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Black people are about twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease as White people, but for years the pharmaceutical industry has mostly left them out of trials intended to prove new drugs are safe and effective. Brian Van Buren, a 71-year-old retired flight attendant, knows what that feels like. He’s been living with Alzheimer’s since 2015. Over the years he has tried to join numerous trials, but he says he’s been turned down every time. In some cases he’s been told his other health issues—he suffers from diabetes, hypertension, and sleep apnea—rule him out. At other times, he says, he was turned away for not having a nearby partner or caregiver. (Langreth and Campbell, 4/19)

Based on the unrelenting demand for more lab space in the Boston area, a boom in the region’s massive biotech cluster continues unabated. But the stock market paints a different picture of an industry that is a linchpin of the Massachusetts economy. For more than a year, U.S. biotech stocks have been down overall, some by up to 80% or 90%. Pressure from investors has been especially intense for small- and medium-size companies that don’t yet have products on the market and are burning through cash in a race to commercialize their discoveries. Some, including local firms, have resorted to layoffs as they run low on funding, and industry leaders say more job cuts are likely, along with mergers and bankruptcies. (Cross, 4/19)

The word breakthrough carries a kind of weight: It’s a dramatic step forward, a critical advance in science or technology. But in the context of the Food and Drug Administration’s breakthrough devices program, the definition is far fuzzier. The agency doesn’t release the names of breakthrough-designated devices before they’ve reached the market, nor does it spell out why products earn the status. But STAT has gleaned new insights into how the agency determines what makes the cut as part of an investigation built on hundreds of public documents and interviews with dozens of companies, regulatory experts, and researchers. (Palmer and Aguilar, 4/20)

As sales representatives watched students at Lone Peak High School experiment with robotic surgical devices, they were astounded by how naturally the kids handled the high-tech machinery. The da Vinci XI robotic-assisted surgical systems, which are used for surgeries in American Fork Hospital, include a training game that keeps track of a user’s score. The sales representatives consistently score in the mid-90s on the game, but several Lone Peak students scored a 99 out of 100 the first time they touched the equipment. “Honestly, I think the amount of video games these kids play probably helps,” said anatomy teacher Matt Paskett. “I think they grasp how cool it is that when the doctors are in the chest cavity or abdominal cavity of a patient, they can twist and move these instruments with such precision.” (Sanders, 4/19)

KHN: Heartbeat-Tracking Technology Raises Patients’ And Doctors’ Worries

If someone’s heart skips a beat, tech companies want to let them know about it. Gadget firms — starting with Apple and now Fitbit, which is owned by Google — are selling wearable devices that check heartbeat rhythms and alert users when something is out of sync. ... Still, although the gadgets are a technical achievement, some cardiologists say the information the devices produce isn’t always useful. Notifications from the devices aren’t definitive diagnoses. (Tahir, 4/20)