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Doctors who supported the telemedicine GLP-1 boom
In recent months, the FDA has focused on telemedicine companies and issued warnings about their marketing practices for compounded weight loss drugs. But it’s worth remembering that companies don’t actually prescribe these drugs directly. It is performed by a doctor from an affiliated medical group. A new analysis by STAT’s Katie Palmer also shows that a small number of medical organizations provide doctors to a wide range of telemedicine companies.
Of the more than 70 telemedicine companies flagged by the FDA in the past six months, only four have publicly announced at least 30% of their affiliation with a national healthcare organization, Katie’s research found. The FDA has no authority over these entities, only state medical boards regulate individual prescribers. As people become more aware of the complex model behind direct-to-consumer prescribing, there may be long-term implications for patients and prescribers. Read more from Katie on how things unfolded.
8 years
This is the period during which the composition of a person’s gut microbiome can be affected by the administration of oral antibiotics, according to research published this week in Nature Medicine. A study of about 15,000 people in Sweden found that those who took antibiotics within a year of testing had a significantly reduced diversity of gut microbiome samples. However, significant loss of diversity was also seen when antibiotic administration occurred 1–4 and 4–8 years ago. Certain antibiotics had the strongest associations: clindamycin, fluoroquinolones, and flucloxacillin. Penicillin V, which is common outside Sweden, caused small, short-term changes in the intestines. Researchers are collecting additional samples from nearly half of the participants to obtain more long-term data.
NIH Whistleblower Warning
As a program officer at the NIH, Jenna Norton witnessed firsthand the Trump administration’s seismic transformation of science and research last year. She refused to remain silent about what she saw and spoke out both internally and publicly. She took a leave of absence in November. HHS officials called her a “radical leftist” in national media. But when asked if she regretted her decision to speak out, Norton said there was no doubt she would make the same choice again.
“Scientists are often encouraged to avoid politics,” Norton writes, pointing to a recent essay by Science magazine editor Holden Thorp that praises both loud and quiet resistance. “But even if this advice was correct in the first place, this advice is outdated.” Read more about Norton’s experience and her problems with Thorp’s argument.
Momentum grows to establish a men’s health room at HHS
For a quarter of a century, lawmakers have introduced legislation in Congress that would create an Office of Men’s Health within the Federal Health Service. “The Office of Women’s Health has done great things for women on so many levels,” said Paul Turek, director of the Turek Clinic and a longtime men’s health advocate.
The moment may have finally come. The latest bill has four sponsors, split evenly between Democrats and Republicans. The American Medical Association, which has emphasized cooperating as much as possible with the Trump administration, supported the bill for the first time. HHS officials have repeatedly emphasized the importance of (cisgender) men’s health as part of MAHA’s agenda. STAT’s Annalisa Merelli has more details about the initiative, which is said to have the potential to help people live longer in men.
Neurology Group Releases Wearable Guidance
The American Academy of Neurology yesterday released informal guidance for neurologists on the use of wearable devices such as smartwatches and fitness trackers to monitor health status and vital signs. This is a timely notice. Trump administration officials have repeatedly emphasized the potential of wearable devices for health, and the FDA recently decided to broadly ease regulations for digital health products, including relaxing its stance on consumer devices.
This guidance does not specifically address standard of care, but rather demonstrates the potential for wearables to improve the quantity and quality of patient data. Among the suggestions are that devices that measure heart rate may provide clues about seizures, that sleep detection devices are usually well-validated, easy to access and comfortable to use, and that data about movement (‘actiography’) can be used to help people with headache disorders. Still, there is limited evidence on how device data can be applied to neurology.
You can read all of STAT’s wearables articles here.
what we are reading
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Technology is changing the face of sleep apnea treatment, Wired
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Autism treatment boom is fastest-growing Medicaid jackpot, Wall Street Journal
- This year marks the 50th anniversary of the U.S. biotechnology industry. What will the next 50 years look like? status
- Pediatricians navigate a sea of ​​misinformation when talking to parents about vaccines, New York Times
