TELEHEALTH
Senators raise concerns about TrumpRx in letter to HHS watchdog
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
The Trump administration will soon launch TrumpRx, a website it says will allow patients to buy prescription drugs directly from pharmaceutical companies at a discount. More than a dozen manufacturers have signed up.
But the lack of transparency surrounding the platform has spurred senators to send a letter to the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services, raising questions about potential conflicts of interests, inappropriate prescribing, and inadequate care.
A trio of senators, led by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), published the letter, noting the potential similarities between TrumpRx and the concerning relationships between pharmaceutical manufacturers and direct-to-consumer telehealth providers the senators spent months investigating.
STAT's Katie Palmer has the scoop, including concerns that conflicts of interest that could lead to higher costs for patients.
HEALTH
A disability news twofer
I've got two disability health items for you today:
- The end of integrated care? Nine states updated a lawsuit targeting a landmark disability law and are now trying to end the federal mandate that people with disabilities receive care in their communities.
The lawsuit's outcome could have major implications for millions of Americans, especially after Congress voted in 2025 to slash state Medicaid funding, a major source of care for people with disabilities. Read more. - NIH prioritizing disability health research: The National Institutes of Health just announced its first strategic plan for disability health research. Disability advocates are thrilled. The federal government has been slow to recognize the unique health needs of this group, only formally recognizing people with disabilities as a population with health disparities in 2023. The report will shape which studies and projects receive funding through 2030.
FIRST OPINION
Bioethicists dissect HHS gender-affirming care report
In November, HHS published a report, "Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria," which claimed "there is no evidence of benefit" from gender-affirming care for transgender youth. That conclusion is not only scientifically and methodologically flawed, it is also deeply unethical, seven bioethicists write in a new First Opinion.
The report minimizes the serious harms of withholding gender-affirming care and ignores a body of evidence that shows patients benefit from gender-affirming care, they argue, centering an ideological position that medicine should treat disease rather than promote health.
"The consensus in pediatric bioethics is that these types of decisions belong in the hands of those most intimately impacted: the patient, their family, and expert clinicians — not the government," they write.
Read more from the bioethicists.
No comments