Exclusive: How one scientist's determination made Novo Nordisk an obesity-drug powerhouse

How we arrived in the Age of Wegovy is a reminder that the path from a scientific discovery to a usable medicine depends on thousands of decisions, any of which can result in the drug's demise. It's also a lesson in the impact one researcher's passionate belief can make in steering those decisions again and again toward success. Read more.

By Megan Molteni

Photo illustration: Alex Hogan/STAT; Source: AP

Exclusive: In an unusual arrangement, UnitedHealth's board chair also owns a personal investment firm

Stephen Hemsley, the former CEO of UnitedHealth Group and its current board chair, also owns an investment firm that manages his own portfolio of UnitedHealth stock and oversees other wealthy individuals' accounts that have held shares of companies that have direct business with or indirect ties to United. Read more.

By Bob Herman

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Is there a nursing shortage in the United States? Depends on whom you ask

Hospitals are frustrated with a nationwide nursing shortage that's only gotten worse since the pandemic. At the same time, National Nurses United insists there isn't a nurse shortage at all. There are plenty enough nurses for the country, they say — merely a shortage of nurses who want to work under current conditions. So who is wrong? Read more.

By Brittany Trang

More great reads from STAT this week

Michael J. Fox on how far Parkinson's research has come: 'We don't want to be celebrated. We want to get things done'
The Ozempic panic: Why a market frenzy over new weight loss drugs defies logic
Exclusive: Zuckerberg and Chan announce a New York biohub to build disease-fighting cellular machines
A 50-year battle over one additive highlights FDA's challenges with food safety
Our expensive obesity drugs are worth it, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly argue in raft of studies
Older adults are vulnerable in a warming climate. Better buildings could help protect them
Opinion: Doctors — and patients — must seek alternatives to long-term steroids