Missouri man sentenced in $174M genetic testing fraud; half of U.S. adults plan to try New Year’s diets; new transplant shows promise in aplastic anemia – Morning Medical Update

Missouri man sentenced to 10 years for $174M health care fraud

A Missouri laboratory owner has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for orchestrating a Medicare fraud scheme tied to cancer and cardiovascular genetic testing. Jamie P. McNamara, 50, of Kansas City, ran laboratories in Louisiana and Texas that billed Medicare more than $174 million in just 18 months, collecting over $55 million in reimbursements.

Prosecutors say the operation relied on aggressive telemarketing to recruit beneficiaries, fake telehealth orders signed by physicians with no treating relationship, and illegal kickbacks disguised as contracts. McNamara also shifted billing among labs to evade scrutiny and hid ownership by listing family members on official documents. The government seized luxury vehicles and more than $7 million in bank accounts. McNamara pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and was detained pretrial after violating bond conditions, including cutting off an ankle monitor.

Nearly half of U.S. adults resolve to start new diet in 2026

Nearly half of U.S. adults say starting a new diet is among their New Year’s resolutions for 2026, according to a Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine/Morning Consult survey, but relatively few plan to try a plant-based approach.

In the poll of more than 2,200 adults, 42% said they intend to eat fewer calories and 28% plan a low-carbohydrate diet, while just 6% said they would adopt a plant-based or vegan diet. That’s despite more than 80% of respondents saying grocery costs are an important factor in choosing a weight-loss plan and research showing plant-based diets can be both less expensive and effective for weight loss.

New umbilical cord blood transplant offers new hope for severe aplastic anemia

A National Institutes of Health (NIH) study suggests a new cord blood transplant approach could be life-saving for patients with severe aplastic anemia who have run out of treatment options. Using an expanded umbilical cord blood product called omidubicel, 94% of patients were alive and complication-free after transplant, with white blood cell counts recovering in just over a week, which is much faster than is typical with standard cord blood transplants. All participants had failed immunosuppressive therapy and lacked a matched donor, a common barrier in this disease. Researchers said the results were far better than expected for such high-risk patients.