Supreme Court rules against conversion therapy ban

Jacquelyn Martin/AP

The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 yesterday against a Colorado ban on "conversion therapy" practices, referring to any attempt by a licensed mental health provider to change a person's sexuality or gender identity. Previously, a district court and the Tenth Circuit appeals court both ruled that the ban could stand because it regulated professional conduct. But the high court decided the law actually regulates speech based on a specific viewpoint, and must therefore be subject to increased scrutiny. The case will be sent back to the lower court, likely resulting in the ban being overturned.

"Her speech does not become conduct just because the State may call it that," Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the Court's opinion, referring to therapist Kaley Chiles who challenged the law. "Nor does her speech become conduct just because it can also be described as a 'treatment,' a 'therapeutic modality,' or anything else."

Only Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, writing that medical regulation inherently requires viewpoint discrimination and citing the Skrmetti decision that allowed a youth gender-affirming care ban to stand. "My colleagues' contrary conclusions are puzzling, for a standards-based healthcare scheme cannot function unless its regulators are permitted to choose sides," she wrote.

For more on how the decision could affect the regulation of medicine and LGBTQ+ rights more broadly, re-visit my story previewing the oral arguments. And if you've experienced conversion therapy or have thoughts on the decision, reach out: theresa.gaffney@statnews.com

science

Fact-checking Jay Bhattacharya on Vannevar Bush

We'll forgive you if you don't remember the name Vannevar Bush off the top of your head. In 1945, he wrote a report for Congress that served as the guiding document for the longstanding social contract between researchers and the federal government. Nobody loves thinking about, talking about, or sending a custom Slack emoji of Bush more than STAT's Anil Oza, who first wrote about him in our Polk award-winning series, American Science, Shattered. So when Anil heard that NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya invoked Bush and the "endless frontier" in a recent speech, his ears perked up.

Bhattacharya claimed that the Trump administration is pursuing a vision in line with Bush's proclamations about scientific progress. But the administration has worked against the spirit of Bush's vision in several ways, Anil writes. In scientific circles still reeling from revoked and delayed research grants, Bhattacharya's comment has provoked pushback and even outrage. Read more on why it matters.

health

Why PCOS might get a new name

Maria Fabrizio for STAT

Researchers have long taken issue with the name "polycystic ovary syndrome," or PCOS, for the endocrinological disorder that can cause intense pain and infertility. Technically, the ovaries don't show cysts, but arrested follicles. And while it's framed as a reproductive condition, it's actually much more complex. Still, the movement to rename PCOS has been both controversial and slow. Now, another consideration has entered the conversation:

"Do you think there is a male version of PCOS that just hasn't been named yet?" That's how one man, Al Barrus, posed the question to Reddit last year. He's not the only one wondering. Some researchers argue that PCOS should be considered a metabolic disease that impacts hormone levels, insulin resistance, and more. This means that when it runs in the family (which it typically does), people without ovaries could be impacted, too. Barrus, whose two sisters have PCOS diagnoses, would be the classic case. Read more from STAT's Annalisa Merelli on the complicated, sometimes secret discussions around changing the name for PCOS.

first opinion

What if we're wrong about medical marijuana?

That's the question posed in a new First Opinion essay by Kevin Sabet, who leads Smart Approaches to Marijuana, an advocacy group pushing for "a middle road between incarceration and legalization," as its website says.

Thirty-eight states and D.C. allow clinicians to recommend medical marijuana for PTSD. But a new systematic review of randomized controlled trials involving marijuana suggests they're wrong, Sabet argues. "Marijuana is far more dangerous than commonly understood, especially today's ultra-high-potency products," he writes, calling the increased normalization of marijuana use over the last few decades "a public health disaster." Read more on his perspective on the evidence.

more science

Testing the benefit of 'coaches' in ketamine therapy

And let's end with more drug talk: As ketamine treatment clinics proliferate across the country, providers are split on whether they should use the drug strictly as a pharmacological intervention or incorporate psychotherapy or another type of supervision alongside it. While studies have shown the drug alone can have immediate benefits, some researchers suspect that there are greater advantages to be gleaned.

STAT's O. Rose Broderick spoke with Harvard psychiatrist Franklin King about a study he's working on to test the feasibility of adding psychological support in the form of "coaches" to ketamine administration. "Coaching comprises a lot of the things that you would get in psychotherapy, but it tends to have much more flexibility," he told Rose. Read their conversation about his research, the importance of regulation, and how coaches might measure up against traditional psychotherapists.

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