The "Close the Gap" initiative spearheaded by insurance company Aflac takes aim at economic inequities in the US health care system with an animated film, "The Park Bench," by Lion Forge Animation that features music by Nas. Aflac also released its Aflac Care Index survey that found 65% of Americans have total savings equal to or less than their health insurance out-of-pocket maximums.

The FDA's Office of Prescription Drug Promotion issued a warning letter to Eli Lilly and Co. for its failure to adequately explain the approved indications, limitations and risks of its type 2 diabetes drug Trulicity, or dulaglutide, in an Instagram post promoting the drug. "These violations are especially concerning from a public health perspective because the promotional communication creates a misleading impression regarding the safety and effectiveness of Trulicity, which is a drug with multiple serious, potentially life-threatening risks, including a boxed warning for the risk of thyroid C-cell tumors," the agency wrote.

Drug-resistant bacterial infections directly killed more people in 2019 than either HIV or malaria and played a role in 4.95 million deaths, making antimicrobial resistance "one of the leading public health threats of the 21st century," according to a study in The Lancet. The researchers called for "more attention, funding, capacity building, research and development, and pathogen-specific priority setting from the broader global health community."

Patient advocacy groups are taking steps to close persistent racial disparities in cancer survival rates, but the only way to have an impact at the scale needed is through industry and government investments, write Kathy Giusti, founder of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, and John Carpten, professor and chair of translational genomics at the University of Southern California's School of Medicine. They suggest streamlining clinical trials and making them more accessible to Black patients and creating a health system-wide exchange through which stakeholders can pool knowledge about treatments and clinical trials.

The Ycogni model, a machine learning-enabled predictive computer program that uses data from wearable devices to detect individuals at risk for depression, has been developed by researchers from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Royal Philips generated $5.5 billion in sales and $183 million in profits during its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Dec. 31. "[S]ales were impacted by several headwinds, namely supply chain challenges, postponement of equipment installations in hospitals related to COVID-19, and the consequences of the Respironics field action," said CEO Frans van Houten.

Manisha Shah-Bugaj has been chosen to serve as chief operating officer of Activ Surgical. Shah-Bugaj has previously served as global general manager and vice president of gynecology at Olympus.

Researchers from the University of Washington have developed the Harmony COVID-19 test, which can deliver results within 20 minutes. Initial results show the test has 97% effectiveness.

The FDA has given breakthrough status designation to Cook Medical for its drug-eluting stent for below the knee. The stent is used to treat patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia.

The FDA has given emergency use authorization to Mammoth Biosciences for its DETECTR Boost SARS-CoV-2 Reagent Kit, a high-throughput CRISPR-based SARS-CoV-2 test. "This emergency use authorization is another important step towards our mission to harness the full potential of CRISPR to improve lives," said chief technology officer and cofounder Janice Chen.