Get your daily dose of health and medicine every weekday with STAT’s free newsletter Morning Rounds. Sign up here.
Good morning. It’s the final day of Pride Month. Here are some of the gay-themed things I’ve been enjoying recently: the film “Maddie’s Secret,” the latest album by MUNA, my gay pickup soccer team, and matcha lattes.
Concerns Raised Over FDA Peptide Panelists’ Conflicts of Interest
Yesterday, the FDA released the names of eight new panelists for a committee that will advise the agency on whether compounding pharmacies should be allowed to produce certain peptides. However, STAT’s Lizzy Lawrence and Sarah Todd note that most of these new members have ties to businesses that promote and prescribe peptides, which means they may influence rule changes that could benefit them.
“The key question seems to be whether this arguably ‘stacked’ [committee] will essentially overrule FDA staff who might continue to have concerns on a switch to listing of these peptides as permissible for compounding,” stated Paul Knoepfler, a biologist and STAT contributor who had predicted a revamp of the peptide committee in an essay earlier this spring. Read more from Lizzy and Sarah about the new panelists and their potential conflicts of interest.
Half of U.S. States Challenge Medicaid Work Requirements
Yesterday, twenty-six states filed a lawsuit against the federal government in an attempt to halt the implementation of work requirements for Medicaid beneficiaries. The impending rules, slated for next year, mandate that most adults on Medicaid must demonstrate they are working, attending school, or volunteering a minimum of 80 hours per month. There are limited exceptions, with the lawsuit particularly targeting the exemption for individuals classified as “medically frail.”
Some of my colleagues at STAT have recently reported on this surprisingly harsh directive: To qualify for the medical frailty exception, individuals must have a serious medical condition and prove that it hinders their ability to work. Experts informed STAT that the new rule disrupts ongoing planning efforts by state health officials and increases the workload for beneficiaries and clinicians alike. Read more on the lawsuit.
Supreme Court to Hear Another Gender-Affirming Care Case
Also yesterday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear six new cases next term, including one related to transgender care. This case addresses parental rights concerning adolescents who have left home and wish to receive gender-affirming health services.
Since 2023, Washington state law stipulates that if a shelter resident seeks gender-affirming or reproductive care, the shelter need not inform their parents if there is concern about parental abuse or neglect. A group of parents is contesting this regulation, as well as another that permits adolescents to consent to outpatient mental health services.
An appeals court in San Francisco determined that the parents lack a sufficient claim of harm to justify the lawsuit. In recent years, the Supreme Court has ruled against families seeking to access gender-affirming care for their children. Many advocates and scholars argue that banning politicized health care by the government equates to a ban on parental rights. Relatedly, the Supreme Court is expected to announce decisions on two cases concerning transgender youth in sports later this morning.
Trump Administration and MAHA’s Relaxed Stance on Alcohol
President Trump has stated that he abstains from alcohol, claiming in 2018 that he has never consumed a beer. Similarly, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attends up to eight Alcoholics Anonymous meetings weekly. Despite these personal choices, a STAT investigation revealed that the Trump administration has minimized the risks of alcohol and hindered efforts to study and prevent alcohol-related harm.
“If you’re truly committed to improving all of these different ills in society, and you’re going to stay blind to alcohol, you’re not really that committed to it,” said Mike Marshall, CEO of the U.S. Alcohol Policy Alliance. In the latest installment of The Deadliest Drug, STAT’s Isabella Cueto and Lev Facher detail how Trump officials have obstructed alcohol research and prevention initiatives.
Study Affirms Safety of Concurrent Flu and COVID Vaccinations
A recent large-scale study has reinforced the safety of administering COVID-19 vaccines alongside influenza vaccines. Conducted by Washington University School of Medicine, the study assessed side-effect reports from veterans who received both vaccines in the same visit, as well as those who only received a flu shot. The analysis covered three different time periods, from 2022 to 2025, revealing no change in the safety profiles of the vaccines.
The research involved 2.5 million veterans, with 1.8 million receiving only a flu shot and 700,000 receiving both COVID and flu shots during the same appointment. Researchers monitored for 46 different potential side effects over 90 days post-vaccination. No increase in side effect rates was observed in those who received both vaccinations. The study did not explore whether administering the vaccines together impacted their effectiveness. However, other studies have suggested that receiving both vaccines simultaneously does not significantly reduce their effectiveness and may increase vaccination uptake. This study was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. — Helen Branswell
Florida Mandates EKGs for High School Athletes
Starting this fall, Florida will become the first state to require EKG screenings for all high school athletes under the Second Chance Act. While the law is well-intentioned, it is likely to cause unnecessary stress and financial burden, writes medical student Katherine Hofmann in a new First Opinion essay.
EKG screenings can yield false-positive results in up to 15% of healthy adolescents with no history of heart disease. This means that as many as three out of every 20 students may undergo additional, unnecessary testing, which the law does not require school districts to cover. Read more.
What We’re Reading
-
Supreme Court rejects legal battle over New York’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers, CBS News
-
$22,000 per hour: Assistants use a legislative loophole to outearn surgeons, the New York Times
- The loophole in Trump’s obesity drug deal with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, STAT
- People are taking allergy and heartburn pills for PMS. Could it work? NPR
- 5 takeaways from STAT’s investigation into microhospital operator Nutex Health, STAT
