Francis Collins on his new (interim) gig

(BILL CLARK/CQ ROLL CALL/AP)

So 2022 isn’t turning out the way Francis Collins (pictured) might have planned, STAT’s Lev Facher deadpans about “the mustachioed, Harley-riding geneticist.” You'll recall he retired as NIH director but quickly answered President Biden’s call to serve as interim science adviser after Eric Lander resigned amid a workplace-abuse scandal. In an interview, Collins shared his takes on:

Stepping up: “When the president says, ‘I need you to come and be my science adviser, at least on an interim basis,’ you can’t say no.”
Diversity in leadership: “It’s still the case that the good old boy network seems to primarily put forward ideas about who could be leaders of this sort who are white men. Once you get past that and say: ‘Wait a minute, let’s really look at the talent that’s out there,’ it’s clear that there are plenty of remarkable leaders, and it’s time to give them a chance.”
His band, the Affordable Rock ’n’ Roll Act: “We were going to have a rehearsal last night, outdoors … but three members of the band said they had Covid.”

You can read the full interview here.

Language barriers can silence parents' questions about their hospitalized children

Parents know their children best. Their vigilance forms a valuable bulwark against medical errors when their child is in the hospital. But language barriers can undo that advantage. A study in JAMA Pediatrics that surveyed families at pediatric units in 21 hospitals found that people not proficient in English were nearly two times less likely to say they are unafraid of asking questions “when something does not seem right,” four times less likely to say they “will freely speak up” if they see something that may negatively affect care, and five times less likely to say they “feel free to question the decisions or actions of health care providers.”

“Providers and hospitals need to do a better job of making patients who don’t speak English feel safe speaking up and asking questions,” study author Alisa Khan told STAT’s Edward Chen.

Apple Watch software to track Parkinson’s gets FDA go-ahead

Keeping track of Parkinson's disease symptoms with a smartwatch could become possible for more people living with the movement disorder after FDA clearance of new software that enables tracking via Apple Watch. Yesterday Rune Labs, a neurological data startup run by Brian Pepin, a former engineer from Verily, got the green light for StrivePD. The system collects data on tremors and other symptoms in an iPhone app, allowing patients to record symptoms and keep tabs on medication.

Rune has also partnered with Medtronic to pilot data collection from its Percept PC Deep Brain Stimulation device. Integrating data from these devices makes it a kind of one-stop shop for clinicians and clinical trial sponsors who want to review data, STAT’s Mario Aguilar reports. And the ubiquity of the Apple Watch and iPhone — although out of reach for many people — could help doctors monitor patients between visits.

Closer look: ‘More smoke than fire’ in FTC suits blocking hospital mergers

(SAUL LOEB/POOL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES)

Two lawsuits against hospital mergers announced the same day may look like the FTC under Chair Lina Khan (pictured) is flexing its muscle to restrain deals that raise prices. But those complaints are “more smoke than fire,” Ken Field, a former FTC lawyer and current co-chair of Jones Day’s global health care practice, told STAT’s Tara Bannow. The real target shouldn’t be the mergers in Utah and New Jersey between hospitals, antitrust experts said, but something called vertical mergers, in which hospitals buy up physician groups. After such deals, doctors spent $73 million more on 10 common imaging and lab tests over four years, a 2021 Health Affairs study found. An FTC spokesperson didn’t comment on the agency’s strategy with respect to hospital consolidation. Read more on what to watch for in the FTC’s approach.

Medical cannabis programs see four-fold jump

Cannabis is certainly more visible on the retail level, but what about in health care? Medical cannabis programs more than quadrupled their enrollment between 2016 and 2020, with chronic pain leading the list of conditions patients must specify to qualify for treatment. A new study in Annals of Internal Medicine reports enrollment clustered in states with medical-only programs while states that also allow recreational use saw their numbers plateau or fall.

Silvia Martins, an epidemiologist at Columbia University specializing in substance use, said patients and doctors may be more willing to try cannabis to alleviate chronic pain because it’s one of the few conditions backed by evidence-based research showing cannabis can help. “Even for chronic pain, we need more evidence, but for other types of conditions, we need even more evidence,” she said. STAT’s Elissa Welle has more.

Lyme disease has infected 14.5% of the world

Lyme disease may take its common name from a town in Connecticut, but the tick-borne disease has likely infected 14.5% of the world’s population, a new study in BMJ Global Health says. Pooling data from 89 studies involving 158,287 people, the researchers base their estimate on the presence of antibodies in the blood and say theirs is the most comprehensive to date. Prevalence of infection was highest in Central Europe, Western Europe, and Eastern Asia; men over age 50 who live in rural areas were at highest risk.

Infection shows up first as redness and swelling at the tick bite site, but it can spread to other tissues and organs, potentially affecting the nervous system, joints, heart, and skin. Prevalence was higher in the 10 years after after 2010 than it was after 2000, which the authors suggest may be tied to climate change.

What to read around the web today

Exclusive: Klobuchar, Porter call for FTC to investigate price hikes by Janssen, Bristol Myers Squibb, STAT
They were cigarette smokers. Then a stroke vanquished their addiction, New York Times
Eli Lilly wins FDA approval for first-ever treatment for hair loss caused by autoimmunity, STAT
Cloud labs: where robots do the research, Nature
In early trial, drug shrinks tumors in majority of children with most common form of brain cancer, STAT