Trending News Today: Judge to Hear From Witnesses Opposing CVS-Aetna Merger

Federal Judge Richard Leon plans to hear from witnesses opposed to a Justice Department ruling that approved the merger between CVS and Aetna, The Hill reported. According to the article, Leon inquired in court whether the settlement sufficiently protected industry competition. The American Medical Association and consumer rights groups have reportedly indicated that they wanted to testify, the article reported.

A new study suggested that telemedicine visits may be linked to increased antibiotic prescriptions for children, The Associated Press reported. According to the article, the study looked at more than 340,000 insured pediatric patients who had acute respiratory illness medical visits in 2015 and 2016. The findings showed that children received antibiotic prescriptions more than half the time during telemedicine visits compared with 42% at urgent care clinics and 31% at physicians’ offices, the article reported.

A recent study found that maintaining moderate muscle strength may lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, Reuters reported. According to the article, the study researchers asked 4681 individuals without diabetes to do leg and bench presses to measure muscle strength and to perform treadmill tests to assess their cardiorespiratory fitness. Individuals with moderate muscle strength were 32% less likely to develop diabetes compared with those who scored lowest on moderate muscle strength at the start of the study period, the article reported.