Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Lison Joseph @lisonjoseph.bsky.social · Jul 30

Top White House pandemic preparedness official resigns, officials say, in sign of broader disarray www.statnews.com/2025/07/30/w... via @statnews.com

Top White House pandemic preparedness official resigns, officials say, in sign of broader disarray

Exclusive: A top White House pandemic preparedness official has resigned, officials tell STAT, in a sign of broader disarray.

www.statnews.com

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Lison Joseph @lisonjoseph.bsky.social · Jul 30

Viral infections in the lung, like Covid-19, can reactivate dormant cancer cells www.statnews.com/2025/07/30/f... via @statnews.com

Viral infections in the lung, like Covid-19, can reactivate dormant cancer cells

Certain respiratory infections could trigger a reawakening of dormant cancer cells in the body, according to a new study.

www.statnews.com

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Lison Joseph @lisonjoseph.bsky.social · Jul 30

A policy change could provide automatic Medicare coverage to the many AI devices deemed 'breakthroughs' by the FDA. Of the nearly 700 such devices captured in STAT’s Breakthrough Device Tracker, at least 10% use artificial intelligence.

www.statnews.com/2025/07/30/f... via @statnews.com

For AI-based 'breakthrough' medical devices, Medicare coverage may become easier

Some proposed policy changes could provide automatic coverage to AI devices deemed breakthroughs by the FDA.

www.statnews.com

Lison Joseph @lisonjoseph.bsky.social · Jul 30

Kevin Hall, uncensored: Top nutrition scientist on clashing with MAHA and what he actually eats www.statnews.com/2025/07/30/k... via @statnews.com

Kevin Hall, uncensored: Top nutrition scientist on clashing with MAHA and what he actually eats

'They’re not interested in the science': Former NIH nutrition scientist Kevin Hall on how his work with MAHA fell apart.

www.statnews.com

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Lison Joseph @lisonjoseph.bsky.social · Jul 28

Few states have implemented AI tools for managing Medicaid programs, and past experiments with using technology to automate eligibility and enrollment have been plagued with problems, @brittanytrang.com reports:

www.statnews.com/2025/07/28/w... via @statnews.com

AI for Medicaid work requirements: Why CHAI's 'tiger team' faces an uphill task

Coalition for Health AI wants to help with using AI to implement work requirements for Medicaid. Experts say that's difficult.

www.statnews.com

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Lison Joseph @lisonjoseph.bsky.social · Jul 24

“The reality is, budgets are tight right now,” said Doximity CEO Jeff Tangney told @katiepalmer.bsky.social. To be sure, Doximity’s free ambient scribe won’t feed directly into EHR — that could be a stumbling block for smaller practices.

www.statnews.com/2025/07/24/d... via @statnews.com

As ambient scribes face off, Doximity lures doctors with a free option

Doximity offers a free ambient scribe physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and med students.

www.statnews.com

Lison Joseph @lisonjoseph.bsky.social · Jul 23

Researchers sequence complex parts of human genome, expanding the future of precision medicine www.statnews.com/2025/07/23/l... via @statnews.com

Researchers sequence complex parts of human genome, expanding the future of precision medicine

Complex regions of the human genome remained uncharted, even after researchers sequenced the genome in its entirety. That is, until today.

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Lison Joseph @lisonjoseph.bsky.social · Jul 22

Sarepta Therapeutics’ Duchenne therapy faces ‘arduous’ path back to market, senior FDA official says www.statnews.com/2025/07/22/f... via @statnews.com

Sarepta Therapeutics’ Duchenne therapy faces ‘arduous’ path back to market, senior FDA official says

Sarepta Therapeutics faces an "arduous path” to try to get its gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy back onto the market, a senior FDA official told STAT.

www.statnews.com

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Lison Joseph @lisonjoseph.bsky.social · Jul 22

Slingshot AI, the a16z-backed mental health startup, launches a therapy chatbot www.statnews.com/2025/07/22/s... via @statnews.com

Slingshot AI, the a16z-backed mental health startup, launches a therapy chatbot

New AI chatbot called Ash is different, Slingshot founders say, because its training model is based on real therapeutic conversations.

www.statnews.com

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Lison Joseph @lisonjoseph.bsky.social · Jul 21

AlphaFold developer Google DeepMind to fund CASP as NIH funding falls short www.statnews.com/2025/07/21/c... via @statnews.com

AlphaFold developer Google DeepMind to fund CASP as NIH funding falls short

Protein structure prediction contest CASP gets temporary funding from Google DeepMind as NIH grant runs out.

www.statnews.com

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Reposted by Lison Joseph

STAT @statnews.com · Jul 17

Getting Coca-Cola to use cane sugar rather and ice cream manufacturers to stop their use of synthetic dyes are the latest achievements trumpeted by the Make America Healthy Again movement.
www.statnews.com/2025/07/17/c...

Why MAHA’s push on Coca-Cola and ice cream is 'nutritionally hilarious'

Getting Coca-Cola to use cane sugar rather and ice cream manufacturers to stop their use of synthetic dyes are the latest achievements trumpeted by the Make America Healthy Again movement.

www.statnews.com

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Lison Joseph @lisonjoseph.bsky.social · Jul 17

Where @brittanytrang.com really leans into pasta shapes to help you understand what might prove to be one of the most exciting new scientific discoveries for the biotech world:
www.statnews.com/2025/07/17/n... via @statnews.com

Undruggable ‘disordered’ proteins become druggable with new AI techniques from David Baker

In a new study, Nobel laureate David Baker and colleagues detail new methods for targeting undruggable "disordered" proteins.

www.statnews.com

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Lison Joseph @lisonjoseph.bsky.social · Jul 17

National guidelines for assessing preeclampsia risk are ineffective, study finds www.statnews.com/2025/07/17/u... via @statnews.com

National guidelines for assessing preeclampsia risk are ineffective, study finds

Researchers call for reform after a new study found U.S. preeclampsia guidelines lead to a high rate of false positives.

www.statnews.com

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Lison Joseph @lisonjoseph.bsky.social · Jul 17

Eli Lilly’s contracts pay a total of $942K over three years to three telehealth providers. One of Pfizer’s telehealth providers charges each of its pharma clients between $510K and $2.45 million over a 3-year contract, @katiepalmer.bsky.social reports:

www.statnews.com/2025/07/17/s...

Senators reveal how much Lilly, Pfizer paid telehealth companies

Four U.S. Senators released new details of business arrangements between drugmakers and telehealth companies.

www.statnews.com

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Lison Joseph @lisonjoseph.bsky.social · Jul 16

For context: Medicare spending on RPM services jumped from $15 million in 2019 to over $300 million in 2022

www.statnews.com/2025/07/16/c... via @statnews.com

CMS proposes more remote patient monitoring coverage without heeding warnings about abuse

Remote patient monitoring companies see a win in Medicare's plan to expand coverage, and the absence of any proposed guardrails.

www.statnews.com

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Lison Joseph @lisonjoseph.bsky.social · Jul 16

If CASP falls apart, the U.S. would lose its leadership in this area. Without U.S. federal funding, a European or Chinese organization would likely pick up the reins in some way, cofounder John Moult, tells STAT's @brittanytrang.com

www.statnews.com/2025/07/16/c... via @statnews.com

Protein structure competition, of AlphaFold fame, nearing deal to replace lost NIH funding

www.statnews.com

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Lison Joseph @lisonjoseph.bsky.social · Jul 14

The govt accountability office findings come just as more states are considering involuntary commitment — also called assisted outpatient treatment — as a way to address crime and homelessness, @rosebroderick.bsky.social reports: www.statnews.com/2025/07/14/g... via @statnews.com

Court-ordered treatment for serious mental illness is ‘inconclusive,’ says federal report

Evidence is lacking to show whether involuntary treatment for serious mental illness works, GAO says.

www.statnews.com

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Lison Joseph @lisonjoseph.bsky.social · Jul 10

FDA publishes rejection letters sent to drugmakers, with a big caveat www.statnews.com/2025/07/10/f... via @statnews.com

FDA publishes rejection letters sent to drugmakers, with a big caveat

The FDA published more than 200 letters that it sent to companies when it rejected their medicines, but the letters came with a caveat.

www.statnews.com

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Lison Joseph @lisonjoseph.bsky.social · Jul 9

Child walks again after receiving experimental treatment for rare genetic condition www.statnews.com/2025/07/09/n... via @statnews.com

Child walks again after receiving experimental treatment for rare genetic condition

NYU Langone researchers have helped an 8-year-old boy regain mobility using an experimental treatment.

www.statnews.com

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Lison Joseph @lisonjoseph.bsky.social · Jul 9

Also, if you need a refresher on what happens when private equity buys health systems, here's a good one from @ravindranize.bsky.social

www.statnews.com/2023/11/01/g...

Venture capitalists want to own hospitals. Can they do better than private equity?

Private equity's less than stellar track record as owners of health systems raises red flags about venture capitalists' ability to balance their desire for ROI with patient well-being.

www.statnews.com

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Reposted by Lison Joseph

Jason Ukman @jasonukman.bsky.social · Jul 9

News: U.S. sees most single-year measles cases since it declared disease eliminated, according to new CDC count. www.statnews.com/2025/07/09/m...

U.S. sees most single-year measles cases since it declared disease eliminated

The U.S. has now recorded more confirmed measles cases this year than in any year in well over a quarter-century.

www.statnews.com

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Lison Joseph @lisonjoseph.bsky.social · Jul 9

www.statnews.com/2024/01/22/g...

Physician buy-in will make or break VC firm General Catalyst’s bold hospital deal

Doctors and other clinicians have their own way of doing things. Will a VC firm like General Catalyst be able to come in and turn that around?

www.statnews.com

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Lison Joseph @lisonjoseph.bsky.social · Jul 9

And, if you are curious about GC's acquisition of Summa, here's a couple of different angles we covered when it was announced:

www.statnews.com/2024/02/01/g...

General Catalyst wants to take over a safety-net health system in Akron. The city has questions

The venture capital firm’s experiment is facing hurdles even before it has started as the local community asks questions about its plans.

www.statnews.com

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Lison Joseph @lisonjoseph.bsky.social · Jul 9

If you are curious about AI tools for Sepsis prediction, here's a good read from @caseyross.bsky.social

www.statnews.com/2022/10/24/e...

Epic's overhaul of a flawed algorithm shows why AI oversight is a life-or-death issue

Epic's overhaul of its sepsis algorithm is a case study in the challenges of ensuring that AI protects patients rather than endangering them.

www.statnews.com

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Lison Joseph @lisonjoseph.bsky.social · Jul 9

Could community health systems benefit from adopting artificial intelligence tools? @katiepalmer.bsky.social looked at one such AI experiment at Summa Health in Ohio (recently acquired by VC firm General Catalyst as a test bed for new health tech) www.statnews.com/2025/07/09/o... via @statnews.com

This Ohio health system tested an AI tool to predict sepsis. Here's how it went

Summa Health's experience with Sepsis Watch shows the difficulties in implementing AI in a community hospital.

www.statnews.com

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