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Good morning. My co-workers and pals Isabella Cueto and Lev Facher have been talking about alcohol for years. As STAT’s reporters on chronic disease and addiction, respectively, it’s right at the intersection of their beats, yet rarely covered as a public health issue. I’m happy to share that all their talking turned to reporting, and now an incredible series. The first parts are up now. Scroll down or skip ahead to start reading.
Supreme Court extends mifepristone deadline
The Supreme Court needs three more days to decide how it will rule regarding restrictions on the abortion drug mifepristone. The case at hand, Louisiana v. FDA, arrived at the Supreme Court after a federal appeals court ruling reinstated a requirement for providers to dispense the drug in person. Now, the medication will remain available through the mail and at pharmacies after telehealth appointments until at least the end of the day Thursday. The AP has the latest.
Such a short extension isn’t completely unheard of — the Supreme Court took similar steps a few years ago when reviewing another challenge to mifepristone, before eventually allowing mail orders to continue as legal proceedings moved along. “The fundamental question is: Who gets to regulate mifepristone?” Laurie Sobel, an associate director for women’s health policy at KFF, told me last week.
Goodbye PCOS, hello PMOS
Experts have wanted to rename polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) for more than a decade. With a paper published this morning in The Lancet, they’ve finally done it. The endocrinological disorder — a leading cause of infertility associated with issues like high androgen levels, insulin resistance, and enlarged ovaries — will now be known as polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS).
The changes may seem small, but they required a massive scientific effort. STAT’s Annalisa Merelli, who reported last month on the efforts to create a new name, has the details on how PMOS was finally chosen. Read more.
Inside the battle of sepsis algorithms
More than 40% of hospitals around the country use Epic’s electronic health records system. So even though the first version of the company’s sepsis algorithm was, as STAT’s Katie Palmer puts it, “a technical flop,” it’s used at more than 700 hospitals, per the company. “Epic is easy to buy, and easy to blame,” said AI researcher Shamim Nemati. But Epic’s competition is growing as more startups test their own sepsis models in health systems. Today, Bayesian Health announced that its sepsis flagging device received FDA clearance, something that algorithms from Epic and Oracle Health don’t have.
While you might imagine that health systems choose the best sepsis algorithm available, experts told Katie the decision is actually dictated by more practical realities and market forces. In Part 2 of her series “Paying for AI,” Katie explains why performance doesn’t guarantee adoption and what that means for the future. Read more, and if you missed Part 1 on algorithms that could review CT scans for heart risk, catch up here.
STAT examines America’s hidden alcohol epidemic
Alcohol kills nearly 500 Americans every day — more than every infectious disease combined. It’s our most popular and most harmful mind-altering substance, but not since the Prohibition era has it been treated as a public health emergency. Political leaders tend to ignore it: Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign, Obama’s “drug policy for the 21st century,” and, recently, the Trump-aligned MAHA movement have all focused on harms caused by other substances.
In the new investigative series, “The Deadliest Drug,” STAT’s Isabella Cueto and Lev Facher expose how a lack of public scrutiny combines with powerful special interests to keep people in power from acting in the nation’s best interest on alcohol. They interviewed more than 100 researchers, public health experts, doctors, patients, industry insiders, and lawmakers. They reviewed the scientific literature, treatment protocols, public health guidance, and lobbying disclosures from alcohol companies and trade groups.
“The more we’ve reported on this, the clearer it’s become that ignoring the harms of heavy and binge drinking will have massive repercussions on the nation’s health for decades to come,” Isa told me. The numbers are hard to forget. “I’ve started thinking much more deeply and intently about my drinking,” she added.
The first two stories are out today. The first sets the stakes, mapping the existing data on the 178,000 alcohol deaths that occur each year and explaining how the Trump administration is squandering a rare opportunity to tackle this epidemic. The second story, written by Isa with STAT editor Amanda Erickson, goes into the exam room, where doctors still struggle to talk with patients about drinking. Inconsistent screening can lead to worse outcomes for individuals and at a broader population level, but some health systems have found workable solutions.
Read Part 1 and Part 2 now. And bookmark this page to find future installments.
Trump admin takes new approaches on vapes, kratom
And regarding those other substances, we have two quick pieces of news:
On Friday, the FDA handed the tobacco industry another win with a policy that one expert called a “get-out-of-jail-free card” to some manufacturers illegally selling e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches. Essentially, the FDA said it would not go after illegal sales of vapes and nicotine pouches as long as manufacturers met two simple conditions. Read more from STAT’s Sarah Todd on the details and how experts reacted.
And yesterday, President Trump made comments that seemingly ran counter to his administration’s prior actions on 7-OH, an opioid derived from the naturally occurring kratom plant. “We’re looking very seriously at natural 7-OH and getting that approved,” Trump said. But just last year, officials moved to schedule the compound under the Controlled Substances Act, warning it could cause addiction and even death. Read more from Lev.
What we’re reading
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6 takeaways from STAT’s investigation into the U.S. alcohol epidemic, STAT
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Kennedy is driving a vast inquiry into vaccines, despite his public silence, New York Times
- Patients jockey for exemptions from Medicaid’s new work requirements, STAT
- The fate of 21 Los Angeles siblings, New Yorker
- Marketers say NAD+ pills and infusions can boost longevity. What’s the evidence? NPR
What’s the word? Test your knowledge with today’s STAT Mini crossword.