I'm a bit of a picky eater. OK, a lot of one. I'm the kind of person who needs to look at a menu before heading to the restaurant, who gets a little nervous before going to a friend's for dinner. To be clear, I'm not a pizza-and-chicken-tenders adult who makes it everyone else's problem (though I do enjoy both chicken tenders and pizza). I'll push through when social necessity calls for it, and I eat a generally pretty balanced diet. Nevertheless, it's been a source of anxiety my entire life.
But reading Danielle Meinert's First Opinion this week made me feel like my finicky taste buds and I got off lucky. "Since I was 2 years old, I had an eating disorder known as ARFID — avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder. After an infant ear surgery, I mysteriously could only tolerate bread and cheese. Every other food made me gag. A ripe orange, for example, smelled like rotting flesh," she writes. According to Meinert, there is very, very little research into ARFID, leaving her struggling to navigate life in a world where food is both nutrition and social glue.
But then she found something that helped: psilocybin. After one experience with psilocybin — involving a delightful encounter with her ARFID in corporeal form — she found herself changed.
Meinert is careful to say that her experience is just that: hers. I get nervous about articles and documentaries and social media threads that promote psychedelics as cure-alls. As my STAT colleague Olivia Goldhill has reported, the burgeoning industry is filled with not just promise, but also charlatans and hype.
But what I love about the piece — besides that ARFID monster! — is that it shines a light on an important part of psychedelics: They appeal to people that the medical industry dismisses. As we all wrestle with how to integrate psychedelics into health care, it's crucial to keep that in mind.
Also in First Opinion this week: two thoughtful pieces on Medicare drug price negotiations, one on what it means for Medicare Part D beneficiaries and one on what "bona fide competition" means in the biologics space. Lily Fitzgerald makes a compelling case that people who want to work in climate change should go into biotech. Michelle Simpson Tuegell, who has represented gymnasts in lawsuits against former gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, writes about how to prevent sexual assault by medical providers. And more.
My book recommendation of the week: "Miracle Creek," by Angie Kim, a gripping mystery that touches on autism, alternative therapies, immigration, and family desperation.
Got an idea for or thought about First Opinion? Email me: torie.bosch@statnews.com.
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