Get your daily dose of health and medicine every weekday with Morning Rounds, STAT’s free newsletter. Sign up here.
good morning. It’s the last day of Pride Month. Here are some gay things I’ve enjoyed recently. The movie Maddie’s Secret, MUNA’s new album, a gay pickup soccer group, and Matcha Latte.
Conflict of Interest Concerns Regarding FDA Peptide Panelists
Yesterday, the FDA announced the names of eight new panelists who will serve on a committee that will advise the FDA on the possibility of allowing compounding pharmacies to manufacture certain peptides. However, STAT’s Lizzie Lawrence and Sarah Todd report that the majority of these new members are involved in companies that promote or prescribe peptides. That means they will consider rule changes that could directly benefit them.
“The key question appears to be whether this ‘stacked’ (committee) can effectively override FDA staff who may continue to have concerns about switching to a list where these peptide formulations are allowed,” said biologist and STAT contributor Paul Knopfler, who wrote a paper this spring predicting a review of the peptide committee. Read more from Lizzie and Sarah about new members and their potential conflicts of interest.
Half of states file lawsuits over Medicaid work requirements
Yesterday, 26 states sued the federal government to block work requirements for Medicaid enrollees. The new rules, set to go into effect next year, will require most adults on Medicaid to prove they work, go to school or volunteer at least 80 hours a month. There are some exceptions, and the new lawsuit is particularly concerned with an exception for “medically frail” people.
Several of my STAT colleagues reported on the surprisingly strict mandate here this month. This means that to qualify for the medical frailty exception, you must have a serious medical condition, and you must also prove that your medical condition impairs your ability to work. Experts told STAT that the new rules upend the planning efforts of state health officials and create more work for both beneficiaries and clinicians. Read more about the lawsuit.
Supreme Court agrees to another gender-affirming care case
Also yesterday: The Supreme Court confirmed six new cases for next hearing, including another case related to transgender care, this time regarding parental rights for youth who run away from home and want to receive gender-affirming medical care.
Starting in 2023, Washington state law says shelters do not have to notify parents if a youth staying in a shelter is seeking gender-affirming or reproductive care or if there is a risk of parental abuse or neglect. A group of parents is challenging the law, along with laws allowing adolescents to consent to outpatient psychiatric treatment.
The San Francisco Court of Appeals said the parents did not have a strong enough case of harm to sue. The Supreme Court has ruled against families who want to help their children receive gender-affirming care in recent years. Many advocates and scholars say the government’s ban on politicized health care is itself a ban on parental rights. RELATED: The Supreme Court is expected to announce decisions later this morning on two cases involving transgender youth who play sports.
Trump administration and MAHA take lax views on drinking
President Trump doesn’t drink alcohol. In 2018, he said he had never drank beer in his life. So did Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who said he attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings as many as eight times a week. Despite these strong personal preferences, the Trump administration has downplayed the risks of alcohol and actively derailed efforts to understand and prevent alcohol-related harm, a STAT investigation found.
“If you’re serious about fixing all the negative effects in society and you’re going to turn a blind eye to alcohol, you’re not that committed,” said Mike Marshall, CEO of the American Alcohol Policy Alliance. In the latest episode of The Deadliest Drug, STAT’s Isabella Cueto and Lev Futcher explain exactly how Trump officials have derailed alcohol research and prevention.
Study: Flu and coronavirus shots can be safely given together
A large new study provided more evidence about the safety of both the COVID-19 vaccine and the safety of giving the COVID-19 vaccine at the same time as the influenza vaccine. The study, conducted at the University of Washington School of Medicine, looked at reports of side effects among veterans who received both vaccines in the same visit or just the flu shot. The study analyzed side effects in three different time periods from 2022 to 2025. There was no change in the safety profile of the vaccine during these three time periods.
Researchers studied a group of 2.5 million veterans, 1.8 million of whom received only the flu shot, and 700,000 of whom received both the coronavirus and influenza shots during the same visit. Scientists looked at the incidence of 46 potential side effects during the 90 days after vaccination. There were no side effects that occurred at a high rate in the group that received both vaccinations. The study did not investigate whether the effectiveness of either or both would be reduced if the vaccines were given at the same visit. However, other studies have shown that administering the vaccines together does not significantly reduce the effectiveness of either and may increase uptake. The study was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. — Helen Branswell
Why does Florida require high school students to undergo EKG tests?
Starting this fall, Florida’s Second Chance Law will make it the first and only state in the nation to require electrocardiograms for all high school athletes. While this is a well-intentioned law, it will almost certainly lead to unnecessary stress and expense, writes medical student Katherine Hoffman in a new First Opinion essay.
Up to 15% of electrocardiogram screenings can produce false-positive results in healthy young people with no history of heart disease. That means as many as 3 in 20 students will undergo unnecessary additional testing that districts are not required to do by law. read more.
what we are reading
-
Supreme Court rejects legal battle over New York City’s coronavirus vaccination requirement for health care workers, CBS News
-
$22,000 an hour: assistants exploit legal loopholes to outpay surgeons, New York Times
- Loopholes in President Trump’s obesity drug deals with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, STAT
- People take allergy and heartburn medications for PMS. Will it work? NPR
- 5 takeaways from STAT’s survey of micro-hospital operator Nutex Health, STAT
