Hello,
Welcome to Insider Healthcare. I'm Lydia Ramsey Pflanzer, and this week in healthcare news:
If you're new to this newsletter, sign up here. Tips, comments? Email me at lramsey@insider.com or tweet @lydiaramsey125. Now, let's get to it...
It seems like there was news about every major vaccine rolling out across the US and Europe.
Then there's AstraZeneca's shot. Countries are still pulling back from using the vaccine while investigators take a closer look at reports of rare blood clots.
So far, Europe's top regulator has maintained that the vaccine's benefits outweigh its risks.
Even so, Andrew Dunn reports, by the time AstraZeneca secures authorization here in the US, we might not need it.
The US may instead opt to give its doses to other countries.
Allison DeAngelis this week took a look at the conversation that's evolving around Alzheimer's disease.
It's an area of drug development that's filled with failures.
Now, scientists are seeing whether more targeted rather than universal approaches might be the way out of a $1.1 trillion problem.
Shelby Livingston on Tuesday had the scoop that a top Walmart healthcare exec, the company's chief medical officer, is leaving the retail giant.
You can read the full memo on his exit that Shelby obtained.
It's another departure from Walmart's healthcare leadership after Sean Slovenski left last summer. And it's happening after we reported in February that Walmart's slowing its ambitious health clinics push.
Walmart is just one of a multitude of forces trying to reshape how we get primary care in the US.
This week, Shelby and Patricia Kelly Yeo took a look at how four primary-care companies are holding on in the increasingly competitive space.
Hundreds of thousands of people are moving to states with lower costs of living, like Florida and Texas.
But, as Kimberly Leonard reports, people who once qualified for Medicaid are learning that their new states haven't expanded the program.
It's an issue that can make their healthcare more expensive.
More news that kept us busy this week:
- Lydia