special report
'An itch like a panic attack'
André Chung for STAT
After a decade of treating patches of eczema with topical steroids, something changed when Kelly Barta stopped using the prescription creams. A new itch took over — a "bone-deep itch … an itch like a panic attack, an itch so intense you can't think of anything, you literally want to claw your skin off, you don't care if it's bleeding."
Barta diagnosed herself with topical steroid withdrawal in 2012. Historically, it's been a disputed, ill-understood condition that dermatologists and researchers have been reluctant to dig into. But a decade later, she connected with a researcher who was willing to help investigate it. In 2024, allergist-immunologist Ian Myles (above) finished his first study on potential treatments for TSW. He was planning a more extensive follow-up when the Trump administration began.
In the final installment of American Science, Shattered, STAT's Eric Boodman writes about the slow progress toward understanding one contested illness — and how even small steps forward have been threatened by the administration's cuts. Read more.
one big number
5%
That's how much homelessness could increase within a year if federal funding for Housing First programs (which provide stable housing without requiring sobriety or the initiation of treatment) is eliminated, according to a study in JAMA Health Forum. These policies have been more successful than treatment-first models in helping unhoused populations stay off the street and reducing the level of care they require. But in July, President Trump signed an executive order that called for an end to discretionary funding of these programs.
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