While agents like AbbVie’s Humira have transformed the treatment landscape, not all patients benefit equally from the drug. Better biomarker analysis and more investment in mechanistic trials can inform the development of more effective therapies with broader clinical value.

The Trump administration on Wednesday said it was announcing $700 million in “new funding” for mental health and addiction programs, with an emphasis on combating homelessness resulting from severe, untreated mental illness. 

But behavioral health experts instantly cast doubt on the claim, identifying the $700 million not as new funding but as the long-awaited release of existing grants that Congress had previously authorized and that the federal government already planned to spend. 

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Legal experts say the speed and decisiveness of the Department of Justice’s proposed antitrust settlement with OhioHealth should put other hospitals on notice. 

The DOJ and Ohio Attorney General’s proposed settlement announced Wednesday would require nonprofit OhioHealth to quit using certain contracting practices that the agencies say prevented health insurers from selling cheaper policies. The deal, which comes just four months after the agencies sued the Columbus-based system, will likely push other health systems to examine their own contracting practices. 

“I would expect lawyers will get pretty busy looking at contracts with payers,” said Katie Keith, the director of Georgetown University’s Center for Health Policy and the Law. 

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