AI-driven Medicaid fraud exposed; strength training tops diet strategies; why Novo Nordisk is suing Hims & Hers – Morning Medical Update

‘Fraud tourists’ used AI to steal $3.5M from Minnesota Medicaid housing program

Two Pennsylvania men pleaded guilty to wire fraud after repeatedly traveling to Minneapolis to bill Minnesota’s Medicaid-funded Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) program for services they never provided. According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Anthony Waddell Jefferson, 37, and Lester Brown, 53, both of Philadelphia, marketed themselves as “The Housing Guys,” repeatedly traveling to Minneapolis to recruit Medicaid beneficiaries at homeless shelters and Section 8 housing facilities. When insurers questioned their claims, they reportedly used AI tools like ChatGPT to fabricate client records and emails, netting roughly $3.5 million over three years.

Strength training delivers higher-quality weight loss

A new study from Tel Aviv University found that, although people lost similar amounts of weight on a calorie-restricted diet regardless of exercise, only those who did resistance training primarily lost fat while preserving — or even gaining — muscle. Participants who skipped exercise or relied solely on aerobic workouts lost significant muscle mass, a change linked to slower metabolism, higher regain risk and poorer long-term health, underscoring strength training as a key component of sustainable weight loss for both men and women. The full study is published in Frontiers in Endocrinology.

Why Novo Nordisk is suing Hims & Hers

Novo Nordisk is suing telehealth company Hims & Hers, arguing that it is illegally selling compounded versions of Wegovy and Ozempic after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declared semaglutide no longer in shortage.

Novo says Hims’ products infringe its patents, bypass FDA safety review and mislead patients by claiming to contain the same active ingredient as branded drugs, even though Novo does not sell semaglutide for compounding. The lawsuit marks Novo’s first U.S. patent case targeting a large telehealth company over GLP-1 compounding, escalating a broader effort to rein in what it calls a “wild west” market that expanded during the drug shortage but, Novo argues, should have ended once supply stabilized. Reuters has more. Find Novo Nordisk’s official statement here.