addiction
Overdose sensors bring early-warning systems to public bathrooms
Once in a while, electrician John King will get a call from a client saying, "John, we saved someone today." King was hired by Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, a clinic that caters to Boston's unhoused population in the city's infamous "methadone mile," to stop near-daily bathroom overdoses. So he devised a specialized motion-sensor system to detect overdoses. When it works, "it's like going back in time — like I invented a time machine," King said.
Bathrooms in libraries, coffee shops, health clinics, and schools have become venues for drug use, creating a need for "safe bathroom" technology that notifies health workers of overdoses as they happen so they can administer naloxone and start rescue breathing. Despite its success in Boston, some addiction experts see the program as a symbol of the country's broader failure to prevent drug deaths. Read STAT's story from Lev Facher and watch the video from Alex Hogan and Anna Yeo.
in the lab
The Allen Institute's Rui Costa on changing science
Courtesy Allen Institute
Allen Institute researchers recently played a leading role in mapping the complete mouse brain, a first for any mammal and a prime example of the nonprofit's mission to go after big and basic scientific questions. CEO Rui Costa talked with STAT's Jonathan Wosen about the institute's approach to science and scientists.
On the possible benefits of mapping the human brain:
Right now, in neurodegeneration and dementia and especially in mental health, if you have a problem in the brain and you go to the hospital, you are treated very differently than if you have cancer. If you have cancer, they'll tell you what type of cancer it is. They'll tell you which cell types are involved. They will try to target that specifically. We're not there where we can say with precision which brain circuits are affected and why. And I think we can get there.
On why the institute pays $100,000 to scientists fresh out of graduate school, far more than most postdocs receive:
It's not that money drives people; money drives people out. People cannot afford to stay in science. If you come from a disadvantaged background or ethnicity, this drives you out. If you want to be serious about changing how the next generation of STEM looks, you have to put your money where your mouth is.
Read the full interview.
remembrance
How iconoclast Sid Wolfe held regulators to account — and tutored journalists
The first time Public Citizen's Sid Wolfe called Ed Silverman more than 25 years ago, he embarked on a monologue filled with outrage and frustration — a fitting introduction to a man who'll be remembered as a true pharmaceutical industry watchdog. Wolfe, who died of brain cancer Monday at age 86, was trained as a medical doctor, but chose advocacy to make a bigger impact on patients. He put his training to good use by sifting through medical journals and working with Public Citizen staffers to identify laws and regulations to push the FDA and other government agencies to bolster their oversight of manufacturers.
"Not to dramatize the case, but he served as something of a conscience for regulators and industry, whether they liked it or not. And not surprisingly, his badgering was not always appreciated," Ed writes. "I'll miss those calls and the ensuing insights." Read more about Wolfe's impact.
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