What worries lawmakers about health AI?

A House hearing Wednesday on the potential to advance American health care with artificial intelligence offered a revealing look at what lawmakers care about as they weigh whether — and how — to pass laws governing the use of the technology. My colleague Brittany Trang rounded up five concerns raised by lawmakers as well as related commentary by expert witnesses from Viz.ai, Stanford, Clover Health, and the American Psychological Association.

mental health

Clinicians scramble to understand 'AI psychosis'

So what exactly is AI psychosis? To find out, STAT's Rose Broderick spoke to a half-dozen clinicians about the troubling phenomenon where AI services like OpenAI's ChatGPT seem to be triggering mental illness in some people, and specifically, causes them to believe nonsensical things.

Experts are racing to understand what triggers the condition and who is most susceptible, both to better treat it and so that technology can be tweaked to avoid the ingratiating behavior that can cause people to spiral. Lots of nuance in Rose's story you won't read anywhere else, including why researchers prefer the term "AI-mediated delusions" and about folie à deux, an analogous diagnosis that's rarely discussed these days.

Startups

Former Pear CEO joins Swing board — did he invest?

My colleague Allison DeAngelis spotted a familiar character pop up in a fresh SEC filing from Swing Therapeutics, developer of a n FDA-cleared app for the treatment of fibromyalgia.

Swing Therapeutics has raised $11 million and former Pear Therapeutics CEO Corey McCann is now on the company's board, according to the filing from last week.

Pear was a pioneering company that helped popularize the idea of prescription digital therapeutics to treat medical conditions, but it collapsed in bankruptcy in 2023. Since then, McCann has been leading investment firm T.Rx Capital with Michael Langer, son of biotech magnate Bob Langer. (Read Allison's scoop about T.Rx from few years ago here.) If I had to guess, I'd say T.Rx is probably now an investor in Swing. The other company directors listed on the filing are investors from Jazz Venture Partners. (Swing CEO Mike Rosenbluth didn't respond to my email about the filing.)

Swing last announced a $10 million raise in 2022. Digital therapeutics companies have a had a rough couple of years in the wake of Pear's collapse, though there has been some progress on reimbursement from Medicare and insurers. Like a few other DTx developers, Swing offers its app through an affiliated virtual clinic that can help it earn income for services related to the digital treatment.

policy

HHS warns of coming info blocking crackdown

The federal health department on Wednesday warned of a coming "crackdown" on information blocking, or actions by providers, health IT companies, or other organizations that interfere with the exchange of electronic health data. HHS said it "will take an active enforcement" against entities that violate info blocking rules. The release asks patients and "innovators" to report information blocking. Possible remedies for violations include disincentives from CMS, fines, and loss of health IT certification.

The warning is consistent with the administration's effort to free up the flow of health data that can enable novel tech applications and care models, including the Health Tech Ecosystem pledge it secured form dozens of health care organizations over the summer.

A dashboard from ASTP/ONC, the health department's IT regulator, lists over 1,000 complaints of information blocking, and I can't think of a single aggressive action in response. If regulators do want to get serious, I'm curious how they will pay for and staff potentially costly investigations.

Thirty Madison sells itself off

Screenshot 2025-09-04 at 6.45.58 AM

Weight loss-focused virtual care company Remedy Meds plans to acquire Thirty Madison, a telehealth company that operates clinics for hair loss, migraines, and women's health under pleasant brand names Keeps, Cove, and Nurx. The all-stock deal is valued over $500 million, according to the release. Thirty Madison had raised about $250 million from investors to date.

In some ways this is the merger of old and new telehealth medication businesses. Unlike other companies, Thirty Madison did not race to take advantage of GLP-1 shortages by aggressively marketing compounded versions of the popular obesity drugs, and honestly, we were very curious why they hadn't chased the cash grab like everyone else. (It appears that Nurx does offer GLP-1s.) Nevertheless, the release suggests Thirty Madison is profitable at $220 million in revenue.

Remedy Meds is a different story. The company claims it is profitable and will make $450 million in annual revenue on a business that heavily leans into compounded GLP-1s.

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What we're reading

Testing a startup's postpartum health kit taught me to trust my body, Axios
Google doesn't have to sell Chrome but must share some data with rivals to resolve monopoly case, Associated Press
Why Silicon Valley should demand clinical trials for its medical AI, STAT