• California: Earlier this month, Structure Therapeutics announced that its oral GLP-1 drug resulted in weight loss in two small studies. In a 12-week Phase 2a study, participants had a 6.2% placebo-adjusted weight loss on the daily pill. Similarly, a separate 12-week pharmacokinetics study, which tested a new tablet formulation of the drug, led to a placebo-adjusted weight loss of up to 6.9%. The Phase 2a study had 64 participants, while the pharmacokinetics study had 54. The most common side effects in the studies were nausea and vomiting, like other GLP-1 drugs. According to Structure, it plans to start a Phase 2b obesity study of the drug in the fourth quarter of the year. The Phase 2b study will also test out the new tablet formulation of the drug. Jared Holz, an analyst at Mizuho, said Structure is aiming for the drug to be used as a maintenance therapy for patients who want to maintain their weight loss after initially using other GLP-1 drugs. "As such, we really like [Structure] as a longer-term player in this market and believe Pharma will look to acquire the Company provided drug safety/tolerability OK," Holz said. (Chen, STAT+ [subscription required], 6/3)
• District of Columbia: The White House has called on hospital executives, doctors, and other healthcare leaders to help combat gun violence by collecting more data on gunshot injuries while also providing patients with regular counseling on safe firearm use. According to CDC data, more than 48,000 people were killed by guns in the United States in 2022, with suicides accounting for over half of these deaths. "The president has been clear: This is a public health crisis. So, to solve it, we need the leaders from the health care sector," said Rob Wilcox, a deputy director of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. "Those are the leaders that run the health systems and hospitals that we go to for treatment, and it's those doctors, nurses, practitioners on the front lines." Bechara Choucair, an EVP and chief health officer at Kaiser Permanente, said that more timely and comprehensive data could help researchers better understand gun violence trends. "Anytime you want to address a problem with a public health lens, you have to understand the data," Choucair said. "You have to understand the data at a granular level so you can design interventions and test interventions and see if it works or if it doesn't work." (Young, KFF Health News, 6/6)
• Georgia: CDC last week warned that patients with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be at an increased risk of injury or overdose due to disrupted access to prescription stimulants used to treat the condition. Several ADHD medications, including Adderall, are already in shortage, and a new federal indictment on healthcare fraud may further disrupt care for up to 50,000 patients, the agency said. Last week, Ruthia He, founder and CEO of Done Global, and David Brody, clinical president of Done Health, were arrested for their alleged involvement in $100 million healthcare fraud scheme involving Adderall and other ADHD medication. According to Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri, he and Brody "provided easy access to Adderall and other stimulants by exploiting telemedicine and spending millions on deceptive advertisements on social media." As a result, patients who received prescriptions for ADHD medication through Done Health may struggle to get their prescriptions filled and may need to find new healthcare providers. So far, CDC has advised providers to offer affected patients mental health support and information about the risks of counterfeit and illegal stimulants. (Monaco, MedPage Today, 6/13; Blum, New York Times, 6/13)

Violence in healthcare settings is a long-standing challenge, but data shows that it is occurring more frequently and becoming more severe. Use the resources below to gain a global perspective of how violence is impacting frontline staff, and learn strategies to confront this issue at your own organization.