Businessman admits role in $19M DME fraud; 5 ‘eras’ of brain development; do llama’s hold the key to Alzheimer’s treatment? — Morning Medical Update

Businessman admits role in $19M DME fraud

A Mississippi businessman has pleaded guilty in a wide-reaching conspiracy that used seven durable medical equipment (DME) companies — some controlled through straw owners — to submit more than $19 million in fraudulent Medicare claims.

Prosecutors say Willie De Gibbs, 53, paid kickbacks for bogus physicians’ orders and billed for medically unnecessary orthotic braces that beneficiaries neither requested nor needed. Gibbs, who owned or controlled all seven entities, will be sentenced in February 2026 and faces up to 10 years in prison.

The case, investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), is part of the ongoing federal crackdown on DME-related fraud, as the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Health Care Fraud Strike Force continues to pursue schemes that have collectively billed tens of billions from federal health programs.

Five ‘eras’ of brain development mapped across the lifespan

A large neuroimaging study of nearly 4,000 people has identified five major developmental “epochs” in the human brain, marked by four significant turning points at approximately ages 9, 32, 66 and 83. Researchers at Cambridge University report that the shift into a mature “adult mode” of neural organization does not occur until the early 30s, after a long adolescence characterized by increasing connectivity efficiency.

Brain architecture then stabilizes for more than three decades before age-related declines in white-matter integrity reshape networks in later life. The Guardian has more.

Do llamas hold the key to Alzheimer’s treatment?

Small nanobodies from camelids may offer a new biologic pathway for treating Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia and other CNS disorders, according to a review in Trends in Pharmacological Sciences. Because these single-chain proteins are roughly one-tenth the size of traditional antibodies, researchers say they can slip across the blood–brain barrier and engage targets with greater specificity and fewer off-target effects.

Preclinical studies in mice suggest nanobodies can modulate neural circuits and even restore normal behavior in models of psychiatric disease. Read more in ScienceDaily.