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The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has joined with industry groups in asking a federal court to scrap a Biden-era regulation barring consumer credit reports from including medical debt, according to court papers.

In a motion submitted on Wednesday in a Texas federal court, the CFPB joined two industry groups representing banks, credit unions and credit bureaus in asking a judge to strike down the rule, saying the CFPB had exceeded its legal authority and violated laws governing the crafting of regulations.

The rule is currently due to go into effect in June after the court issued a stay in February.

If approved by a judge, the move would undo a major policy plank championed by former Vice President Kamala Harris. Officials in the prior administration said it would remove up to $49 billion in medical debts from the credit reports of 15 million Americans.

In the United States, patients seeking medical treatment sometimes borrow to cover the cost because they either lack insurance or their plans require them to pay part of the cost.

Representatives for the CFPB and the Cornerstone Credit Union League, which had sued to block the rule, did not respond to requests for comment.

Dan Smith, president of the Consumer Data Industry Association, also a party to the lawsuit, welcomed the move, saying it would help protect a “full, fair and accurate” credit reporting system.
Among other far-reaching changes, Trump has worked to reverse much of the Biden administration’s marquee consumer safeguards.

Prior CFPB leadership said research showed medical debts, which patients do not incur out of choice, were poor indicators of borrowers’ ability to repay but could hinder consumers from accessing loans for cars, homes and small businesses.

However, the industry groups said the evidence did not support the CFPB’s decision, and the ban could leave them blind to important information about borrowers. Reuters

The Global Medical Drone Market size is expected to be worth around USD 1591.9 Million by 2033 from USD 387.4 Million in 2023, growing at a CAGR of 15.3% during the forecast period from 2024 to 2033.

Medical drones are transforming the delivery of healthcare services by providing rapid, efficient transport of medical supplies, especially in remote or disaster-hit regions. These unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are primarily used to deliver blood, vaccines, diagnostic samples, medicines, and emergency equipment. Their ability to bypass ground-level traffic and geographical barriers significantly reduces delivery time, which is critical during life-threatening emergencies.

Equipped with GPS navigation, real-time tracking, and temperature-controlled storage, medical drones ensure safe and timely delivery of sensitive medical materials. Rotary-wing drones are commonly used due to their vertical take-off and landing capability, allowing precise deliveries in confined spaces. In contrast, fixed-wing drones offer longer range and are ideal for inter-city or cross-border missions.

Healthcare systems in countries like Rwanda, the United States, and India have already deployed drones in routine healthcare logistics and emergency relief. The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF have endorsed the use of drone technology in improving healthcare access and supply chain resilience. With increasing investments and regulatory support, medical drones are poised to become a crucial element in modern healthcare logistics. Their adoption is expected to grow, driven by the need for faster, safer, and more reliable medical deliveries in underserved and high-risk regions.

Key Takeaways

• Market Overview: The global Medical Drone Market was valued at USD 387.4 million in 2023 and is projected to reach approximately USD 1,591.9 million by 2033. This growth is expected to occur at a robust compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.3% during the forecast period from 2024 to 2033.
• Type Segment Analysis: Rotary-wing drones held the dominant position in the type segment in 2023, capturing 67.24% of the global market share. Their ability to take off vertically, hover in place, and operate in confined spaces makes them ideal for healthcare delivery, especially in emergency and remote scenarios.
• Technology Segment Analysis: Remotely operated medical drones accounted for 43.12% of the market in 2023. These drones are favored for their ability to be controlled in real time, offering greater reliability and adaptability in mission-critical applications such as medicine and vaccine transport.
• Payload Capacity Analysis: Drones with a payload capacity of less than 2 kilograms led the market in 2023, with a 45.43% share. These lightweight drones are well-suited for rapid, short-distance deliveries of blood, medications, and diagnostic samples.
• Application Segment Analysis: Blood delivery emerged as the leading application in 2023, accounting for 40.72% of the global market share. The growing need for urgent blood supply in trauma care and disaster zones has driven demand for fast and reliable drone delivery systems.
• Regional Analysis: North America dominated the medical drone market in 2023, with a 31.25% share. The region’s leadership is attributed to well-developed healthcare infrastructure, supportive regulatory frameworks, and early adoption of advanced medical delivery technologies.

Segmentation Analysis

• Type Analysis: In 2023, rotary-wing drones led the market with a 67.24% share due to their vertical takeoff, landing ability, and excellent hovering capability. These features make them highly effective for delivering medical supplies in tight urban spaces or isolated rural areas. Fixed-wing drones, while faster and capable of longer ranges, require runways. Hybrid drones, combining both functionalities, are gaining interest for their versatility, and are expected to see increased adoption as technological innovations improve their efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
• Technology Analysis: Remotely operated drones held 43.12% of the market in 2023, making them the most widely used technology in medical drone operations. Their real-time control allows precision and responsiveness, especially valuable in emergency medical deliveries. Semi-autonomous drones, which combine automation with operator oversight, are becoming popular for routine tasks. Fully autonomous drones, though currently with a smaller share, represent the future of scalable drone logistics. Their use is projected to grow significantly as AI and automation technologies advance.
• Payload Capacity Analysis: Drones with a payload capacity below 2 kg led the market in 2023, capturing 45.43% of the share. These lightweight models are ideal for transporting vaccines, medicines, and small diagnostic kits over short distances. The 2–5 kg capacity segment is gaining attention for its ability to carry a broader range of supplies. Drones handling over 5 kg are used in specialized cases like disaster response. Despite smaller adoption, this heavy-lift category is projected to expand with ongoing technological progress.
• Application Analysis: Blood delivery emerged as the dominant application in 2023, accounting for 40.72% of the market. Drones provide fast, lifesaving transport of blood to hospitals, especially in emergencies and infrastructure-poor regions. Medication delivery also plays a vital role, ensuring timely access to essential drugs in rural or disaster-affected areas. The diagnostics segment is expanding, with drones increasingly used to send lab samples quickly. This accelerates diagnosis and treatment, supporting improved patient outcomes and greater operational efficiency in healthcare.

Media.Market

For the second time in recent months, the Food and Drug Administration is bringing back some recently fired employees, including staffers who handle travel bookings for safety inspectors.

More than 20 of the agency’s roughly 60 travel staff will be reinstated, according to two FDA staffers notified of the plan this week, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential agency matters.

Food scientists who test samples for bacteria and study potentially harmful chemicals also have been told they will get their jobs back, but have yet to receive any official confirmation.

The same uncertainty hangs over employees who process agency records for release to lawyers, companies and journalists under the Freedom of Information Act. About 100 of those staffers were recently eliminated, according to an agency official with direct knowledge of the situation.

But in recent days the FDA has missed multiple court-ordered deadlines to produce documents, which could result in hefty fines. That’s prompted plans to bring back a significant number of those staffers.

The apparent reversals are the latest examples of the haphazard approach to agency cuts that have shrunk FDA’s workforce by an estimated 20%, or about 3,500 jobs, in addition to an unspecified number of retirements, voluntary buyouts and resignations.

In February, the FDA laid off about 700 provisional employees, including food and medical device reviewers, only to rehire many of them within days after pushback from industry, Congress and other parties.

The Department of Health and Human Services hasn’t detailed exactly which positions or programs were cut in the mass layoffs.

FDA Commissioner Marty Makary has repeatedly said that no FDA scientists were fired as part of the reductions. But at least two dozen food scientists who worked in a San Francisco testing laboratory and a Chicago research center were let go in March.

An HHS spokesperson suggested the apparent mix-up was due to “the fractured, outdated HR infrastructure we inherited from the Biden administration and are now actively overhauling.” The spokesperson did not respond to specific questions about which employees are being reinstated but said the administration will “streamline operations and fix the broken systems left to us.”

About 15 scientists working in FDA’s Division of Food Processing Science and Technology in Chicago were told last week they be will reinstated, according to a staffer who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential agency matters. But a week later there has been no written confirmation and the scientists have not returned to the office. The group’s research includes studying ways to prevent harmful bacteria from growing on produce and preventing the spread of microplastics and other particles from food packaging.

“I hope Commissioner Makary continues to assess these ill-informed cuts and works to bring back impacted employees expeditiously,” said Susan Mayne of Yale University, the FDA’s former food director. “His legacy as commissioner is on the line.”

With more than 15,000 employees remaining across various U.S. and foreign offices, the FDA’s core responsibilities are reviewing new drugs, medical products and food ingredients as well as inspecting thousands of factories.

Makary has said no inspectors or medical reviewers were fired as part of the recent reductions. But current and former FDA officials note that those frontline employees are often supported by teams of administrative staff.

FDA inspectors, for example, have long relied on travel bookers to coordinate trips to India and other countries that often involve visa permissions, security measures, ground transportation, tech support, translation services and other logistics. Inspectors can spend up to half the year traveling, a grueling workload that makes recruiting and retaining staff a challenge.

For a brief period last month, inspectors were told they would be booking their own travel. The FDA set up a hotline to assist with making the arrangements. Then, agency leaders developed a plan to hire an outside contractor to perform the work.

On Monday, staffers were informed that about a third of the fired staff who performed the work would be returning. WFMJ.com

Lok Bandhu Hospital here will be resuming major surgeries at a temporary facility set up on the first floor of the building from Monday, hospital officials confirmed, adding a four-bed intensive care unit (ICU) was likely to be set up on the same floor shortly after.

The hospital’s operation theatre (OT), along with ICU and female medicine wards, bore extensive damage after a major fire ripped through the second floor on April 14. All patients were evacuated safely from the premises.

Chief medical superintendent Dr Rajeev Dixit said: “The OT was originally on the first floor, but had to be shifted to the second as the amenities did not meet certain hospital standards. We’ll have to go back to the earlier space until the renovations are complete.” He added 10-15 daily surgeries would still be carried out at the hospital as the temporary OT would be equipped with two surgery tables.

“First, pending cases will be looked after. Then, new cases will be taken. Until then, the new cases will be referred to other government hospitals,” he noted.

As for the makeshift ICU ward, oxygen ports and ventilator facilities must be added to the room, only after which critical care patients could be accommodated there, Dr Dixit added. The actual ICU ward had 10-15 beds.

Meanwhile, the renovations were still in the estimation and approval phase, even as the reports of the two probe teams on the mishap were still awaited. The teams, which had blamed the incident on human error, were said to be still finalising other aspects of the report before submission to authorities. Hindustan Times