Kick back and relax this long weekend with a few of our latest must-read stories. If you like what you see, enjoy 25% off your first year by using the code LABORDAY at checkout. Subscribe now BIOTECH How a long-overlooked protein could remake neuroscience drug discovery — or plunge the FDA into controversy
By Jason Mast So, imagine you get punched in the head. Not once, but a bunch of times.
Under an MRI, the changes to your neural architecture would likely be subtle, difficult to discern. And after a couple of days, any doctor examining your blood or spinal fluid would have trouble uncovering signs of trauma. Except for one thing. Floating in your blood would be an unusual number of tiny cord-like proteins called neurofilaments. Their presence in a blood sample is like the presence of rubble in a river — a sign of destruction upstream. Read More HEALTH TECH Patients seeking novel weight loss drugs find a ‘wild west’ of online prescribers
By Katie Palmer Tens of thousands of people have gotten online scripts from telehealth companies. On the surface, that’s not a bad thing: Good weight loss support is hard to come by. But experts are growing deeply worried that the rise in direct-to-consumer platforms could harm patients. Read More PHARMA ‘A blind eye’: NIH fails to ensure clinical trial results are reported, and still funds researchers who don’t file results
By Ed Silverman The U.S. National Institutes of Health failed to ensure that results of roughly half of clinical trials funded by the agency — both those conducted by its own scientists and outside researchers — were reported to a federal database during a recent two-year period, a new government review has found. Read More POLITICS & POLICY Unpacking the drug pricing policies that Congress just approved
By Rachel Cohrs Medicare coverage for prescription drugs will look very different when President Biden signs into law the new reforms congressional Democrats passed in their major domestic policy package. One provision would lower what Medicare pays for medications that have been available for several years, but still are costly. Another is intended to make drug prices more predictable over time. It would also put in place some long-awaited cost protections for Medicare patients. Read More Subscribe to STAT+ now. Offer ends Tuesday, September 6. | |
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