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A White House deal and a bidding war 

The Trump administration is nearing deals with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to lower the prices of their weight loss drugs, people familiar with the talks told STAT. The agreement is expected to include Medicare coverage of the drugs for weight loss, which hasn’t previously been available. The companies have been close to a deal for weeks, one lobbyist with knowledge of the negotiations said. Read more from a team of STAT reporters on what we know so far.

Meanwhile, a bidding war between Pfizer and Novo over the obesity startup Metsera has continued to escalate. For background: Pfizer first said it would acquire Metsera about a month ago, but in a surprise move last week, Novo announced an attempt to outbid the company. Yesterday, Metsera announced that both upped their bids, with Novo’s offer coming in higher, valuing the company for up to $10 billion. Read more from STAT’s Elaine Chen on where things stand.

Children’s hospital lobby is broadening its scope

The Children’s Hospital Association, which represents more than 200 hospitals and spends millions on lobbying each year, announced a new messaging approach yesterday. The group will begin broadly promoting the health of American children and highlighting the importance of pediatric health to the country. The move comes at a time when many long-revered health institutions, including children’s hospitals, have been scrutinized by the Trump administration. But according to Matthew Cook, the organization’s CEO, the changes were conceived before the election.

“You’re going to see a bolder CHA,” Cook told STAT’s Daniel Payne. Read more about where the new strategy aligns with the Make America Healthy Again movement, and where the group is pushing back against the administration.

It’s all in your head

That’s one clue in this week’s mini crossword puzzle at STAT. Want a hint? We’ve probably published hundreds of stories about this thing over the years: Here and here and here and here and here, to start. Try the puzzle.

Why doctors might ‘fake’ CPR 

Loyal readers of this newsletter may remember a First Opinion essay from the summer that illuminated the practice of the “slow code,” where doctors perform “a half-hearted attempt at CPR” to limit prolonged suffering for patients unlikely to survive and avoid conflict with grieving families. In the latest installment of STAT’s instantly iconic STATus Report video series, host Alex Hogan talks with the authors more about this phenomenon, which they describe as both ethical and essential. 

Part of why doctors might feel this way is that real-life CPR is nothing like it appears on TV and in movies. It can be a brutal, painful process that leaves patients with broken ribs or a cracked sternum. Watch the video to learn more about this under-discussed practice. Come for the insightful conversation with the experts, and stay for a long-overdue critique of the CPR on display in the ’90s television series “Baywatch.” As Alex says, if you want CPR to be effective, you can’t “David Half-Asselhoff” chest compressions.  

The long-term risks of spinal injuries

Healthy people who suffer traumatic spinal injuries are at significantly greater risk for long-term chronic health conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, blood clots, diabetes, and other neurological and psychiatric conditions compared to their uninjured peers, according to a study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open. 

Researchers analyzed almost 30 years of data from two hospital systems. They included more than 2,700 people who were healthy and without comorbidities before their injury, matching them with control group patients of the same age, sex, and race. People also had a higher risk of death after a spinal injury — especially if they had multiple chronic conditions including cardiac diseases, depression, substance misuse, and dementia. Long-term consequences like these are understudied, the authors write. The associations persisted across different demographic groups, which they believe indicates that traumatic spinal injuries independently influence chronic disease. 

What we’re reading

This closed factory shows how hard reviving drug manufacturing will be, New York Times

First Opinion: Beware the financialization of the global health industry, STAT

From narcan to gun silencers, opioid settlement cash pays law enforcement tabs, KFF Health News

First Opinion: The dangerous illusion of ‘peer-to-peer’ review for prior authorization, STAT