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It’s been a busy November here at STAT, and it ain’t slowing down. I’m writing this on Friday afternoon and everyone’s on Zoom, discussing new coverage ideas. I guess I’m a bit biased, but I think we’ve been doing incredible work covering the election and its consequences. If you want to support our coverage, sign up for a STAT+ subscription. You won’t regret it.
How RFK Jr. could upend decades of vaccine policy
We’ve got two new pieces on Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who plans to dramatically shake up U.S. health care if he’s confirmed as the head of the Department of Health and Human Services.
First, Rachel Cohrs Zhang with a deep dive on how Kennedy could strip legal protections from vaccine makers, even though vaccines eradicate deadly diseases and save millions of lives every year. If vaccine makers are waffling around whether to enter or stay in the market, Americans could be left vulnerable to preventable infectious diseases and biosecurity threats.
Second, several of my colleagues have compiled what Kennedy’s top priorities are likely to be. Here’s what you need to know about RFK Jr.’s views on food, vaccines, abortion, and the FDA.
Why are more young people getting cancer?
With cancer rates among people under age 50 on the rise, researchers and health care executives discussed efforts to detect cancers earlier and save lives at the Milken Institute’s Future of Health Summit last week.
While expanded screenings can explain some of the uptick in cancer prevalence, these procedures are very underutilized. Black women, for example, have a lower incidence of breast cancer than white women but 40% higher chance of dying from it.
“We need to break the stigma of cancer, because right now, what was science fiction is becoming science reality in a clinic next door,” said Mohit Manrao, the head of U.S. oncology at AstraZeneca, referring to recent advances in screening and treatment. Read more about this panel.
Being transgender in the U.S. just got harder
Bathroom bills are back en vogue. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is expected to sign a bill that would mandate all students (including in colleges) use bathrooms that match the gender assigned to them at birth. In Odessa, Texas, city officials announced a $10,000 bounty for anyone willing to turn in a trans person guilty of going to the bathroom. Similar pieces of anti-trans legislation and court cases are cropping up elsewhere.
Thanks to my colleague Theresa Gaffney, we know that health care professionals are worried about how the incoming Trump administration could upend trans health care, particularly through the pledge to halt federal funding of gender-affirming care. Meanwhile, in early December, the Supreme Court is hearing a challenge to Tennessee’s ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for trans minors. Stay tuned.
Forced sterilization shouldn’t be an option for people with disabilities: First Opinion
New guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that forced sterilization should be considered a treatment option for children, adolescents, and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This is a “troubling approach” to reproductive health for this population, said mental health clinician Consuelo Senior in a STAT First Opinion.
Forced sterilization fundamentally violates a person’s bodily autonomy, but people with I/DD have been subject to this procedure for more than a century. Many people view it as a way to keep this population safe, as 90% of people with I/DD will experience sexual abuse at some point in their lives.
Read more about why the new AAP ruling is an issue for the disability community here.
Telehealth prescription rules extended for ADHD and opioid addiction treatments
Federal officials have extended pandemic-era rules that allow health providers to prescribe drugs for opioid addiction and ADHD over telehealth.
This temporary ruling is the Drug Enforcement Agency’s latest punt, and the extension to the end of 2025 will saddle the incoming Trump Administration with a decision. In 2023, the Drug Enforcement Agency released rules for reinstating restrictions that were criticized by telehealth advocates and providers, and last October it extended the flexibilities to the end of this year.
The flexibility allows prescribers to help their patients access treatments such as buprenorphine and Adderall, and has proved a boon to telehealth companies. Read more about the issue from STAT’s Mario Aguilar and Katie Palmer.
First U.S. case of new mpox strain detected in California
California has detected the country’s first case of a new mpox strain that is spreading from person to person, STAT’s Helen Branswell reports . The infected individual had recently traveled from Eastern Africa, where multiple countries are battling transmission of this virus.
The version of the virus the person is infected with is known as clade Ib, which is different from the clade IIb virus that is responsible for the large international mpox outbreak that began in 2022. California health authorities say there’s no concern or evidence that the version is spreading in the U.S. Read more.
What we’re reading
- Organic carrots leaked to E. coli outbreak, Wall Street Journal
- Q&A: American Heart Association president on GLP1-s and ‘common ground’ with the next White House, STAT
- Texas medical school ordered to stop liquefying bodies after using them for training, NBC News
- Some patients are paying up to $50,000 per year in fees for ‘concierge medicine.’ Here’s what’s behind its rise, STAT
- Pay first, deliver later: Some women are being asked to prepay for their baby, KFF Health News