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When it comes to personal protective equipment, medical gloves are much harder to make than, say, a mask or isolation gown. While the latter use widely available fibers, the main ingredient in medical gloves — nitrile butadiene rubber — is another level of complicated. That’s one reason there isn’t an American-made medical glove, despite almost $1 billion in taxpayer funds doled out to a handful of companies since the Covid pandemic. The goal was to bolster domestic glove production and reduce reliance on imports. None of those companies are making gloves or NBR now. The US government stopped funding the effort. (Fay Cortez and Edney, 7/9)

CVS Health and its embattled Omnicare unit have agreed to pay $440 million to the Department of Justice to satisfy a nearly $950 million judgment against the company as part of an ongoing fraud case. In April 2025, a federal jury ruled that Omnicare submitted more than 3.3 million fraudulent prescription claims between 2010 and 2018, earning $135.6 million in overpayments as a result. Then, in July 2025, a judge ordered Omnicare to pay $948.8 million in fees and damages as part of the case. (Minemyer, 7/9)

Memorial Hermann Health Plan is winding down its commercial insurance business in response to industry challenges. The subsidiary of Houston-based Memorial Hermann Health System will shut down the commercial group health plans it offers to employers, according to a fact sheet posted to its website. Financial headwinds and difficulty expanding its commercial division to meet member needs led the system to axe the plans, the organization said in the fact sheet. (DeSilva, 7/9)

Health systems are buying up hundreds of acres in fast-growing markets with two goals — extend their reach by adding hospitals and ensure competitors don’t get there first. Building a hospital is a yearslong commitment requiring extensive due diligence. Systems evaluate sites based on several factors: Will the property have to be rezoned? Is there room for parking? Is there easy road access? (Hudson, 7/9)

Not sure what type of bug bit you or what caused that rash? Many Americans hashtag their questions and turn to social media for health information, whether they are looking up symptoms, researching a diagnosis or learning about a treatment. (Hetter, 7/9)

More physicians are looking to incorporate patients’ consumer wearables, such as smartwatches and fitness trackers, into their care — but barriers to wider usage remain. Increased interest varies across specialties. Some cardiologists and endocrinologists already review data from the devices and are more optimistic about potential care benefits. Other physicians, such as those working in primary care, are more hesitant to add wearable devices to the mix, according to a survey from the American Medical Association. (DeSilva, 7/9)

Jeremy Faust cuts through a hallway of Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital on his way to see a patient who is struggling to breathe. It’s the start of his evening shift, and the emergency department hums with ambient sound: bleeping monitors, the rumbling wheels of medical carts, the squeaky soles of hustling staff. People on gurneys line the corridor, some wincing in pain, others chatting with relatives. (Kuchment, 7/10)