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Some researchers and recovery advocates see the NET device as the latest in a series of products pitched as the solution to the addiction crisis that have been overhyped to capitalize on money from the opioid settlements.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had another tough week. In addition to Kennedy having rotator cuff surgery, the nomination of his ally to become surgeon general is teetering, the controversial head of the FDA's vaccine center is resigning next month, and a new survey shows Americans trust government health officials less than they do former Biden official Anthony Fauci. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
Diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, a California man was prescribed a drug that costs thousands of dollars a month. He said he was reassured that the drugmaker鈥檚 copay card would cover his share, but after two months, the card was empty.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has criticized the broadening use of anxiety medications, claiming they鈥檙e harmful. Doctors and researchers say the MAHA movement is misrepresenting drugs that have been proved to safely treat chronic anxiety and point to broader social changes to explain their increased use.
Aging means 鈥渂ecoming a target鈥 of the industry, one expert said. After decades of debate, politicians of all stripes are proposing bans.
It鈥檚 been a busy week at the FDA, with a political appointee overruling agency scientists to reject an application for a new flu vaccine. Meanwhile, anti-abortion Republicans on Capitol Hill complain the agency is dragging its feet on reviewing the abortion pill mifepristone. Jackie Forti茅r of 吃瓜不打烊, Lizzy Lawrence of Stat, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
PrEP has been available for more than a decade, but billing mistakes, lack of awareness, and lingering stigma keep many people from getting the lifesaving HIV prevention medication.
Many Americans are expected to lose ACA or Medicaid coverage in coming months and years as a result of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the expiration of enhanced pandemic-era subsidies that helped people afford Obamacare plans. Doctors and researchers say there are still ways to find affordable care.
The federal government鈥檚 Vaccine Injury Compensation Program was supposed to help patients with their medical bills while protecting vaccine supply. But allies of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are routinely transferring cases from that program to launch lawsuits against drugmakers.
With abortions still on the rise nationwide despite widespread bans, curtailing the use of pregnancy-terminating medication is a top priority for abortion opponents 鈥 and they鈥檙e frustrated that the Trump administration isn鈥檛 doing more to limit its use.
Lawmakers appear on the brink of passing a spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services and a bipartisan health policy bill delayed for over a year. But the outlook is bleaker for the health care outline released by President Trump last week. Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times, and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews oncologist and bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel to discuss his new book, 鈥淓at Your Ice Cream.鈥
The government is using sickle cell treatments to test a new strategy: paying only if the therapies benefit patients. With more expensive treatments on the horizon, the program 鈥 created by the Biden administration and continued under President Trump 鈥 could help Medicaid save money and treat more patients.
吃瓜不打烊' editor-at-large for public health recently took to the airwaves to discuss topical stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of her appearances.
With lawmakers still mired over renewing enhanced tax credits for Affordable Care Act plans, much of Washington has turned to culture war issues. Meanwhile, 鈥渃onfusion鈥 remains the watchword at HHS as personnel and funding decisions continue to be made and unmade with little notice. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Elisabeth Rosenthal, who wrote the latest 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 report.
Low-income Californians who use Wegovy and similar medications for weight loss lost their coverage at the start of the new year, with officials advising diet and exercise instead. California and other states say the drugs are too costly, even as the Trump administration announces plans to lower prices.
In some studies, half of patients stopped taking GLP-1s within a year despite the benefits, citing the expense and side effects.
It鈥檚 been more than 10 years since the FDA first approved an HIV prevention drug. Today, people who could benefit from preexposure prophylaxis often struggle to access the lifesaving medicine or run into doctors without the education or empathy to offer affirming care. And those lapses can produce billing headaches.
Participants in an FDA panel discussion warned the public about risks from using antidepressants in pregnancy. But mental health issues, including suicide and overdoses, are the leading cause of maternal death in the United States. Antidepressants are a safe, well-studied way to help prevent those deaths, medical experts say.
A session of a vaccine panel dominated by skeptics was chaotically at odds with past practices of the CDC, which HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has described as a 鈥渃esspool of corruption.鈥 His crew voted to end a 34-year recommendation to vaccinate newborns against hepatitis B.
Drug industry officials and analysts praised the FDA鈥檚 plans to streamline regulation of 鈥渂iosimilars,鈥 which are cheaper alternatives to biologic drugs. But patents that block such drugs from the U.S. market are getting harder to fight.
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