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Happy Friday. Yesterday I spent an hour watching sea otters jumping around at the Vancouver Aquarium. We hope your weekend is as cozy and playful as these stylish boys.
Supreme Court’s conversion therapy decision could have medical repercussions
This week’s Supreme Court decision banning mental health providers who engage in “conversion therapy” could have implications far beyond LGBTQ+ rights, potentially affecting how state medical boards regulate some types of medical care, such as the advice doctors give patients about vaccines.
The bigger impact comes from the judge’s decision to classify talk therapy as “speech” rather than professional conduct. Some experts say this choice could impede states’ ability to create regulations and guidelines regarding the specific types of speech (and thus care) that health care providers can engage in. Children’s Health Defense, a vaccine skeptic group formerly led by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said the decision could help two pending medical free speech lawsuits filed by the group.
STAT’s Teresa Gaffney has written a great read that delves into the legal implications of the ruling and why the justices’ preference for a “free market of ideas” in medicine could backfire.
President Trump begins negotiations to raise tariffs on branded drugs
The Trump administration continues its efforts to rein in the pharmaceutical industry, announcing yesterday a 100% tariff on imported brand-name drugs, but with a big caveat.
The tax would not affect many major pharmaceutical companies, which already have agreements with the United States to build manufacturing facilities here and lower drug prices. Pharmaceutical companies that don’t have such deals but have committed to bringing production to the United States could see tariffs cut to 20% for the remainder of President Trump’s term.
While the tariffs are not a surprise to the industry, they raise many questions about how tariffs are enacted and how companies work to avoid them, such as by striking deals with governments. Wouldn’t this create an “unfair two-tiered structure”? STAT’s Daniel Payne breaks into details, including small businesses seeking new deals with President Trump.
Thursday was World Autism Awareness Day. Did HHS…celebrate with a workout?
Kennedy and other health officials held an Autism Awareness Day “celebration and workout” Thursday to highlight the federal government’s efforts to support the autism community. The program included “engaging fitness activities” and participants were encouraged to wear “sporty attire/athleisure.”
Confused? So was I. What is the relationship between autism and exercise?
When I asked an HHS spokesperson why President Kennedy included a workout as part of the celebration, she said, “Incorporating movement and physical activity reflects research showing that movement and exercise support overall health and have positive effects for many people with autism.”
I asked for clarification, not because I don’t think autistic people can do push-ups, but because I wanted to know why this was the focus of the event. Exercise is just as beneficial for people with autism as it is for people without autism. But Kennedy also spent his time as secretary promoting harmful stereotypes about people with autism, promoting debunked claims that vaccines can cause autism, and removing web pages warning people not to use controversial and potentially dangerous treatments. Thursday’s rally seemed strange to many, with one autistic person calling it “very strange.”
A huge shout out to independent journalist Marisa Cabas who was the first to report on the existence of this event.
Harvard researchers confirm treatment benefits for tick-borne diseases
Medical procedures involving red blood cell transfusions appear to reduce the risk of death or readmission in cases of severe babesiosis, according to a study published this week in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Babesiosis is a dangerous tick-borne infection transmitted by the same type of tick that can transmit Lyme disease, and can cause multiple organ failure and death in some cases. A team led by scientists from Massachusetts General Brigham and the Yale School of Public Health examined the records of more than 3,000 patients hospitalized with babesiosis from 2010 to 2024. Among 629 critically ill patients, those who received a blood transfusion during the first seven days had a five-fold lower risk of in-hospital death or readmission after 30 days.
This process rapidly reduces the number of infected red blood cells in a patient’s body and replaces them with donor cells, corresponding author David Leaf told STAT. Although the process is sometimes used, there has been a lack of evidence of its effectiveness so far, he said, so there is wide variation in how often it is used. The study results are welcome news for thousands of babesiosis patients in the United States. — Helen Branswell
Netflix subscription model for HIV treatment?
If you’re a loyal reader of STAT, you’re already familiar with the incredible promise and power of lenacapavir. Lenacapavir is a drug that provides almost complete protection against HIV infection when given once every six months. You also already know how big of a deal that $28,218 per person per year is. In a new first-opinion essay, Johns Hopkins physician Michael Rose proposes the Netflix model as a solution.
Several states (Louisiana, Washington) have already implemented this model for hepatitis C antivirals. “Similar to the streaming services that revolutionized the way the world watches movies, insurance companies negotiated subscription payments with manufacturers in exchange for unlimited access to treatments,” Rose wrote. Read more about how this can help prevent HIV.
(Meanwhile, Gilead Sciences, the pharmaceutical company that developed lenacapavir, has reportedly refused to sell the breakthrough drug for widespread global distribution.)
what we are reading
- Beyond detection: In the era of clinical AI, what makes an FDA “breakthrough” medical device? status
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Vaccine industry troubleshoots future survival, NOTUS
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Iran’s Pasteur Medical Research Center suffers ‘heavy damage’ due to strike, Telegraph
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State-run foster care insurance system leaves some foster children without a doctor, KFF Health News
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Diabetes advocates are outraged as bipartisan bill revives efforts to reduce insulin costs, Associated Press
