MedTech Dive: Stryker To Buy Inari Medical For Nearly $5B
Stryker’s proposed acquisition of Inari kicks off medtech M&A in 2025 after a flurry of deals last year. Inari, based in Irvine, California, makes a variety of devices including catheter-based mechanical thrombectomy systems to treat vascular disease. Stryker, which has a larger orthopedics business, said in the deal announcement that Inari’s product portfolio complements its neurovascular business. (Zipp, 1/6)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Health Insurer Blue Shield Names Lois Quam First Female CEO
Oakland-based health insurer Blue Shield of California has named Lois Quam as its CEO, the first new leader in 12 years and the company’s first woman chief executive in its 86-year-history. The move, announced Wednesday, is part of a broader corporate restructuring at Blue Shield, one of California’s largest health insurers, with about 5 million members. It is also one of Oakland’s largest employers, with roughly 1,300 workers at its corporate headquarters downtown. (Ho, 1/8)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Leaders Vote To End Fee For Transporting Bodies
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to eliminate a $400 fee that had been charged by the medical examiner for the transportation and storage of bodies, saying grieving families should be spared that financial burden as an act of compassion. ... L.A. County officials said an analysis of county data showed the fee had disproportionately affected poorer residents. (Alpert Reyes, 1/7)

Stat: JPM Conference 2025: Will Patent Cliff Spur Big Pharma Deals?
Next week brings the return of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, and with it another fabled opportunity for companies in the industry to court possible mergers, acquisitions, and licensing deals. This year, there will be even greater pressure to make a good match, as the pharmaceutical industry, which drives more than $1 trillion in economic activity and thousands of jobs, faces one of the largest patent cliffs in recent history. Between now and 2033, the patents on dozens of brand-name medications will expire, allowing generic drugmakers to begin selling cheaper versions. (DeAngelis and Feuerstein, 1/8)

Lown Institute: 2024 Shkreli Awards For The Worst Examples Of Dysfunction In Healthcare
Welcome to the 8th annual Shkreli Awards, the Lown Institute’s top ten list of the worst examples of profiteering and dysfunction in healthcare, named for the infamous “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli. Nominees for the Shkreli Awards are compiled by Lown Institute staff with input from readers of Lown Weekly. An esteemed panel of patient activists, clinicians, health policy experts, and journalists help determine the winners. (1/7)

Modern Healthcare: Private Equity In Healthcare Worsens Outcomes, Senate Report Finds
Private equity investment makes the healthcare system worse, according to the findings of a bipartisan Senate Budget Committee investigation published Tuesday. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) issued the report, which zeroes in on Apollo Global Management and Leonard Green & Partners and their healthcare holdings. (McAuliff, 1/7)

Modern Healthcare: Hospital Mergers Face New State Laws, Restrictions In 2025
Hospital mergers and acquisitions are poised to rebound in 2025, but new state oversight laws will likely temper that activity. The number of announced hospital deals dipped 13% over the 12-month period ended Nov. 15, according to data from consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers. While activity is expected to tick up, health systems' focus may shift from hospitals to outpatient facilities due to the threat of longer regulatory reviews under newly empowered state watchdogs, advisers and attorneys said. (Kacik, 1/7)

The Washington Post: Meta Ends Fact Checks, Will Adopt X-Style ‘Community Notes’ In Trump Era 
Meta will dismantle its extensive fact-checking program in the United States, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said Tuesday, ending a practice that has sought to limit the spread of falsehoods on its platforms but has been assailed as censorship in conservative circles. The company said it would allow its users to add context or debunk claims in notes that appear next to specific posts, a process pioneered by Elon Musk’s X. Meta will also lift restrictions on hot-button topics, such as immigration and gender identity, to focus on illegal or high-severity violations. (Nix, Oremus and Gregg, 1/7)

The New York Times: Meet the Next Fact-Checker, Debunker and Moderator: You
The announcement signals the end of an era in content moderation and an embrace of looser guidelines that even Mr. Zuckerberg acknowledged would increase the amount of false and misleading content on the world’s largest social network. (Thompson and Conger, 1/7)

Politico: Is Zuckerberg Kneeling To Trump? It's Not So Simple. 
While moderation decisions make for high-profile congressional hearings and effective fodder for culture-war debates, what actually gets seen on social media platforms is still ultimately decided at the algorithm level, mostly outside the realm of political debate. (Robertson, 1/7)

AP: 'Obamacare' Hits Record Enrollment But An Uncertain Future Awaits Under Trump 
A record 24 million people have signed up for insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama’s landmark health legislation, as the program awaits an uncertain future under a Republican-controlled White House and Congress. Never have so many people enrolled in health care coverage through the government marketplace, a point of pride for many Democrats but a red flag to some Republicans. (Seitz, 1/8)

Fox2 Now: The Clock Is Ticking On Affordable Care Act Open Enrollment For 2025
Congress will discuss the future of ACA Marketplace subsidies in the coming months, but 2025 subsidy eligibility guidelines are locked in, and there’s still time to select a Marketplace plan for 2025. Jan. 31 is the deadline for Californians to enroll in ACA-compliant coverage — also known as Obamacare — for the 2025 plan year. (1/7)

Politico Pro: Dreamers Just Gained Access To Obamacare. It Might Not Last Long.
Donald Trump’s election — and a lawsuit challenging the rule from 19 Republican-led states — now throws into question whether the Biden administration’s expansion of coverage for Dreamers will stay intact. While Trump has not commented specifically on the expansion, he tried to scrap DACA in his first term, a move that the Supreme Court overturned. The president-elect has also promised mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, though he recently signaled a softer stance toward DACA recipients, saying “in many cases, they become successful” and “we’re going to have to do something with them.” (Hooper, 1/7)

Military.Com: Tricare West Region Woes: Reserve Members Mistakenly Told They Owe Up To $1,200 More Each Month  
Military reserve members across the Tricare West Region mistakenly were told they must pay monthly premiums of more than $600 to $1,500 to retain their health benefits in 2025. TriWest Healthcare Alliance, the new Tricare contract manager for 26 states, sent letters late last month to an undisclosed number of reservists and their families with updates to their monthly health premiums for 2025. (Kime, 1/7)

Modern Healthcare: Talkspace Expands Telehealth Services To Tricare Military Members
Talkspace has entered agreements with Tricare East and West regional contractors to provide in-network virtual therapy services to an estimated 9.5 million military members and their families. The contracts are the latest expansion for the telehealth company, which began offering its services to Humana Military members in August. In the past year, Talkspace also has signed contracts with Amazon, the American Federation of Teachers and Charlie Health.  (DeSilva, 1/7)

LAist: Homelessness Officials Recover $13M Paid To Service Providers; Judge Pushes For More Transparency
Officials with Los Angeles’ regional homeless services agency say they’ve recovered about $13 million of $50.8 million paid to service providers beginning in 2018. That’s up from about $2.5 million that had been recovered at the time of a November audit that found the agency had failed to recover millions paid out to contractors in cash advances. (Schrank, 1/7)

Sacramento Bee: Norovirus Outbreaks Sweep California. How Does Stomach Flu Spread? What Are Symptoms? 
A nasty stomach bug has been spreading across the country, including California, in recent months — leaving people feeling nauseous, achy or worse. (Marshall, 1/7)

VC Star: Emergency Rooms Fill Up In Ventura County As Flu, Other Illnesses Gain Momentum
Hospitals in Ventura County are filling up as flu season kicks into gear. Patients at a Thousand Oaks hospital have waited on gurneys for 10 hours or longer for beds to become available. (Kisken, 1/8)

The Desert Sun: What Is Valley Fever? How Is The Disease Treated?
Valley fever is a lung infection caused by breathing in spores from the fungus, Coccidioides, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is most common in the San Joaquin Valley and central coast areas of California. (Ward, 1/7)

ABC News: Johnson Says No Cuts To Social Security And Medicare To Fund Trump's Agenda 
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that cuts to Social Security and Medicare won't be part of the legislative package being worked out to fund President-elect Donald Trump's agenda. "No, the president has made clear that Social Security and Medicare have to be preserved," Johnson replied when asked if he was open to cutting the programs as part of the spending plans being worked out between House and Senate Republican leaders. "We have to look at all spending while maintaining… The Republican Party will not cut benefits." (Murray, Jones II, Peller and Pecorin, 1/7)

Modern Healthcare: Trump's Tariff Threat Troubles Medtech Industry
Medtech companies are bracing for massive tariffs that could drive up costs, temporarily stifle innovation and force them to rethink supply chain strategies that protect their bottom lines. One of the first actions President-elect Donald Trump has said he plans to do upon taking office this month is impose a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico and a higher tariff on goods from China. (Dubinsky, 1/7)

Axios: Drug Price Talks Provide An Early Test For Trump
The Biden administration within days is expected to select the next batch of drugs that will be subject to Medicare price negotiations — a process that this time could include Novo Nordisk's blockbusters Ozempic and Wegovy. Why it matters: The political appeal of bringing down the price of the wildly popular drugs and other medicines for seniors could outweigh deep misgivings in Republican circles about one of Democrats' most significant health policy achievements. (Goldman, 1/8)

Stat: Generic GLP-1 Drugs May Help Medicare Negotiate Semaglutide Price
The advent of the first generic GLP-1 drugs could help Medicare negotiate a lower price for the highly sought after diabetes and obesity medication semaglutide, according to experts familiar with the price-negotiation program and STAT’s review of documents from the first round of negotiations. (Wilkerson, 1/7)

Politico: Biden Has Less Than 2 Weeks To Approve These California Rules 
California is still waiting on the Biden administration to let it implement its emissions rules for trucks and trains before Donald Trump takes office — and those last two may be the toughest to get. (Begert and Nieves, 1/7)

Stat: Scientists Find Links Between Alzheimer's, Herpes, And Head Trauma 
At Tufts University in Medford, Mass., researchers loaded a tiny 3D model of the human brain into a plastic shell resting atop a spring-loaded platform. Inside this polymer skull, the donut-shaped ball of living brain tissue floated in a warm, salty bath, its neurons whispering to each other in the darkness. Then a piston struck the platform, whipping it back and forth, and sending the mini-brain sloshing. (Molteni, 1/7)

The Guardian: Daily Glass Of Milk May Cut Bowel Cancer Risk By Fifth, Research Finds
Having a large glass of milk every day may cut the risk of bowel cancer by nearly a fifth, according to the largest study conducted into diet and the disease. An extra daily 300mg of calcium, about the amount found in half a pint of milk, was associated with a 17% lower risk of bowel cancer, researchers said, with non-dairy sources of calcium such as fortified soy milk having a similar protective effect. (Sample, 1/8)

The Hill: Surgeon General Offers 'Parting Prescription' For US
Outgoing U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy offered a “parting prescription” to the U.S. in a document released Tuesday. “As I finish my tenure as Surgeon General, this is my parting prescription, my final wish for all of us: Choose community,” Murthy said in the document, which People magazine first reported on. Murthy has served as the surgeon general in the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations, but he was fired by President-elect Trump in 2017. At the time, the firing of Murthy sparked an accusation from Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) that then-President Trump was politicizing the surgeon general position. President-elect Trump has picked former Fox News contributor and medical doctor Janette Nesheiwat as his nominee for surgeon general in his next administration. (Suter, 1/7)