AI-led care with human-led care,” Dr. Victor Sadauskas, Kivo’s co-founder and CEO, said via email. That pairing, he added, will help patients manage their chronic disease over the long term.
The company has approximately 50 employees, including clinicians.
COPD is an incurable lung disease in which damaged airways and air sacs make breathing difficult and can worsen over time. Common symptoms include shortness of breath, a persistent cough and fatigue. COPD is the third leading cause of death globally and the fifth in the U.S.
However, there are effective treatments to improve the condition, though many patients are not able to easily access care. A study of Medicare beneficiaries with COPD found that only 3.7% received pulmonary rehabilitation in 2012.
Kivo reports that a peer-reviewed study of its program found improvements in participants’ symptoms, physical function and mental health. The company also funded an analysis that estimated its model could reduce annual health care spending by $8,245 per member through fewer hospitalizations, ER visits and time in nursing homes.
Kivo says its program is covered by Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers including UnitedHealthcare, Humana, Blue Cross, Aetna and Priority Health.
“By thoughtfully combining high quality clinical care with AI, we can now scale proactive, accessible care to every senior, improving symptoms and reducing avoidable costs,” Sadauskas said in a statement.
Sadauskas launched Kivo in 2023 with co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Vaughn Koch. Sadauskas previously was an emergency medicine physician for Kaiser Permanente and a senior investment fellow with Life Science Angels. Koch is a serial entrepreneur who sold his startup Movity to Trulia in 2010.
While its current focus is COPD, Kivo aims to expand into other costly chronic conditions affecting older adults.
Allumia Ventures led the round, with participation from Corewell Health Ventures, Y Combinator, Heuristic Capital and MassMutual Ventures.
Windows 11 can share sound between two Bluetooth headphones, but compatible hardware, drivers, and LE Audio support determine whether it works.
The post Windows 11 Can Play Audio on Two Bluetooth Headphones — But Not Every Laptop Supports It appeared first on TechRepublic.
Windows 11 can share sound between two Bluetooth headphones, but compatible hardware, drivers, and LE Audio support determine whether it works.
The post Windows 11 Can Play Audio on Two Bluetooth Headphones — But Not Every Laptop Supports It appeared first on TechRepublic.
© Getty Images/Iurii Motov
After two months of discomfort, a man in South Korea went to an eye clinic where doctors pulled 11 living, wriggling worms from his eyes. They apparently made the most of their time on the man's peepers; at the time of extraction, many of the female worms were pregnant. The man narrowly avoided having them spew their loads of living larvae directly into his eyes.
The man in this case was a 71-year-old crop farmer. He told doctors that for the previous two months he had the sensation of having something stuck in both his eyes, which were also red and blurry. When ophthalmologists took a look, they quickly saw the problem: multiple mobile, whitish roundworms. His eyes were not in good shape either, as one might expect. The blood vessels in the membrane over the eye, the conjunctiva, were enlarged, making his eyes look red. And the cells of his cornea—the transparent, dome-shaped outer layer of the eye—had eroded, potentially after the helminths' hanky-panky.
According to a case report published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the doctors gave the man a topical treatment to numb his eyes and then began plucking out the worms one by one with fine forceps. They collected 11 adult worms, which ranged in size from 11 to 22 mm.
© New England Journal of Medicine, 2026
WHOOP plans to test whether wearable coaching can help improve blood sugar and blood pressure. See how its Abu Dhabi study could affect future health wearables.
The post WHOOP to Study Wearable Coaching for Blood Sugar and Blood Pressure appeared first on TechRepublic.
WHOOP plans to test whether wearable coaching can help improve blood sugar and blood pressure. See how its Abu Dhabi study could affect future health wearables.
The post WHOOP to Study Wearable Coaching for Blood Sugar and Blood Pressure appeared first on TechRepublic.
During an incident, the most valuable intel is from people on the ground. Security teams rely on their colleagues across the organization to report issues quickly and without trying to fix things themselves.
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