Nationwide-licensed doctors are fueling the telehealth boom

How are so many telehealth companies able to prescribe drugs to so many patients across the country? One key factor, my colleague Katie Palmer reports, is the growing number of doctors who are getting licensed in every state.

In 2016, just nine physicians in the held active licenses in all 50 states. By 2024, that number surged to 172. Another 356 doctors had also acquired at least 45 licenses.

Some of these doctors own medical groups that sell plug-and-play services to help telehealth companies get off the ground quickly and start operating across the country.

infectious disease

CDC director calls on vaccine makers to break up MMR shot

The acting CDC director, Jim O'Neill, yesterday called on vaccine manufacturers to break up the combined measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine into three separate shots — a move that public health experts have said would be logistically infeasible and could leave children more vulnerable to infections.

O'Neill made the call on the social media platform X, linking to a message from President Trump also calling for the MMR shot to be broken up.

The moves come after the CDC's advisory committee on vaccines recommended children should get the MMR shot and varicella vaccine separately. That was already the way most kids got their shots, though.

biotech

Orca submits T cell therapy for FDA approval

Orca Bio, a private biotech company, said yesterday that the FDA has accepted its submission for an experimental T cell therapy to treat several types of blood cancers.

Earlier this year, Orca reported that in a Phase 3 study of patients with different types of leukemia, its therapy reduced the risk of chronic graft versus host disease by 74% compared to a conventional stem-cell transplant.

If approved, Orca's therapy could be a safer option for patients, but the challenge will be to convince hospitals to use it, as it will likely cost much more than a standard transplant.

An FDA decision is expected by April 6.

science

Trump has culled dozens of panels that advise on scientific research

Since President Trump took office, STAT and other news outlets have been writing about the individual advisory committees that the administration has eliminated. Zooming out, how many panels have officials now terminated in total? Nearly four dozen, my colleagues report.

That includes groups that have advised on ethical questions surrounding research of novel biotechnologies, as well as committees that weighed in on Alzheimer's research and how the NIH conducts grant reviews.

"When we cancel committees whose job it is to keep us ready for the technology that's coming, we are closing our eyes to the future." said a former member of a panel that was cut.

Read more from STAT's Megan Molteni and Anil Oza.

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