California has detected the country’s first case of a new mpox strain that is spreading from person to person, STAT’s Helen Branswell reports . The infected individual had recently traveled from Eastern Africa, where multiple countries are battling transmission of this virus.

The version of the virus the person is infected with is known as clade Ib, which is different from the clade IIb virus that is responsible for the large international mpox outbreak that began in 2022. California health authorities say there’s no concern or evidence that the version is spreading in the U.S. Read more. 

• Some patients are paying up to $50,000 per year in fees for ‘concierge medicine.’ Here’s what’s behind its rise, STAT

cancerIncreased cancer diagnoses among young people Cancer’s on the rise among people younger than 50, with a recent study pointing to an increase in 17 of 34 cancer types. Researchers are now exploring whether this is due to factors like obesity, diet, smoking, and expanded health screening. Speaking at the Milken Institute’s Future of Health Summit this week, experts emphasized the need for more efficient, targeted tests and AI-driven tools to predict disease risks earlier. They also said that it’s important to educate younger populations about the fact that they might get cancer sooner than they’d expect — but that treatments are also improving.“We need to break the stigma of cancer, because right now, what was science fiction is becoming science reality in a clinic next door,” Mohit Manrao, head of U.S. oncology at AstraZeneca, said during the panel discussion.Read more.

from AXIOS:

COVID-era telehealth prescribing extended again

By Adriel Bettelheim and Maya Goldman

Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios

The Drug Enforcement Administration and HHS ended an impasse over the virtual prescribing of controlled substances that threatened access to drugs like Adderall by extending pandemic-era flexibilities through the end of 2025.Why it matters: Keeping the status quo leaves the question of whether to make controlled substances available without an in-person doctor’s visit for the Trump administration to decide.The latest: The agencies on Friday issued a final rule that marks the third temporary extension of telemedicine prescribing flexibilities that date to the pandemic and were due to expire at the end of this year.Some patients have been grappling with shortages of Adderall and other amphetamines like Vyvanse used for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Behavioral health providers say access would be even tighter if old limits on telehealth prescribing were restored.Health providers had lobbied the Biden administration and Congress for an extension of up to two years.But the issue has been complicated for much of this year by a dispute between DEA and HHS over a DEA proposal that would have excluded Schedule II controlled substances, made providers write 50% of controlled substance prescriptions in person and set other requirements.The DEA is concerned about the possible diversion and misuse of the substances. Testosterone is included in the cohort, as a steroid classified as a Schedule III controlled substance.