CDC stops testing for rabies, pox viruses

The CDC has "temporarily paused" diagnostic testing for rabies and pox viruses, according to a recent update to the agency website first reported by the New York Times. These and other tests are done by CDC on behalf of state and local health laboratories that don't have the same capacity.

The news comes at a time when there's no director leading the agency, and staff have expressed anger and distrust of Trump administration officials. HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon told the Times that it expected some tests to be made available again in the coming weeks, but didn't specify which.

"This is an example of the continued hemorrhaging of scientific expertise that is very hard to recruit for and replace," former CDC chief medical officer Deb Houry, who resigned from the agency last summer, told STAT's Helen Branswell. "This lost capacity will result in all of us being less safe from health threats."

notable quotable

'We had some difficulty here due to some actions just before I came into the office.'

That was FDA Commissioner Marty Makary speaking yesterday in front of agency staff, on the anniversary of his first day in the job. But it also marked another anniversary: the day the Trump administration laid off 10,000 people at HHS, including 3,500 FDA employees. But as STAT's Lizzy Lawrence has reported, workplace turbulence has continued at the FDA under Makary. Read more on the speech, in which some of the topics he left out are just as telling as what he discussed.

first opinion

When medical misinformation wins

More than half of doctors say that mis- and disinformation is hindering their ability to care for patients, according to a recent survey. Almost 9 in 10 believe it has increased over the past five years. As a physician, Ilana Yurkiewicz has seen it firsthand, speaking with patients who come in touting internet theories, "cures," and wellness trends. She has her methods for debunking certain claims and communicating with patients. But they all hinge on one key occurrence: that she actually sees the patient.

"It's not a coincidence that medical misinformation is hitting hardest as access to medical professionals has deteriorated nationwide," Yurkiewicz writes in a new First Opinion essay. Read more on how patients can get hurt when the internet is more available than doctors.

video

Test your ability to differentiate real and AI x-rays

Alex Hogan/STAT

A recent study tested whether or not a small group of radiologists could tell the difference between AI generated X-rays and real ones. The results were interesting, albeit a little worrisome — doctors correctly differentiated the real from deepfake images about three-quarters of the time. STAT's Katie Palmer, who wrote about the study last week took the same quiz and scored about the same.

In the latest STATus Report video, Katie tells Alex how she could differentiate the images as well as the trained professionals. She says it has to do with two factors: noise and consistency within the images. Watch the video now to take the test yourself alongside Alex, who may have scored better than everyone.

addiction

Testing an antidepressant for meth use

As Lev Facher's War on Recovery series outlined, lifesaving medications for opioid addiction already exist — though access to those medications is extremely limited. For people with methamphetamine use disorder, there are no such drugs. But a study published yesterday in JAMA Psychiatry showed how an existing drug may be able to offer some relief.

The study found that compared to a placebo group, people who took an oral antidepressant called mirtazapine saw a greater reduction in how often they used meth. Among nearly 350 participants who had used meth almost daily in the previous month, those who took the antidepressant used an average of 7 fewer days per month at the end of a 12-week period. Those who got the placebo used 4.8 days fewer per month.

While the study size and the drug effect are both small, the researchers found the numbers encouraging. Still, it's worth noting that 23% of participants stopped taking mirtazapine due to adverse reactions like drowsiness or weight gain, compared to 15% in the placebo group.

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What we're reading

A slowdown in US visa processing is wreaking havoc on foreign doctors' lives, Politico
The family that decided to have their stomachs removed, Atlantic
Government watchdog urges FDA to finalize guidance for advisory committee conflicts of interest, STAT
Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act darkens outlook for government-backed clinics, KFF Health News
The Workup: Cardiology's finally prioritizing prevention — but what will it look like? STAT