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CVS Pharmacy announced it would take over select Rite Aid assets across the United States, including the prescription files from 626 stores, in a news release on Oct. 15. The drugstore chain acquired stores in Idaho, Oregon and Washington as well as prescriptions in 15 states, resulting in the company gaining over 9 million former Rite Aid and Bartell Drugs patients. (Powel, 10/15)

For years, Democrats and Republicans have sounded the alarm about America’s dependence on China for medicines. An analysis published on Wednesday shows just how deep that reliance is at the earliest stage of the drug manufacturing process: Nearly 700 U.S. medicines use at least one chemical solely sourced from China. As tensions between Washington and Beijing have escalated in recent years, experts fear that this reliance could leave American patients vulnerable, especially if a trade war or future pandemic prompts China to curtail exports. Supply shortages for some generic medicines have already grown common. (Robbins, 10/15)

It was an ordinary moment, but it meant everything to the father of a little boy with the rarest of diseases. Last month, in the final seconds of a Sunday night football game, as Eagles defensive tackle Jordan Davis blocked a Los Angeles Rams field goal attempt to lock up a victory for Philadelphia, an exultant Kyle Muldoon lifted his 1-year-old son, KJ, in front of the TV in their living room. KJ, startled by the gesture, started to cry. (Molteni, 10/16)

Type 2 diabetes patients starting on SGLT2 inhibitors had a sightly lower risk of autoimmune rheumatic diseases compared with those initiating sulfonylureas, a large retrospective Korean study found. (Monaco, 10/15)

Macrophages are nicknamed the guardians of the body, known for detecting and then clearing damage from organs and tissues. That can also have a dark side:  By weakening inflammation, they can undermine immune cells that attack tumor cells. (Cooney, 10/16)