• District of Columbia: President-elect Donald Trump has selected John Brooks to lead his HHS landing team, Politico reports. Brooks was a senior Medicare official during Trump's first term and later went on to advise former HHS Secretary Alex Azar on drug pricing policy. Since leaving the federal government, Brooks has run a health policy research and consulting firm. "As per the Transition MOU with the Biden Administration, the White House is receiving the names of those serving on landing teams," said Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for the Trump-Vance transition. "The landing team members are connecting with their counterparts at the departments and agencies." (Lim/Cancryn, Politico, 12/17)
• Illinois: According to a new study published in JAMA Oncology, almost 6 million deaths from five different types of cancers were prevented between 1975 and 2020 due to prevention, screening, and advances in treatments. For the study, researched used population-level cancer mortality data and statistical models from the Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network and National Cancer Institute to estimate how prevention, screening, and treatment advances affected the cumulative mortality of breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancer. Overall, an estimated 5.94 million deaths from these five cancers were averted between 1975 and 2020. Cancer prevention and screening efforts prevented 4.75 million, or 80%, of these deaths. "A multi-prong approach is needed to reduce the burden of cancer in the United States," said Philip Castle, a co-author of the study from the National Cancer Institute. "And while cancer treatment keeps those with cancer from dying, cancer prevention and control keeps people from ever getting cancer, keeps healthy people healthy, and the quality of life of those who never get cancer is much greater than those who have to undergo cancer treatment." (Bassett, MedPage Today, 12/5)
• Utah: CVS Health last month closed all Utah MinuteClinic locations. According to a company spokesperson, CVS regularly evaluates its MinuteClinic footprint to meet patient demand, and the closures in Utah will help support plans for future growth. Any employees affected by the closures will receive severance benefits unless they move into different roles at the company, the spokesperson said. Currently, MinuteClinic has around 1,000 locations and a virtual care platform that offer treatments for minor illnesses, screenings, and physicals. According to Modern Healthcare, the closures come as CVS continues to struggle with significant financial challenges. In August, the company announced a $2 billion cost-cutting plan to streamline its operations and is currently on track to close 900 stores by the end of the year. (Hudson, Modern Healthcare, 12/19; Hudson, Modern Healthcare, 12/18)

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