Picture of the day: digest of the main news from July 2, 2025
Main
#1 The Russian Ministry of Health, together with the Central Research Institute of Health Protection and Institutions, has prepared a draft of methodological recommendations for assessing the feasibility of constructing new medical facilities in the regions. The recommendations contain algorithms for qualifying the demand for new outpatient clinics, hospitals, emergency centers, and high-tech clinics depending on the population, the workload of medical institutions, the staffing situation in regional hospitals, and other criteria. Before investing in new capacities, the authors suggest carefully assessing the situation on the ground. For example, they describe cases where it is more profitable to renovate existing areas or route patients to other clinics and regions of the Russian Federation. Read more in our review .
#2 Roszdravnadzor has developed a draft Procedure for the transfer of information on processed data and the results of actions of medical software using artificial intelligence (AI). According to the draft, regions that use medical devices with AI technologies have the right to send monthly data on their operation to the Roszdravnadzor AIS. The information includes the name of the medical device, the number and date of the RU, the area of application, data on the period for which the information is provided, the number of studies processed, the results of the medical device, as well as data on the number of errors (network and those that occurred during the processing of studies). If approved, the order will be valid until December 31, 2025.
Regulators
The Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation presented a draft of the Rules for the voluntary submission of data on confirmation of the country of origin of products to the state system for monitoring the circulation of goods subject to labeling. The department proposes that domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers purchasing and selling raw materials for the manufacture of drugs and Russian branches of foreign companies in the industry register in the traceability system from September 1, 2025. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has been testing the system since the end of 2023. Initially, the experimental status of the regulation was supposed to expire at the end of 2024, but regulators extended it until the end of August 2025.
Prospects
Pfizer representatives told Vademecum about plans to register Hympavzi (marstacimab) in Russia in the near future – the first drug for the treatment of hemophilia A and B with subcutaneous administration. Last week, the American manufacturer reported positive results of the BASIS phase III clinical trials, which involved patients with hemophilia A or B with inhibitors and antibodies that neutralize the effect of traditional replacement therapy with a clotting factor. The All-Russian Union of Patients called the drug promising and having no direct analogues on the domestic market. In 2024, a total of more than 30 billion rubles were allocated for the purchase of drugs for the treatment of hemophilia and von Willebrand disease under the 14 VZN program.
Initiatives
A special commission of United Russia surveyed authorities in 64 regions to identify problems that prevent the reduction of "bad cholesterol" in cardiac patients, as well as the need for financial support for therapy from the federal authorities. The results showed that at least 12 thousand patients with dyslipidemia need intensive care, and in some regions there is a shortage of "tens of millions" of rubles to treat high cholesterol. The commission believes that this area should be included in the federal project "Combating Cardiovascular Diseases", which has been implemented since 2019.
Artificial intelligence
Scientists from Flinders University in Australia have found that AI-powered chatbots (GPT-4o, Gemini 1.5 Pro, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, and Grok Beta) can be easily reconfigured to consistently provide false answers to medical questions. The authors of the study were able to train large language models (LLM) to supply their texts with fake citations from real scientific journals (The Lancet, The BMJ, Nature, Nature Medicine, Science, JAMA) and create the appearance of authority. Summarizing the results of the work, they pointed to the lack of proper regulation of the language model ecosystem, which could become a catalyst for the spread of medical misinformation.
International agenda
The US Department of Justice has announced the uncovering of a series of fraudulent schemes involving reimbursement of expenses through the national health insurance program, Medicare. The criminals attempted to steal more than $14.6 billion through shell companies, as revealed during Operation Gold Rush, which lasted more than two years. As a result, charges were brought against 324 defendants, including 93 health workers, and more than $245 million in cash, cars and other assets were seized. The actual damage to the Medicare system amounted to $2.9 billion.
Other news:
Putin changes composition of Council for implementation of genetic technology development program
The Lancet: USAID funding cuts could lead to 14 million deaths by 2030
vademec
