• Illinois: Abbott has issued a recall for select HeartMate mobile power units that are used with the HeartMate3 and HeartMate III left-ventricular assist systems. The power units have a faulty electrical component, which increases the risk of sudden power loss and could lead to serious injury or death. The recalls include power units that were distributed between April 2024 and February 2025. So far, no injuries or deaths have been reported, but patients have been advised to immediately switch to fully charged 14-volt rechargeable batteries if they experience any visual or audio alarms. If patients do not act within 15 minutes of a power unit failure, the pump could shut down, potentially leading to life-threatening complications like impaired blood flow or clot formation. (Murphy, Becker's Hospital Review, 4/30)
• Maryland: According to a new study from the NCI, one dose of the HPV vaccine may be just as effective as two doses. The HPV vaccine can help prevent cervical cancer, as well as anal, penile, and some head-and-neck cancers. In a clinical trial of 20,000 girls between the ages of 12 and 16 in Costa Rica, patients who received either one or two doses of the HPV vaccine had similar levels of protection, with the estimated efficacy of the vaccines in all cases being upwards of 97%. Chyke Doubeni, chief health equity officer at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, said the findings were "phenomenal" and could help expand vaccine access to more people in developing countries. Similarly, Ned Sharpless, former NCI director during the first Trump administration and current managing director at Jupiter Bioventures, said the study was "the most important cancer prevention trial going on in the world" and that the findings "will make the dissemination of HPV vaccine worldwide much easier and much cheaper to do — and it will save millions of lives." (Herper, STAT, 4/28)
• Wisconsin: According to a new report from KLAS, Epic has widened its lead over other vendors in the EHR space. In 2024, Epic grew its market share to 42% of acute care hospitals and 55% of acute care beds, up from 39% and 52%, respectively, in 2023. In total, Epic added 29,399 beds in 2024. TruBridge was the only other vendor to gain market share in total acute care beds. Every other major EHR vendor, including Oracle Health and Meditech, lost market share in total acute care hospitals. Between 2023 and 2024, Oracle's market share of acute share beds decreased from 24% to 22% while Meditech's market share decreased from 16% to 14%. According to Modern Healthcare, consolidation among health systems means that over half of acute care beds now use Epic, and this share is expected to grow as other large integrated systems switch to the company. (Turner, Modern Healthcare, 4/30)

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