Q&A
Can Kennedy's new Native adviser deliver on American Indian health?
In June, Mark Cruz joined Kennedy's team as a senior adviser to the secretary on American Indian health. It's a new position, and the Klamath Tribes member is eager to work with different HHS agencies to provide a unified strategy on American Indian health, Cruz told STAT's Angus Chen.
The longtime state and federal government official strongly supports more tribes taking over health care services from the Indian Health Service and running their own tribal health facilities. He wants to focus on issues that have been central to Kennedy's Make America Healthy Again initiative, including chronic disease and nutrition.
Cruz will have to meet IHS' many existing challenges, too. Earlier this week, Angus reported how Kennedy's many assurances that Native health would be a priority have fallen short early in his tenure. IHS hospitals have reduced surgeries, deliveries, and imaging services. Read more from the Q&A here.
ADVOCACY
Medicaid advocacy meets Midwestern ASMR
As you read this, Carl Schulze is preparing for the next leg of his 92-mile, wheelchair-powered journey to Madison, Wisc. He's been steering his chair on sidewalks and on the shoulder of narrow streets to raise awareness about how Medicaid cuts will slash wages for home aides.
Schulze doesn't have a big following or huge backers. He just thinks it's necessary to do something. "I have a message that can't wait: People with disabilities on Medicaid, like me, are being left behind, and our home health aides — the heartbeat of our care — are underpaid and undervalued," he said.
Thursday's ride started with Schulze chatting with his aide while the trees tossed in the wind and cows across the street ate the grass. Midwestern readers will recognize the scenery — a land where the corn is fat and the roads are flat. But it's quite meditative to watch and the Twitch streams Schulze runs every day are informative.
Schulze is not the only person taking direct action. In the wake of the GOP's tax bill passing, the disability community has been trying to figure out how to keep future Medicaid cuts from hurting too much. Advocacy organizations are holding a 60-hour vigil next week.
REGULATION
Vapers, rejoice
The future just got a little more cloudy: Juul, the infamous e-cigarette brand widely blamed for sparking the teen vaping trend, will be able to keep its tobacco- and menthol-flavored products on the market.
Food and Drug Administration regulators said Thursday that Juul's studies show its e-cigarettes are less harmful for adult smokers, who can benefit from switching completely to vaping. But they reiterated that people who do not smoke should not use Juul or any other e-cigarettes.
The ruling comes after years of back and forth with regulators and amidst a 10-year low in teen vaping use. Once valued at over $13 billion, Juul and its small, sleek e-cigarettes revolutionized the image and technology of the vaping industry. But the company has since been forced to slash hundreds of jobs and pay billions to settle lawsuits over its role in the rise of youth vaping. Read more here.
Alex Hogan/STAT
No comments