Closer Look
Talkspace builds its case for becoming a digital health success story
Talkspace might not be turning a profit yet, but the once-embattled virtual mental health company is looking like a winner among startups born in the 2021 digital health boom. After investors infused a record $29 billion into the sector, some have not emerged in an uncertain economy, including Pear Therapeutics, which went bankrupt earlier this year, and Headspace, a Talkspace competitor, which recently laid off employees and took on $105 million in debt.
In contrast, Talkspace, whose main business is providing therapy over text chat and audio and video connections, projects breaking even on an adjusted basis with more than $100 million in cash in the bank. "We obviously will emerge as one of the survivors," Talkspace CEO Jon Cohen told STAT's Mario Aguilar. Read more, including how a mental health entrepreneur compares the current moment in digital health to 2001, when markets collapsed around a crop of early internet companies.
public health
Alpha-gal syndrome, that allergy to meat and dairy after a tick bite, is rising
Of all the bizarre ways we humans interact with other creatures on this warming Earth, the sensitivity to a substance found in meat and dairy (and tick saliva) after being bitten by a tick has to rank high on the list. A new CDC report tells us alpha-gal syndrome, short for allergy to the sugar galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose, has climbed 41% from 2017 to 2021. A survey also released yesterday found that 42% of health care providers didn't know about the syndrome and another 35% weren't too confident about how to diagnose and treat it.
This sensitivity shows up long after inflammation from the tick bite subsides because the antibody to alpha gal sticks around. There are no cures or treatments for the condition, and allergies often last for years, potentially causing hives, nausea and vomiting, upset stomach and diarrhea, and in extreme cases, anaphylaxis. STAT's Bree Iskandar has more.
reproductive health
Opinion: Too many doctors in states that ban abortion refuse to make legal referrals
For a year now, the news about abortion has been dominated by restrictions on the procedure, limitations on medication abortion, and the consequences for people in states where options are collapsing. Here's the thing, three authors of a STAT First Opinion say: Abortion is still accessible even in states that ban it because there are options like traveling to the two-thirds of states where it's legal or ordering medications internationally to end early pregnancies at home.
Patients — especially the most vulnerable — may not know this and doctors may not tell them. "Doctors' silence violates their central ethical obligations to respect patients' autonomy, advance justice, and promote beneficence," Michelle Oberman of Santa Clara University, Katie Watson of Northwestern Medical School, and Lisa Lehmann of Harvard Medical School write. "It is unjust for doctors to leave those with lower health literacy unable to exercise the options available to more educated patients." Read more.
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