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good morning. Tomorrow is the deadline for filing taxes. Godspeed for anyone in a hurry for takeout tonight or tomorrow.
CMS moves forward with technology-focused chronic care experiments
More than 150 companies and health care providers have been tentatively approved to participate in an experimental Medicare program aimed at expanding access to chronic care through technology. CMS will pay participants, including popular mental health apps, wearable device makers, and life science companies partnered with Google, a set fee to treat chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, musculoskeletal pain, anxiety, and depression.
Officials say 70% of Medicare beneficiaries could be eligible for the program, which may be why so many companies have expressed interest. For more information, read Mario Aguilar’s article at STAT. The long-term question at stake in this decade-long experiment, he said, is whether it can reduce Medicare costs while maintaining or improving the quality of care.
Some U.S. water systems lack fluoride
During the 2024 presidential campaign, current Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promised to remove fluoride from drinking water. Although that hasn’t actually happened, another unforeseen factor is hampering the ability of some U.S. water utilities to fluoridate water at recommended levels. It’s a war in Iran. As the Associated Press reported yesterday, Israel is one of the world’s leading exporters of fluorosilicic acid, but at least one of its suppliers is struggling as workers are called up for active military service.
So far, a small number of U.S. water utilities have been affected, providing water to hundreds of thousands of people, according to the Associated Press. And experts say shortages are likely to continue if the violence continues.
Good news about research funding
Good news arrived in the inboxes of hundreds of students Sunday evening when the National Science Foundation announced the winners of its Graduate Research Fellowship Program. This prestigious program provides students with three years of funding to support their postgraduate studies. The situation was shaken up last year when the government initially decided to halve the number of awards being awarded and significantly prioritize research in quantum computing and computer science.
The NSF appeared to be receiving a spike in more applications than usual, and researchers feared the turmoil could continue into 2026. However, those concerns were unfounded. The institution has funded its largest number of students to date, and the proportion of students pursuing biology research has also increased from last year, according to a list of winners announced Sunday. Read more from my colleague Jonathan Wosen about the unexplained rejections from earlier this year and how the uncertainty around the GRFP is contributing to a difficult environment for first-year PhD students. — Anil Oza
Why key WHO staff members can’t sleep at night
The current WHO director-general’s second and final term ends next summer, but discussions have already begun on who will replace him. Hanan Balki, who heads the group’s Eastern Mediterranean region, has emerged as the frontrunner. But she is already fully prepared. Her region includes many countries involved in the Iran war.
“What I’m concerned about at this particular moment is further escalation to full-scale nuclear, biological or chemical warfare,” Balki told STAT’s Helen Branswell. Read their conversation to gain insight into the complexities of her work in international conflicts, and whether she intends to join the race to lead the WHO.
How family relationships affect brain recovery
When children and teens sustain a traumatic brain injury, they can be at increased risk for physical and mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, headaches, and chronic pain. A study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open found that “family resilience” and “child flourishing” were associated with lower odds of poor outcomes, while adverse childhood experiences accentuated these risks.
It has long been understood that adverse childhood experiences are an important risk factor for mental and physical health. Family resilience encapsulates how families respond to stress, communicate, and mobilize during crises and major events. Flourishing refers to how much interest, curiosity, and security young people have when learning new things or facing challenges. In this study, these measures were calculated based on federal survey responses from caregivers. Youth from more resilient families had fewer problems post-recovery than youth from difficult families.
“Clinically, these results highlight the value of integrating strength-based family resilience approaches into pediatric traumatic brain injury care to promote overall recovery and well-being,” the authors wrote, adding that future research should develop such interventions.
The disastrous age-based approval situation for rare disease drugs
In 20 years, there has been only one FDA-approved treatment for Hunter syndrome, a rare disease caused by a deficiency in enzymes needed to break down sugars called glycosaminoglycans. That was until this spring, when a government agency granted early approval to another drug. Nathan Grant, an MD-MBA student whose twins have a severe form of Hunter syndrome, knows he should have been happy about the progress. However, the drug is only approved for people up to the age of 16 (his brother is 28).
“Since his diagnosis at age 2, my brother has gradually lost his ability to communicate verbally and is now completely dependent on others for his care,” Grant writes in a new first opinion essay. “Surviving into adulthood should not mean being excluded from hopeful treatment.” Read more.
what we are reading
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New report details safety issues that led to closure of Miami organ recovery group, Miami Herald
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New study finds higher cancer rates near large livestock operations in three states, Inside Climate News
- Dana Farber CEO untangles General Brigham and talks about building new Boston Globe cancer hospital
- Can Red Light Therapy Really Improve Beauty and Health? Here’s the Science, NPR
- For Ben Sasse, Revolution Medicines’ pancreatic cancer trial felt like the best and only option: STAT.
