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POLLING
ADULTHOOD: Via Ipsen, VERBATIM: “Ipsen (Euronext: IPN; ADR: IPSEY), a global biopharmaceutical company, today announced the findings of a major new survey conducted by The Harris Poll showing broad consensus that young people are under-prepared for the move from pediatrics to the adult healthcare system and more resources are needed to support young adults. The Healthcare Shift Survey found 71 percent of youth aged 14-26 find the adult healthcare system confusing, and two-thirds say they would have benefited from more preparation for the change to an adult primary care provider (66 percent).” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4do1XlR
DOOMSCROLLING: Via SQ Magazine, VERBATIM: “Roughly 31% of American adults regularly doomscroll, with 51% of Gen Z and 46% of millennials caught in the same compulsive loop, according to a 2024 Morning Consult survey. The behavior has hardened into a measurable public-health pattern that links late-night phone use, news avoidance, and rising anxiety into a single feedback cycle.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/49bkcsf
LONELINESS: Via CNBC, VERBATIM: “Americans are yearning for connection: 41% of U.S. adults say they feel lonely at least some of the time, according to the 2025 Social Connection in America Report. When they feel those pangs of loneliness, many don’t immediately turn to the people around them, according to the American Psychiatric Association‘s annual mental health poll. Fifty-four percent watch TV, movies or online videos, another 54% listen to music, 44% sleep, and 38% turn to social media.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4v5PSI7
Check out all the episodes of Sunday Take on 830 WCCO. CLICK: https://fluence-media.co/3KsuDrZ
MEDICAID SUPPORTS HEALTH CARE FOR ALL OF US: Medicaid keeps Minnesota’s hospitals strong and ensures communities across the state have access to care. Policymakers must protect Medicaid so every Minnesotan — regardless of income or health status — can get the care they need, when they need it. LEARN MORE: https://fluence-media.co/3FtrCuH (SPONSORED: Minnesota Hospital Association)
HEALTH HEADLINES
FRAUD: Via CNN, VERBATIM: “Federal charges were filed Wednesday against 15 people accused of defrauding social service programs in Minnesota, Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald announced Thursday. The cases involve theft of more than $90 million in taxpayer money, McDonald said . . . The other allegations outlined in court documents show one person is accused of defrauding the Federal Child Nutrition Program and a state program providing grants to child care providers, in part by falsifying the numbers of meals served to children. Another, accused of defrauding a state program that helps child care centers pay staff, is alleged to have inflated the number of staffers and their hours worked. Some of the other cases involve allegations of Medicaid fraud.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4v2nG90
MORE: Via The New York Times, VERBATIM: “Among the defendants are an owner and an employee of autism clinics, who are charged with submitting $46.6 million in fraudulent claims to Medicaid, the public health plan that covers low-income people. Additional defendants were charged with filing bogus claims to Medicaid for other services, including those that assist disabled people with obtaining housing and living independently.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3PURlSs
ICYMI… lunch take had this morning’s news conference announcing the charges and more. SEE: https://fluence-media.co/4wK7MBB
TASK FORCE: Via Associated Press, VERBATIM: “The Trump administration has fired the two leaders of an influential health group that determines when insurance must provide free preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies, for millions of Americans. In letters dated May 11, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. notified the two doctors who chaired the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force that he was terminating their appointments immediately, before the end of their multiyear terms.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4utgwL4
OBESITY DRUG: Via The New York Times, VERBATIM: “An experimental shot helped participants in a large trial lose far more weight than obesity drugs already on the market, Eli Lilly, the maker, announced on Thursday. Among the heaviest patients in the trial, the results were on par with those seen with gastric bypass surgery, the only effective treatment for most with severe obesity. The drug, retatrutide, appears to be the most powerful yet in a wave of injections and pills that have transformed the treatment of obesity — so much so that some participants in other research have said they stopped taking retatrutide because they felt they were losing too much weight.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3RTjZ72
TOBACCO: Via The New York Times, VERBATIM: “The tobacco company Reynolds American donated $5 million to a super PAC backed by President Trump last month, about one week before his administration rolled out a new policy that could prove lucrative to the tobacco industry. The donation, which came through a Reynolds subsidiary and brings to $8 million the total donated by the subsidiary to MAGA Inc., the Trump-backed super PAC, was revealed in a campaign finance report filed Wednesday night.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4dzbFAz
EBOLA: Via UofM CIDRAP, VERBATIM: “There are now 600 suspected cases and more than 160 deaths in a growing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today, with numbers expected to rise.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4fxpRg3
TICKS: Via Newsweek, VERBATIM: “Scientists have issued fresh warnings about Lyme disease as tick bites continue to climb across the United States. Emergency room visits for tick bites have climbed to the highest levels for this time of year since 2017 in every U.S. region except the South Central states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in warning earlier this morning.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4v0QqyP
MAYO: Via Mayo Clinic, VERBATIM: “Inspired by the memory of their infant son and Mayo Clinic’s vision for the future of healthcare, Paula and Randy Ringhaver of St. Augustine, Florida, have made a $75 million gift to Mayo Clinic in Florida. The gift will support Bold. Forward. Unbound., Mayo Clinic’s investment across the organization to transform healthcare through integrated digital and physical spaces.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3PQviwh
DESPITE FINANCIAL CHALLENGES FACING HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS, ESSENTIA HEALTH RECOGNIZED FOR COMMUNITY BENEFIT CONTRIBUTIONS: The Duluth News Tribune’s latest editorial highlights the vital role nonprofit hospitals play in our communities – from providing uncompensated care to supporting access to high-quality care close to home. Read more about why this community benefit matters now more than ever. (SPONSORED: Essentia Health)
INNOVATION & RESEARCH
ACQUISITION: Via Fierce Biotech, VERBATIM: “Medtronic has entered a deal to acquire SPR Therapeutics, a Cleveland-based company whose flagship product delivers short-term electrical nerve stimulation for chronic pain patients, for approximately $650 million in cash. The deal would add SPR’s FDA-cleared SPRINT Peripheral Nerve Stimulation System to the Irish medtech giant’s already broad pain therapy portfolio.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3RjOqDm
MERGER: Via Allina, VERBATIM: “Allina Health and Sutter Health announced today that they have approved a definitive agreement, taking the next step toward their shared goal of creating an integrated nonprofit health system. The organizations will expand local access to high-quality, affordable care, while leading nationally in digital and technological advancements that transform care and meaningfully improve the experiences of patients and caregivers.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4o1sCZz
BROOKLYN PARK: Via CCX Media, VERBATIM: “A Brooklyn Park manufacturing company is helping doctors and patients get quicker access to life-saving medical devices. Earlier this month, Velosity celebrated the grand opening of its new 100,000-square-foot manufacturing lab, located at 6835 Winnetka Circle. The company specializes in producing precision plastic and metal parts used across the medical device and defense industries.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3PDmD06
VIRGINIA: Via Northern News Now, VERBATIM: “The Iron Range is getting a major investment in rural healthcare. On Wednesday in Virginia, Essentia Health broke ground on a $13 million dollar emergency department expansion — a big investment in rural health care that leaders say will nearly double the ER’s space, add more specialized treatment areas, and bring in new state-of-the-art emergency technology.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4nIYmSL
(DISCLOSURE: Essentia is a Fluence sponsor)
PATHOLOGY: Via Mayo Clinic, VERBATIM: “Mayo Clinic Digital Pathology (MCDP) is advancing efforts to build an integrated innovation ecosystem that supports the future of pathology across clinical care and research. The work reflects Mayo Clinic’s broader digital pathology strategy, including investments in emerging companies, expanded use of digitized pathology data and collaborations designed to improve diagnostic workflows and speed.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4upoRiG
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
ALZHEIMER’S: Via UC San Diego, VERBATIM: “Women not only face higher rates of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, but new research suggests they may also be more strongly affected by several common risk factors linked to cognitive decline. Scientists at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine analyzed data from more than 17,000 middle aged and older adults and found that certain modifiable dementia risk factors appear to have a greater impact on women’s cognitive function than men’s.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4v0OLt5
JUNK FOOD: Via University College Cork, VERBATIM: “Eating too much junk food early in life may rewire the brain in ways that last into adulthood, even after switching to a healthier diet. Scientists found that high-fat, high-sugar diets changed feeding behavior and disrupted appetite-control regions in the brain. Excitingly, certain gut-friendly bacteria and prebiotic fibers appeared to help undo some of the damage.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/42Pkx03
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