The latest in the legal saga for youth gender-affirming care in the U.S.

Although the headline refers to the legal saga over youth gender-affirming care, the excerpt is a Morning Rounds newsletter and does not include details on that case. It instead rounds up several health-policy and pharmaceutical developments.

HHS laid out new strategies to speed the shift away from animal testing. Starting next February, non-animal research methods can be used when "appropriate" to determine the safety of drugs and biologics under a final FDA rule issued yesterday. At the same time, NIH announced initiatives to encourage non-animal approaches including cell-based assays, organs-on-a-chip, and computer models. STAT's Ed Silverman covered the policies and spoke with advocates on both sides.

On GLP-1s, Eli Lilly CEO Dave Ricks told CNBC Monday that 700,000 seniors have started taking the drugs since July, when Medicare began covering them. Medicare is technically prohibited from paying for weight-loss drugs, but the Trump administration circumvented that law through a demonstration program akin to an experimental pilot. John Wilkerson reported over the summer that this theoretically temporary program may be difficult to end.

Osteoporosis, once a top priority for Lilly, Merck, and Novartis, is drawing fresh drugmaker interest despite poor uptake of existing medicines—many patients avoid them due to side effects and burdensome administration, such as staying upright for 30 minutes and avoiding food for up to an hour. Late last year, the FDA said in December it would allow a new clinical endpoint that could shave years off development timelines, and several companies are already pursuing the opportunity, per STAT's Allison DeAngelis.

Quorum Health, a private-equity-owned hospital system, is converting to a nonprofit—unheard of for a chain, and involving all 11 of its hospitals, most of which serve rural areas. Nonprofit status brings benefits such as tax advantages, discounted drugs, and grant eligibility, but some worry the deal is structured to benefit current investors at the expense of hospitals and patients. One concern raised is whether creditors are taking enough of a discount to leave the hospital company in a viable position.