• Florida/Georgia: Angelini Pharma, an Italian company, will acquire Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a deal worth $4.1 billion. Catalyst is a drugmaker that focuses on rare diseases. Currently, the company has three approved medications, including its top-selling drug Firdapse for Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome in patients ages six and older. According to STAT, the acquisition will help Angelini build on its neurology work and allow it to have a foothold in the United States. "Today, we take another significant step with the acquisition of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, which we believe will establish Angelini Pharma as a relevant global player in neurological rare diseases," said Angelini CEO Sergio Marullo di Condojanni. "Entering the U.S. market will allow us to acquire the scale and capabilities needed to continue this journey." (Joseph, STAT+ [subscription required], 5/7)
• Georgia: According to new CDC data, there were around 70,000 deaths from drug overdoses in the United States in 2025, a roughly 14% decrease from the year before. This is the third consecutive year drug overdose deaths have declined, making it the longest period of declines in decades. During the COVID-19 pandemic, deaths from drug overdoses jumped significantly, peaking at almost 110,000 in 2022. Deaths have continued to decline since then, and the number of deaths in 2025 was roughly equal to the number of deaths in 2019. Declines in deaths were observed across several different drug types, including fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine. Overdoses deaths also decreased in most U.S. states, although seven saw an increase in deaths, including over 10% in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. "I'm cautiously optimistic that this represents really a fundamental change in the arc of the overdose crisis," said Brandon Marshall, a researcher at Brown University. However, Marshall and other researchers noted that the number of overdose deaths is still high, and several factors, like changes in government policy or shifts in drug supply, could lead to deaths increasing again. "If deaths are going down rapidly, that means they can increase just as rapidly if we take our foot off the gas," Marshall said. (Associated Press/MedPage Today, 5/13)
• Maryland: FDA has classified the latest recall of Boston Scientific's pacemakers as Class I, or the most serious type, after they were found to be associated with multiple deaths and thousands of injuries. As of March 18, issues with Boston Scientific's Accolade pacemakers have been associated with four deaths and 2,557 serious injuries. The current recall builds on previous ones issued December 2024 and August 2025. In 2024, the company identified battery issues in certain Accolade pacemakers and cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemakers, which could switch them to safety mode and have them not properly regulate the heart's rhythm and rate. Although Boston Scientific launched a software update called Brady SMR5 last August to prevent this issue, the company later released new guidance after identifying issues with the update. Currently, the company is introducing a new software update called Brady SMR6 to correct any remaining issues. Boston Scientific has directed physicians to FDA's recall bulletin for more information on affected devices, details on how to update devices with the new software, and patient care recommendations. (Dubinsky, Modern Healthcare, 5/8)

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