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IIn a story by Anil Oza of STAT, I heard that researcher and physician Alex Keuroghlian recently discovered the first editorial on transgender health research throughout the 150-year history of the journal Science. And the backstory is almost as cool: Keuroghlian first met Science editor-in-chief Holden Thorp this spring at a dinner celebrating the 2024 STATUS list.
JD Vance tries to clarify Trump’s ‘concept of a plan’ for health insurance
Former President Trump memorably said he had a “draft of a plan” to replace the Affordable Care Act in the recent presidential debate with Vice President Harris. Trump’s running mate JD Vance tried to elaborate on that in a recent NBC interview, saying, “You want to make sure that pre-existing coverage – conditions – are covered.” He then said people should be put into risk pools, rather than a “one-size-fits-all approach that puts many people in the same insurance pools.”
It’s unclear what kind of system Vance envisioned, and Trump’s platform makes no mention of the ACA at all. The confusion has given Democrats a new line of attack, according to the report by STAT John Wilkerson and Sarah Owermohle.
“This is what it means,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden said Tuesday. “The concepts proposed by JD Vance are a recipe for discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions.”
Read more from John and Sarah back and forth. And for more DC news, read another story from Sarah about yesterday’s failed vote on IVF protection in the Senate.
Should myopia be an official diagnosis?
It is difficult to determine exactly how many people are nearsighted today, but the number is increasing. Yet doctors have no clear consensus on the diagnostic criteria for myopia (the more romantic name for nearsightedness), and data collection is not standardized. A new, large one report of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommends that the CDC and WHO work together to streamline medical understanding of the condition. The authors also recommend that Medicare and Medicaid classify myopia as a disease requiring an official diagnosis so that health agencies and other stakeholders invest more in prevention and treatment.
In the meantime, the authors pointed out the importance of children spending time outdoors (at least 1 hour per day!) to strengthen vision. Children are using electronic devices like smartphones earlier and more often than ever before, and research shows that screen time and time outdoors are negatively correlated. But the evidence is complex when it comes to how many problems the screens themselves pose. ‘Almost work’ in office jobs has long been associated with myopia. More research is needed to better understand the impact of all types of screens on myopia in young people, the report concludes.
The investigation was withdrawn last year. We are still seeing the consequences.
A Springer Nature journal published an online survey among 1,700 parents whose children had gender dysphoria at the end of March last year. The piece was withdrawn by mid-June. Outside researchers were quick to point out that the study authors had not obtained proper parental consent. Moreover, it was a self-selecting group of people, all of whom had visited a website that expressed clearly biased opinions about gender-affirming care.
“Yes, there are certain things that could have been done better,” Michael Bailey, a psychologist at Northwestern University and co-author of the retracted study, told STAT’s Anil Oza. “[But]., all research is imperfect.”
From that point on, the story becomes more complicated, culminating in the resignation of an editor at another Nature journal. Experts say the saga is an example of an important shift in the way academics view research on transgender and other marginalized communities. It is the idea of ’nothing about us without us’, which aims to ensure that the subjects of scientific research play a central role in shaping it. Read more.
Former CDC Director Walensky on how to end HIV drug experiments in Africa
The latest miracle drug in HIV prevention received a standing ovation at this year’s International AIDS Conference. Gildead’s injectable drug Lenacapavir was 100% successful in preventing the virus in adolescent girls and young women in two African countries. But it is unclear whether this vulnerable population group – African women have extremely high rates of HIV infections – will benefit from the treatment.
“And if history is any guide, this could be a nightmare,” write former CDC Director Rochelle Walensky and physician Mark Siedner in a new First Opion essay. Drug companies will often test HIV drugs among young women in Africa because the higher infection rate makes it faster and cheaper to do so. But they rarely make these treatments quickly and affordably accessible in African countries. “Tested in Africa, used in America,” reads the First Opinion headline. So what can be done? Read more from Walensky and Siedner about how to break this pattern.
Does Tupperware plastic leak into your food? (It’s complicated)
Food contact materials, such as waxed paper, cardboard and plastic containers, contain chemicals that keep them waterproof, grease-free or structurally sound. Most studies investigating whether these chemicals end up in food use unrealistic conditions, such as soaking those materials in liquids similar to vodka — which isn’t exactly comparable to canned soup, salad dressing or a glazed donut.
A new study took a different approach to estimating human exposure to these compounds: browsing biomonitoring programs and databases to see which chemicals have been detected in humans, and comparing that to lists of food packaging chemicals. The study found that 25% of the 14,000 known chemicals that come into contact with food have been found in humans.
While the study suggests the US needs stricter regulations on these chemicals, it also reveals gaps in our knowledge. The evidence that food packaging alone was responsible for that 25% is limited for some of the substances; some are rarely found in packaging and may have entered humans through other exposures. And only about 40% of the chemicals detected were of high or moderate concern, but that’s partly because we didn’t do enough research to determine whether the other chemicals are harmful, the authors noted.
— Brittany Trang
What we read
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Doctors cured her sickle cell disease. Then why is she still in pain? Nature
- 12 people shaping the development of psychedelic drugs, STAT
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Decades of national suicide prevention policies have not slowed the number of deaths. KFF Health News
- The US should follow California’s lead in banning toxic chemicals in IV bags and tubes, STAT
- Most Latinx immigrants said they did not know abortion was legal in New Jersey. Meet the group helping the state understand why, Next city
- From Epic to FDA, all the leaders who presented at HHS’s AI in Healthcare event, STAT