The French National Insurance Fund, known as La Caisse Nationale d’Assurance Maladie, a division reporting to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Economics and Finance in France, has released its annual report containing proposals aimed at achieving financial balance in the nation’s health insurance expenditures. The 100-page document will be submitted to the parliament to be voted upon this fall. “These are precise, concrete recommendations drawn up after an in-depth analysis of trends in expenditure and practices,” said Thomas Fatôme, general director of the National Insurance Fund.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has been aggressively pursuing fraud perpetrated on the American public in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, but the formal end of the U.S. public health emergency might seem to suggest that these efforts would be winding down. Nonetheless, deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco has announced that DOJ will open two new strike force offices under the agency’s COVID fraud operations, making clear that the agency is still intent on chasing down fraudsters across the U.S.

A first-in-human clinical trial conducted by researchers at the Cleveland Clinic demonstrated that deep brain stimulation (DBS) applied to the dentate nucleus region of the cerebellum could help patients recover function in their upper extremities up to three years after a stroke. Results of the study were published in Nature Medicine.

The European Commission has granted CE mark approval to Medtronic plc for its Inceptiv closed-loop rechargeable spinal cord stimulator (SCS). The device is the first Medtronic SCS to sense an individual’s biological cues and make adjustments in real time to control pain all day long. Dublin-based Medtronic plans to launch Inceptiv in Europe in the coming months.

The first special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger announced in 2023 has fallen apart. Aprinoia Therapeutics Inc. and Ross Acquisition Corp. II mutually agreed to call off the merger that had been valued at $280 million. The failed deal is part of a larger trend that has gained momentum in the past year as a struggling economy and tighter U.S. SEC restrictions dampened SPAC deals.