• District of Columbia: According to a new report from HHS' Office of the Inspector General (OIG), Medicare spent over $500 million on ineligible drugs over a three-year period. Based on an audit of Medicare's Part D prescription drug benefit, OIG found that Medicare spent $587.7 million on five drugs that were labeled prescription only between 2021 and 2023, even though FDA had already switched them to over the counter. Most of the spending was on generic equivalents for Volaren, a topical drug used for arthritis pain. The medications were prescribed 15.8 million times during the audit period and made up $562.1 million in improper reimbursements. OIG said CMS was to blame for the inaccurate payments since the agency relied on outdated FDA data and did not tell Medicare Advantage and private prescription drug plans to reject payments for the drugs. OIG recommended CMS issue guidance requiring generic drug manufacturers to update their labeling shortly after FDA approves a drug's switch from prescription only to over-the-counter use, similar to a policy issued by FDA in December. Although CMS concurred with the recommendation, it did not say when it plans to publish such guidance. (Parduhn, Healthcare Dive, 9/2)
• New York: The Lasker Foundation has named the winners of the 2026 Lasker Awards, which recognize notable contributions in basic medical research, clinical science, and public service. The awards, which are sometimes called "America's Nobel Prizes," come with an honorarium of $250,000 and will be presented to the winners in person in New York City on Sept. 17. The Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award was given to Emmanuel Mignot from Stanford University School of Medicine and Masashi Yanagisawa from the University of Tsukuba in Japan for their independent discoveries of a key substance in the brain that helps control the sleep-wake cycle and is missing in people with certain types of narcolepsy. The Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award was given to Kunihiro Hattori, Takehisa Kitazawa, and Tomoyuki Igawa, three scientists affiliated with the Japanese drug manufacturer Chugai Pharmaceutical. They created an antibody that interacts with key proteins in the blood that produce clots and stops bleeding. The new antibody treats hemophilia A, a severe, genetic bleeding disorder. Finally, the Lasker-Bloomberg Public Award was given to Michael J. Fox, an actor and founder of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. Fox first experienced symptoms of early-onset Parkinson's in 1990 and publicly announced his diagnosis in 1998. Through his foundation, Fox has funded more than $3 billion in Parkinson's research since 2000. (Lanese, Live Science, 9/9)
• Utah: Health Catalyst has named Simeon Kohl as its new CEO and board member, effective Sept. 14. Kohl succeeds Ben Albert who initially assumed the role after longtime CEO Dan Burton retired. With Kohl stepping into the CEO role, Albert has stepped down from the board and become the organization's chief business officer. Previously, Kohl served as CEO of Performant Healthcare and oversaw the sale of the company to Machinify for $670 million. "Simeon Kohl is the right leader for what comes next at Health Catalyst," said Justin Spencer, chair of Health Catalyst's board. "I believe he takes over a company on far stronger footing than a year ago, with a sharpened focus as an AI-forward healthcare intelligence company." According to Healthcare Dive, the recent leadership changes come as Health Catalyst works to strengthen its balance sheet and increase its AI initiatives. One of the company's AI products is a data and analytics platform that consolidates healthcare data from different sources so providers can access them more easily. Currently, over 1,100 healthcare organizations worldwide use the platform. (Hughes, Healthcare Dive, 9/10; Famakinwa, Modern Healthcare, 9/8) 

As turnover surges from the C-suite to frontline staff, healthcare systems are losing stability. Learn how leading organizations are rethinking transitions to support employees and maintain continuity amid change.